Southern Anthropological Society

SAS 2007 Paper Abstracts

(Alpha by Author)

Altman, Heidi (with Tom Belt)

Georgia Southern University

Tohi: The Cherokee State of Well-Being

Linguistic investigations of Cherokee medicine and healing after Mooney and Olbrechts (1900, 1932) have relied largely on deciphering archival documents and translations of the arcane language of medicinal formulae (e.g., Kilpatrick and Kilpatrick). In addition, contemporary anthropologists (most notably Fogelson) have documented and commented on Cherokee medical practices and sought to provide an understanding of the complex metaphysical system based in fieldwork with medical practitioners. In this paper we present an understanding of the Cherokee concept of well-being based in a linguistic analysis of contemporary words related to wellness, health and illness. These analyses form the basis of a larger project - a holistic, language-based understanding of the Cherokee medical system - and provide insight to Cherokee worldview as expressed in this linguistic domain.

Amnott, Joel

University of South Florida.

Conversion Conversations: Missions and the Enculturation in Christian Fundamentalist Communities

There are a number of characteristics peculiar to the discourse surrounding the conversion process, both on the part of those who have been converted and on the part of those doing the converting. Indeed, in many the cases I have encountered, the discourse focuses much more on attempted conversion, and the problems faced therein by the believers, than on the success or failure of any particular technique or the effects of attempted conversion on non-believers. My paper will focus on a few small Christian fundamentalist communities, and the discourse of conversion among them. Drawing from both personal experience and research, I will discuss the way adversarial situations in general, and missionization experiences in particular, are manipulated within an internal discourse which serves not so much to convert outsiders into these communities, but rather to provide an embodied experience of conflict and vindication as a touchstone of faith for those who already believe.

Anderson, Myrdene

University of West Florida

Saami Shamans (noaidit), Magpies (noai'di loddit), and the Ecology of Arctic Survival

Among the Saami people of arctic Europe, the extreme independence of "personal action" and "ability" even bridges gender distinctions. Reliance upon one's own abilities is an important aspect of survival in an always potentially hostile and dangerous environment. Yet "personal property" and "personal space" are not central to the forms of independence developed among these people. Indeed, survival may involve the unquestioned sharing of space and resources. This paper explores how both danger and independence are reflected and reinforced in the metaphorical expressions of nature and the self, drawing from folkloric metaphors and ethnographic examples.

Andreatta, Susan

University of North Carolina Greensboro

Participatory Action Research Among the Fishing Community of Carteret County, North Carolina

Ethnographic research among fishermen, fish dealers, consumers and restaurant owners played a central role in designing a social marketing campaign for the local seafood in Carteret County. Data collection began in the summer of 2006 to establish the interest on the part of fishermen, fish dealers and public for access to wild caught. Drawing on the theoretical orientation of political ecology we obtained information that would enhance a marketing campaign for local seafood. This paper discusses the importance of using participatory action research in an applied project, that of the Carteret Catch branding program, to sustain local fishing communities in Carteret County and elsewhere.

Assimacopoulos, Alexis

University of Mississippi

How Does School Rugby Turn Boys South African Men?

The author conducted research while at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, on rugby at an Afrikaner boys' school in the city of Bloemfontein, South Africa- an area historically ear marked as conservative (like the southern states of America). The study was conducted at this school in particular because of its reputation for excellence in rugby and its notorious over-emphasis on sports. The author focused primarily on the importance of rugby in South Africa and its impact as a sport and, indirectly, as a cultural identity for young boys. How much of a role does rugby play in forming masculine identities for adolescent boys, particularly at schools that push sports like rugby- i.e. how does school rugby turn boys into 'South African Men'? To establish this she focused on rugby traditions, which may have served as a rite of passage for the children.

Belt, Tom (with Heidi Altman)

Western Carolina University

Tohi: The Cherokee State of Well-Being

Beriss, David I.

University of New Orleans

The Color of Roux: Culture and Restaurants in New Orleans After Katrina

This paper will focus on restaurants as an index of New Orleans' recovery from the destruction of hurricane Katrina. Before the flood, restaurants were sites for self-conscious struggles to maintain the idea of the city's distinctiveness in the face of the homogenizing forces of American society. They also provided a framework through which some of the city's deeper social fractures�especially race�were discussed, if not resolved. Before Katrina, New Orleans' culinary culture was thought to form a seamless whole, linking home cooking, neighborhood restaurants and fine dining. What kind of local culture will revive with many of these elements missing? Can neighborhood po-boy shops and grocery stores�already vanishing before the storm�be revived? What kind of culinary culture will redevelop without the African American/Creole cooks who sustained it in the past? Drawing on interviews with chefs, restaurant owners, critics, and the on-going debates across the local media, this paper will explore these questions.

Black, Connie R.

Mississippi State University

Pork Variety Meat Use by Elderly in the Southeastern US

Marketing data indicate the population in the southeastern United States purchases pork variety products: fatback, neckbones, etc. There are few data on actual consumption. A telephone survey was conducted in 2003 to determine use of variety meats by elderly, low-income (< 130% poverty) people living in seven southeastern states. Of the 316 respondents, 57% cooked and ate pork variety meats. Use was significantly higher in the African American group, and 65% of the users cooked pork variety meats for their families. Educational achievement, food security status, perceived health status, and medical diagnoses were not associated with use of variety meats. This supports the notion that the correlation between culture and foodways is a defining factor in dietary choices of this population. This study did not support the notion that pork variety meats heightened or contributed to health conditions which plague the elderly. Further study is needed to substantiate theses findings.

Bounds, Sarah B.

Palaces and Palace Compounds Among the Classic Period Maya in the Central and Northern Maya Lowlands

The word "palace" invariably conjures up images of soaring parapets and elaborate decorations found at such famous examples as Versailles and Buckingham palace. Consequently, visitors to the Maya world may have a difficult time recognizing the royal structures of the Maya. In an attempt to "define" a Classic Period Maya palace, this paper compares so-called palaces from seven different sites, compiling a list of common characteristics. It is concluded there is no one satisfactory definition. Instead, the research aims toward developing a flexible model for a Classic Mayan palace that will enable scholars to approach new and old sites alike with an open mind. This paper argues Maya palaces are better described as "palace-complexes" due to their multifunctional nature, the area they encompass, and the construction techniques employed. Future research should include detailed comparisons of additional sites as well as aim toward the construction of a database on Mayan archaeology in which data from field projects in the field is entered in a uniform format, allowing more in-depth study and potentially useful comparisons.

Brisman, Avi

Emory University

Fair Fare?: Food as Contested Terrain in U.S. Prisons and Jails

In United States prisons, food has been used by correctional officers as a source of control over inmates: by limiting caloric intake, selecting certain foods likely to decrease energy levels, crafting rules restricting or prohibiting food brought by relatives, and, in the case of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola, literally shaping the food into loaves to create "splatter-proof" meals and ensure discipline. Whereas agricultural goods were once produced by prison farms to feed the prisoners themselves and other wards of the state, prison agriculture has increasingly become a mechanism for private prisons to increase profits. Inmates, conversely, have regarded food a means of resistance, cause for riots, and subject of litigation. This paper explores the relationship between food and power in correctional institutions by tracing the history of prison agriculture in the U.S., offering comparisons to prisons in Britain and Malawi, and noting instances where agriculture is part of rehabilitation.

