• On the bus
The state of Florida has the third most illegal immigrants in the US and is considering Arizona-style policies. Many recent immigrants are departing. The St. Petersburg Times quoted Ella Schmidt, cultural anthropology professor at the University of South Florida and an expert on US migration issues: “Every day people are leaving and going back home … especially those who came in the last five or six years.”

• The Hispanic paradox explained
Drug Week noted an ethnographic study of the Hispanic paradox. Hispanics in the United States are economically disadvantaged but their health profiles are equal to or better than Euro-Americans. Medical anthropologist Anna Waldstein and colleagues at the University of Kent did research on women’s popular medicine in a Mexican immigrant population in Athens, Georgia. Women’s home care and medical knowledge explain much of the so-called paradox. Findings are published in Medical Anthropology.

• Breaking up is hard to do
The Ottawa Citizen carried an article about cultural anthropologist Ilana Gershon’s new book, The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media. Gershon, who teaches at Indiana University, interviewed undergraduates about what is a bad break-up and discovered a variety of perspectives about how the message should be delivered (in person, texted, or telephone) and who should post the official news on Facebook (the dumper, the dumpee, or whoever gets there first), among other factors.

• Community immunity against PTSD
Drug Week picked up on an ethnographic study of a new therapeutic program in Israel that seeks to prevent PTSD through building community resilience. The authors discuss the relevance of their results for other contexts such as Bali, Haiti, and Ethiopia. Findings are published in Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry.

• Boys being boys
Hemant Apte, professor of cultural anthropology at the University of Pune, presented findings at the 26th Annual Conference of Sexology in Chennai, India, that women sex workers in their 50s are favored by younger men perhaps because they “pamper their young clients.”

• Anthro cover guy
Okay, so we missed it, but better late than never: the August cover of National Geographic featured University of Miami anthropologist Kenny Broad. The associated article describes his three- year expedition with a team of 15 scientists into underwater caves, or “blue holes,” off several islands in the Bahamas. He studies the effects of humans on the environment in marine contexts.

• A feast of ancient souls
The earliest archaeological evidence of feasting now comes from the Natufians of Israel in pre-Neolithic times, pushing back the date for this activity to 12,000 years ago. Natufians represent a transitional culture from mobile foragers to settled farmers. Natalie Munro, an anthropologist with the University of Connecticut and lead author, conjectures that funerals and feasts may have provided a sense of community during this transitional period. Findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

• Beer that was good for you
Between CE (current era) 350 and 550, ancient Nubians appear to have intentionally brewed beer that contained the antibiotic tetracycline. It shows up in their bones, according to researchers, including archaeologist George Armelagos of Emory University. Findings are published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

• Mild dietary stress is good for you
Investigators in the Department of Public Health at Kinki University, Japan, have used animal studies to show that dietary restriction helps prevent obesity, obesity-related diseases, and extends lifespan. Findings are published in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology.

• In Shakespeare’s face
A new British TV documentary called Death Masks will reveal the results of 3-D computer technology to create a “true likeness” of William Shakespeare. Forensic anthropologist Caroline Wilkinson noted several consistencies between the 3-D image and portraits. Others are less accepting.

• Yo mama
Anybody who knows anything about bonobos knows that sex plays a major part in their lives, especially in terms of conflict prevention. A new study suggests that frequency of sexual activity of males with estrus females, however, is tipped in favor of males with supportive mothers. The findings, based on study of nine males in the wild, is reported in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biological Sciences.

• It’s a trap!
Some chimpanzees in the rainforests of Guinea can recognize snare traps laid by human hunters. And they seek them out and intentionally deactivate the traps, setting them off without being harmed.

• Kudos: Cultural anthropologist Peter Sutton honored
Peter Sutton is the winner of the John Button Prize, and $20,000, for the best writing on politics and public policy for his book, The Politics of Suffering: Indigenous Australia and the End of the Liberal Consensus.

• Read my lips
An article in the New York Times magazine about how language shapes people’s perception of reality rose to the top of the list of articles emailed, blogged, searched and viewed last week. It was all about linguistic anthropologist Benjamin Whorf’s theory that language has the power to shape how people think. This is Anth 101 stuff, and if it can go big time in the mainstream media, then there is hope that other basic questions in cultural anthropology can similarly engage the public.

• Trafficked sex workers in China
Cultural anthropologist Tiantian Zheng, of the State University of New York at Cortland, spoke before the US Congressional Executive Committee on China. An expert on the sex trade in China, she said that police raids are counterproductive: “Usually when a woman is ‘rescued’ from the sex trade and put into police custody, she is subject to possible sexual assault by the police, deportation to her hometown, and forced relocation into more dangerous work areas. In my research on migrant sex workers in China, frequent police raids, crackdowns, and raid-and-rescue have pushed sex work underground and made it more dangerous.”

• What do Haitians want
The New York Times quoted Louis Herns Marcelin, cultural anthropology professor at the University of Miami, as saying that Haiti has become an “apartheid country” and most Haitians want “an opening out of the ghetto, an opening out of the permanent prison and segregation they are living in.”

• At the top of your game and being studied
Cambridge University cultural anthropologist Mark de Rond first studied the Cambridge boat race squad. Then military surgeons in Afghanistan. Now he is launching a study of comedians and doing fieldwork in Edinburgh during the Fringe festival. The Scotsman provides some insights about why he is focusing on comedians: “They are very smart…and go out in front of the audience and make themselves vulnerable…if things don’t go well…it affects them terribly personally.”

• DNA and the Dirty War in Argentina
Forensic anthropologists, aided by DNA technology and a growing database of DNA samples from victim’s relatives, have been able to speed up their identification of victims of state violence in Argentina.

• Out of the fog
Science Daily covered a service program in Morocco in which several Rice University students participated in a project to harvest drinking water from fog. Inspiration for the project came from a guest lecture by Jamila Bargach in a course on Integrated Approaches to Sustainable Development. Bargach has a PhD in cultural anthropology from Rice. Faculty who supported the project include Eugenia Georges, cultural anthropologist and chair of the anthropology department.

• Take me home
A prominent article in the New York Times style section highlighted the current writing project of Mary Catherine Bateson, cultural anthropologist and daughter of two cultural anthropologists: Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson. It’s about home and homemaking and about not being selfish. Sounds like a much-needed tonic for many of us (blogger included).

• Enviro lessons from the past
The BBC interviewed Spencer Wells of the National Geographic Society about his new book, Pandora’s Seed. He shared lessons from the Neolithic about global warming and population growth.

• Push back the date
Stone tools found in southern France indicate that early human ancestors were there 1.57 million years ago which is 200,000 years earlier than previously thought. Similar tools in East Africa date to 2.5 million years ago.

• They got up and went
The Maya of Kiuic (kee-week) in the Yucatan, Mexico, seem to have left quite suddenly. The rapid abandonment may shed light on the “Maya collapse.” USA Today quotes several archaeologists in its coverage of this story.

