Synopses & Reviews
Strangers to Relatives is an intimate and illuminating look at a typical but misunderstood part of anthropological fieldwork in North America: the adoption and naming of anthropologists by Native families and communities. Adoption and naming have long been a common way for Native peoples in Canada and the United States to deal with strangers who are not enemies. For over a century, adoption and naming have also served as an important means for many Native American and First Nation communities to become connected to the anthropologists visiting and writing about them.and#160;In this outstanding volume, leading anthropologists in the United States and Canada discuss this issue by focusing on the cases of such prominent earlier scholars as Lewis Henry Morgan and Franz Boas. They also share personal experiences of adoption and naming and offer a range of stimulating perspectives on the significance of these practices in the past and today. The contributors explore the impact of adoption and naming upon the relationship between scholar and Native community, considering in particular two key issues: How does adoption affect the fieldwork and subsequent interpretations by anthropologists, and in turn, how are Native individuals and communities themselves affected by adopting an outside scholar whose aim is to learn and write about them?and#160;Strangers to Relatives not only sheds valuable light on how anthropology fieldwork is conducted but also makes a seminal contribution to our understanding of the ongoing, often troubled relationship between the academy and Native communities.
Review
andquot;This well-conceived and very well executed volume marks a major advance in discussions of the significance of aerophones and sound over a large area of South America.andquot;andmdash;Anthony Seeger, Journal of Anthropological Research
Review
and#8220;New Perspectives on Native North America is a must read for graduate students in anthropology, cultural studies, ethnic studies, and history preparing for comprehensive exams.and#8221;and#8212;Great Plains Quarterly
Review
"The scientific community will welcome this publication for its inspiring inquiries."and#8212;Dagmar Siebelt, Anthropos
Review
"Those familiar with the region and the various cultures will find it not only useful, but stimulating. Throughout the papers, oral and written history, data, linguistics, and theory are all woven together in both the Land#233;vi-Strauss and Boasian approaches to understanding people and their culturesand#8230;. I highly recommend
Coming to Shore for any serious student of the Northwest Coast and its cultural history."and#8212;
ArticReview
"The chapters confirm the editors' introductory assertion that the North Pacific Coast is central to the history of anthropology for reasons that go beyond the fact that this was where Boas conducted his pioneering research. Taken together, the chapters reinforce both the extent of the Boasian legacy and the continuing vitality of research in the area."and#8212;Robert L. A. Hancock,
BC StudiesReview
"At once a history of Northwest Coast anthropology, a contribution to it, and a commentary on ethnographic practiceand#8230;. Coming to Shore is most interesting in its presentation of a Northwest Coast ethnography that could be used 'as a setting for a novel.' It also presents a close look at the cultures of academic traditions in France and North America."and#8212;Robin Ridington, Journal of Anthropological Research
Review
and#8220;Each of these honest and significant papers adds much to accounts of fieldwork experiences, confronting the historical and contemporary contours of the state of the discipline via adoption processes. . . . This important book furthers understanding of Indian-white relations in a fashion that humanizes both Indians and anthropologists.and#8221;and#8212;Choice
Review
"Sergei Kan has produced a superb intellectual biography of Lev Shternberg. . . . This biography succeedsand#8212;where many do notand#8212;in bringing the complexity of the subject's identity to life within a historical context."and#8212;Jeffrey W. Jones, Ethnohistory
Review
"This scholarly biography of Lev Shternberg, a leading Russian anthropologist, will be of interest to his fellow social scientists as well as to followers of Russian history and especially to those concerned about the experiences of Jews in Russia during the late tsarist and early Communist years."and#8212;Jeffrey Johnson, Buffalo Jewish Review
Review
"Kan, a professor of anthropology at Dartmouth, has produced a thorough study of Shternberg's life and influence."and#8212;Morton I. Teicher, National Jewish Post and Opinion
Review
"This long-awaited intellectual biography of the founder of the Leningrad School of Ethnography, Lev Shternberg, by Sergei Kan is a landmark study both as a biography of an influential scholar and as a foundational work in the history of Russian anthropology."and#8212;David G. Anderson, Anthropos