Bugosh, Ariel

Davidson College

Thanksgiving Tamales: Transnational Community And Foodways In Immigrant Congregations

The Hispanic population in North Carolina grew over 300% between 1990 and 2000, reflecting a national demographic shift. Local religious groups, such as the congregations at two Baptist churches in Huntersville and Mooresville North Carolina, have responded to these dramatic changes by creating Latino ministries to accommodate potential Spanish-speaking members. This paper analyzes several food-centered events, including a Feast of the Americas that combined the English and Spanish speaking congregations at one church and two different Thanksgiving celebrations. Such occasions provide outlets for the congregations and express underlying issues of transnationalism and community. Immigrant congregations offer places for immigrants to connect with their original culture as well as to situate themselves in their new environment. These feasts show the intersections and tensions between Latino and Euro American culture and demonstrate how eating together operates as a process of personal and cultural exchange.

Burch, Tesa (w/Kristen Patten)

University of West Florida

Off the Beaten Path: Trash Trails and the Homeless as "Discarded" Components of American Society

At opposite ends of the cultural spectrum are the advantaged and the disadvantaged. We observe the patterns and characteristics of the material trails people leave of themselves. In our comparative view, the refuse of the disadvantaged forms an anthropological memoir of homeless culture, standing in stark contrast to the waste materials of advantaged "throw-away" classes. Through direct observation and collection of anonymous commentary, photographic records, GPS survey plottings of ground litter "trash trails", and artistic products made from trash, the authors document and express how the various value systems indicated with patterns of trash left on the landscape. The presentation emphasizes how the materials of homeless possessions, "nests" suggest an analogy between the discarded participants of society and their alliance with discarded elements in the waste stream.

Cain, Roger (w/Shawna M. Cain)

University of Arkansas

Hunters, Gatherers, and Modernity: Traditional Foodways of the Oklahoma Cherokee

This study focuses on rural Oklahoma Cherokees who continue to hunt and gather natural resources for subsistence, tradition, and the expression of ethnic identity in everyday life. A personal narrative methodology was used to generate new perspectives on Cherokee knowledge and understandings of traditional foods in a modernizing world. The guardianship of contemporary foraging knowledge is shown to relate meaningfully to a number of social and ecological factors, including Cherokee language acquisition, gender, age, residence, and access to woodland environments. Practical pathways to traditional subsistence, including apprenticeship and mentorship programs, are deemed to be vital to cultural continuity in Cherokee Nation.

Cain, Shawna M.

University of Arkansas

Hunters, Gatherers, and Modernity: Traditional Foodways of the Oklahoma Cherokee

Chamlee, Sarah

University. of the South

Looting of Shipwrecks in the Dominican Republic

Maritime archaeologists view shipwrecks (with their preserved cargo and the personal affects of passengers/crew) as windows to the past. Conditions such as location, depth, currents and marine life work to help preserve or to destroy wrecks. While these natural conditions cannot be controlled, a more problematic form of destruction, human activity, can be regulated. This paper examines the effect of looting on shipwrecks off the coast of Monte Cristi in the Dominican Republic, with the main focus on the Tile Wreck. Minor looting comes from local fishermen who sell the occasional artifact to supplement their incomes. Professional treasure hunters are responsible for major looting and destruction of sites. While laws in some areas do exist, enforcement and education are the keys to prevention.

Cozzo, David N.

Western Carolina University

Cherokee Snakebite Remedies

As early as the 18th century, travelers were commenting on the range and efficacy of Cherokee plant-based remedies for the bites of poisonous snakes. Palisot de Beauvois and James Adair both described several Cherokee snakebite remedies, but identified the plants by the vernacular rather than the botanical names. The later research by James Mooney and Frans Olbrechts identified many of these plants and several previously unnamed plants used to treat snakebites, as well as the Cherokee beliefs and practices around treating the bites. In this presentation, I will discuss the poisonous snakes and types of venom encountered by the Eastern Cherokee, the beliefs and practices for treating snakebites, and the various plants used for treatment. In vague statements where the plants can not be identified, I will use comparisons to related plants used in other cultures.

D'Oney, Daniel

Albany College of Pharmacy

Collective Memory In the Houma Nation of Louisiana

Collective memory is a tool which can be used to include or exclude a number of groups. In the case of the Houma nation of Louisiana, three examples of collective memory stand as particularly good examples of this. In the case of St. Patrick's Church in Fort Adams, Mississippi, Houma history is used to maintain a Catholic house of worship despite overwhelming evidence that that version of history portrayed is incorrect, a version which claims to include the Houma but in which they were not consulted. In the case of the Istrouma (Red Stick) marker in front of the Old State Capitol in Baton Rouge, collective memory is used to name a city and then use Native history to place that city's history in a deeper context, but without using the word Istrouma (or iti huma) as the Houma would have used it. In the statue in front of the Terrebonne Waterways Museum in Houma, the tribe actually played a strong role in determining what it (a product of their collective memory) would look like. However, given that the tribe is split into factions, this raises the question of if there can be said to be a collective memory in the tribe and, if there are indeed collective memories, whose memory will be used?

Danforth, Marie

University of Southern Mississippi

One Hundred Fifty Years of Maya Bioarcheology

Maya bioarchaeology began in the mid-nineteenth century with occasional anecdotal observations of skeletal material encountered in elite graves. By 1900, systemized observations of stylized traits such as cranial deformation and dental decoration emerged, but it took another several decades before analyses of entire populations appeared. Most were descriptive studies, appearing as appendices to site reports. This research approach continued until "New Archaeology" of the 1960s. Leading the way in studies integrating archaeological and bioarchaeological data was Frank Saul, who conducted virtually all major investigations of Maya skeletal series from 1972 to the mid-80s. Then, twenty years ago a phenomenal growth in production of doctorates occurred, which resulted the number of publications appearing in the 1990s doubling that of the previous decade. The type of techniques used changed also with isotope and DNA analysis becoming prominent. The field only shows signs of even greater growth in the future.

Delozier, Julia

Davidson College

Reweaving the Fabric of community: Evangelical Influence on a Guatemalan Widow's Cooperative

Based on field research in the rural community of Chontola, Guatemala, I investigate the role of the Primitive Methodist Church in the formation of the Ruth y Nohem� weaving cooperative. The cooperative formed after a massacre in Chontola in 1982 ripped the community apart, leaving widows and orphans with nowhere to turn but to each other and the church for support. After examining the narratives of the widows' experiences, I specifically look at the national and transnational connections the women of the cooperative have made during the past twenty-five years in order to sustain their project. Focusing on this particular widow's cooperative can give a better insight into the role of Protestant churches in war-torn societies.

Dennis, David

Davidson College

Backing It Up: Louisiana Style Hip Hop

During its formative years, innovations in rap music came from either the northeast or west coast. However, southern rappers at the end of the 20th century took this musical form to new levels, especially those in Louisiana. Musicians in this state replaced the heavy bass sound with the drumline sounds of horns and whistles, accompanied by a call from the rapper for the audience to perform certain dance movements. One regional dance that has emerged with this new genre of rap music is the Jig, which demonstrates the relationship between this contemporary hip hop music and dance and that performed during antebellum days, pointing out their African origins.

Dodson, Wanda L.

