American Anthropologist 1967

Barth, Fredrik. On the Study of Social Change. American Anthropologist December, 1967 Vol.69 (6):661-669.

Barth challenges the traditional techniques of analyzing social change and offers an alternative approach. Traditionally social change was viewed as an “anthropological investigation,” similar to religion or social organization. This portrays social change as a custom of society, which makes it, on the whole unobservable. Customs have morphological characteristics, much like those of individual items of behavior.

Barth argues for (a) a greater attention to empirical study of the events of change, and a need for concepts that will enable this; (b) the necessity for specification of the nature of the continuity in a sequence of change, and the processual analyses this entails; and (c) the importance of study of institutionalization as an ongoing process. To truly understand change, social anthropologists need to describe all of society in such terms that we see how it persists, maintains itself, and changes through time. In light of the common unwillingness to abandon well-established routines, change must be viewed as a series of events. It is through attention to frequencies of allocations, by describing the pattern itself as a certain set of frequencies, that it is possible to observe and describe these events of social change.

Barth turns his attention to a study on entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are agents of change: they make innovations that actively affect, and change the communities they are part of. The dynamic character of a society, or propensity for change, is often observed in the prevalence of entrepreneurs. Barth’s method for observing this phenomenon, is by asking not what makes an entrepreneur, but what does the entrepreneur make? This views the character of change itself, not the prerequisites. Once again, where are the resources and time being allocated.

This line of analysis has been offered as an improvement to our analytic and predictive abilities regarding the interpretation of social change and dynamics. Concentration should lie in the observation of the events of change, not the prerequisites of its synthesis.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
ROB O’BRIEN Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Bender, Donald R. A Refinement of the Concept of Household: Families, Co-residence, and Domestic Functions. American Anthropologist October, 1967 Vol.69(5):493-504.

Bender focuses on defining families, co-residence, and domestic functions. The first section of his article deals with households and families, the second on households alone, then on co-residential groups and domestic functions, and finally he structurally defines family.

Bender defines a family as kinship, while a household is determined by propinquity or residence. Therefore, families must be defined strictly in terms of kinship relations and not in terms of co-residence. If there is a divorce and one parent moves out of the household, they are not suddenly banned as a member of the family. Next, he goes into two definitions of household as stated by Solien de Gonzales. She defines households composed of only a married pair as ‘affinal’ and uses the term ‘consanguineal’ in reference to ‘a co-residential kinship group which includes no regularly present male in the role of husband-father.”

There are no precise meanings for the concepts ‘co-residential group’ and ‘domestic functions,’ but there are many ways in which these two ideas may vary. Bender separates the two and then explains various theories associated with co-residence and domestic functions and their roles in relation to households. He sums his family structure portion of the article by stating that the family is a strictly kinship phenomenon and, as such, is best defined strictly in terms of kinship relationships. Bender also discusses the nuclear family, social structure, and social function in terms of family structure.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
MELISSA ANN-TERESE BOCKERIllinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)

Benfer, Robert A. A Design for the Study of Archaeological Characteristics. American Anthropologist December, 1967 Vol.69(6):719 730.

Analysis of archaeological characteristics began by using statistical models developed in population genetics and psychology. Benfer discusses the benefits of factor analysis over cluster analysis. He presents statistical methods generalizable to all quantifiable artifact characteristics.

Benfer believes significant results after the application of statistical models are only possible if samples are small. Archaeological cultures can be defined only when significant variation with respect to either artifact types or characteristics is found between different time periods. Nevertheless, significant co-variation may exist without significant cultural variation. The over-all strategy of Benfer’s general design is to discover and validate the structural components of artifacts.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
ALEXANDRA ROBINSON Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Bennett, John W. Microcosm-Macrocosm Relationships in North American Agrarian Society. American Anthropologist February, 1967 Vol.69(1):441-453.

Bennett questions the autonomy of the agrarian community in an increasingly interconnected global world. Many scholars believe that North American farmers are vulnerable to national bureaucracy. However, Bennett argues that most of the time farmers manipulate bureaucracy’s objectionable features or rather work over the system’s undesirable rules.

Farmers have great room for movement as the agricultural economy becomes more closely connected to the national system. The goal of profitable commercialization was the objective from the start of colonization of North America and has been the base of agricultural production in the eighteenth century. In North American society there is interplay between microcosm and macrocosm; there is not one single center of power that controls all of society. Farmers will continue to participate in this interplay for their own interests. This participation reveals the independence North American farmers have.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
ALICIA HOLMBECK Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)

Cohn, Werner. Brief Communications: “Religion” in Non-Western Cultures? American Anthropologist February, 1967 Vol.69(1):73-83.