• A high honor
The latest theory about Oetzi the Iceman is that he may have ended up in a high Alpine pass not by walking there but by being taken there for a ceremonial burial.  Professor Luca Bondioli of the National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography in Rome believes he was laid to rest several months after he died by an arrow wound. Findings are published in Antiquity.

• New tech for Jordan’s antiquities
A Web-based system has been developed to provide access to records about Jordan’s archaeological sites, allow for updating information, and make it possible to monitor the conditions of the sites. The Getty Conservation Institute is one of the partners. Its director, Timothy P. Whalen, told the New York Times: “The classic rule in preservation is that you can’t preserve something until you know you have it.” The system is scheduled to open in September to authorized users. The project was originally intended for Iraq, but continuing unsettled conditions there prompted moving the project elsewhere.

• What goes with socks?
Sandals of course. It seems that the popular British combo may derive from the Romans. The suggestive evidence is from a find in Yorkshire of a rusty sandal nail with impressions of fiber. Blogger’s note: whether or not the Romans needed socks when in Rome, they certainly would have in Yorkshire. Clearly we need to know more: socks have been neglected by scientists and social scientists alike. This finding is a wake-up call about the joy of socks.

• Pulling the plug on grandma
An article in Nature questions the validity of the so-called grandmother hypothesis which says that grandmothering played a significant role in human evolution because it would have increased child survival by allowing mothers to gather food. Thus selection favored women who survived past menopause.  Wired picked up on the article.

• Walking on trees
Scientific American published an article about orangutans standing straight legged on tree branches, suggesting that early human ancestors might have become bipedal before they hit the ground. Blogger’s note: This is all very interesting especially in light of the fact that most human evolutionists discount orangutans as having much to offer to the story of human evolution.

• Happy birthday to Gananath
A birthday tribute to Gananath Obeyesekere appeared in the Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). He is turning eighty. Congratulations, Gananath, and here’s to the next ten years and many more!

The Ninth Annual Smithsonian Botanical Symposium

September 24-25, 2010, Washington, DC

People are dependent upon plants for food, clothing, medicine, fuel and other necessities of life. Humans and plants have interacted for as long as humans have existed, but our relationship is not static. Since the advent of agriculture we have exerted evolutionary pressure on plants that are of importance to us. Indigenous and industrialized societies have interacted with plants in their environments and influenced not only crop plants, but also cultural landscapes. The Symposium will examine the 21st century transformation of the study of interactions between plants and people. The invited speakers will cover a wide range of topics: from the role molecular biology now has in elucidating crop domestication to the ways in which peoples across myriad ecosystems interact with specific plants and landscapes.

Speakers:

Ruth Defries, Columbia University
Kenneth M. Olsen, Washington University St. Louis
Eve Emshwiller, University of Wisconsin
Torben Rick, National Museum of Natural History
Cameron L. McNeil, Lehman College, The City University of New York
Julie Velásquez Runk, University of Georgia
Allison Miller, St. Louis University

Program:
Friday, September 24
6:00 pm – 8:30 pm Opening Reception, The United States Botanic Garden

Saturday, September 25
8:30 am – 5:45 pm Lectures and Discussion, Baird Auditorium, NMNH
5:45 pm – 8:30 pm Reception and Dinner, Museum Rotunda, NMNH

For information and registration go to http://botany.si.edu/sbs/
e-mail: sbs@si.edu.

Mark Twain famously quoted a local person in his 1897 travelogue, Following the Equator: “You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then heaven; and that heaven was copied after Mauritius.”

Anyone lucky enough to fly to the Indian Ocean island will understand something of why this sentiment was recorded. The view as the plane starts its descent to the airport is stunning — the central mountain range looks as if it has been cut from some dark grey and green material with some very sharp scissors. Towns and small villages dot the landscape. As the plane comes into land at Plaisance on the south-east coast you see a patchwork of green sugar fields, which contrasts with the azure water gently rippling within the coral lagoon.

Little wonder, then, that with these physical attributes the Mauritius tourist sector, which started in a small way in the early 1970s, has expanded greatly. Even with the current global economic downturn around 915,000 visitors are expected in 2010. In fact, the country’s tourist sector often referred to as one the “pillars of the economy” — the others are sugar, textiles, ICT, offshore banking and luxury property — contributed 7.4 percent of the $10 billion economy in 2009. Significantly, it remains the island’s main source of foreign exchange.

Screensaver worthy: a view of Mauritius. Credit: Tim Parkinson, creative commons licensed on Flickr.

It is nearly 40 years since Indo-Trinidadian writer, V.S. Naipaul, referred to Mauritius as an “overcrowded barracoon” and a “half-made society,” and predicted economic collapse and social mayhem. He was wrong and has since apologized. (In fact, a much better guide to the history and social make up of Mauritius is provided by Norwegian anthropologist, Thomas Hylland Eriksen, in Common Denominators, a brilliant analysis of the island’s polyethnicity, identity politics and nationalism.)

But there can be little doubt that contemporary travel writers love to visit Mauritius, because it produces such good copy. In the last few years I have yet to see a bad review in the mainstream press. Mauritius is often referred to as a “paradise island” which is easy enough to conclude if you are paid to stay in some of the big five-star hotels that punctuate the coastline — Trou aux Biches, Le Touessrok and the Royal Palm are good examples — and are waited on hand and foot. For example, a recent article by Erin O’Dwyer in the Sydney Morning Herald is fairly typical of its kind:

“If what people want most in a holiday is good food, great beaches and a glimpse of local culture, then Mauritius has it all… Golf and snorkelling are island mainstays, though most resorts have a hectic schedule of activities — from archery and bocce to yoga and tai chi — and the spa is never far away, either.”

She adds:

“To eat, it’s fish done all ways. In less than a week, I have it sashimied, sushied, tatared, curried, pan fried, flame fried, baked, roasted and grilled. The highlight is the curried clams and sea urchins peppered with Tabasco and lime. Little touches make Mauritian hospitality shine. Fruity highballs served with intricate frangipani garnishes; main meals served to the women first…”

Not surprisingly, with such an enviable reputation, the Mauritius government is keen to expand the tourist sector in order to deliver more growth for the national economy. The stated aim is to more than double the number of visitors to 2 million by 2015. However, the economic turbulence in the Eurozone, from where two thirds of tourists Mauritius originate, means that the feasibility of this project has been called into question.

Last year, bookings from Britain, France and Germany were down and deep discounts had to be offered to keep the numbers up. In turn, this has affected the amount of revenue coming into the country -– a reduction from 9.4 percent of gross domestic product in 2007 to 8.7 percent in 2008. In order to make up the shortfall, there are now plans to target other markets like the fast growing economies of China, India and Russia.

But expansion cannot be done overnight. An initiative to further promote cruise tourism in cooperation with neighbouring countries like Madagascar, Reunion and the Seychelles has been announced. If agreement is reached between the different tourism promotion authorities, the region will soon be marketed as the “Vanilla Islands.” While this plan looks promising, will it work? Doubts prompted me to write an article for last week’s Mauritius Times on the perils of cruise tourism which typically promises a lot but often delivers much less.