Mississippi State University

Pork Variety Meat Use by Elderly in the Southeastern US

Eastman, Jane

Western Carolina University

Spikebuck Town (31CY3): Life Across the Creek from the Mound

Western Carolina University, with support from Warren Wilson College, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Historic Preservation Office, and the NC Office of State Archaeology, conducted excavations prior to a development near Spikebuck Mound in Clay County, North Carolina. The mound is at the confluence of Town Creek and the Hiwassee River and is the site of the council house for Quanassee, an 18^th-century Cherokee Valley Town. Archaeological remains of the historic-period community were recovered during excavations conducted by WCU in 1973 and 1975 in the site area just south of the mound, between the creek and river. The 2006 summer excavations focused on a planned sewer line in the floodplain of Town Creek, on the opposite side of the creek from the mound. The current investigation revealed evidence of an Early Qualla phase (A.D. 1300-1500) Cherokee community. This paper presents analyses of pottery and pit features from the 2006 excavations.

Ellis, Gretchen

Wake Forest University

An Anthropological Case-Study of La Hermandad de Nuestra Senora del Rocio

Although every year over a million people attend the Pilgrimage of the Dew in Southern Spain, this event typically receives limited publicity despite its over 400 year history. More than positive feedback, the pilgrims are oftentimes criticized for their festive celebrations that include copious amounts of alcohol, which warrants an investigation into the reasons for these activities. Through a detailed description of the historical development of the pilgrimage, theories of religious anthropology are applied to the 2006 event. In particular, the case-study focuses on the Brotherhood of Benacaz�n (one of the 105 Brotherhoods) and how their religious practices during this week-long journey reflect their desire to be closer to the Virgin as well as to emphasize the communal aspect of the passage. Those outside the Brotherhoods criticize their revelry each year, but this occurs only because of their inability to understand the sensation of those within, a perspective that can only be achieved through experience..

Ellison, Tria Marie

University of Florida

Gender and Power in Koasati (Wo)Men's Speech: The Linguistic Structuration Method and New Possibilities for Historical Linguistics

Various ethnographies on the Creek Indians of North America have described a marked difference in the usage of certain phonemes, specifically in the Koasati branch of Muskogee language. Ongoing debate concerns whether the cause of this difference in Koasati is due to gender identification or to markers of status. The seemingly conflicting results of linguistic interpretations related to the Koasati are resolved when the broader cultural history of the society is taken into consideration. Cultural identities shifted for the Koasati with the addition of European culture upon the event of colonization, and in some cases, this reversed gender roles and, in result, affected class hierarchies. Speech acts shifted in response to these changing roles, and as a result, affected the structure of Creek linguistic patterning. Is it possible to see the incorporation of male speech into female repertoires as a reflection of growing female power and autonomy in Koasati society?

Fairley, Nancy

Davidson College

A Gaze Southward: Gumbo as Metaphor for Changing Landscapes in the (Global) South (w/ Mattews Samson)

In a conference where the center of attention is southern cuisine and foodways, the suggestion is made that the term gumbo is a helpful metaphor for reflecting on the pluralistic cultural forms that have historically characterized southern culture. As ethnographic theory itself sometimes shifts from models of creolization and hybridization to concerns with cosmopolitalism and glocalization, the origins of gumbo as food and the sociability associated with its consumption provide a metaphorical frame for thinking about continuities and change in forms of popular culture and religion in the South. Past and present connections with Africa and Latin America reveal the shape of historical and transnational intersections that make the South "new."

Gates, Laine

University of Arkansas

Traditional Foodways and the Politics of Obesity in the Arkansas Delta

State and federal policymakers are focusing increased attention on the role of public schools in fighting America's "pandemic obesity problem." School-based policies have focused merely on promoting "healthy" lifestyles without attempting to explore historical and cultural factors that underlie childhood obesity. We examine data from a Body Mass Index (BMI) of public school children in Arkansas, focusing particular attention on the Arkansas Delta where obesity levels are highest. We suggest that traditional rural foodways, now considered African American and Southern, shape African American identity and perceptions that obesity is normal. Efforts to alter food habits simply through education will be inadequate.

Greene, Emily

University of Mississippi

Celtic Feasts

Feasting is an activity rich with symbolism and meaning. Many ethnographic sources, both ancient and modern are known to describe feasts from many different civilizations. Political rivalries, trade agreements, and status in the afterlife are all dealt with through feasts. Ritualized feasting also hints at the beliefs behind legitimization and gender roles. My paper will focus on these topics, specifically their application to central European and insular Celtic rituals.

Haines, Megan

University of Mary Washington

Men on a Mission: Mormon Missionaries Abroad

For the Mormons, missionaries are not a separate class of believers. Every able bodied Mormon man serves a 2 year mission, an experience which is necessary for him to advance in Church leadership. Missionaries are the most visible presence of the Mormon Church, who are otherwise not open in their beliefs or practices. Proselytizing practices are therefore one of the most easily accessible windows into the rest of LDS ideology. This paper relates the Mormon method of conversion to the rest of the Mormon belief system. Their method of religious conversion, unique to the Mormons, exemplifies other unique patterns of belief of the LDS. By examining the international proselytizing efforts of the Mormon Church and how the church frames itself to appeal to a global audience, ideas of what is gained by conversion to Mormonism are used to explore what exactly is being sold to potential religious converts by missionaries.

Hale, Howard

Georgia Southern U.

The First Panamanian and Kuna General Congress Approved Archaeology in San Blas, Panama

Hanrahan, Kelsey B.

University of South Carolina

The Apprenticeship of Wives: Expanding the Scale of Domestic Space in Northern Ghana

In Northern Ghana, women undergo a period of apprenticeship to the senior woman of the household when she first enters the household as a new wife. Here I examine the activities and use of space associated with becoming a wife in a Konkomba community. These activities and spaces are typically categorized as domestic, and set in opposition to public activities and spaces. This domestic: public dichotomy is laden with connotations that limit the ways in which we think about these activities and spaces; women who partake in these activities within these spaces are denied a wider social role that is reserved for men in the public sphere. Drawing on feminist literature in geography to inform ethnoarchaeology, I will use concepts of scale to deconstruct this dichotomy, and reconceptualize this space as a space where domestic and broader social processes intersect within their community.

Hardy, Jessica L.

University of Mississippi

Forging the River: Investigating Deep Valley Rock Shelter, Cayo District, Belize

During the 2006 excavation season in the Caves Branch Valley, Cayo District, Belize, survey conducted by students and staff of the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project lead to the discovery of Deep Valley Rock Shelter. The limestone shelter overlooks the Caves Branch River and is characterized by two small caves. Excavations revealed innumerous artifacts which indicate intensive use of the site by the Late- and Post-Classic Maya of the region. Recovered artifacts include numerous types of ceramic sherds, modified jade pieces, drilled conch shell, burned faunal remains, and dense caches of freshwater snail shell. These artifacts could indicate the use of Deep Valley Rock Shelter as a ritual feasting site by the ancient Maya. Further research goals include an understanding of the Deep Valley Rock Shelter and its relationship to other rock shelter and cave sites in the region.

Harkin, Michael

University of Wyoming

Memories Of The Lost: The Roanoke Colony In The Early 20th Century

Commemorations of the Lost Colony in three media: poetry, film, and speech performance are examined. Each of these addresses the central paradox of the Lost Colony: at once lost, but a charter for English society in North America. Like the more famous "lost cause" of southern historical memory, representations of the Lost Colony attempt to construct contemporary community around highly romanticized notions of the past.