Cohn suggests religion may not exist universally. He believes many scholars assume that religion does exist universally due to the misuse and multiple use of the term. Cohn stresses that when the term “religion” appears in ethnographies regarding non-Western cultures, there is always an implicit comparison with Western culture. Cohn states that part of the problem stems from ethnographers setting one criteria for determining religion outside of the West while setting another criteria for determining religion in the West. As a result, the West has significantly tainted notions regarding the universality of religion.

Cohn applies similar objections to the idea that an analysis of the belief in spirits in non-Western cultures is useful. Analysis of this kind implies that the complicated semantic problem of how to define “spirit” cross-culturally has a satisfactory solution. Cohn concludes that the only assumption one can make of all cultures is that men will invest some activities with greater emotion compared to other men. Even so, measuring the degree of emotion invested in activities and considering them religious, spiritual, or sacred revives the emic verses etic controversy. The degree of emotion in men is not measurable. With this, Cohn believes the argument that religion exists universally is fallacious.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
ALEXANDRA ROBINSON Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)

Evers, Hans-Dieter. Kinship and Property Rights in a Buddhist Monastery in Central Ceylon. American Anthropologist December, 1967 Vol.69(6):703-710.

Studies of Sinhalese society stress the close connection between kinship and property rights. At first glance, the kinship system of the Ceylon monks appears different in nature than previously studied Sinhalese kinship. Ceylon monks are all males, marriage is not permitted, and property cannot therefore be distributed among children. Nevertheless, Evers discovers that property-owning corporate groups are formed on the model of patrilineages. Relations between Ceylon monks are modeled after the kinship system of Sinhalese society as a whole.

Evers questions if temple property controlling monks select relatives as pupils. His field data statistically proves it the norm for chief monks to ordain relatives as pupils with claims to temple property. He only finds monks without property rights to take non-relatives as pupils. Evers discovers pupil heirs to be either brothers’ children or sisters’ children and concludes that pupil-teacher relations tend to be between a paternal or a maternal uncle and his nephew.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
ALEXANDRA ROBINSON Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Driver, Harold E. Correlational Analysis of Murdock’s 1957 Ethnographic Sample. American Anthropologist June, 1967 Vol.69(3):332-351.

Driver analyzes Murdock’s sample of patrilineal and matrilineal kin systems. Driver discovers how influential social and economic organizations are important to the New World compared to Old World kinship systems. In the New World the patrilineal systems demonstrates the importance of male labor, control of political organization, advance technology, and high levels of productivity. In the Old World these things are absent.

Driver illustrates a parallel correlation between patrilineal and matrilineal marriages. Both patrilineal and matrilineal kinship systems practice exogamy and forbid parallel-cousin marriage. In the Mediterranean parallel-cousin marriage is allowed. They allow marriage of the mother’s sister’s daughter, and also allow marriage of the father’s brother’s daughter. This is practiced because it keeps the property and prestige within the kinship group. In Driver’s final classification he compares Murdock’s ethnographic data to his own and formulates several tables.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
KIMBERLY JONES Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Gillin, John. More Complex Cultures for Anthropologists. American Anthropologist April 1967 Vol.69(2):301-305.

The use of modern ethnological methods in conjunction with science has given a wider base of understanding to anthropologists and allows for study in arenas previously untouched such as economics and politics. The object of this cooperative work is to integrate complex systems theories with the multi-faceted broad and narrow anthropological views to understand the causes of unrest and possibly prevent future revolutions. The primary question asked is, what holds a complex sociocultural system together?

Examples of how ethnology and archaeology will change and compliment other fields are given, such as the ethnological study of social structure in Guatemala. Modern systems theories can be broken down into three major classifications: regional cultural similarities, artifacts in culture, and the division of sociocultural systems into subcultures. Due to the wide range of knowledge necessary to understand the patterns within these categories, it is impossible for one field, such as anthropology, to completely study any of them. Gillin also stresses how maintenance of similar cultural beliefs within a country or territory may help in the study of complex systems theories .

CLARITY RANKING: 2
ANN ZILIC Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)

Gravel, Pierre Bettez. The Transfer of Cows in Gisaka (Rwanda): A Mechanism for Recording Social Relationships. American Anthropologist June-August, 1967 Vol.69(3-4):322-331.

