Traditions of the Nacerima

     While reading through Horace Miner’s article, Body Ritual of the Nacerima, five descriptive words that came to mind had largely to do with tradition.

Ritualistic -

     Rituals seemed to be part of everyday life. It was what kept the Nacerima people strong in their pursuits to try and adjust their bodies which they considered ugly. No matter whether one was rich or poor, at least one shrine would be mounted in every person’s household. Their rituals would usually be done alone as opposed to an entire family as a unit. This word best suited their ideals and beliefs.

Masochistic -

     The one profound habit in the entire article was how the Nacerima people became prone to torture and discomfort. Many of the rituals included one way or form of masochism. For example, medicine men would jab an awl into exposed nerves. There was also daily rituals for men in which they would be scrapped and lacerated on the surface of their face with sharp tools. For women, they would bake their heads in small ovens for an hour or so four times a year during the lunar months. This is just a small portion of the tortures that were not only prone to happen but also accepted and celebrated. 

Ceremonial - 

     As opposed to rituals, ceremonies were held in special temples that were not so common to everyday life. The temple, known as latipso, was the place where the sick traveled to get cured. These ceremonies proved to be shocking even for the Nacerima people. For example, a man would normally never show his excretory act to anyone, especially his wife, but maidens of the temple would be present while he would have to excrete into a vessel. Women would be subjected to manipulation and scrutiny for their naked bodies. Every morning, a maiden vestal would awaken their clients to discomfort and torture, forcing them to eat substances and jabbing treated needles into their flesh. Although this would hardly cure the client, people still held a strong faith in these ceremonies. 

Oral - 

     The Nacerima people had a large fascination with the mouth. They believed that if rituals were not conducted for the mouth, their teeth would fall, their gums would bleed, and their jaws would shrink. There were holy-mouth-men that would perform mouth rites where they would insert small amount of hog hairs along with magical powders. These mouth men would also have tools that would seemingly torture the client. The purpose was to create holes in their teeth to put magical materials. There were also ritual ablution for children in order to improve moral fiber. The word best described the Nacerima people’s ideals and fascination with the mouth.  

Economic -

     I chose this word to describe how the Nacerima people actually had a very big understanding in commerce. There was a bunch of trading and exchange for goods and services. Guardians of the temples would expect gifts from clients before and after the ceremonies would take place. Medicine men required substantial gifts after they provided ingredients for their clients, which would then be taken to an herbalist who would also require a gift for their part in retrieving these ingredients. Women with large mammary developments would be able to make a lucrative living simply by traveling from city to city to exhibit their breasts. 

PART B

     As an American, the choice of words I used in Part A seemed rather violent and primal. I was completely unaware of the fact that Horace Miner was describing Americans. However, on second thought, I feel like any foreigner who comes into the American culture can have such a view that can seem quite violent to them. It is true that many of us have a standard to try and alter ourselves to seem beautiful to one another. It really opened up my eyes as to what one can view our culture as. 

      I can completely agree that my choice words exhibited some type of ethnocentrism. I completely judged the culture based on my culture and made it seem as if I were observing a primal tribe. Out of the words I chose, the ones I felt were unbiased were: economic, ritualistic, and ceremonial. I feel like those three words can describe almost any other culture around the world. I feel like rituals and ceremonies are a factor that humans seek, whether it is a daily routine or a sacrifice of an animal. Economy is also extremely universal and known throughout every part of the world. The words I believe were biased were: Oral and Masochistic. Those words definitely exude a sense of primal violence that others may not agree with. Since it was something I could not understand, I put a negative connotation to my description. 

     For the two words that I believe were biased, I simply could have said something more unbiased like, “body-conscious” and, “mouth-related” to try and steer away from any negative connotations. 

     After being completely surprised, I concluded that one must really be cautious of the words they use to describe other cultures. Our own views and standards can unconsciously seep into our minds when we think we are ready to be objective. I believe that it is possible to avoid personal cultural bias, but only if more than one person were reviewing and editing the observations.