Hatley, Tom

Western Carolina University

The View from the Front Porch: Observations on the Sustainability of Southern Small Farms

"No farms, no food:" the bumper stickers sum up the choice. Farms are the source of local food and the market basket of southern regional cuisines. While food in the south is savored as a rich inheritance, small southern farms are seen today, as in the past, as troubled and often failing. What to do about southern agriculture has launched political careers, justified the removal of native peoples, dammed rivers, and set the cornerstone of more than one university. In order to consider the future of southern foodways, we need to look carefully at farms and consider their future. Over a long sweep of time, southern farming has had both a kind of continuity and an improvisational vitality, even when distinctly against the odds. We can find reasons for hope in the agricultural story of this region, past or future. Because sustainability is nowhere clearer than in the view from the front porch, I will, whenever possible, be grounded in the story of the eighty acres farmed by my father's family for the past two hundred years. Sustainability is at least an equal measure of soil, market, and political policy. For southern farms and local cuisines to do more than survive, a public understanding of what is at stake--and of what can and has gone wrong�must be achieved. Organized engagement by researchers, food producers, and policy makers is a vital part of insuring that the continuities of southern small farming will not be broken.

Henderson, Rebecca R.

University of Mary Washington

On the Margins of the "Middle East" Western Tourism in Fes, Morocco

In this paper, I explore the ways that the Moroccan city of Fes is envisioned by visiting Western tourists in the context of a post 9/11 world. As it is a predominantly Islamic country, Westerners see Morocco through the lens of the images of Islam and the Middle East that have been recently focused on in Western media. At the same time, Morocco presents a relatively safe and easily accessible vacation spot full of familiarities and comforts. This dichotomy, between the desire for exoticism and adventure and the need for familiarity, comfort and safety is epitomized in Fes. Fes relies on its status as the most traditional and conservative Moroccan city to attract tourists who crave the experience of the "other." Tourists pursue the experience of a supposedly timeless Muslim lifestyle through a variety of tourist attractions that are designed to make tourists feel safe in the strange context. Yet at the same time, tourists attempt to maintain their distance from Moroccans and Moroccan culture, and find encroachments on this distance to be unnerving and intrusive.

Hill, Courtney

University of North Carolina Greensboro

Latino Avoidance, Adoption, and Adaptation of Food in the South

Some of the food preferences of immigrants overlap with the dominant culture, some do not. The USDA-funded Nutrition Education for New North Carolinians project seeks to take advantage of immigrant preferences and traditions to encourage preparation and consumption of healthy foods while still being cost effective. This poster reports on focus groups conducted with Latino immigrants in Greensboro, North Carolina regarding 1) their experience with food purchase, preparation and consumption in their new home, and 2) the creation of relevant bilingual nutrition education materials.

Huber, Peter B.

PB Huber, Analysis and Research Inc.

Horizons of History in Wamu, Papua, New Guinea

Much that is written under the rubric "landscape and memory" tends to focus on what might be called "concentration" or "memorialization". In this process, locations become entangled or imbued with historicity as embodiments of public narratives. But there is another side to landscape and memory, which might be described in terms of "diffusion" and "erasure", and "semi-public memory". In Wamu village, Papua New Guinea, this aspect of memory is closely bound with perennial cultigens -especially the sago palm. These are a foocus and a residue of everyday activities. They endure -but not forever -they "publish" private lives -but not in communal narratives. They embody and invoke shared histories and events, which have a half-life and disappear. They are part of a cultural construction of the past that is strikingly shallow. This paper will use a brief discussion of Wamu landscape and memory to explore the forgetting side of cultural memory.

Iafrate, Mike

Davidson College

Dancing for the Lord

The urban plight faced by Los Angeles' inner city youth has not diminished their creativity. This paper analyzes the religious functions of Krumping, the dance form documented in the film Rize. Consistent with classic African body movements, Krumping locates the center of gravity at the hips and the other parts of the body play off against the rhythm established by hip movements. Its uniqueness, however, lies in its religious significance. Youth performing Krumping are often "struck", an expression used when one is possessed by the Holy Spirit. During slavery, the ringshout and rocking Daniel were dances used to invoke the Christian God. However, this African-derived tradition, for the most part, did not continue in freedom. Examination of the literature indicates this is the first time since slavery that African Americans have used dance to invoke the Holy Spirit.

Ivnanova, Sofia

University of North Carolina Greensboro

Immigrant Experiences of Food, Cooking, and Grocery Shopping in the US

Immigrants and refugees come with their own culinary habits and expectations to the United States. We conducted focus groups with immigrants from various countries to understand how they've adapted to food in the US. Common is a tendency to prepare traditional recipes, seek out flea markets, and visit ethnic food stores, in addition to missing the social aspects of food in their countries of origin. Differences concerned the degree to which people were concerned with quality and safety of food, as well as which things about food they like in the US.

James, Jason

University of Mary Washington

Recalling and Undoing Injury in Dresden

The ruin of the Frauenkirche or Church of Our Lady that stood for over forty years in the center of Dresden has now been replaced by an "archaeological reconstruction." The reconstructed edifice - composed of new materials as well as charred remains salvaged from the original - has been cast as a monumental symbol of return and recuperation, a new beginning for the city and the nation, even while it recalls the trauma of World War II. While some critics have suggested that the project is an act of forgetting, I argue that it embodies something more complex. The power of the reconstructed Frauenkirche lies in its simultaneous acknowledgement of loss and promise to symbolically undo historical injury. The acknowledgement of loss supports a claim of suffering that recasts World War II in terms of German victimhood while at the same time resurrecting an untainted national past.

James, Jenny

Independent Scholar

Selu: Shamanic Revitalization and Recronstruction

Considered sacramentally, corn is central to Cherokee religion. This paper will sketch the relation between corn and shamanism within the parameters of matriarchal consciousness and the sacred feminine, as expressed in Cherokee texts (James 1996, 2006, 2007) and the recovery of the female shaman, as described by Tedlock (Tedlock 2005). The first woman and progenitor of the Cherokee, Selu is also the first shaman, who shakes corns and beans from her very body. One asks, in terms of the sacred feminine and the female shaman in Cherokee tradition, what is the relation between the female body and Selu's sacred power and moral authority? Why is the corn mother immolated by men? What is the relation between the female body and sacrifice? Does the corn mother archetype undergo change after Removal? Which archetypal motifs are consistent over time, and which change? Finally, how does the stress upon matriarchal recovery and restoration change the context of scholarship on shamanism in the Cherokee tradition? The Woman from the East, the Sun, the Seven Menstruating Women, the Woman from the skies, Selu, and the old Woman of the hearth and the Water beetle give rain, fertility, magic stones, life and death, sickness and health, corn, sustenance or famine, and fire to the Cherokee people. Are these shamanic gifts, and, if so, how do they connect the Cherokee to the cosmos?

Johnson, David M.

North Carolina Agricultural &Technical State University

Teaching Anthropology Through Food

This paper will describe a cultural anthropology course that is being taught by the author, with influences from Dee Fink and Barbara Millis on the pedagogy, and using a variety of activities and books focused on food. The course aims to have students make comparisons between different food traditions and reasons for those differences. Students do an ethnography using the ethnosemantic approach, and then apply that approach to an ethnography of a meal that they learn how to cook from an informant. Along the way there is study of the anthropological approach to food, and anthropological concepts to apply to foodways and food choices of cultures.