This paper investigates several myths associated with institutions centered on the use of cattle. Gravel first gives a brief political history of Gisaka, Rwanda and then goes on to say that the transfer of a cow accompanies client-patron bonds. This shows an economical and political sway to the transfer of cows.

The next section speaks of cows in terms of subsistence. Many of the meals eaten in Gisaka do not include cow products. In a survey of three hundred and eight meals: milk was served sixty-nine times, butter was never served, and meat was served fourteen times, none of the servings of meat was beef, they were chicken and goat. While most believe cows are a way to form a relationship, studies here show differently. It is not the gift of a cow that determines the nature of a relationship; it is the relationship between donor and recipient that determined the nature of the gift.

Gravel states that no one owns a cow in Gisaka. The only thing that gives and maintains the value (social, not commercial) of a cow is the occasion for which it is transferred from one person to another, and the number of times it has been transferred. He concludes by saying cows are not symbols, but rather tokens serving as proof of the authenticity of the relations they recorded.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
MELISSA ANN-TERESE BOCKER Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)

Graves, Theodore D. Acculturation, Access, and Alcohol in a Tri-Ethnic Community.American Anthropologist June, 1967 Vol.69(3):306-321.

Graves examines a study that attempts to explain the “gross problems of drinking and social deviance so common among American Indian groups.” The study took place in a small town in the Southwest United States, chosen because of its population, consisting of one half Anglo-Americans, one third Spanish Americans, and one fifth Native American. Along with ethnographic observations, a community-wide survey was taken to stratify the small town’s population by sex and ethnic group. The questions were centered on the problems in the area, specifically dealing with the amount of alcohol consumed, frequency of drunkenness, and deviance.

Graves explains how acculturation affects both Spanish-American and Native American groups. Graves points out that acculturation is associated with higher rates of drinking and deviance among the Spanish-Americans and is associated with lower rates of drinking and deviance among the Native Americans. The study of the small Southwest community reveals that the Native Americans are much heavier drinkers than the economically equal Spanish-Americans. However, Graves points out that the acculturated Native Americans drink less, and the acculturated Spanish-Americans drink more.

CLARITY RATING: 5
MICHAEL WAHLS Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Hackenberg, Robert A. The Parameters of an Ethnic Group: A Method for Studying the Total Tribe. American Anthropologist October, 1967 Vol.69(5):478-492.

Hackenberg discusses the holistic anthropological method and the purely inductive method of ethnographic research. Anthropologists using the inductive method examine single communities to make generalizations about entire areas. Hackenburg believes examining only single communities within an entire area results in a gap in the information gathered by ethnologists. However, when the ethnologist gathers data that notes age, sex, health, residence and kin affiliations, status in procreation, subsistence, ceremonies, and social grouping, inductive research becomes more valuable.

Hackenberg combats the inductive method by showing that aerial photography, computer technology, and genealogical data were helpful in a study of the Papago Native Americans. Seven generations of kinship networks were studied to understand the cultural change of the Papago Native Americans. Hackenberg gives an ethnographic account of the Papago using the holistic approach and shows that physical and behavioral facts need to be studied if anthropologists desire a whole picture of any given society.

CLARITY RATING: 4
MICHAEL WAHLS Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Haring, Douglas G. Carol Ann Fisher (1929-1967). American Anthropologist December, 1967 Vol.69(6):733.

Fisher received a Doctorate of Social Sciences from Colorado College with an anthropology concentration through Syracuse University. Shortly after earning her degree, Fisher was made Assistant Professor of Citizenship and Anthropology at Syracuse University. In 1965 Fisher became a member of the Malawi, East African research team at Syracuse University. In 1966 she served as coordinator of the Syracuse University Village Settlement Research Project in Tanzania. Fisher was chairman of the Citizenship Honors Program, chairman of the Superior Student Committee of the College of Liberal Arts at Syracuse, and a member of the American Anthropology Association, the Association for Applied Anthropologists, the American Studies Association, and the African Studies Association.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
ALEXANDRA ROBINSON Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Holloway, Ralph L. Jr. Tools and Teeth: Some Speculations Regarding Canine Reduction.American Anthropologist February, 1967 Vol.69(1):63-67.

Holloway critically examines the present view that the loss of canine teeth in early hominids is directly related to tool-using and tool-making. He suggests that the reduction of the canine teeth is primarily a consequence of selection for social behavior attributes. Holloway argues that tool-making is not a primary causative factor of canine reduction, and that tool-making has been overemphasized as a critical early hominid adaptation.