Review
"This is the biography of an exceptional Russian Jew. . . . It is also an exceptional introduction to the history and development of anthropology and ethnography in Russia which focuses on both the institutions and the relevant currents of thought. . . . [Kan's] intelligence and his mastery of the sources make this a model piece of research and a very valuable contribution to a number of disciplines."and#8212;Shaul Stampfer, East European Jewish Affairs
Review
"This is an important book that informs the Western audience of Lev Shternberg (1861and#8211;1927), one of the leading figures in Russian and Soviet anthropology."and#8212;Tanya Argounova-Low, Sibirica
Review
andquot;In this beautifully presented anthology of songs, poems, and short narratives from the American Southwest, even the uninitiated reader gains a deep appreciation for the rich diversity of oral literature that ha long circulated in this region.andquot;andmdash;Sean Oand#39;Neill, American Anthropologist
Review
andquot;[Inside Dazzling Mountains] demonstrates more culturally sensitive and subtle ways of approaching Native tales than have been the norm.andquot;andmdash;M. F. McClure, CHOICE
Synopsis
The first in-depth, comparative, and interdisciplinary study of indigenous Amazonian musical cultures,
Burst of Breath showcases new research on the dynamic range of ritual power and social significance of various wind instrumentsand#8212;including flutes, trumpets, clarinets, and whistlesand#8212;played in sacred rituals and ceremonies in Lowland South America.
The editors provide a detailed overview of the historical significance, scientific classification, shamanic and cosmological associations, and changing social meanings of ritual wind instruments within Amazonian cultures. These essays present a wide perspective that goes beyond better-documented areas such as the Upper Xingu and northwest Amazon. Some of the authors explore the ways ritual wind instruments are used to introduce natural sounds into social contexts and to cross boundaries between verbal and nonverbal communication. Others look at how ritual wind instruments and their music enter into local definitions and negotiations of relations between men, women, kin, insiders, and outsiders.
Closely considering these instruments in their many roles and contextsand#8212;in curing and purification, negotiating relations, connecting mythic ancestors and humans todayand#8212;this volume reveals the power and complexity of the music at the heart of collective rituals across lowland South America.
Synopsis
In this volume some of the leading scholars working in Native North America explore contemporary perspectives on Native culture, history, and representation. Written in honor of the anthropologist Raymond D. Fogelson, the volume charts the currents of contemporary scholarship while offering an invigorating challenge to researchers in the field.
The essays employ a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches and range widely across time and space. The introduction and first section consider the origins and legacies of various strands of interpretation, while the second part examines the relationship among culture, power, and creativity. The third part focuses on the cultural construction and experience of history, and the volume closes with essays on identity, difference, and appropriation in several historical and cultural contexts. Aimed at a broad interdisciplinary audience, the volume offers an excellent overview of contemporary perspectives on Native peoples.
Synopsis
The Northwest Coast of North America was home to dozens of Native peoples at the time of its first contact with Europeans. The rich artistic, ceremonial, and oral traditions of these peoples and their preservation of cultural practices have made this region especially attractive for anthropological study. Coming to Shore provides a historical overview of the ethnology and ethnohistory of this region, with special attention given to contemporary, theoretically informed studies of communities and issues.
The first book to explore the role of the Northwest Coast in three distinct national traditions of anthropologyand#8212; American, Canadian, and Frenchand#8212;Coming to Shore gives particular consideration to the importance of Claude Land#233;vi-Strauss and structuralism, as well as more recent social theory in the context of Northwest Coast anthropology. In addition contributors explore the blurring boundaries between theoretical and applied anthropology as well as contemporary issues such as land claims, criminal justice, environmentalism, economic development, and museum display. The contribution of Frederica de Laguna provides a historical background to the enterprise of Northwest Coast anthropology, as do the contributions of Claude Land#233;vi-Strauss and Marie Mauzand#233;.
