When Religion Is An Addiction

I went to a talk given last night by Dr. Robert Minor of the KU Religious Studies Department. He has just published a new book titled, When Religion Is An Addiction. In 2001, he published another book, Scared Straight: Why It's So Hard to Accept Gay People and Why It's So Hard to Be Human.

His talk was quite interesting. Basically, his main arguments are:

• 
  Religion is an addiction. Many people seek religion (especially Christianity) because they feel so bad about themselves and who they are. His point was, Why else would someone join a religion that promises the punishment of Eternal Child Abuse (Hell) by a supposedly loving Father?


• 
  Religion gives people an excuse not to confront their own feelings, fears, and prejudices. "It’s not me who hates homosexuals (or Jews or Muslims); God does, so I do." It’s a way to avoid confrontation with our darkest selves, which can make us feel so bad we need to change ourselves. This is something many of us are unwilling to do—change ourselves—so religion gives us the excuse that it’s okay to go on being our wretched selves and not have to change our thinking or our ways and take responsibility for our own beliefs and lives. Christianity tells us that’s just the way we are—we’re born sinners and evil-doers.
  
• 
  Minor feels that, when someone tells him that human beings are evil, that’s telling him something about the person saying it (how they feel about themselves). That’s the same as saying, "I think I’m a bad person. I think I’m evil, so I need God or Jesus or Somebody or Something to tell me I was born in sin and evil, but that’s okay because everyone else is too, so that makes me not feel so bad about myself and the disgusting person I really think I am."
  
• 
  Many fundamentalist Christians cannot see past their own addiction, as addicts of any type cannot, and it’s unnecessary and useless to try and argue with them; in fact, doing so only encourages their addiction (and makes those who argue with them enablers) since they’re enabling the addictive thought process by validating the addict’s beliefs and behaviors.
  

Perhaps this may seem a bit extreme, but he makes some very valid points, and it’s all definitely food for thought. Of course with me he’s basically preaching to the choir (no pun intended) since I’m already somewhere on the continuum between agnosticism and atheism anyway.

Learning an almost lost language

The few Mono Indians remaining who speak their tongue are passing it down to children to preserve culture. (A condensed version of an article in the Fresno Bee.)

This piece is particularly poignant:

As late as the 1970s, Native American children in Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools were punished for speaking their native languages.... (And this is in the supposed land of the free?)

By Charles McCarthy / The Fresno Bee 10/14/07
Source: Barbara Burrough

NORTH FORK -- Just uphill from an authentic cedar tepee -- or "nobi" in Mono -- four children sat down for a lesson in a language on the cusp of being lost.Volunteer teacher Barbara Burrough, one of the few people left who still speaks Mono, held up a cue card with the word "kah-why-you.""Horse," the youngsters said.Next was "moo-nah.""Mule," they said.Burrough's mother, 81-year-old Gertrude Davis, smiled as she watched the recent lesson unfold."I speak it, and I have no one to talk to, because no one knows how to speak the language or understand it," she said.In classrooms, Mono cultural sites and private homes in the North Fork area, Burrough and a few others are working hard to change that, one child at a time.Before contact with Spanish and English-speaking cultures in the 1800s, an estimated 5,000 spoke Mono in a territory that stretched from the San Joaquin River south to the Kern River.

Today, Burrough estimates that no more than 17 Mono around North Fork can converse in the native tongue -- and not all of them are fluent.It's unclear how many others outside the North Fork area might still know the language.North Fork Mono Rancheria Tribal Council Treasurer Maryann McGovran's son Cody, 13, has been one of Burrough's pupils for about two years. She said she isn't fluent in Mono, but she knows a few words.

Preserving the language is important, she said at tribal headquarters, because the language reflects the culture."It's the heart of our tribe," she said. "It shows who we are and what our people are about."

Mono is among 50 Native American languages in California that are considered endangered, said Leanne Hinton, professor emeritus in the linguistics department at the University of California at Berkeley. Another 50 already have disappeared since the early 1800s, she said."When you lose a language, it's a symptom of losing a whole culture," said Hinton, who has written three books devoted to endangered languages.But saving a language is no easy task -- especially when so few people still speak it.