Mauritius, which has a population of 1.3 million, may be one of Africa’s great economic and political success stories — it has come top of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance for the last three years. But the new coalition government has its work cut out to keep the wheels on the economic wagon and maintain the approval of the country’s sophisticated and well-informed electorate. This is no easy task in an era of unprecedented globalization, where economic power is moving from west to east (and elsewhere) with consequences which are impossible to predict.

Sean Carey obtained his Ph.D. in social/cultural anthropology from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He is currently research fellow at the Centre for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism (Cronem) at Roehampton University. He writes for the Guardian, Mauritius Times, New African and New Statesman.

• About the mosque (you know which one)
An article in the Huffington Post discussed how Muslims around the world are watching the US debate about the proposed mosque and community center at Park 51 in New York City near the location of the former World Trade Center towers. It included commentary from Zubair Ali, a retired Pakistani professor of anthropology who has lived in the US and who is presumably Muslim. He said that any decision to stop the mosque will empower those who say the US is waging a war against Islam. The New York Times included this statement from Muntasir Sattar, an anthropology student at Columbia University: “It’s been nine years, but it feels like we haven’t moved an inch since then to come to terms with the issues.”

• Take your cruise ship and…
Mauritius is pumping up efforts to promote cruise ship tourism. According to cultural anthropologist Sean Carey of the Centre for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism at Roehampton University, the Vanilla Island should tell the cruise ships to shove off since little evidence indicates any long term positive effects for the destination while much evidence suggests negative environmental and social effects.

• Dilemma about book on nuclear testing resolved
Cultural anthropologist Hugh Gusterson of George Mason University is relieved to know that nuclear testing will not start again. That means he can carry on with his current book plans.

• Rural Thais no longer provincial
William Klausner, one of the “most senior and best known observers of rural Thailand,” has urged Thailand to address its urban-rural divide and city people’s disdain toward rural people: “The villagers are no longer uneducated and they’re no longer provincial…today they have mobile phones, televisions, satellite dishes and ‘even the odd computer in the village’.” Hope might instead lie in the maintenance of a healthy disdain of the “provincial” people toward the city dwellers.

• Get out of my genes
Don’t freshmen have enough to worry about? A plan to offer free genome scans to incoming freshmen at the University of California at Berkeley has been modified under protest from many students. Cultural anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes supported the state’s decision to back off from the tests. The Dean of Biological Sciences was not pleased.

• What can you do with a degree in anthropology?
Much appreciation to the Guardian for posing this question and offering some insights. Readers of this blog know that with a BA in anthropology you can, for example, become a top chef (Rick Bayless), a hip hop star (Ndeka), a novelist (Camilla Gibb), leading financial journalist (Gillian Tett), or documentary-maker and author (Sebastian Junger). Go for it, anthros.

• Speaking of which, a great job for anthros: film producer
Michael Lieber, a former cultural anthropologist, is producing a new political action thriller in which an anthropologist goes to West Africa to clear the name of a friend who is implicated in a terrorist attack. James Bond screen writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are involved. This could be good! Can you imagine swapping out the anthropologist in the lead part for….an economist?

• Last slave ship to the US
Just as there was a first one, there had to be a last one and thank goodness for that. Neil Norman, anthropology professor at the College of William and Mary in Virginia is excavating sites in north Mobile county, Alabama, to learn about the lives of slaves who arrived from Benin on the Clotilde in 1860.

• Students excavate Civil War POW camp in Georgia
Mary Craft, a graduate from Gainesville State College, discovered the camp and is now working with others to excavate the site and develop the exhibit about it.

• Addicted to archaeology
The Frederick NewsPost carried a story about student excavators working at an African American slave site in Maryland. It highlights the dedication of Shayla Monroe, a senior archaeology major at Howard University.

MR: What regions of Pakistan and sectors of the population are affected most by the tragic flooding?

FB: Vast swathes of land in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (previously the Northwest Frontier Province), Southern Punjab (the Siraiki region of the Punjab), Sindh, and Balochistan have been devastated by the recent floods. These floods are considered to be the worst in the entire world during the past hundred years. It is not an exaggeration that fifteen million families have been rendered homeless, and hundreds of thousands of homes have been wiped off the face of the earth. Hundreds of villages are no more. Standing crops over thousands of acres, cattle, infrastructure, and productive assets of millions of families have been lost due to flooding. A woman from a very well off and respected family of a rural district contacted by phone said “Everything is gone. We are beggars”. Scores of women from small farm and landless families burst into tears when asked about their plight. “There is no food, no water, no medicine, no help” most of them narrated. If they do not receive assistance soon, they may reach the point where they think that there is “no hope”. Such a situation will add another dimension to the crisis because desperate minds are fertile ground for militants. This is a great humanitarian crisis to which the world’s conscience needs to respond.  The scale of this tragedy is so enormous that the country’s entire population is reeling in shock.

MR: What does the devastation in Pakistan look like to you on the ground?

FB: Thousands of human settlements are under ten or fifteen-foot deep water. Dead cattle can be found everywhere. Innumerable people are stranded in areas surrounded by water. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, children, and elderly people who managed to move out of their houses leaving behind their assets accumulated over a life time have squatted along the roads. Tents are in extremely short supply, so the homeless sit under the burning sun without any shade to cover their heads. They often seem overwhelmed and unable to decide what to do. There are shortages of food, safe drinking water, and medicine. Whenever food arrives, scrambling for it leads to scuffles, and inevitably, the poor, weak, and households headed by women are hurt the most. There is no organized, visible, and dependable government assistance available.

MR: What can be done to counter “donor fatigue” and the perception that indigenous aid organizations are untrustworthy?

FB: Please be assured that the media are underestimating the resilience, resourcefulness, and capacity of the people to cope with the disaster due to the presence of hundreds of formal and informal institutions and mechanisms that help people on a day-to-day basis. Credible, effective, and trustworthy actors certainly abound. They include philanthropists, NGOs, custodians of shrines, voluntary associations, government agencies, and, yes, the army. Some politicians also have played very active and constructive roles in reaching out to people. All tiers of the government cannot be trusted and government cannot reach out everywhere given the enormous scale of this tragedy.

Two factors are key here. One is that DCOs, those in charge of districts, enjoy much less power, respect, and authority than did their predecessors, the Deputy Commissioners (DCs). Therefore, they are much less effective. Another is that elected local government officials were released from their jobs a few months ago. New local elections were not held because the ruling parties in each province wanted elections when they could achieve “favourable” results. Establishing links among doers, donors, and communities in need is the most important step. It is not transparency of government and relief assistance alone but sharing of information in general that is most critical. We need information gathering, analysis, packaging, and dissemination through electronic, print, and verbal means in a big way. Mainstream and alternative media have to play active roles to build links and trust. Once trust and links are established, the donor fatigue will go away.