Synopsis
Sharing Our Knowledge brings together Native elders, tradition bearers, educators, cultural activists, anthropologists, linguists, historians, and museum professionals to explore the culture, history, and language of the Tlingit people of southeast Alaska and their coastal neighbors. These interdisciplinary, collaborative essays present Tlingit culture, as well as the culture of their coastal neighbors,and#160;not as an object of study but rather as a living heritage that continues to inspire and guide the lives of communities and individuals throughout southeast Alaska and northwest British Columbia.and#160;
and#160;This volume focuses on the preservation and dissemination of Tlingit language, traditional cultural knowledge, and history from an activist Tlingit perspective. Sharing Our Knowledge also highlights a variety of collaborations between Native groups and individuals and non-Native researchers, emphasizing a long history of respectful, cooperative, and productive working relations aimed at recording and transmitting cultural knowledge for tribal use and promoting Native agency in preserving heritage. By focusing on these collaborations, the contributors demonstrate how such alliances have benefited the Tlingits and neighboring groups in preserving and protecting their heritage while advancing scholarship at the same time.and#160;and#160;
Synopsis
This intellectual biography of Lev Shternberg (1861and#8211;1927) illuminates the development of professional anthropology in late imperial and early Soviet Russia. Shortly after the formation of the Soviet Union the government initiated a detailed ethnographic survey of the countryand#8217;s peoples. Lev Shternberg, who as a political exile during the late tsarist period had conducted ethnographic research in northeastern Siberia, was one of the anthropologists who directed this survey and consequently played a major role in influencing the professionalization of anthropology in the Soviet Union.
But Shternberg was much more than a government anthropologist. Under the new regime he continued his work as the senior curator of the St. Petersburg Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, which began in the early 1900s. In the last decade of his life Shternberg also played a leading role in establishing a new Soviet school of cultural anthropology and in training a cohort of professional anthropologists. True to the ideals of his youth, he also continued an active involvement in the intellectual life of the Jewish community, even though the new regime was making it increasingly difficult.and#160;This in-depth biography explores the scholarly and political aspects of Shternbergand#8217;s life and how they influenced each other. It also places his career in both national and international perspectives, showing the context in which he lived and worked and revealing the important developments in Russian anthropology during these tumultuous years.
Synopsis
Inside Dazzling Mountains provides fresh new translations of Native oral literatures of the Southwest, a region of vital and varied cultures and languages. The collection features songs, stories, chants, and orations from the four major language groups of the Southwest:and#160;Yuman, Nadand#237;ne (Apachean), Uto-Aztecan, and Kiowa-Tanoan. It combines translations of recordings made in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with a rich array of newly recorded and produced materials, attesting to the continued vitality and creativity of contemporary Native languages in the Southwest.
For southwestern linguistic and cultural traditions to be more widely recognized and appreciated, retranslations of older works have been sorely needed. Original translations were often flawed and culturally biased and made use of literary conventions that were familiar to Anglo-Americans but foreign to the Native tribes themselves. Inside Dazzling Mountains corrects these flaws and celebrates the diversity of Native languages spoken in the Southwest today.
Skillfully edited and translated by David L. Kozak, who offers a wealth of editorial tools for interpreting songs, song sets, myths, stories, and chants of the Southwest, past and present, this volume contributes to the continued vitality and cultural complexity of the region.
About the Author
Sergei A. Kan is a professor of anthropology and Native American studies at Dartmouth College. He is the editor of
Strangers to Relatives: The Adoption and Naming of Anthropologists in Native North America (Nebraska 2001), co-editor of
Coming to Shore: Northwest Coast Ethnology, Traditions, and Visions (Nebraska 2004), and the author of
Memory Eternal: Tlingit Culture and Russian Orthodox Christianity. Pauline Turner Strong is an associate professor of anthropology and gender studies at the University of Texasand#8211;Austin. Her publications include
Captive Selves, Captivating Others: The Politics and Poetics of Colonial American Captivity Narratives and a series of influential articles on the representation of indigenous peoples.
The contributors include: Jeffrey D. Anderson, Mary Druke Becker, Margaret Bender, Robert Brightman, Jennifer S.H. Brown, Thomas Buckley, Raymond A. Bucko, S.J., Regna Darnell, Raymond DeMallie, David W. Dinwoodie, Frederick W. Gleach, Michael E. Harkin, Joseph C. Jastrzembski, Sergei A. Kan, Robert E. Moore, Peter Nabokov, Larry Nesper, Jean M. Oand#8217;Brien, Pauline Turner Strong, Greg Urban, and Barrik Van Winkle.