Holloway explains other scientists’ point of view on the topic and discusses why he believes that their views are not feasible. He then sights scientists who agree with his point of view and builds on their arguments.

He concludes by stating that stone tools are important. Stone tools were a great advantage, but they need to be put into the proper relationship with adaptation. Tool-making did not precede other cognitive changes, but was one outcome of such changes.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
CARLY J. SCHROCK : Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Hotchkiss, John C. Children and Conduct in a Ladino Community of Chiapas, Mexico.American Anthropologist December, 1967 Vol.69(6):711-718.

Hotchkiss describes the role of children in the social structure of Teopisca, a town in the Chiapas region of Mexico. He explains that secrecy and personal privacy are of utmost concern among the citizens of Teopisca because many economic decisions are based on an individual’s reputation. Due to this need for secrecy, adults are bound by certain social conventions that act as protection. Children, however, are seen as incomplete persons, or non-persons, and are thus not bound by these conventions. Hotchkiss explains that because of the child’s incomplete status and freedom from certain conventions, they are often utilized as spies in order to find out information about fellow townsmen. Hotchkiss gives an account of all aspects of life in Teopisca, including economy, social stratification, and subsistence in order to give the reader a greater understanding of the importance of secrecy.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
NICOLE ROTH Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)

Kennedy, John G. Mushahara: A Nubian Concept of Supernatural Danger and the Theory of Taboo. American Anthropologist December, 1967 Vol.69(6):685-702.

Before the appearance of the new moon, the Nubian observe Mushahara. Kennedy examines how the Nubian practice of Mushahara is applicable to all anthropological theories regarding the concept of taboo. Kennedy discusses his disappointment with the fact that evolutionists, functionalists, and Freudians all justifiably explain the reasons behind Mushahara differently. He believes this is the result of the lack of a constant definition of taboo.

Nubian data suggests that taboos take their meaning from situations that are socially defined as sacred and dangerous. Kennedy suggests cooperative and diachronic studies should be made regarding taboos’ association with other institutions. This may achieve a better understanding of the reasons for certain taboos. Kennedy believes further studies of taboos are needed and may reveal a great deal about the large role the institutionalized non-rational plays in human society.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
ALEXANDRA ROBINSON Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C. Archaeology and Metallurgical Technology in Prehistoric Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. American Anthropologist April, 1967 Vol.69(2):145-161.

Lamberg-Karlovsky focuses on the development and components of the metal working technologies of the Baluchistan, the Indus and the Ganges-Jumna cultures. Metallurgical evidence from Tepe Sialk, a site in Iran, indicates that there was an early connection between Iran, India and Pakistan. The metallurgical techniques used at the Iranian site chronologically predate their appearance in India and Pakistan indicating a cultural diffusion of technologies from west to east. The stratigraphy of this area of the world is not certain or precise so many archaeologists use changes in pottery to determine the time frames of changes in metallurgical technologies.

Sources of ore deposits are examined to determine which culture received their raw materials from which geographical area. Copper and tin were the primary metals exchanged between cultures. The traces of other metals within these two ores can help track its origin and path of travel to the place where it was finally worked by a smith.

In addition to tracing the origins of the ores, Lamberg-Karlovsky describes the manufacturing techniques for many artifacts and the types of metal items that are associated with each respective culture. The diffusion of technology from the west to the east is stressed and can be seen more in the diffusion of manufacture techniques and ideas than in actual diffusion of vessel and artifact forms.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
BRAD HANSON Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Mark, Lindy Li. Patrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage among the Magpie Miao: Preferential or Prescriptive. American Anthropologist January, 1967 Vol.69(1):55-61.

Patrilateral cross-cousin marriage occurs in the southwestern Magpie Miao culture of China. Mark questions if this is simply a preference or part of the patrilateral system. The occurrence of patrilateral marriage does not reach one hundred percent of the marriages. However, the patrilineally related households settle close together and the father passes down his surname. Women are expected to marry their uncle’s son, if they do no they need to pay their uncles whether he has a son or not. The reason that patrilateral marriages are only 18% of marriages are believed to be related to the unequal sex ratio between men and women, 64.7% men to 35.3% women. Since there is a 35.3% potential for matrilineal marriage and only a 10% occurrence while the potential rate of patrilateral marriages is only 19.3% and occurs in 18% of marriages shows an inclination to such marriages.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
MEGHANN O’BRIEN SMITH Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Murphy, Robert F. Tuareg Kinship. American Anthropologist April, 1967 Vol.69(2):163-170.