Jordan, Jillian

University of Mississippi

Archaeological Survey at Deep Valley in the Cayo District, Belize

During the 2006 Field Season the University of Mississippi in association with the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project located a surface site in the Caves Branch River Valley in the Cayo District of Belize. A topographic map of the largest plaza was created during a week of preliminary survey. It measures 60 meters on the eastern and western borders and 50 meters and 30 meters on the northern and southern borders, respectively. The eastern structure is the tallest with a height of 8.5 meters.

The Caves Branch River Valley (CBRV) is devoid of large ceremonial centers indicating external influence over its cacao production. Cacao was critical to the economy of the neighboring Sibun Valley and acquiring control of production in the CBRV would have had profound political and economic implications. The proposed paper will focus on the literature concerning similar architectural features and site configuration which are indicative of site affiliation and function.

Krause, Samantha M.

University of Mary Washington

Bilateral Asymmetry and Kingship among the Olmec

This paper draws upon Hocart's assertion that the government is the nervous system of a civilization with that the king as the center. Olmec artwork, despite its obscure nature, can tell anthropologists a great deal in regards to kingship and authority. Representations of humans, usually taken to be rulers, demonstrate examples of how the king was a mediator between the spiritual and the material or mundane world through his person. Furthermore, building on Karl Taube and David Grove's ideas of bilateral asymmetry, this paper will demonstrate how these artistic representations illustrate how the king's person was divided into four parts analogous to the quadrants of the cosmos. The symbolic representation of right and left, according to Robert Hertz, is a phenomenon observed across many cultures. The two sides are distinguished in terms of moral values and magical power. This paper will address Hertz's conclusions in relation to the Olmec.

Lansdell, Brent

University of Mississippi

Subsistence Data from a Contact Period Homestead in the Coastal Zone of South Carolina

Subsistence studies from a Contact period homestead on Daniel Island in the South Carolina coastal zone have provided valuable data on the lifeways of Native American inhabitants of the region. Analysis of faunal, botanical, and phytolith remains recovered from intact cultural deposits has indicated intensive cultivation of maize as well as the continued widespread usage of estuarine and terrestrial resources. Preliminary analysis has indicated a possible year round occupation of the site, a continuation of Mississippian lifeways, and a gradual adoption of some European cultigens. This data supports recent indications from other archaeological investigations of the Contact period that the transition from subsistence strategies of the Mississippian period was more gradual than previously thought.

Christy Leckburg,

University of Mary Washington,

Start From the Inside and Work Your Way In

This paper is a symbolic analysis of cutlery use in American culture, which, when examined, gives insight to larger American values that can be applied to other aspects of culture. The use of cutlery symbolizes an opposition of formality where the informal category includes little to no use of utensils when eating and the formal category includes using a multitude of utensils. Levi-Strauss' theory of mythology helps to understand the formal category by explaining the value of having very specified tools that are only used for a purpose and are not multi-functional. In addition, cutlery affirms one's identity as being civilized as opposed to primitive and it reinforces the importance Americans place in individuality and independence. Each of these broad values are found and applied in other aspects of American culture; however, the intrigue of studying cutlery is witnessing the values function in a fundamental way that is unnoticeable to the average American.

Lefler, Lisa J.

Western Carolina University /Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

Ramps: Appalachian Delicacies That, "Smells God-Awful, But Cures What Ails Ya"

Ramps, sometimes identified as wild leeks, extend from Canada to the Great Lakes to Southern Appalachia. This plant is understood as both food plant and medicinal among the Cherokees and the Mountain people of Western North Carolina. Stories of harvesting, preparing and eating these little white bulbs of unparalleled pungency are treasured and easily shared, unlike their usually guarded location.

Lopez, Tomas

University of West Florida

Raven Myths and the Cultural Ecology of the Far North

The raven has mythical attributes in nearly every land it inhabits. From Western Europe to Siberia to North America, the raven has been associated with creativity, skill, transformative abilities, and a close relationship with humans. More recently, observers of the raven and other animals such as the coyote argue that early settlers to the circumpolar North learned early on to follow the flights of the ravens to where the best food sources were. Where there were dead animals for the ravens to scavenge, there would also be living animals for humans to hunt, and plant materials to forage. Thus the raven elicited disgust as an omnivorous scavenger; it also earned respect as a life-saver to the humans who learned to interpret its behavior. This paper examines the real and possible connection between the raven-creatures of myth and folklore and arguments that at least some raven myths reflect historical realities.

Martin, D.C. (w/Daniel B. Zivin)

University of Southern Mississippi

Chemical Wars: The Effects of different Cleaning Agents on Decomposition of Human Tissue

The effects of many chemical agents that might be used to alter the appearance of a victim or to speed up decomposition processes are not well understood. To investigate these effects, two over-the-counter cleaning agents containing sulfuric acid (SO3) and lye (NaOH2) were tested. Pieces of beef and pork with bone were weighed and then surface sprayed or submerged in solutions of various strengths of the chemicals for a week. An unaltered control sample was also monitored. The samples were weighed daily, and any visual/physical changes were noted. It was found that the 20% lye and 96% SO3 concentrations had the greatest effects, but that the various solution strengths had qualitative as well as quantitative differences in their destruction of both soft tissue and bone. These findings should provide a better idea of how these easily obtained chemicals can affect the rate and appearance of decomposition.

McClellan-Welch, Sarah

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

Growing Good Health: Gardening and Agriculture Programs of the Eastern Cherokee

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are experiencing a cultural renaissance reviving traditions, culture, language, and agriculture. Cooperative Extension is participating in this movement to reestablish Cherokee values through several agricultural programs. This presentation will share various agricultural projects aimed at improving the health and well-being of the Eastern Cherokee.

McLachlan, Carrie

Western Carolina University

Cherokee "Chiefdoms" of the Eighteenth Century

In this paper I look Cherokee governmental structures of the 18th century as a possible model for investigating "Mississippian chiefdom" structures. The idea that the Cherokee were less "hierarchically" structured than their neighbors has so often been repeated that few question its validity. If the distinction is not valid, as I propose, the problem lies partially in the idea that "hierarchical" organizations necessarily are structured from the top down, rather than from the bottom up. The Cherokee model for religious and political leadership more closely fits the "corporate model" Adam King elucidates in his reconstruction a Mississippian chiefdom in Etowah: the Political History of a Chiefdom Capital. King suggests that the paramount chiefdom at Etowah was both hierarchical in organization and materially egalitarian. For the Cherokee political and religious systems were one. Religious leaders were also political leaders and vice versa. I will suggest that we can look to the clan-based Cherokee religious/political structures of the eighteenth century for concrete evidence of how a corporate-style paramount chiefdom may have been structured in the sixteenth century. While there were obviously political changes that took place over the two centuries, the basic structure likely remained intact. I will use English colonial documents from the eighteenth century. I will also use early nineteenth century documents that recorded Cherokee memories of their political and religious systems just after the Cherokee had experienced a major gestalt shift in political organization by adopting Western sanctioned constitutional and political structures. At this time there was likely a considerable discussion of how things used to be. In outlining the Cherokee political and religious structure of the eighteenth century, I will show that because the Cherokee had several different regions, each of which had a complete religious and political organization which could function separately or co-operatively with the other regions, this system was well adapted to function at a complex or less complex level of organization as needed while retaining the basic organizational pattern.