MR: In what areas is need greatest this week (e.g., shelter, food, medicine, etc.)? In what areas will need be greatest a month and three months from now?

FB: As images circulated across the globe show, affected people and communities have lost everything. The greatest need this week is for tents, food, water, and medicine. One to three months from now the need will be greatest for productive assets like seed, cattle, ploughing instruments, water pumps to drain out trapped water, building materials, and credit.

A package to meet the basic food requirements of a family of 5-7 people includes 20 kg flour, 5 kg sugar, 5 kg oil, 1 kg tea, 5 kg pulses and lentils, 3 kg dry milk, and a few match boxes. It meets a family’s food needs for one week and costs Rs. 3200 (US $38). This is the cost of 5 lunches on the go in the USA. Millions of families need help. However, even making a donation to help a single family is like lighting a candle.

MR: What can US-based educators do to best represent and encourage interest in the tremendous challenges now faced by ordinary Pakistanis?

FB: Please link up with credible charities, NGOs, and autonomous government departments. Disseminate information on effective local actors to donors, volunteers, and technical experts who can help the affected communities, and raise and disburse funds. One way to identify effective local organizations is through the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP). The PCP accredits NGOs in a thorough and rigorous process, and a list of accredited NGOs is displayed on their website. Another way to identify credible organizations is through the UNOCHA (The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It has a district and function-wise list of credible NGOs in the field.) The World Bank-supported multi-million dollar Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) is another source for finding credible partners. Their partners are well scrutinized and selected after a careful appraisal process. Last and not least is the National Centre for Human Development (NCHD), which is headed by a former civil society activist and media professional who is highly respected for her competence, integrity, and commitment to the downtrodden.

To Donate, please visit the Rural Support Program here.

Images: “Aerial View of Flooding in Pakistan,” from flickr user DFID, and “Noor’s House,” from flickr user NB77, licensed with Creative Commons.

Joe Watkins and I are in the process of revising a manuscript for Left Coast Press and we need your help to broaden the perspective.  “The AnthropologyGraduate’s Guide: From Student to Career” is intended to provide practical steps that will assist students with the transition from student to a career in anthropology.  The stories, scenarios, and activities presented in the book assist the reader in learning how to plan for the next five years, write a letter of introduction, construct a resume and a CV, and how to best present the knowledge, skills, and abilities learned in class to prospective employers.  The products created through reading the book and completing the exercises are curated in a portfolio which at the completion of the book is ready for application to most any job.

The book is based on a class we taught at University of New Mexico.  Students in “Avenues to Professionalism” felt that this class was the most practical and useful of their educational career.  Our goal through the publication of this book is to bring that same benefit to other anthropology students, but we need your help in providing stories of others in how they obtained their career that utilizes their anthropology degree.  In class, we simply invited guest speakers in.  For the book, we would like to invite other practicing professionals to tell their stories.  We are both archaeologists.  We need the voice from the other disciplines/sub-fields.

Basically we need two things.
1) We need stories that describe how you transitioned from student to your career.  These stories should describe what you thought you would do, the types of jobs you held, and what you currently do.  It’s important to list the different employers you’ve had as you progressed through your career.  The description should be written in a conversational tone, as if you were talking to a student about your career path.

2) We need quotable quotes that we can use in various chapters.  They should say something about why you chose a career in an applied context, what you found to be the most useful from your anthropology degree, or words of advice to students interested in doing what you do.

In every case, it would be most useful to quote you directly so please include your name, the level of degree you obtained (BA, MA, PhD) and the sub-field you studied, your current title, and who you work for.  We will contact you prior to using your story or quote.

Please send your stories and quotes as soon as possible.  We realize that this is a short time frame, but we only need a couple of paragraphs, maximum.  We received the manuscript and comments back yesterday and the goal is to complete the revision by August 31.  IF we can do this, the book will be published and on the table at the AAA meetings, November 17-21, 2010, in New Orleans.  We will also make sure it is on the table at the SfAA meeting in Seattle!

Submissions or questions should be sent to Carol off-list: cjellick@sbcglobal.net. To see the book promo, go to the “What’s New” section on the Left Coast Press and select “Anthropology” link.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Joe & Carol

Carol J. Ellick holds a B.A. in anthropology from The Evergreen State College and an M.A. in education, with a specialization in curriculum and instruction, from Chapman University. Joe Watkins is currently the Director of the Native American Studies Program at the University of Oklahoma, as well as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the University’s Department of Anthropology.

Out of curiosity, I went to Google news yesterday and typed in “Paul Farmer.” Farmer is probably the most famous living anthropologist who is not known primarily as an anthropologist. That’s why news items about him don’t pop up in my Google reader.

Here’s the catch of the past few days from Google news about Paul Farmer, cultural anthropologist, doctor, and humanitarian activist.

• Book review in JAMA
Partners in Health: The Paul Farmer Reader has been published by the University of California Press. It is what it says it is: a collection of Farmer’s writings. It was just reviewed in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Not many anthropology books get reviewed in JAMA.

• On cancer
The Times of India carried an article about a recent pronouncement by medical specialists in the United States that cancer is a global health issue of high priority. The article quotes Paul Farmer, via the Lancet, as saying “There are clearly effective interventions that can prevent or ease suffering due to many malignancies, and that is surely our duty as physicians or policy makers or health advocates.”

• On why care about Pakistan
An essay in the Huffington Post salutes Paul Farmer in a paragraph pointing to “troubling contrasts” between the amount of aid pledged and given to Haiti after the January earthquake compared to the “averting of eyes” from Pakistan’s tragedy. The author says: “Dr. Paul Farmer sums it up pithily in the title of his book, The Uses of Haiti. The uses of Pakistan are different. We need to move beyond the uses of both our countries and toward understanding them accurately and respectfully in their own terms. Our understanding of Haiti should be more political and of Pakistan less so, or differently so.”

• Pay back time
An open letter to French president Nicolas Sarkozy from 90 academics, authors, journalists, and human rights activists around the world urged the French government to repay the 90 million gold francs that Haiti was forced to pay for its independence. Paul Farmer says “there are powerful arguments in favour of the restitution of the French debt.”

• Staying alive is more than medical
Fonkoze, an NGO that provides micro-credit loans in Haiti, realized that its programs miss the most needy. Fonkoze talked with Paul Farmer who said that his organization, Partners in Health, would create Fonkoze branches at all their hospitals. This partnership sounds promising and could help with the following comment from Farmer: “I’m really tired of taking these people who are close to death and making them better again, and then I have to watch them starve to death because they have no way to make a living.”

Image: “Paul Farmer speaks at IDEO,” from flickr user GlobalX, licensed with Creative Commons.

This post is an analytical literature review, with bibliography, of recent sources that use anthropological methods to explore threats to indigenous peoples, the implications of the threats/factors, and the responses of indigenous groups. It was originally prepared for a graduate seminar at George Washington University on “Culture, Risk and Security” in spring 2009.