Mono tribal officials say the decline of the language -- and traditional culture -- began as early as the 1810s with the arrival of outside cultures and languages.A series of broken treaties, land grabs and the integration of much North Fork Mono tribal land into the Sierra National Forest left the native residents little choice other than to join mining, lumber and agricultural economies.

In school, children were discouraged from speaking Mono. As late as the 1970s, Native American children in Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools were punished for speaking their native languages, said Andre Cramblit, Northern California Indian Development Council operations director and chairman of the Karuk tribal language restoration committee.Burrough said that her family escaped boarding school because her grandmother told her children to hide whenever a car came up their driveway."That's why we were able to hang on to our language," Burrough said.

Cox has invited parents to a series of Mono classes starting in November."It's important to know where you came from ... to have that sense of self," said Cox, 29, who learned Mono language and culture from her grandmother and others in North Fork but said she still is learning. She claims Chukchansi as well as Mono ancestors.For Burrough, the effort is a labor of love."With learning the language, you learn the culture," the 57-year-old Burrough said. "And with the culture, you learn respect. With respect, you learn to love the land and each other."

Burrough often holds outdoor classes on the rural property of Kendrick Sherman, a tribal elder who died in late September. The Sherman family has dedicated the property to the future of the Mono nation, Burrough said.Nine-year-old Antonio Beihn, a North Fork Elementary School student, said he signed up for the off-campus program because he is half-Mono and it's his culture."If it was lost, we wouldn't have what we have right now," he said.

Čaačakiy Maččan 'inn Paysen 'Ačyankw
Coyote and the Pregnant Girl



A Rumsen Fable

Another Rumsen Ohlone Coyote story. I suspect that this is merely a fragment of a larger story due to its rather odd ending and the fact that the text itself seems a little disjointed. But it is nevertheless entertaining.

Neku kayy Čaačakiy Maččan: “MiSix a tsorkost pirre. ‘Ot ‘aiwis watčorta!” “’Inta rottey watčorta?” “Imxala ‘ačyankw misix.” “Me ku xawwan Sa ‘ačyankw.” “’Ann ku rott ka ‘iswin?” “Xuya me tuuls.” Was kayy siirx: “Kuuwe kuuwe miSix. Kulusta.” “Kuuwe miSix.” “Simpurta.” “Kuuwe miSix.” “Ritčiysta.” “Kuuwe miSix.” Neku kayy ‘Ummun: “Kuuwe miSix. Ne miSix pitinta.” Neku kayy Sa ‘ačyankw: “’Ink ku ka ‘anamii? ‘Ink ku ‘anamii ka ‘iswin?” “’Ot me xawwesp! Me ku xawwan Sa ‘ačyankw.” Neku wattin xuya Sa ‘ačyankw. Kayy Čaačakiy Maččan: “Kas kaxiy!” Neku was tonney pakkeliuwx. Neku šoxlon. Neku ‘aččep pakkeliuwx. Neku was ‘urru Caačakiy Maččan. “Nenney! Ooyonk! Katt! ‘Amxay ka kaxx!” Neku was Sa ‘ačyankw. “Xork! Xork!” Neku paysen Sa ‘ačyankw. Neku šoxlon. Neku ‘uuwin Sa ‘ačyankw. Neku xič misix ‘innx. “Kuu ka ‘iwsen Sa ‘innx.”

Then Coyote said: "A dry earth is good. Go see what’s in the river!" "What’s in the river?" "One pretty girl." "That girl will be your wife." "Where will my children be?" "In your knee." The eagle said to him: "No, no good. In your elbow." "No good." "In your eyebrow." "No good." "In your back." "No good." Then Hummingbird declared: "No good. Here is good in your belly." Then the girl said: "How will I do it? How will I make children?" "Go, get married! This girl will be your wife." Then the girl left. Howling Coyote said: "Delouse me!" Then a wood tick was found on him. Then he got scared. Then he threw down the wood tick. Then the Howling Coyote grabbed (the tick) again. "Look! Look! Eat (it)! Eat my louse (tick)." Then the girl (ate) it. "Swallow! Swallow!" Then the girl became pregnant. Then she got scared. The girl ran. Then she made a pretty road. "I don’t like this road."