McWhirt, Lindy

University of Mary Washington

All You Need is Dual Sovereignty: The Dynamics of authority and power as found in the films of the Beatles

The chase is off in a train station swarming with the frenzy of teenage girls, a sacrificial ring finds its way to a very famous finger, the bus has been filled and Jolly Jimmy Johnson the Courier greets us all, and the Blue Meanies attack the music and love of Pepper Land. These events all follow and outline the four of the Beatles films created throughout the span of their career. Starting with "A Hard Day's Night" in 1964, and ending with "Yellow Submarine" in 1968, the viewer is able to track the progression of the Beatles through each twist and turn or their time as a band. In this paper I will argue that these films were not merely showcases for Beatles tunes, or mass produced teen dreams, but rather, with close examination, we come to understand that each film in itself stands in relation to those which come before and after it, and in the end constructs an overarching theme about who the Beatles were and their story, one which is greatly linked to the notions of dual sovereignty, as well as the fine line between chaos and creation.

Means, Johnathan

University of West Florida

Missionaries, Anthropologists, and Socialization: An Observation

My perspective is openly eclectic, owing to my background in Christian mission and my current studies in Interdisciplinary Humanities, with emphases in cultural Anthropology and philosophy. I will consider the efforts of Smalley (1979), Stipe (1980), Hiebert (1985), van der Geest and Rapoport (1990), Shweder (1991), Benthall (1995), and Headland (1996), all of which directly address the relationship�both promising and problematic�between anthropologists and missionaries. I note with approval the ever-widening dialogue between the two, because it forms a necessary part of the open question: What role do both play in the socialization process of the host culture, with respect especially to the issue of human rights? I will include insights from my colleagues; anthropologists, the director of a mission sending agency, and missionaries�one of whom is also the widow of the late Dr. Rick Thompson, a missionary anthropologist with whom I served in Kenya. In keeping with my current work on wonder as a catalyst in the pursuit of understanding, I will emphasize the need for the kind of humility that fosters an ongoing, open-eyed consideration of difference and commonality as both groups pursue their interconnected agendas.

Miller, Cynthia J.

Emerson College

The Call to Look: Images and Identities from the Homelessness Photography Project

This paper explores the landscape of homelessness, as it is photographed by its inhabitants. "Images from the Streets" is a photography project in which all individuals who participate are among the unsheltered homeless -- those who spend their nights on heating grates, under highways, and in ATM kiosks. The project and images discussed here will explore both the processes and products of The Homeless Photography Project, discussing the ways in which the photographers use the images they create as tools for exploring and communicating their experiences and identities with each other, and creating a sense of belonging while living at the margins of the wider community. While individuals on the streets may live without the formal claim to place that inheres in the domiciled population, many use their environments, no matter how temporary, as tools with which to ground their identities. "Images from the Streets" demonstrates that whether one seeks to understand life histories or map death sites, nearly all knowledge derived from being "place-less" is, in fact, based in place. The act of reconnecting with that knowledge and sense of ownership through photography, creates a powerful strategy for grounding individual lives in time and space, weaving threads of interconnectedness through events in the photographers' personal histories, and constructing a sense of belonging and community through the images that are created and shared.

Moberg, Mark

University of Southern Alabama

Thinking Globally, Eating Ethically: Promises and Perils of the Fair Trade Movement

Alternative Trade initiatives are rooted in a paradox in their effort to marshal the forces of the market against the food corporations that presently dominate world trade. While sharing the transformative goals of other New Social Movements, Fair Trade differs from them in that it does not arise from collective experience. How is a form of politics based on individual consumer choice to be understood relative to other efforts to transform society? Does it herald a significant disruption of a global trading system that delivers commodities to the developed North? Or is it an illusory form of anti-globalization, prone to cooptation by the same corporations that now control global markets? Utilizing the examples of two "fairly-traded"commodities, coffee and bananas, this paper assesses the status and trajectory of Alternative Trade within the conflicting pressures of anti-globalization politics and corporate strategies of niche marketing.

Morgan, Mary Margaret

Millsaps College

Rethinking the Origins of Maya Civilization in the Puuc Region of Yucatan, Mexico

Fieldwork conducted during 2006 at Kiuic, a Maya site located in the Puuc Hills region of Yucat�n, Mexico, as part of the Labn�-Kiuic Regional Archaeological Program, is leading to a reevaluation of the initial period of occupation in this region. Fieldwork at Kiuic began in an effort to better understand the site's position in the greater context of the development of not only the Northern Lowlands, but the whole of the Maya area. The abundance of visible Classic structures at Kiuic suggests highly complex social stratification existed in the Puuc region by the Classic Period (A.D. 300-1000). Excavations in recent years have focused on understanding the development of the site prior to its Classic occupation. This paper focuses on Plaza Icim North, an outlying area of the site with no visible Classical architecture. This area is of particular interest in that it appears to have a long history of occupation beginning perhaps as early as 700 B.C., and most importantly, findings suggest an in situ process of development.

Morse, Amy

University of North Carolina Greensboro

Help in Surviving a War Zone: Formal and Informal Social Support in the Contexts of Mass Violence and Armed Conflict

Individuals, families and communities rely on a number of support mechanisms to survive and to preserve meaning in the unstable and insecure situations of mass violence and armed conflict. This poster reviews processes of informal support, the activities of helping organizations in zones of violence, and how individuals experience these forms of support. Culturally relevant informal and formal support mitigates the effects of violence. Although support groups have little effect on the occurrence of mass violence and armed conflict. The effectiveness of these help groups varies with the type of violence/conflict.

Murchison, Julian M.

Millsaps College

Knowing My Health for Myself": Investigating the Effects of ARVs on Living with HIV in Southern Tanzania

The reach of antiretroviral drugs in Tanzania and other countries is still relatively limited. However, as governments and NGOs pursue programs and policies that seek to provide these drugs to people living with HIV, the effects already appear to be far-reaching in southern Tanzania. Here I theorize about how we might make sense out of these changes in terms of both individual and social experiences. Changes in social behaviors are linked to changes in social identities that are reminiscent of other important religious and political transformations in colonial and postcolonial contexts. At the level of the individual, a change in the way that individuals talk about their health and their HIV status has accompanied the spread of these drugs. Bringing together these questions of social identities as well as individual discourses of health, I seek to develop a framework with which to interpret and to understand the rapid, and often unintended, social and cultural consequences of the push to treat those living with HIV

Myers, Donna

University of West Georgia

Object as Metaphor in a Yuchi Community

This study illuminates the relationship of six Yuchi women with food and the practice of cooking within the Yuchi food system at the camps of a traditional ceremonial dance ground and at a United Methodist Church. Life histories of the participants reveal a complex of obligations that frame their lives, and in fulfilling their obligations, these women engage in symbolic cooking patterns that are carried forward from their childhoods, despite the pressures of contemporary life and their immersion in mainstream American society. Data show that certain foods act as symbols that support group solidarity, while objects take on metaphorical significance whose meaning is clear to women who participate in communal cooking activities. Taken together, these aspects of food and cooking illustrate dimensions of prestige and authority that permeate the lives of women as they interact with other members of the Yuchi community and non-Yuchi members of the wider community.