A broad range of factors — including those alleged to threaten land, identity, rights, reputation — and a broad geographic scope — ranging from Siberia to Papua New Guinea — are featured in this essay. This breadth illustrates the diversity of threats faced by indigenous peoples and how indigenous people perceive and respond to these threats in widely divergent contexts. Trends and themes will be discussed with regard to who assesses or identifies threat, the nature of the threat, and the subsequent threat-response strategy of indigenous communities.

Who Assesses Threat?
With regard to factors that affect indigenous peoples, what is perceived as threatening by one party may be benign to another. Non indigenous actors such as indigenous rights activists, NGOs, or anthropologists may be quick to raise alarms over the very same factor indigenous peoples actively seek out (Donahoe 2008, Errington and Gewertz 1996). Anthropologists, for example, may assess the practice of neo-shamanism by Anglo Americans and Europeans as a form of cultural appropriation and thus a threat to the cultural integrity of shamanist indigenous groups (Wallis 1999), while an indigenous shaman may assess the phenomenon as neutral or even beneficial for the visibility of their traditions. Vice versa, unconcerned outsiders or those with a different stake in an issue may not recognize the risks associated with a given factor, while indigenous peoples see it as a clear threat (Collaredo-Mansfield 2002). Even among indigenous peoples, a single factor may be assessed differently, as is the case with ethnic policy and identity-based land/resource legislation in Siberia (Donahoe 2008), or the arrival of an extractive industry in indigenous territory in Brazilian Amazonia (Turner 1995), which are perceived as threats by some indigenous groups and individuals and as opportunity by others.

The factors explored in this essay may be understood by evaluating them in terms of themes about who assesses them as threatening, and the level of ambiguity or consolidation of that assessment. A factor that is perceived as a threat uniformly by all members of an indigenous group, and by a variety of distinct outside agents might be classified as a “clear threat,” whereas a factor that is ambiguously assessed among indigenous groups and individuals or among outside entities may be a “potential threat” or “threat-opportunity.” Environmental degradation, for example, might fall under the former, while at the same time, mining activities may fall under the latter (Turner 1995). The term “projected threat” may be appropriate for factors assessed as being threatening by an outsider but benign or even attractive to an indigenous group. This is the case with commercialization of ritual associated with “modernity” for the Chambri in Papua New Guinea (Errington and Gewertz 1996).

What is being threatened?
As discussed above, each factor explored in this essay is identified as threatening by at least one party. Though the nature of these threats varies notably. It is best understood by looking not at the factor itself, but at what is being threatened. Kirsch (2007) and Thompson (2002) discuss factors that threaten land and access to resources respectively. These might be classified as “physical threats,” or threats that have a physical, tangible impact on indigenous people and/or their environment. The majority of authors, however, explore intangible threats, including those that threaten indigenous self-determination (Blaser 2004, Tsing 1999) or cultural loss vis-à-vis assimilation or cultural mainstreaming (Conklin and Graham 1995, Garland 1999, Hodgson 2002). These threats might be classified as “socio-cultural threats,” and are usually far more ambiguously assessed than are physical threats. Anthropologists are particularly well-positioned to shed light of such factors, by exploring the nuances associated with cultural change resultant from threat, and the broader implications these threats may have.

What are the responses of indigenous peoples?
This bibliography reveals that responses to threats or potential threats are as divergent as the nature of the threats themselves. From violence (Postero 2005, Turner 2005) to political engagement (Hodgson 2002, Turner 1995), to acceptance (Cole 1981, Conklin and Graham 1995, Wallis 1999), authors reveal that indigenous response to threat run the full spectrum, and likely depend on the elements discussed above. In other words, by evaluating who assesses a factor as threatening, as well as the nature of the threat, it may be possible to predict the type of response strategy that will be employed. Patterns indeed to arise when the responses discussed in this bibliography are grouped and analyzed.

Reactive responses may be characterized as response that is confrontational, and oriented towards an elimination or removal of the threatening factor. Negotiative responses may be characterized as those that seek compromises regarding, concessions from, or controls of a threatening factor. Submissive responses may be characterized by avoidance, denial, or passive acceptance of a threat. Reactive responses seem likely in cases of “clear,” and “physical threat,” but unlikely when a factor is classified as a “projected, socio-cultural threat,” in which case negotiative responses are more often employed. Submissive responses seem to be associated with various types of threat, which could be explained in part by a lack of agency on the part of indigenous communities to respond alternatively, as suggested by Cole (1981), Mackey (1999), and Tsosie (1997).

Analyzing threat at this third level of threat-response strategy allows for a greater understanding of how indigenous peoples encounter and engage with change, define their identity, and set priorities when faced with risk. In a world in which change is occurring at a pace and scale never before experienced, this may serve as a valuable framework for understanding and safeguarding indigenous rights and interests, and shaping policy and actions that are sensitive to the distinct context and cultures of indigenous peoples.

Annotated Sources
Blaser, Mario
2004 ‘Way of Life’ Or ‘Who Decides’: Development, Paraguayan Indigenism and the Yshiro People’s Life Projects. In In the Way of Development: Indigenous Peoples, Life Projects, and Globalization. Mario Blaser, Harvey A. Feit and Glenn McRae, eds. Pp. 52-71. London, New York: Zed Books.
Blaser discusses the concept of “indigenists,” or non-indigenous groups who speak on behalf of and attempt to represent indigenous peoples and their interests. Using the case of the Yshiro people of Paraguay, the author shows how such external agents are seen by the Yshiro as a threat to self-determination, particular when they act as agents for externally-driven development projects dealing with land claims. Blaser uses the terms “conservatives” and “radicals” to classify indigenists who represent indigenous interests and identity in polarized and mutually-opposed forms. The chapter draws on the author’s observations and primary source data including quotations from members of “indigenist” organizations and Yshiro people. Blaser seeks to address the problem of how development practitioners can pose as obstacles or threats to indigenous self-determination, by showing how assumptions and claims of representation of the Yshiro actually hinder Yshiro interests and empowerment.
Keywords: Paraguay; indigenous people; Yshiro; development; land

Cole, Donald P.
1981 Bedouin and Social Change in Saudi Arabia. In Change and Development in Nomadic and Pastoral Societies. Galaty, John and Philip Carl Salzman, ed. Pp. 128-149. Netherlands: Leiden-E.J. Brill.
Cole examines Bedouin pastoral groups’ responses to the changing socio-economic context of Saudi Arabia in the late 20th century, brought about by the expansion of the oil industry in that country. He takes a neutral position on the changes brought about by Saudi Arabia’s modernization and the growth of its oil industry, by examining both the opportunities and threats it has presented to indigenous Bedouin herding communities. As such, the article is useful in exploring the concept of how indigenous communities may perceive a single factor as being both threatening and empowering at the same time. Though Cole does not explicitly discuss the notion of cultural “threats,” he identifies a variety of consequences of the changing socio-economic context that have threatened Bedouin culture and society — for example, contestations over land rights, pressure to sedentarize, diminished regard for Bedouin culture and status within “modern” Saudi society, and environmental degradation. The article also discusses the notion of how the Bedouin have come to be dependent on state subsidies and services, which the reader can imply may threaten the groups’ autonomy and rights to self-determination. Cole’s ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the 1970s among the Al Murrah Bedouin, along with sociological surveys and anthropological works dating back to the 1950s provide the data for the article.
Keywords: Saudi Arabia; Bedouin; indigenous people; change; modernity; pastoralism