Neku kayy Čaačakiy Maččan: “MiSix a tsorkost pirre. ‘Ot ‘aiwis watčor-ta!”
then say Wild Dog: good ? dry earth go.look river-LOC
“’Inta rottey watčor-ta?”
what be river-LOC
“Imxala ‘ačyankw misix.”
one girl pretty
“Me ku xawwan Sa ‘ačyankw.”
2S-POSS IRREAL wife DEF girl
"’Ann ku rott ka ‘iswin?"
where IRREAL be 1S-POSS children
"Xuya me tuuls."
in 2S-POSS knee
Was kayy siirx: "Kuuwe kuuwe miSix. Kulus-ta."
3S-ACC say eagle no no good elbow-LOC
"Kuuwe miSix."
no good
"Simpur-ta."
eyebrow-LOC
"Kuuwe miSix."
no good
“Ritčiys-ta.”
back-LOC
"Kuuwe miSix."
no good
Neku kayy ‘Ummun: "Kuuwe miSix. Ne miSix pitin-ta."
then say Hummingbird no good here good belly-LOC
Neku kayy Sa ‘ačyankw: “’Ink ku ka ‘anamii? ‘Ink ku ‘anamii ka ‘iswin?”
then say DEF girl how IRREAL 1S do how IRREAL make 1S-POSS children
“’Ot me xawwesp! Me ku xawwan Sa ‘ačyankw.”
go 2S marry 2S IRREAL wife DEF girl
Neku wattin xuya Sa ‘ačyankw. Kayy Čaačakiy Maččan: “Ka-s kaxiy!”
then go-PAST away DEF girl say Wild Dog 1S-ACC delouse
Neku wa-s tonney pakkeliuwx. Neku šoxlon. Neku ‘aččep pakkeliuwx.
then 3S-ACC find wood tick then fear then throw.down wood.tick
Neku wa-s ‘urru Caačakiy Maččan. “Nenney! Ooyonk! Katt! ‘Amxay ka kaxx!”
then 3S-ACC grab Wild Dog search search eat (it) eat 1S-POSS louse
Neku wa-s Sa ‘ačyankw. “Xork! Xork!” Neku paysen Sa ‘ačyankw.
then 3S-ACC DEF girl swallow swallow then pregnant DEF girl
Neku šoxlon. Neku ‘uuwin Sa ‘ačyankw. Neku xič misix ‘innx. “Kuu ka ‘iwsen Sa ‘innx.”
then fear then run-PAST DEF girl then make pretty road no 1S like DEF road


This story appears in:
Kroeber, A. 1904. The Languages of the coast of California south of San Francisco. Berkeley: The University Press. (page 79)

IRREAL = past or future (i.e., not present). Irrealis particles seem fairly common in Amerindian languages. Irrealis particles also occur in Biloxi and Soke (Zoque).

Cusco, An Imperial Capital

As part of the course I’m taking on central Andean cultures, we’ve been studying Inkas and their once vast empire that was even greater in size than the Roman. Extending from southern Colombia down the Andes Mountains and along the Pacific coast to what is now Santiago, Chile, the Inka Empire had over 11,000 miles of roads. Inkas had no wheeled vehicles, and horses were unknown until the Spanish conquistadors arrived, but they did have native llamas and alpacas, which were adept at climbing up and down their steep mountain roads laden with up to 50 lbs. each of supplies or trade goods. Since there was a shortage of croplands in the steep mountainous terrain, Inkas became adept at terracing fields up steep hillsides and mountain slopes. Inkas did not use money, and they didn’t even have markets. Instead, men and women were employed on an as-needed basis by Inka overlords for community projects often involving the manufacture of goods or intense manual labor. In this marketless economy, workers were "paid" for their labor by receiving clothing, food, and other necessities and goods. Feasts of copious amounts of food and drink (including chicha, Inka corn beer) were often lavished upon these workers during and after projects. Inka emperors and overlords were very adept at distributing food, clothing, and other items to their populace and nobody wanted for anything.