The orthodox interpretation of kinship terminology involves the search for positive connections between nomenclature and social or psychological reality. Murphy believes the true source of kinship interest is not the fit but the discontinuity between nomenclature and kinship systems.

Murphy believes kinship terms are neither mere labels of social status nor simple expressions of basic binary distinctions in the cognitive map of the family. He suggests they serve to mask and counterfeit social relationships and thus function to conceal from their users social systems as they actually operate. Murphy illustrates this with his study of Tuareg kinship.

Tuareg kinship illustrates that imbalance and dissonance may be the very essence of structure. Nomenclature, like much of culture, may be used to perpetuate an illusion. Murphy asks anthropologists to go beyond the eye of strict empiricism and reach into structure, not as provided by informants, but as derived from research and analysis.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
ALEXANDRA ROBINSON Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Nash, June. Death as a Way of Life: The Increasing Resort to Homicide in a Maya Indian Community. American Anthropologist October, 1967 Vol.69(5):455-469.

Nash considers the variables and relationships instrumental in homicides to social structure and individual sanctions. Behavior patterns expressed through killing are looked at to determine what social controls are at work. The curers, who have animal spirit and knowledge of ritual, try to prevent witchcraft through sanctions. Common talk about aggressive drunkards is that they “look for trouble” and will “wake up dead.” They are considered possessed and when killed are often cut to pieces. These vicious acts ward off outside investigations because they infer that the killing involved witchery.

Men are the killers but women and neighbors are able to work through them, to agitate and provoke killings. Sometimes the reasons are not clear due to multiple factors such as economic, family tensions, and witchery. Curers will determine the ones to incriminate by “pulsing” a patient, i.e. saying names to see when pulses increase. After funerals of murdered people men will sit around and speculate about the reasons, which in turn re-enforces the behavior.

Social tensions often cause homicides, but politics and economic disparity are new causes. Personal security and interests are changing the social structure in the Teklum community. The fact that transitions have been collectively agreed to suggests that intracommunal conflicts are being kept in check through the practice of homicide.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
RANDY INGRAM Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Nerlove, Sarah and A.K. Romney. Sibling Terminology and Cross-Sex Behavior. American Anthropologist April, 1967 Vol.69(2):179-187.

Nerlove and Romney examine variations among sibling terminologies and suggest a functional explanation for certain aspects of the differences among systems. This article focuses on their hypothesis that special cross-sex relations, such as brother-sister avoidance, will tend to produce terminological distinctions between the terms used between siblings of the opposite sex and between those of the same sex.

Nerlove and Romney explain how they began with the presence of 4,140 logically possible types of sibling terminology, and then devised a typology limited to twelve types using two principles: 1) the assumption that disjunctive categories are avoided in natural classification systems, and 2) the assumption that the sex of the ego will not occur by itself as a primary component.

Nerlove and Romney attempt to find a functional explanation of cross-parallel sibling terminology. They argue that a long post-partum sex taboo may produce a series of special institutionalized practices such as avoidance, joking, etc., and that these in turn determine terminology.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
NICOLE ROTH Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)

Possehl, Gregory L. The Mohenjo-daro Floods: A Reply. American Anthropologist January-March, 1967 Vol.69(1):32-40.

Posshel challenges a theory concerning the abandonment of the ancient cities of the Indus river valley. The theory being challenged suggests that a naturally formed dam produced massive flooding of the Indus River, which completely engulfed the ancient cities in mud, destroying their fertile farmland and forcing inhabitants of the area to leave. Posshel cites why he feels this theory is weak. First, he believes the dam could have been produced by man or animal and not necessarily by nature. Second, he believes there is a lack of geological evidence supporting a flood large enough to force the population of entire Indus river valley to evacuate.

The city of Mohenjo-Daro had a population of forty thousand people at its peak in 2000 B.C. The author uses Mohenjo-daro to illustrate the faults of the theory being challenged. Possehl presents his own ideas concerning the abandonment of the area. He suggests the Indus river valley was over taken by a rival civilization, possibly the Aryans, who destroyed the land and massacred the original people.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
MATT EKLUND Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Reid, Russell M. Marriage Systems and Algebraic Group Theory: A Critique of White’s An Anatomy of Kinship. American Anthropologist March, 1967. Vol.69(1):171-177.

Reid examines algebraic models that deal with marriage systems and kinship among Australian aboriginal groups. Reid points out that White’s previous attempts to develop an algebraic description of prescriptive marriage systems were flawed. Although White acknowledged that these descriptions could only be applied to certain Australian groups, Reid explains why they don’t apply.

