Making Sherlock Proud

The Case of the Chiefdom Challenge
in the Upper Xingu
     So as I mentioned in the previous post, my AMNH internship experience will take the form of a detective case!
Now, let's get some background information.

     The matter at hand is two-fold:
First, it concerns the historic difficulty in defining and explaining the transition to a chiefdom, from an anthropological perspective.
Second, it concerns the presence of a chiefdom among a group of people in particular:

the Kuikuru group, which inhabits the Upper Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon.

     With regard to the first part of our mystery, we must consider the gray areas when it comes to understanding chiefdoms. The idea of a chiefdom was introduced in the mid 1900s by a social scientist named Kalervo Oberg. He proposed this term in 1955, basically outlining a "chiefdom" as a group of villages united under the leadership of one central ruler. Its population is usually around 2000 people, though this is by no means a make-it-or-break-it stipulation. The chiefdom buzz picked up, and in 1962 another social scientist, Elman Service, proposed that a chiefdom was actually the third of four stages of a social evolutionary sequence:

 Band --> Tribe --> Chiefdom --> State

 So we had more context for a chiefdom--great! But the sloth-like speed of theoretically outlining what comprises a chiefdom (at least among English-speaking social scientists; apparently well before we had even decided on what "chiefdom" would mean, there were already 3 different Spanish words to describe this same concept: señorio, casicazgo, and capitanío. And until a little over 50 years ago, the English language officially had none...right.) should been some indication of how tricky it would be to actually decide on what populations qualify as "chiefdoms." Because let me tell you, it seems to be pretty gosh darn difficult. Sure, for the most part everyone agrees that chiefdoms are a group of communities ruled by a central leader, but the real debate lies with Service's evolutionary sequence: WHY do chiefdoms emerge? What causes the progression from "tribe" to "chiefdom"?

 

     Especially tricky to understand is the fact that in order to progress to "chiefdom," multiple tribes would have to forfeit their autonomy in favor of being led by one ruler. That's like finally scoring a monopoly on, like, the best chocolate in the whole town and then giving it up to Mr. Willy Wonka wannabe in the next coutny over. I mean, no one would voluntarily do that--or would they? So here we are with chiefdoms: We've got these tribes, you know, chilling, and then later we've got chiefdoms. Now, the chiefdom process is by no means a quick one--some formations have been estimated as spanning a millenia! But what factors would guide this change?

     Anthropologists are staunchly divided into two camps with regard to this issue. On one side fall those who propose an impetus characterized by environmental features and warfare. The geography of a region might limit the amount of ideal agricultural land, and as populations increase, so too does the pressure to score acces to the prime real estate. Warfare ensues, the strongest prevails, and the losers--not being able to run away due to the already dense population and limited space--agree to let the winners be in charge. Chiefdom.
However, on the other side fall those who suggest that the transition was based more on voluntary submission, as opposed to coercion. They suggest that instead of giving so much weight to theories of environmental determinism, anthropologists should consider motives that are more based on the individuals as human beings. Ancestral heritage and a connection with the gods might have lead tribes to be more willing to submit to another ruler if this leader was viewed as being holier, or as having a direct "blessing" of governance from the gods.

     As you can imagine, there aren't a whole lot of obvious ways that the differences between these two sides can be reconciled, which means it's up to us! No pressure. What will help us make sense of this issue, (aside from reading what different anthropologists have to say about it which, believe me, I've already begun doing) is conducting a case study. That's where the second part of this case comes in--we're going to go (theoretically) right to the Kuikuru in the Upper Xingu (UX) and examine for ourselves the environment (to satisfy the first group) as well as the social culture (which also relates to the first camp as it regards to warfare, but will also hopefully placate the second group as we search for evidence of religious devotion).