Cusco, at a literally breathtaking elevation of 11,500 feet, was the capital city of the Inka Empire. It contained monumental edifices and architecture, grand palaces and temples trimmed in gold and silver, making it a fantastic sight to the Spanish invaders (à la Tenochtitlan of the Aztec Empire—how ironic that the Spanish were so impressed with these New World cities, saying there was nothing like them in Europe, before they laid them to waste!). Nobody could visit the city empty-handed, and anyone who visited had better have a sack of goods or materials strapped to their backs. The city was clean and well-kept with large areas of green parkland surrounding its massive imperial architecture.

What’s perhaps most interesting about this Native American capital, however, is that it appears to have been planned and laid out in the shape of a running puma, or cougar, viewed from above. (I can already foresee you UFO and extraterrestrial enthusiasts thinking alien intervention à la Nazca lines!) Look at the city plan above and see if you can spot the animal’s outline in Cusco's overall design.

Okay, if you missed it, take a look at this:

The Sacsayhuaman, or Imperial Palace, is the puma's head while the confluence of the two rivers is its tail. While jaguars roamed the other side of the Andes toward the Amazon, pumas or cougars roamed the Andes themselves.

Biloxi shaman-kings*?

As I’ve been working on my ethnographic sketch of the Biloxi nation to eventually accompany the Biloxi dictionary as my thesis, I’ve been synthesizing the works of various authors over the past century, pulling together some of the bits and pieces that have been written. Also, while in Washington DC to do research at the National Anthropological Archives this past summer, I ordered copies of all of Albert Gatschet’s notes, which finally arrived the other day. Gatschet was the first linguist to do fieldwork on Biloxi in 1886, and he determined that it was indeed a Siouan language, not Muskogean as previously assumed.

During my research, I’m finding mounting, primarily linguistic, clues as to the political make-up of pre-contact Biloxis. The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC), which incorporates many of the peoples and cultures traditionally associated with Mississippian or "mound-building" cultures, of which Biloxis were apparently a part, was largely agricultural and, as has happened to many agricultural economies through history, became socially non-egalitarian and stratified, including an elite class of ruling nobles. (This was nowhere better represented in the SECC than by Biloxis’ neighbors, Natchez, whose society was divided into an elite ruling nobility carried around on litters who referred to the "common" folks as "Stinkards.") There is mounting evidence that these ruling nobles were also members of an elite priesthood, which makes them quite similar to what we've learned about Mayan societies of ancient Mesoamerica. There is some linguistic evidence that Biloxis may have shared a similar system of nobles vs. commoners.

The evidence? In Gatschet’s materials, there is a term yaaxi (also ąyaaxi), literally 'mysterious' or 'sacred' person, which Gatschet states meant ‘conjurer’ but was also sometimes used for ‘chief.’ Traditional Native American shamans, usually referred to as medicine men or women, could be either beneficent healers of the sick and injured, or they could be malevolent "sorcerers" or "witches" who could cause illness or injury with the help of evil spirits. The term ‘conjurer’ of course is usually associated with the malevolent sorcerer. It thus appears in the data that Biloxi conjurer = chief. In Biloxi oral tradition, there is also reference to their chief being seated in an elevated position, perhaps on a raised chair, platform, or throne. Thus, I think it seems reasonable to hypothesize a Biloxi "shaman-king" who was not only ruler of his people but also the head healer and sorcerer.

As stated before, this would put the Biloxi chief in line with what anthropologists are learning of other SECC societies AND with ancient Mesoamerican societies. Imagine the power wielded by these kings, who could control their citizenry through its manipulation of its citizenry's fear of the unknown spirit world that the chief could control, and who, in line with typical shamanism, could "transform" into powerful animal spirits such as a panther (or jaguar in Mesoamerica) or a raptorial bird such as the eagle. What better way to "earn" the respect, obedience, and worship of your populace!