Colloredo-Mansfeld, Rudi
2002 ‘Don’t be Lazy, Don’t Lie, Don’t Steal’: Community Justice in the Neoliberal Andes. American Ethnologist 29(3):637-653.
This article presents findings from anthropological fieldwork conducted among two indigenous communities in Otavalo, Ecuador. Colloredo-Mansfeld presents quotations from community members and develops theories to interpret how these communities perceive and react to threats. The threats explored include cultural change and marginalization at the hands of non-indigenous Ecuadorians, mainstream society, and neoliberally-informed consumerism in general, and the Ecuadorian police and justice system in particular. Colloredo-Mansfeld theorizes that the process of reaction (in this case characterized by violence and a claim to the right of vigilante-style community justice) served to unify and strengthen the indigenous communities politically through social movements built around a collective response to an outsider. At the same time, however, the author acknowledges that this politically unifying experience may trigger significant change in culture, power-structures, and interpretation of tradition within these societies.
Keywords: Ecuador; Otavalo; indigenous people; change; response; outsider; justice

Conklin, Beth A. and Laura R. Graham
1995 The Shifting Middle Ground: Amazonian Indians and Eco-Politics. American Anthropologist 97(4):695-710.
Though Conklin and Graham describe how the Kayapo indigenous people of Brazil navigate within a “middle ground” between fourth world (indigenous peoples) and first world entities in order to mitigate threat. The authors characterize the middle ground as a space where symbols of indigenous peoples that are attractive and compelling to first world agents are used to create alliances and foster negotiations between interest groups. These symbols include the noble-savage-conservationist-native, employed by NGO/Kayapo alliances to gain land and resource rights in response to the threat of land encroachment. The authors identify three weaknesses of the middle ground eco-politics strategy, including a superficialization of indigenous culture and interests in the form of media-ready symbols, the alienation of indigenous mediators from the media-dominated middle ground, and incongruities of middle ground symbolism and rhetoric with Brazilian national sovereignty.
Keywords: Brazil; Amazon; Kayapo; eco-politics; media; indigenous peoples; risk; symbol

Donahoe, Brian et al.
2008 Size and Place in the Construction of Indigeneity in the Russian Federation. Current Anthropology 49(6):993-1020.
Based on nearly a decade of fieldwork in Siberia, Donahoe’s article explores the post-Soviet legal classification of korennye malochislennye narody (“indigenous small-numbered peoples”) or “KMN,” and its ambiguous implications for Russian indigenous groups. He presents a synopsis of the legal eligibility requirements for KMN status, which dictates that group composition may number no more than 50,000 individuals, and documents how this legislation has threatened indigenous peoples through divisive identity politics. While Donahoe shows how some indigenous peoples benefit from KMN policy by gaining access to government subsidies, special land rights, and other concessions afforded by the designation, he also shows how others have defensively avoided the designation because of its negative political and cultural connotations. As such, groups have artificially redefined ethnic boundaries to achieve membership of 50,000+ individuals, or conversely, excluded members due to the risk of being rendered politically “less indigenous” if membership exceeds the designated limit and KMN eligibility cannot be met. Donahoe discusses responses to and consequences of KMN policy among both small and large indigenous groups through case studies of the Altaians, Nenets, Komi, Iz’vatas, Tofa, Tozhu, and Evenki peoples. These examples provide strong evidence for Donahoe’s argument that state-sanctioned policies on indigenous designation fail to reflect indigenous realities and create political and cultural threats.
Keywords: Russia; Siberia; indigenous peoples; threat; policy; small-numbered ethnic groups

Errington, Frederick and Deborah Gewertz
1996 The Individuation of Tradition in a Papua New Guinean Moderniy. American Anthropologist 98(1):114- 126.
Errington and Gewertz’s present a philosophical treatment of indigenous strategy to protect and safeguard “tradition” from the threat of cultural loss by overtly embracing and incorporating “modernity,” in their article that examines Chambri culture in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. They provide an example of a Chambri dancer who proudly performs ancient rituals for tourists, and even accepts corporate sponsorship, in the dancer’s self-described attempt to circumvent the risks of cultural loss by controlling and benefiting from threatening changes posed by modernity. The authors identify these threatening changes as including degradation or commoditization of cultural symbols, and an increasing trend of materialism correlated with out-migration. Though they present findings that suggest Chambri individuals are satisfied with the efficacy of their threat-response strategy, the authors take a critical view of their subjects’ ability to mitigate threats by consciously, and selectively, incorporating aspects of modernity into traditional life. They suggest this strategy has unintended consequences for Chambri culture, including increased exposure of cultural knowledge and property to outsiders, and an increase in urban migration and assimilation to mainstream PNG culture resultant from a heightened preference for modern amenities and commodities.
Keywords: Papua New Guinea; Chambri; tradition; culture; modernity; change

Garland, Elizabeth
1999 Developing bushmen: building civil(ized) society in the Kalahari and beyond. In Civil society and the critical imagination in Africa: critical perspectives. Comaroff, John and Jean Comaroff, ed. Pp. 72-103. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Garland examines how neoliberal discourses on civil society have influenced the Ju/’hoan bushmen in the Namibian Kalahari. The article chronicles the author’s experience as a consultant hired to develop an anthropologically-informed strategy for tourism development in the community by an international NGO that works closely with the community. Using findings from participant-observation, the author describes a particular meeting at which the Ju/’hoan bushmen accuse the NGO with whom the author has been contracted, of being a threat to the community’s right to self-determination. The author deconstructs the event in an attempt to show how indigenous communities may use modern norms of neoliberal civil society in the process of reacting negatively to the consequences caused by that very same entity: neoliberal civil society. In other words, the article documents an ironic example of how a community transforms a perceived threat into the very weapon they use to react to the threat.
Keywords: Namibia; Bushmen; Ju/’hoan; indigenous people; development; NGO