     Conveniently enough, the curator who is supervising my research--Dr. Robert Carneiro--has conducted extensive fieldwork in the UX. He also happens to fall with the first group of anthropologists, so he has collected extensive details about--including photos of--the landscape of the UX region. One intriguing detail he came across in particular are the inexplicable presence of a pair of massive trenches. These gaping holes apparently span 12-15', and are just about as deep. They have been there for as long as the Kuikuru can remember, but no one has any recollection of how they came to be--among themselves, they attribute their creation to the god Fitsi-fitsi. "Natural formation" was ruled out because--get this--sharpened stakes were observed, vertically affixed to the bottom of the trenches. Nice, huh? Dr. Carneiro was able to examine them first-hand, as well as their context. He came up with two possible theories (in addition to the group's own Fitsifitsi explanation): 1) The trenches were a defensive tactic to assist the Kuikuru in warfare with enemy groups or wild indigenous peoples. 2) They were a trap for peccaries:

This area has a significant "infestation" problem with these piglike animals.

      They had an insatiable appetite for the manioc that the Kuikuru grow, and they would go as far as burrowing under fences that had been erected to keep the peccaries out to get to the crops. Once they had access to the manioc, they were like one-man eating machines and would just mow down the vegetation. Since manioc is a large part of the Kuikuru diet, this constant menace was, needless to say, of great concern.
But the problem remains that, as of yet, no evidence has been offered to support either of these theories. We'll see if we can help that!

     So I think that does it for the introduction to the case. Basically it comes down to this:
We know the Who: the Kuikuru; and we know the Where: the Upper Xingu region. But here's what remains a mystery:

Why do chiefdoms arise in general?

What factors prompt this social evolution, particularly in the case of the Kuikuru?

To what extent does the environment trigger the change?

How do tribes' spiritual orientations factor in?

How do we prove this?

And what in the world do those trenches mean?

     Dr. Carneiro has given me several of his articles to read to kick off this investigation, as well as a book that adopts the other side of this issue, the individual/spiritual perspective. I'll start reading these and we'll reconvene at the end of the week!

The Internship (and the Mystery!) Begins

I thought it might be awkward to kick off the blog by saying "Hi, I'm AJ, and WELCOME TO MY BLOG! I'm interning at the American Museum of Natural History this summer, and through this blog you're going to experience it with me! We're going to be detectives."
I don't know, it just seemed too sudden to me, like there was no transition. That's why I made the first post. But really, that post has nothing to do with the immediate purpose of the blog. I mean, sure, a little background is good (thumbs-up for contextualizing! Although I suppose an "About" section could achieve this just as well...) but this blog isn't just going to be composed of a series of posts featuring me talking about my life.
Au contraire. This blog is a man with a plan.
And yes, this plan has to deal with my summer internship in the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History. Here, I'm conducting research with the curator emeritus of South American Ethnology. Now, because he's retired (hence the "emeritus," apparently) he had asked if I would be game for a more independent internship design so that he could still do what he wanted to do with his retirement. Of course, I was thrilled for any internship opportunity at the AMNH, so this was not a problem at all. Plus, this guy has definitely earned it--he held his curatorial position here almost longer than my parents had been alive. Really, he's a legend!
But this blog also isn't going to be just a series of posts telling you about what I'm doing. Oh no. It's going to be a detective case! I'll tell you about my research assignment--the case--and what I have to be able to explain by the end of my internship (the last week of July)--the mystery. Then we'll form a hypothesis or two that we'll test throughout the research process--the investigation!
So if the shadowy unknown of the jungles of the Amazon Rainforest, the (as-of-yet) unexplained presence of deep crevices in the ground, and a tribe with an ancient--yet undeciphered--past make you curious, (which they definitely should!) make sure you stay "in the know" and follow my blog!

Life: It's happening

So growing up is weird.

I definitely don't feel like I should be able to answer the question: "So what are you studying?" which, as we all know, really reads: "So what are you doing right now to make sure that in the near future (and for the rest of your life) you'll obtain a respectable job and a stable source of income?" Of course, being in high school affords you with an automatic shield, an immunity to being asked this, or to being expected to answer. But the minute you move on, you're fair game for "That Question."
At first, I had to find some way to explain that I had absolutely no idea what I was going to be doing next year (let alone for the rest of my life!) without sounding like a bum. And I got pretty good at doing that. Then I stumbled across it--my passion! South American Anthropology! It definitely didn't hit me all at once, but relatively quickly I found myself actually being able to give a more concrete answer to "That Question." Which, along with realizing that I was growing up, was also weird.