In this critique, Reid clarifies the reasons for White’s failure, by analyzing his model and then looking at two separate groups is has been applied to, the Purum and the Kariera. Strong emphasis is also placed on some ethnographic inaccuracies also presented. White’s models were designed to deal with marriage systems, which are prescriptive. In the case of the Purum, whose marriage rules are proscriptive, his model is nonapplicable. Basically, White has constructed an accurate formal model of what a truly asymmetrical prescriptive marriage system would be. The only problem with his logic, is that no truly asymmetrical prescriptive marriage systems can be found in his examples, as pointed out here by Reid. Reid’s alternative is to not deal with individual persons in the model, but rather categories of relations. This, he offers, is the only valid approach to a formal algebraic description of a kinship system.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
ROB O’BRIEN Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Reina, Ruben E. Milpas and Milperos: Implications for Prehistoric Times. American Anthropologist Febuary, 1967 Vol.69(1):1-20.

Reina argues maize maybe a reason for the fall of the Maya. Reina explains the present-day cultivation of maize, or milpa, by the Itzá, descendants of the Maya. He strives to connect the information to the Maya past. The Itzá plant three crops per year, one regular crop and two emergency crops. The best land for the cultivation of maize is in a sandy soil, located on the highland. Maize must also have an open space where it is seen by the sun and air and be placed on a slight slope to grow.

Land is not privately owned but may be passed down, usually to a son. There is no visible competition for land, since fields are placed far apart from one another. Itzás cultivate enough maize for their own needs; there is no over production. Itzás use the slash and burn method for the clearing of land and use only one tool, a stick, for seeding. They organize their maize in three different categories: black, yellow, and white. There has been a shortage of maize in the past. The shortages are usually due to epidemics, but animals invading crops and wars have also been culprits of bad harvests.

Reina concludes that maize is an extremely important determinant in the Itzás lives. It is the primary source of food in their diet, moreover, the cultivation of maize is the number one economic activity in the culture. Reina states, “If during ancient Maya times settlements were as independent of one another as they are today, it would have been quite difficult to erect monumental structures.” Reina believes that because of the shortage of food, the slash and burn technique has caused the group to individualize and scatter. Therefore, food shortage and a cash culture may have led to the collapse of Mayan religious centers in the Southern Lowlands.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
ALICIA HOLMBECK Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)

Reynolds, Terry Ray. Time, Resources, and Authority in a Navaho Community. American Anthropologist April, 1967 Vol.69(1):188-199.

Rimrock Navaho communities are examined and used to support the idea that variation in Navaho social organization is part of a system organized with consistent principles. Reynolds thoroughly describes the setting of Rimrock, in Northwestern New Mexico. This area is home to twelve Navaho townships. Occupation of this area can be described in four periods spanning six generations. There is also an account of work division, and historical occupation of different families and residence groups. Reynolds defines the units of social organization and points out how they are connected through processes of formation, growth, and fission. He examines the units in relation to one another, and points out ways in which Navaho social units, though forming a matrilineal society, create a different type than large corporate matrilineages. He also talks about the social units as they change over time.

Reynolds provides valuable data regarding resource control. He explains how a Navaho works hard not to accumulate wealth for his own benefit, but for his extended family. Also included are guidelines revealing who controls resources at specific times. The resource controller has the ability to direct tasks such as flock movement and the making of important decisions. This role changes hands at the death of the resource controller. Reynolds explains the transmission of the role to a new person. Reynolds concludes by explaining how his data makes clearer the relationship between Navaho social organization and other matrilineal systems.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
JASON HULS Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Richardson, Miles. The Significance of the “Hole” Community in Anthropological Studies. American Anthropologist February, 1967 Vol.69(1):41-53.

Richardson states that small rural communities are rarefied representations of larger national institutional structures. The same urban patterns are present in towns but unimpressive because they are poor. In Columbia these “holes” are the end products of urban marginality bound by influences not directly related to rural communities. Urban dynamics need to be understood to see how impoverished towns respond to them.

Roads, economics, education, religion, and medical tend to depend on urban networks. Towns are distinct but much of their socio-cultural needs and activities are intermeshed with cities. Even when asked where they are from townspeople indicate the cities. The author uses economic examples to show how towns transact with cities simply because better roads and public transportation have made it easily accessible. Town governments are also affected by cities appointing their politicians. These factors turn towns into extensions of cities, as well as national representations, rather than distinct townships with their own particular problems and solutions.