Hodgson, Dorothy
2002 Precarious Alliances: The Cultural Politics and Structural Predicaments of the Indigenous Rights Movement in Tanzania. American Anthropologist 104(4): 1086-1097.
Hodgson documents Maasai responses to the threat of rapid economic change, land encroachment, and development at large, by showing that a particular threat-response strategy among this group has been the mobilization of Indigenous Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOS). By examining the Maasai-dominated Tanzanian Pastoralist INGO, PINGO, on the occasion of a workshop in 2000, Hodgson provides a critique of the effectiveness of the threat-response strategy described above. She addresses and legitimizes the reasoning for the mobilization of INGOs, which include the recent availability of funding for INGOs, traction of global indigenous movements, and changes in Tanzanian, and UN legal frameworks that grant special rights to indigenous peoples. Hodgson argues that INGOs, especially those that serve as umbrella consortium organizations for smaller INGOs, are plagued by conflicting perceptions about representation, politics of inclusion and exclusion, and structural complications and competition with regard to funding, institutional capacity, and donor agendas. As such, Hodgson suggests that the formation and mobilization of INGOs is a problematic threat-response strategy. She validates INGOs in general, but concludes with an appeal for changes in their structural dynamics if they are to be effective in responding to threats in various forms.
Keywords: Tanzania; Maasai; INGOs; indigenous people; alliances; representation

Kirsch, Stuart
2007 Indigenous Movements and the Risks of Counterglobalization: Tracking the Campaign against Papua New Guinea’s Ok Tedi Mine. American Ethnologist 34(2):303-321.
Kirsch suggests that alliance with counterglobalization movements may weaken indigenous communities’ ability to effectively mitigate threats and achieve their desired outcomes. Through documentation of a conflict between the Ok Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea and indigenous communities downstream including the Yonggom, Kirsch reveals how indigenous interests are rarely, if ever, one-dimensional, particularly in the case of mineral development that yields economic benefits on the one hand, but environmental degradation on the other. Dissimilarly, he describes counterglobalization movements as approaching potential threats or adversaries with an overly simplified, unyielding approach, for example uniformly anti-mining. Kirsch’s interview and participant observation data suggest that Yonggom perspectives on the Ok Tedi mine were characterized by both concern and interest in possible mineral development projects. When aligned with staunch counterglobalization NGOs and/or lawyers advocating for closure of the mine on the grounds of indigenous rights, Kirsch shows how the Yonggom’s ability to negotiate or seek alternative outcomes to a mine closure was undermined. Kirsch suggests that this case study may be symptomatic of a global paradox whereby indigenous peoples’ interests are simplified vis-à-vis counterglobalization as being binary in nature, thus robbing indigenous groups of the ability to respond to threat through more dynamic, multifaceted approaches.
Keywords: Papua New Guinea; Ok Tedi mine; Yoggom; counterglobalization; mining

Mackey, Eva
1999 Constructing and Endangered Nation: Risk, Race, and Rationality in Australia’s Native Title Debate. In Risk and Sociocultural Theory: New Directions and Perceptions. Deborah Lupton, ed. Pp. 108. London: Cambridge University Press.
While most studies on indigenous people and risk focus on threats posed to indigenous people, Mackey inverts the norm by exploring the perceived threat posed by indigenous peoples to mainstream society. She explores how mainstream Australian society, including policy makers, perceive aboriginal claims to land rights as permitted under the 1992 legal native title reforms, as a threat to Australian nationalism and economically-oriented land use. Mackey documents how risk and threat discourses are employed by non-aboriginals against aboriginal people. The article is effective in its use of excerpts and review of literature to explore the topic, however little treatment is given to aboriginal reactions to their condemnation as a threat to Australian society.
Keywords: indigenous people; risk discourse; threat; land; policy

Postero, Nancy
2005 Indigenous Responses to Neoliberalism: A Look at the Bolivian Uprising of 2003. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review 28(1):73–92.
By relying on historical accounts and data gathered through participant observation, Postero traces indigenous responses to neoliberalism in Bolivia. She puts this case study in the wider context of indigenous responses to neoliberalism in general, and structural adjustments programs in particular, in seven Latin American countries in order to compare indigenous threat-response strategy at the regional and topical levels. The comparison illustrates how groups outside Bolivia negotiated within the framework of neoliberal governments and programs to gain increased political power and economic status. In contrast, Bolivian Indians perceived neoliberalism as a threat to their human rights, political representation, and economic standing, and mobilized a violent uprising against neoliberally-rooted institutions and programs. Bolivian Indians forged alliances with non-indigenous segments of the Bolivian population, including labor unions and the urban poor, thereby coupling two powerful rhetorical frameworks: indigenous rights and populist nationalism. These mixed groups of indigenous and non-indigenous peoples staged what is called the October Uprising, which involved protests, attacks on police stations and other state buildings, and street riots. Postero credits the alliance with resultant outcomes including referendum on political and economic issues in favor of indigenous/populist interests. She posits that it was the use of rhetoric and the ability to mobilize people across ethnic boundaries that explain the success of the alliance.
Keywords: Latin America; Bolivia; October Uprising; neoliberalism; indigenous; Indians

Thompson, Niobe
2002 ‘Administrative Resettlement and the Pursuit of Economy: The Case of Chukotka.’ Polar Geography 26(4):270-288.
Thompson chronicles the events and outcomes of a World Bank and Ministry-funded resettlement program in the Far Northeastern provinces of Sakha, Kamchatka, Magadan, and Chukotka, Russia that began in 2003. By exploring the historical, economic, and social justifications for the resettlement, the author shows how various groups have benefited from or faced threats from the program. Thompson shows how indigenous groups, who by-and-large did not take advantage of the voluntary resettlement program, faced consequences of depopulation and thus reduction in overall funding, infrastructure, and services in their remote part of the country. He bases his arguments on interviews with northern residents, and historical documents that trace the story and implications of the program.
Keywords: Russia; Siberia; Chukotka; resettlement; indigenous people; depopulation.

Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt
1999 Becoming a Tribal Elder, and Other Green Development Fantasies. In Transforming the Indonesian Uplands: Marginality, Power and Production. Tania Murray Li, ed. Pp. 159-202. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers.
Working from the assumption that institutionalized projects of “sustainable development” have the potential to threaten the self-determination, land use, and identity of indigenous peoples, Tsing documents a case in which Indonesian tribal communities in the Meratus Mountains of Kalimantan mitigated this threat through effective perception and response. She argues that the communities in her study have developed and employed a framework the author dubs “green development fantasy,” which enables them to shape their own cultural objectives and priorities into something legitimized within the frameworks and political context of externally-driven sustainable development. Green development fantasy makes use of stereotyped “tribal elders” who navigate between two worlds, and are in fact capable of transforming potentially threatening initiatives into projects that further the objectives and interests of the community. Tsing conducted field work in Indonesia 1994, and makes use of quotations and excerpts from documents written by Indonesian community members to build her argument. These data sources are effective in supporting the author’s interpretations of the effectiveness of indigenous responses to threats posed by sustainable development initiatives.
Keywords: Indonesia; Meratus; indigenous people; development; threat.

