Native Studies: Reaction 2
I've been watching An Idiot Abroad, Ricky Gervais' travel program starring a man who's mind has absolutely captivated me, Mr. Karl Pilkington. I cut a bit from an episode where he was sent whale watching and happened to make a stop in an Inuit village in Alaska. Top notch stuff, I laughed and I learned what a honey bucket is:
I had actually read ahead a bit and had reported on chapter 2 and much of chapter 3 out of The Long Exile. The tail end of the chapter had some particularly interesting bits of information. Missionaries, arriving to save the souls of the heathen savage in duality with whalers killed off the majority of the Inuit population.
Christian dogma would seize upon the Inuit banning shamans and banning drum circles. Fear of so permeated Inuit culture that traditional beliefs became a relic of the the past. The material possessions brought by missionaries enticed the Inuit, maybe they could embrace this new way of life.. Missionaries introduced Mother Hubbard dresses to the Inuit, replacing their traditional undergarment, caribou skin trousers.
Missionaries did impact Inuit culture in what I would consider to be somewhat positive ways. They effectively ended the practice of infanticide, instead babies were brought up by the mission and brought along as servants. The distasteful practice of euthanasia performed by such means as sending an elder out on a kayak with no paddle, also the snow brick tomb method we discussed in class.
I also read The Copper Eskimo, and I'm quite glad I did a remarkably fascinating read. Maybe the most shocking passage for me in this piece was on the courting process of newlyweds. Marriage-by-capture is how it was described, a simulated abduction in which the bride also participates, pretending to resist. It's like a simulated rape fantasy the whole family participates in. I record this out of fascination, this passage so moved me I felt compelled to share it with the nearest person. The legacy behind this custom would be an interesting research topic. The Copper Eskimo were partook in kinky sexual practices by todays standards as wife-lending operates in such stark contrast from the modern monogamy formula.
The hysterical superstition of the Copper Eskimo is so pervasive that following the death of a person the area is abandoned. The dead is soon thought to become a manevolent ghost that will hang around for five days before departing to the spirit world.
Shaman are healers, helpers, guides. They are the closest example of a dedicated professional in the community, though it is necessary for them to hunt and fish. Illness is produced by supernatural forces. Some believe an illness is indicative of bodily possession and the theft of the soul.