Richardson believes that the task ahead is to better understand the connectedness between rural and urban settings and to find a methodology and theory that explains these complementary dynamics. It is the lack of unimpressive patterns within these towns that is called in American slang the “hole.”

CLARITY RANKING: 4
RANDY INGRAM Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Ritchie, James E. Ernest Beaglehole (1906-1965). American Anthropologist February, 1967 Vol.69(1):68-70.

Ernest Beaglehole did much to establish anthropology in New Zealand. In addition, he contributed to the studies of many American anthropologists and was a prominent member of the American Anthropologist Association.

In 1931 Beaglehole came to America to study at Yale as a Commonwealth Fund Fellow. At Yale, Beaglehole studied under Edward Sapir and Peter Buck. In 1933, Yale provided him with the funds to undertake anthropological fieldwork regarding the Pukapuka. Then, in 1934 Beaglehole received a fellowship from the University of Hawaii to work on race relations and mental health. In 1940 the London School of Economics granted him the Degree of Doctor of Literature.

Beaglehole was a Foreign Fellow of the British Psychological Association, a Fellow and Hector Medallist of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and was a member of the Council of the Polynesian Society.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
ALEXANDRA ROBINSON Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Silverberg, James. Obituary of Robert Randolph Howard 1920-1965. American Anthropologist December, 1967 Vol. 69(4):71-72.

Robert Howard was an expert on Jamaican archaeology. He graduated with honors from Montana State University with his B.A. and received at Yale University, his Ph.D. in Anthropology. Howard was a professor at the Universities of Connecticut, Colorado, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Howard spent six years in the Caribbean doing extensive fieldwork. He was an editor for the Handbook of Latin American Studies, and an assistant editor for American Antiquity.

CLARITY RATING: 5
ALICIA HOLMBECK Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)

Silverman, Julian. Shamans and Acute Schizophrenia. American Anthropologist February, 1967 Vol.69(1):21-31.

Shamanism and schizophrenia include behavior that is grossly non-reality-oriented, abnormal perceptual experiences, profound emotional upheaval, and bizarre mannerisms. Silverman believes the only difference between shamanism and schizophrenia is the degree of their cultural acceptance. For, the same behaviors that are viewed in Western society as psychotic symptoms are in other societies effectively channeled and many times perform important social functions.

Silverman discusses the five stages shamans and schizophrenics experience. These stages include: 1) precondition: fear; feelings of impotence and failure; guilt, 2) preoccupation; isolation; estrangement, 3) narrowing of attention; self-initiated deprivation, 4) the fusing of higher and lower referential processes, and 5) cognitive reorganization.

Silverman concludes that, in contrast to the shaman, the chance of the schizophrenic successfully returning to normalcy is small. The emotional support of the shaman and even possible elevated status alleviate a crisis-ridden individual’s strain and anxiety. Silverman laments that the support a mentally ill shaman receives is often completely unavailable to the schizophrenic in Western society.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
ALEXANDRA ROBINSON Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Sorensen, Jr., Arthur P. Multilingualism in the Northwest Amazon. American Anthropologist December, 1967 Vol.69(6):670-684.

Sorensen addresses multilingualism and how it relates to social units and cultural identity for the tribesman of the Northwest Amazon region. Sorensen describes how tribes forming homogeneous, yet multilingual cultural group constitute about 90 percent of the population in this area. The other people live in separate, monolingual groups, one being a nomadic Indian tribe and the other being those whose lives center around rubber gathering and missionary work.

Sorensen describes the social units in the area and how they work together. There are many different social levels that work form a complex relationship. He points out that there is a distinction made between tribal group and nationality. Though there are Brazilian Indians and Colombian, these groups identify their tribes by the languages they speak. Rather than defining the word “tribe” with cultural criteria, when studying these people it becomes necessary to define them using linguistic criteria.

Sorensen then discusses how the people of this region translate between Spanish and their native language. They wait until the speaker is finished speaking the sentence, then the Indian takes a moment until he figures out how to say the phrase in his own language. This may be done even if most of the Indians in the area know Spanish. Repetition of a speaker is a social convention meant to show understanding and respect. When the men are gathered at the end of the day, one can tell how much respect is attributed to the elders by how much the listeners repeat them.