Tsosie, Rebecca
(1997) Indigenous Peoples’ Claims to Cultural Property: A Legal Perspective. Museum Anthropology (3):5-11.
Tsosie discusses the threat posed to Native Americans of cultural property violations, in particular the appropriation and protection of intangible property (i.e. cultural knowledge, rituals, etc) and the failure of U.S. and international legal frameworks to adequately protect Native Americans in particular, and indigenous peoples in general worldwide, from the threat of property violations. The article relies on published scholarly works on the subject of cultural property violations, as well as legal documents for data, but does not rely on data collected through fieldwork with affected communities. Tsosie presents possible solutions to reduce the threat of property appropriation and decrease property vulnerability among Native Americans’, including legal policy options and a proposal to cultivate a “moral common ground” on which Native property claims can be clarified and protected.
Keywords: Native Americans; indigenous people; threat; property rights.

Turner, Terrence
1995. An Indigenous Peoples Struggle for Socially Equitable and Ecologically
Sustainable Production: The Kayapo Revolt Against Extractivism. Journal of Latin American Anthropology 1(1):98-121.
Turner explores the indigenous responses to extractionism, especially logging and gold mining, by the central Brazilian Amazonian Kayapo people by examining events between the late 1980s and mid 1990s. Drawing on fieldwork in Brazil, first-hand observations, and written documentation of events related to Kayapo engagement with extractionism, Turner describes how community sub-groups defined largely across generational lines in two Kayapo communities, the Xingu and Para respectively, responded to the threat of extractive industry. Turner discusses the way some young male Kayapo utilize knowledge of mainstream Brazilian cultural and socio-political frameworks to become brokers of extraction contracts, thereby enabling extractionism in an effort to secure material wealth and leadership status in the community. Turner contrasts this with alternative responses such as the mobilization of community members to collective action, violent raids on mine and logging camps by community members, and eventually the establishment of formal indigenous community associations designed to secure resource rights for the Kayapo. Turner presents clear facts on chronological events, and employs analytical approaches to critique Kayapo responses to the threat of extractionism, as well as possible explanations for these responses.
Keywords: Brazil; Kayapo; indigenous people; response; land; extractionism

Wallis, Robert J.
1999. Altered States, Conflicting Cultures: Shamans, Neoshamans and Academics. Anthropology of Consciousness 10(2):41-49.
Wallis presents and examines the concept of “neo-shamanism” as both a threat and a source of potential benefits to indigenous shamanic cultures. He describes neo-shamanism as “a spiritual path for personal empowerment, utilizing altered states of consciousness and the shaman’s worldview” as practiced by Western Euroamerican practitioners. Wallis presents criticisms of the phenomena, including indigenous perspectives that neo-shamanism threats indigenous culture by comodifying sacred traditions, appropriating indigenous identity, and in some cases profiteering from the “repackaging” and sale of stolen cultural and intellectual property. Wallis takes a balanced approach to the concept of neo-shamanism by also noting the possible benefits of the practice for indigenous peoples, namely the financial patronage of neo-shamans of “authentic” shamans and their cultures. Few first-hand perspectives of indigenous shamans are included in the piece, leaving the reader to wonder how members of potentially-threatened communities perceive of and respond to neo-shamanism.
Keywords: indigenous people; threat; response; identity; shamans; neo-shamans.

Morgan Keay has lived and worked for over eight years with the marginalized Tsaatan reindeer-herding ethnic group in northern Mongolia. Her relationship with the Tsaatan began when she first traveled to Mongolia on a college study abroad program. In response to the Tsaatans’ request for assistance in overcoming infectious diseases, political marginalization, and poverty, Keay established The Itgel Foundation, an international development NGO, which has grown into a globally-recognized entity covered by The New York Times, BBC, NPR, and other media outlets, and featured in the National Geographic. In 2009, Keay earned an MA in International Policy and Practice in Development from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. Her previous degrees were in Environmental and Population Biology and Religious Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is committed to implementing community development projects related to agriculture, microfinance, cultural preservation, health, social justice, education, and environment. A resident of Ulaanbaatar, and fluent in Mongolian, Keay balances her role as Executive Director of The Itgel Foundation with consulting work for development sector clients for whom she has designed and launched multi-million dollar programs. She has published articles and chapters on the Tsaatan, development, and Mongolia, and she frequently lectures and presents on these topics.

Images: “Tuvan ger,” from flickr user kitseeborg, and “Audience at Xingu Encounter,” from flickr user International Rivers. licensed with Creative Commons.

• Many meanings of the Muslim headscarf
An article in the New York Times about multiple and shifting meanings of Muslim women’s headscarves quoted Hanan Sabea, an anthropology professor at the American University of Cairo. She explained that in Egypt, no clear consensus exists about the headscarf’s meaning in a time when the majority of women have adopted the practice–whether it’s about religiosity or simple conformity to public rules: “it’s an incredible moment..still very mushy and uncertain.” A small percentage of young Egyptian women are now starting to wear the niqab.

• Salvage anthropology in the Arctic
Linguistic anthropologist Stephen Pax Leonard of Cambridge University will spend a year living with the Inughuit people of north-west Greenland to document their unwritten language. He told the Guardian that “Climate change means they have around 10 or 15 years left” to live where they are. Once they move, their entire culture and language will be lost. The Inughuit are the world’s most northern people.

• Ancient meat eaters
The hottest news item of the week, by far, was the pushing back by 800,000 years of the date of earliest tool-using, animal butchering and likely meat-eating to 3.4 million years ago, the era of Lucy and our small-brained early human ancestors. The evidence is cut-marks on an animal bone from Dikika, Ethiopia. Leader of the research, Ethiopian paleoanthropologist Zeresenay Alemseged who is with the California Academy of Sciences, is quoted in the New York Times as saying: “Our future work will be to find those stone tools that have shifted the framework for such an important transition in the behavior of our ancestors.” The findings are published in Nature.

• Ancient people eaters
Not just as an occasional snack, feast item or famine food, Homo antecessor inhabitants of the Atapuerca cave complex in Spain practiced “continuous cannibalism” as indicated by thousands of bones with cut marks. USA Today covered the story, and the findings are published in Current Anthropology.

• Olde home in Britain
A team of archaeologists from the Universities of Manchester and York announced the discovery of the remains (postholes and a depression) of the oldest house site in Britain. Located at Star Carr in North Yorkshire, it had a lake view.

• Even older Neanderthal bedroom
A cave in Cantabria, Spain, offers insights into Neanderthal lifeways between 53,000 and 39,000 years ago. Their beds were made of grass and may have served as sitting areas during the day. Findings are published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

• Get a job
MSNBC carried an article describing various “jobs” available in prehistory, drawing on findings of several archaeologists from several sites and eras. They include ornament maker, weaver/fashion designer, brewing alcoholic beverages, and manufacturing what may be very early sex toys.

• Early trade links between east Africa and China
Archaeological discoveries in coastal Kenya show that trade with China existed in the 10th century.

• Orangutans not loners by choice
Documentary sources from the 19th century indicate that orangutan populations were much larger 150 years ago than they are today, raising the likelihood that the current solitary lifestyle of orangutans may be caused by anthropogenic destruction of their habitat and other human practices resulting in significant population decline.