Anyway, this is what I've come up with through my research so far.

UPDATE: Please be aware that I employ the term "shaman-king" loosely as it is still very much debated as to whether the priests or sorcerers of Native America, or anywhere outside of Siberia where the term shaman originated (a Tungus term), should be called "shamans". They technically do not fit the specifications of the term as applied in Siberia. My colleague and friend, Alice Beck Kehoe, is adamantly opposed to this term being employed by anthropologists outside of the confines of Siberia.

Watson Brake
Oldest pyramidal complex in North America

The dates of Mississippian or "moundbuilding" culture seem to be getting pushed back further in time. While Poverty Point was previously considered the oldest "mound" site in North America, that distinguished honor now apparently belongs to Watson Brake, discovered about 30 years ago, also in Louisiana, near Monroe. While Poverty Point dates back to about 1500 BC, Watson Brake apparently dates back to about 3400 BC. Watson Brake is a collection of 11 pyramidal mounds arranged into a large oval apparently surrounding a large central plaza.

Watson Brake mound site

Unlike Poverty Point, as yet there are no signs of residential sites at Watson Brake. Anthropologists currently speculate that Watson Brake may have been a constructed site for a band or bands of hunter-gatherers to conglomerate, perhaps for ritual or ceremonial purposes.

Interestingly, Watson Brake seems to predate the Olmec civilization by almost 2,000 years. The Olmecs also erected "mounds," or earthen pyramids, thought to be the forerunners of later Mayan and Mexica (Aztec) stone pyramids. (Mounds, or pyramids, were also built in the Andes region of South America.) This leads me to wonder if these Watson Brake "moundbuilders" may have been related to Olmecs, perhaps their forebears who decided to travel farther south into southern Mexico and became the "mother culture" of the later Mayas and Aztecs. Or perhaps much of Native America descends from a common culture that began erecting pyramidal and other monumental structures as terrestrial representations of their view of the cosmos and spiritual beliefs.

More food for thought!

The Lady of Cofitachequi

I’ve been doing some research and reading on the pre-Columbian southeast (US), partially in trying to piece together more of possible Biloxi sociopolitical history in an overall geopolitical and geocultural context. I’ve discovered some interesting tidbits brought down to us via the journals of the De Soto expeditions of the sixteenth century.

Among these tidbits is evidence of definite social stratification and class structure, including reverence for high chiefs or kings (and, at least in one case, a queen). One of these “paramount chiefs” who commanded a number of chiefdoms distributed over an area of at least one thousand square kilometers (Smith & Hally 1992) was named by the Spaniards “The Lady of Cofitachequi.” She was carried in a litter on the shoulders of some of her subordinates to meet the De Soto expedition. She was not treated very well by her Spanish visitors, however, and in fact was kidnapped by De Soto’s men after they pillaged her primary village and supplies. They apparently took her captive to use as a guide in locating another chiefdom at Coosa. At one point on the journey, she and one of her female slaves escaped, apparently never to be seen again by De Soto (luckily for her!).

Such encounters with Native American chiefs or kings (or queens) being carried on litters was apparently rather frequent, as the paramount chief at Coosa was also carried on a litter by his subordinates, and Natchez chiefs were also carried about on litters.

Natchez chief carried on litter

I find this particularly interesting in regards to the Native southeastern US, as there seems to be mounting evidence that the pre-Columbian Southeastern Cultural Complex (SECC) may have had more in common sociopolitically with Mesoamerica (Olmec and Maya) than we may have ever thought given the evidence of class distinction, high reverence for the ruling elite, and the layouts and monumental architecture of Mississippian and SECC cities (e.g., Cahokia, Moundville, Poverty Point).

Reference:

Smith, M. and D. Hally. 1992. Chiefly Behavior: Evidence from Sixteenth Century Spanish Accounts. In Lords of the southeast: social inequality and the native elites of southeastern North America, 1992 Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, No. 3. Barker, A. and T. Pauketat, eds.