Nanthana, Khamla

University of Mary Washington

The Hidden Forces: Analysis of Women's Power in Tiwi Society of Northern Australia

"The Hidden Forces: Analysis of Women's Power in Tiwi Society of Northern Australia" reanalyzes Jane Goodale's study of women's powers and values among the Tiwi of Melville Island of Northern Australia. In doing so, the paper accomplishes two major goals. First, it demonstrates the fundamental limitations of Levi-Strauss's model of women's roles in restricted and generalized marriage systems. In this model, women are conceptualized as objects of circulation between men or groups of men. This model fails to recognize women's agency, and thus prevents any acknowledgment of women's power and value. Secondly, this analysis sheds light on Tiwi women's powers and values, which women had because they depended on and employed men as their political, social, and economic agents. In other words, men are agents for women's authority. These results are achieved by the application of the theories of Louis Dumont, P.G. Riviere, Rodney Needham, Annette Weiner, and Marcel Mauss.

Nelson, Christina

Davidson College

In Their Footsteps

Stepping is a dance form created by Greek organizations at historically black colleges and universities. In recent years stepping has emerged in other venues, including historically white colleges and universities. This minute film documents the artistic and social functions of a step team at Davidson College. While scholars concur that dance which uses the body as a percussive instrument has it origins in slavery. Few scholars, however, examine how use of the body in this manner also creates unity between the dancers, helping them establish a collective identity. Research indicates that the use of the performing arts in this manner dates back to slavery when Africans used synchronized movement and song to help them transcend the drudgery of plantation life.

Nelson, Jaclyn A.

University of Mary Washington

Fanfiction and Levi-Strauss: Real Person Slash as Modern Myth-Making

The study of fandom is a rapidly expanding field, but often researchers are hesitant to apply traditional anthropological theories to this primarily internet-based subculture. Using Levi-Strauss' analysis of myth-making, I propose that it is not only in the "Savage Mind" that myth is created, but rather that myth-making is engaged on a daily basis through the consumption and appropriation of popular media in modern Western society. Specifically, I explore how female fanfiction writers engage in cultural bricolage by selecting parts of their original source material and re-interpreting them to create a new body of knowledge, "fanon." This structure extends to Real Person Slash communities, which appropriate and re-interpret celebrity personas rather than fictional characters, creating a fanon based on fictional romantic relationships between two male celebrities. By manipulating the publicly-created personas of celebrities, the fan community emphasizes the performative nature of identity while exploring female sexual expression and homosexuality.

Nolan, Justin M.

University of Arkansas

Traditional Foodways and the Politics of Obesity in the Arkansas Delta

Page, Miranda

University of Southern Mississippi

The Diet of the Mississippi Gulf Coast French Settlers as Determined from Isotope Analysis

Dating to the early 1700s, the Moran site (22HR511) in Biloxi, Mississippi is one of the few known early French colonial cemeteries. Despite structural damage from Hurricane Katrina to the building located over the cemetery, the skeletal remains of at least nine individuals remain sufficiently intact for bioarchaeological investigation. Ethnohistorical documentation of the colony suggests that issues with food preferences and shortages occurred. Reportedly colonists were forced to eat maize despite their strong preference for wheat. The purpose of this research was to investigate, through chemical analysis of skeletal material, the extent to which these individuals ate native and local foods. Cortical bone samples were analyzed for levels of both C13 and N15. Preliminary results suggest the immigrants were mainly reliant on a C3 diet, which consisted of wheat and other Old World grains. The implications of this finding as well as possible future testing will be discussed.

Parlier, Anne

University of North Carolina Greensboro

How Far Did This Fish Travel?: A Political Ecology Perspective on Local Fish Consumption in Cartert County

As the world hears reports of over fishing, dwindling fish stocks and increasing aquaculture imports, Carteret County, North Carolina commercial fishermen struggle to continue their long heritage of fishing and to maintain their livelihoods. This paper discusses research completed during the summer of in Carteret County and explores the fishermen's views of the state of commercial fishing and their beliefs regarding access to and rights to the resource and its benefits. Using a political ecology perspective, I evaluate the fishermen's position as well as consumer expectations and beliefs regarding an authentic coastal seafood experience. Connecting fresh seafood caught in local waters to the plates of expectant consumers has become more difficult and less straightforward than consumers comprehend.

Parris, Michael

University of North Carolina Greensboro

The History and Culture of Carteret County Shrimpers

The fishermen of Carteret County North Carolina are in danger of losing there livelihood and culture. Imported shrimp from South America and Asia are cheaper, and have taken over the market since the early 1970's Carteret County has rich fishing history starting with the whaling industry in the 1700's, eventually leading to the shrimping boom of 1948. The mid 1900's were prosperous times and as fisherman turned to power boat and the use of the "otter trawl" These advancements made fishing more profitable, and efficient. In order to protect the future for these fisherman, strategies need to be put in place. Awareness of their history needs to be available to promote the importance of buying locally caught shrimp, and supporting the local fisherman. Therefore, this paper will focus on the rich fishing heritage of Carteret County and the ways in which to educate the public on its vital importance to sustaining their fishing community.

Patten, Kristen (w/Tesa Burch)

University of West Florida

Off the Beaten Path: Trash Trails and the Homeless as "Discarded" Components of American Society

Philen, Robert

University of West Florida.

Southern Drinkways: Cultural Models of Drinking and Drinking Behavior at a Southern University Campus

This presentation will present an initial synthesis of data (gathered with a variety of methods, including an extensive quantitative survey, a short qualitative survey, and an ethnographic project utilizing mixed methods) about students' cultural models of drinking and related behaviors and contexts. Important themes that will be addressed include interpretive difficulties in attempting to link alcohol related discourse and practice, as well as the interpretation of the data in terms of a variety of frames or contexts, e.g. that the data reflects simultaneously a Southern setting, a student sample, a medium size university setting (with large proportions of commuter and "non-traditional" students), a small to medium sized city (which is a military and tourist town, but not so much a "college town"), etc.

Potter, Amy

Louisiana State Univeristy

Everyone's Levee but Your Own: The Changing Face of the Downtown Baton Rouge Levee

Several readings in our "Poetics of Place" seminar, in which we explored levee monumentality, suggest that there is a dynamic interaction that occurs between objects and humans. In light of those readings, this paper seeks to explore the symbiotic relationship between the people of Baton Rouge and their levee, particularly addressing how the levee expressed Baton Rougeans' hopes and fears associated with the Mississippi River, and their present-day vision for developing the city. Utilizing newspaper archival records, I explore three major floods, the last of which is , and the discussion of the present-day downtown development initiatives for the city. I then build on this historical context with my own encounter with the levee. My encounters with the downtown levee suggest that this particular section of the levee has undergone a major transformation in the last years, not only in physical appearance but also in terms of what purpose it now serves for downtown Baton Rouge.

Powis, Terry

Kennesaw State University

Food of the Gods: Chocolate and the Ancient Maya

Long before cacao or chocolate transformed world cuisine, the ancient Maya used cacao beans in their daily social and ritual activities. The beans were used as a form of currency and ground up and served as a chocolate beverage. The custom of cacao drinking has a long history in the Maya area. This paper provides the results of chemical analyses on residues collected from spouted jars found in Middle Preclassic (900-400 BC) and Late Preclassic (400 BC-AD 250) burials at the archaeological site of Colha, located in northern Belize. The data reveal that some of the vessels from Colha contained substantial amounts of theobromine, a distinct marker for cacao or chocolate. By isolating cacao residues from the interior surfaces of spouted jars, it is now possible to show that the ancient Maya were using cacao as early as 600 BC, almost a thousand years earlier than previous research has suggested.