Sorensen concludes that multilingual conversations happen effortlessly and unconsciously all the time. Speakers begin conversations with their tribal language to illustrate affiliation, but then switch to whatever language is easiest to use at that time. He then goes on to point out that homogeneity of culture does not necessarily equate to homogeneity of language. Sorenson concludes with the idea that a linguistic theory dealing with single language/single culture will be inadequate to explain the linguistic methods of the tribesman in the Northwest Amazon.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
JASON HULS Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Toffelmier, Gertrude. Obituary. American Anthropologist April, 1967 Vol.69(2):200-203.

Edwin Meyer Loeb’s (1894-1966) principle work Sumatra: Its History and People reflected his synthesis of collected facts through observations and literatures and his “interpretation of them as recurrent traits or complexes of traits.” It showed his meticulous care for detail and interpretation of cultural data.

He was schooled at Yale where he received his Ph.B., M.A., and Ph.D. (1922) in anthropology under professor Keller. That same year he became a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley under professor Kroeber and also did his first fieldwork of the Pomo Indians of California. The following year he did fieldwork in New Zealand and then in 1926-27 he went to Indonesia. His primary interests were of general ethnography with emphasis on the origins and diffusions of myths, religions, and folklores. In between his fieldwork he continued his teaching at Berkeley.

He was a prolific writer having over seventy published articles appearing in the American Anthropologist, Journal of American Folklore, etc. He also had two museum collections and made three scientific films. During World War II he used his ethnographic knowledge while working with the government in the field of foreign affairs.

As much as his works he will be remembered for his positive approach to anthropology and for encouraging women to consider its opportunities and interests. He was one of the first to see the connectedness between anthropology and psychoanalysis and entertained all new and vital ideas into the discipline. He never resorted to dogma, was open to varieties of interpretations, and knew that facts needed theories even if they were temporal. His amenable acceptance of others and their ideas represented his anthropological understanding.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
RANDY INGRAM Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Tumin, Melvin. Social Stratification: The Forms and Functions of Inequality. American Anthropologist 1967 Vol. 70: 777-778.

Anthropologists need to better accustom themselves with the sociological approach to class. The amount of literature on this matter can be overwhelming and confusing. Tumin’s basic criticism of the social stratification system is the differentiation, or lack there of, between the universal division of labor and individual access. There are five important attributes of stratification including social, ancient, ubiquitous, diverse, and consequential. Yet, with these attributes stated there still remains a fallacy trying to reify the criteria of universality. This is because anthropologists have to go beyond normal definition of what stratification means to assert universality. There remain four processes in which to sustain systems of stratification which are differentiation, ranking, evaluation, and rewarding.

Status can be distinguished between ascription and achievement. For example, the United States has an achievement status because we have a class system and one can move from one class to another. A person can always achieve a higher status. However, in India they use an ascriptive status, which includes a caste system. This means that they cannot achieve a higher-class status. Yet, one could argue that Negro’s in the United States had an ascriptive status in the past. The study of mobility adds a time dimension to the stratified system and this can play an important factor too when considering the idea of class.

CLARITY: 4
OSA NOSA Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)

Yadava, J.S. Factionalism in a Haryana Village. American Anthropology 1967 Vol. 70(5):898-911

Factionalism is the various functions social systems have in cooperation and competition; also referring to the way the system was formed and operated. With a focus on organization and areas of conflict, in addition to the history of increased factionalism, a multi-caste, agricultural Haryana village in India was researched.

Twenty-five years ago, social and political status, borrowing ability, lending ability, and occupation depended upon one’s lineage. Only slight tension rose between groups because one’s caste status strictly determined their loyalty towards certain groups. Oftentimes, resolutions were found by turning to games, like Kabaddi or wrestling matches, or within village council groups. Now, growing sources of conflict that lead to factionalism are economy and politics.

Economic and political factors are based on competition, having a natural tendency to increase conflict between villagers. Economic and political situations allow one to see the boundaries more clearly due to the high amount of conflict. Dharh*-baji, or engagement in factional fights, are founded on conflicts between groups that are centered around common interests, not simply descent, meaning boundaries of those groups are flexible and individuals decide to be a part of the conflict.

An example of a dharh*-baji is seen when an external political stimulus, such as Gandhian teachings and the Freedom Movement, came into the village. During this movement lower castes began to reject their role as inferior members of society, acting as a catalyst for divisions not only between castes, but also within castes. Internal peace within castes was broken when some members refused to follow the movement, wanting to stand by tradition. This broke up kin lines and castes, pulling together based on political interests, not descent lines. While descent is still a factor in political movements, a dominant caste is no longer a respected authority, nor is community or household head.

CLARITY: 4
KATHRYN N. BAZIL Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)