Here's what I got:
"Right now I'm studying Spanish, Anthropology, and Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies. After Dickinson I'll probably end up going to graduate school, because what I REALLY want to do is eventually travel to South America and live with an indigenous tribe in the Amazon for a year or so to see how their lifestyles have changed over time, and what traditions they've maintained or abandoned."

It sounded cool to me, and I was super-stoked not only to be able to identify my passion, but to finally be able to offer some sort of long-term plan on cue. A defense against awkward small-talk, right? It certainly felt like an accomplishment! But, weirdly enough, the reactions I got bordered on dissatisfied: apparently I still came across as a bum. This was confusing, because hadn't I given them an actual answer this time? Weren't they looking to hear my long-term plan? Was what I had given them not long-term enough? I debated throwing in a summary of the beneficiaries that I would eventually include in my will--I figured that maybe this would not only give the nay-sayers the concrete details they were looking for, but would also demonstrate impressive foresight on my part. Then I thought they might be offended if their names weren't included (which, after scoffing at my life goals, they might as well just have counted themselves out). So I scratched that idea and settled for telling myself that, hey, I liked where I was headed. And for the Debbie Downers? Frankly I was (and am!) too excited about it to really care.

Over time, I made more life goals for myself--where I wanted to study abroad (Peru in the fall, Bolivia in the spring!), what I want to do while I'm there (study how globalization has impacted indigenous peoples and their customs!), what I wanted to write my senior theses on (a comparative assessment of my abroad fieldwork!)--and I was able to tack them onto my initial response to "That Question."
Then things actually started happening, which, out of all the weird transitions that I'd had to go through up until that point, definitely took the cake. I'm actually going abroad for two semesters (to the woman who asked me if Peru was even "abroad," yes, actually, it is.). I'm doing some pre-research for the fieldwork I'll be doing while I'm down there through an Independent Study course with one of my advisors. And I've just started my dream internship at the American Museum of Natural History where I'll be conducting research about a different Amazonian population under one of the most prominent South American Ethnologists in modern Anthropology! With this internship, then, comes a school project: blogging about it! Which is weird. Blogs, I mean. And that I have one, and that I'll be writing about my internship on it. Doubly weird. And an even weirder thought struck me when I was trying to pick out the title--it would have to be a versatile one, because I'd need to use this blog while I'm abroad in the fall and spring.
Which is soon.   <-- Very surreal realization.

It dawned on me that everything seems to be falling into place--life is happening! And for sure, some people are still taken aback when I mention what I want to do with my life, but I've come to realize that it's less that they disapprove and more that it's just not what they were expecting to hear. And I mean, I guess I can see their point--as one of my friends pointed out, living with an indigenous tribe in the mountains isn't exactly a 9-5 office job. Or being a dentist. Some people accept this departure from "traditional" careers, which is where the first part of the title for this blog comes in: I was in Spain for a month last summer, and I was explaining my studies to a group of wonderfully charming old jabegas-rowing men (jabegas are a kind of boat powered by 5 or 6 rowers). They didn't really get why I would want to subject myself to a year of living conditions that would make a house from the Medieval period look like the Hotel Málaga Palacio, but they offered encouraging comments and even the titles of some books that might be of interest to me! And as we rowed, sometimes they would forget my name, so they would just shout "¡Ey, Antropóloga!" instead ("Antropóloga" = "Female Anthropologist"). It was endearing, and made me smile! Even though what I wanted to do wasn't their cup of tea, they went with it.

But to the Debbie Downers of the world, you're right, it's not exactly the most "normal" career path, but I like to think I'm taking the road less traveled (haha, blog subtitle tie-in!), and I'm cool with that. And I'll send you the pictures.