Prewitt, Terry

University of West Florida

The Ghost that Ate Children

Gleanings from stories told by the Greenland Eskimo (Millman, 1987),supplemented by ethnographic representations of traditional and contemporary arctic and sub-arctic cultures, expose the austere and dangerous mode of subsistence of the arctic environment. The cold north produces rugged, and somewhat dangerous individuals. While these Eskimo stories employ the animal metaphors familiar to North America and Asia, they display syntagmatic forms reminiscent of Northern European folklore. Yet, in spite of continuing historical connection between Greenland and and Scandanavia, the horrific grist of the stories has a demonstrable connection to historical realities of Greenland's extraordinary ecology. Hunger, cannibalism, murder, and a magical sense of "transformation" in the world tag these stories as"hyper-arctic" examples of the folkloric danger tale.

Probasco, Susan

University of Arkansas

Sacred Spaces and Childhood Places: The Arkansas Delta in Southern Native Ethnography

Drawn by a lifetime's worth of story telling, a southern daughter returns to the Arkansas Delta revisiting childhood spaces and facing problems of impression management and the intense grief and gratification inherent in working with dearly loved elders in a place haunted by memories. Described are the blessings of having been a student of Miles Richardson - a master of the narrative paradigm. Richardson has proved that there is a place for creativity and poetry in anthropology, that one could be a scientist and still create beauty, that pain and reverence could be coupled with fieldwork to craft a poetic work through which places and people could emerge, richer in detail and more alive than those presented in the voice of the detached observer. In a storage shed in the Delta the ethnographer found consecrated ground by using Charles Lindholm's notion of furta sacra - creating sacred spaces and drawing power through the theft of holy objects - and Richardson's teachings of experiencing sacred spaces.

Raab, Rebecca R.

University of North Carolina Wilmington

Mission Trip or International Church Retreat? The Socialization of Teenage Missionaries

Since 1986, Teen Mania Ministries has provided teenagers with the opportunity to participate in "Global Expeditions." According to Teen Mania (2003), "Global Expeditions gives young people the opportunity to bring the Truth of Jesus Christ to the countless thousands around the world who are in desperate need of his love." In June of 2000 I participated in a Teen Mania Global Expedition to San Jose, Costa Rica. I will draw from my personal experience with this organization in order to argue that the focus or emphasis of Global Expeditions is not the faith of the foreigners encountered, but the souls of the teenagers evangelizing. Thus, the mission trips advertised by Teen Mania appear to be more of an opportunity for the socialization of young believers (missionaries) apart from parental or secular societal influences rather than an opportunity to share the Christian faith with nonbelievers around the world.

Ragan, Angela

Western Carolina University

Continuing a Proud Tradition: WWII and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee

The American sacrifices during World War II has been studied extensively, yet Native American participation, both at home and in the military, is sorely lacking in scholarly research - particularly at the tribal level. Therefore, this study focuses on the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians' reactions to and participation in World War II. This article covers the time frame roughly from 1939 to the end of the war and the return of the Cherokee men to the Boundary. Through the use of oral histories, both of those fighting in the war and those who remained home, the study will tie together the effects of the war on both the community and those involved in the fighting. This study has three major areas of focus: community involvement and views of the war and war effort on the home front, Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian political views of the war and conscription of their members, and military service by Eastern Band members. The study relates that not only were Cherokee people supportive of the military effort - sending a higher percentage of their young men off to war than the national average, but they were also supportive of the war on the home front - every family on the boundary planted victory gardens. The voices of the Cherokee men and women who served during this time add nuance to our understanding of Native American participation in World War II and the United States Armed Forces. In using untapped sources of Cherokee history, Native American newspaper and journal accounts, and oral histories this project will contribute to future research on Native American participation in America's wars.

Redvers-Lee, Peter

Vanderbilt University

Dislocated Procurement: An Ethnographic Study of Latin American Immigrant Shoppers in Nashville, Tennessee

This ethnographic study looks at how Latin American immigrants go about shopping for groceries in Nashville, Tennessee, and relates this simple act to a wider political economy. The paper examines the act of shopping for groceries and the immigrants� preferences through elements largely ignored by the prevailing economic paradigm. The ethnography examines how the immigrants deal with their now dislocated practice of shopping in their everyday life in the new city. The study suggests that immigrants adopt set shopping patterns and preferences that make them feel comfortable, modes of shopping that are informed by ethnic background and country of origin. Over time, as the immigrants adjust to their new country, so their ways of shopping for groceries change. In examining this process, the ethnography considers the public spaces in which the practice of shopping takes place, and includes both those stores catering directly to the immigrants and those serving a wider market.

Richardson, Miles

Louisiana State University

Looking at the Levee Strangely

The Mississippi River makes its way through Louisiana between huge, linear, grassy mounds of dirt that run along its banks. These are "flood control structures," but since humans made them, they overflow, as it were, their specific instrumental purpose. We humans, being creatures of the symbol, are condemned to create. Hence, whatever we construct, we bring to it an esthetic, and levees become poems. To understand how this comes to be, we approach the levee phenomenologically, which means we look at it (if indeed it is an it) with a listening eye. At first we stand before it and see it as text and read its discourse. Bu then we stand within it and see it as a performance in which we play our part. In either case, we see it strangely.

Roe-Fehrman, Erica

Middle Tennessee State University

Medicine in the Field: Healthcare Access and Alternatives for Migrant Farmworkers in North Carolina

This research examines the social constraints to healthcare of migrant farmworkers in rural North Carolina and some ethnomedical alternatives used by this population. The central questions driving this research are 1) what healthcare choices are being made; 2) why are these choices being made; and 3) can the biomedical and ethnomedical models for this community work in tandem? Data was collected while traveling for two weeks in the summer of with outreach health practitioners delivering treatment through a mobile medical clinic to migrant farmworkers and their families. The research will show that, although folk medical treatments are recognized and used by many of these migrant farmworkers, the lives of the people in this community revolve around issues of adequate biomedical dental and health care.

Rogers, Anne

Western Carolina University

The Role of Women in Cherokee Society

The role of women in Cherokee society has often been identified with Nancy Ward in her roles as "War Woman" and later "Beloved Woman." However, women played a prominent role in many other aspects of Cherokee life prior to the imposition of patrilineal practices by the Europeans. This paper examines the various roles occupied by Cherokee women, and discusses the impact they had on the overall society.

Samson, Matt

Davidson College

A Gaze Southward: Gumbo as Metaphor for Changing Landscapes in the (Global) South

Sarbaugh, James

Independent Scholar

Preaching Christianity and Praying to Thunder

In Cherokee communities in the 1820s, mission schools, Christian doctrine, and native literacy were becoming firmly established. For the most part, the National Council supported these changes. As President of the Council, John Ross, said: "when the Indians are themselves seen to manifest a thirst to reach after the blessings and happiness derivable from civilized life, I cannot believe that the United States Government will still continue. . . removing nation after nation of them from the lands of their fathers." Ordinary Cherokees, however, expressed diverse opinions about how best to maintain the viability of their communities.

Schneider, Mary Jo

University of Arkansas

Traditional Foodways and the Politics of Obesity in the Arkansas Delta