A Preliminary Review of Neotropical Primates in the Subsistence and Symbolism of Indigenous Lowland South American Peoples

This article provides a review of selected literature of nonhuman primates in the subsistence and symbolism of indigenous lowland South American groups. While few works have focused specifically on the relationship between human and nonhuman primates in Amazonia and the surrounding areas, a number of ethnographic works do incorporate information about the roles of monkeys in varied groups. The section on subsistence focuses on the use of primates as food, including preferences, avoidances, and taboos. The section on symbolism focuses on the role of monkeys in myths, folklore, and in delineating the humanity/animality divide

Animism, Cannibalism, and Pet-keeping among the Guajá of Eastern Amazonia

Recent work in Amazonian religion, sociality, and ecological adaptation have addressed the interrelationships among animism, cannibalism, and pet-keeping. In this article, I attempt to reconcile these works with the beliefs and behaviors of the Guajá of eastern Amazonia. I argue that the specific configuration of animism, cannibalism, and pet-keeping among the Guajá relates to their social organization and mode of production as hunter-gatherers. Obras recentes tratando da religião, socialidade, e adaptação ecológica na Amazonia têm demonstrado as relações entre o animismo, o canibalismo, e a prática de criar animais de estimação. Neste trabalho, eu tento reconciliar estas obras com as crenças e os comportamentos dos Guajá da Amazônia oriental. Meu argumento é que a configuração específica de animismo, canibalismo, e a prática de criar animais de estimação está ligada à sua organização social e à sua estratégia de de subsistência como caçadores-coletores

Disaster preparedness and response among religious organizations

The purpose of the project was to discover whether or not religious communities were prepared, with both supplies and a plan of action, for disasters and whether or not they provided relief efforts in the aftermath of a disaster. This project also provided insight into the explanations for group preparedness and relief efforts of religious groups and how they coped with natural disasters in accordance with their faiths. From this data, I determined the relationship between religious affiliation and disaster preparedness and response. I used a stratified random sample to gather participants from the Birmingham, Alabama area. A total of 15 participants were used in this study: Baptist (1), Catholic (2), Episcopalian (1), Judaism (2), Jehovah's Witness (1), Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (1), Lutheran (3), Methodist (2), and Nondenominational (2). Qualitative interviews were conducted with religious leaders to assess disaster preparedness, if they provided relief efforts after a disaster, the reasons for their actions, and how they cope with natural disasters. The results revealed slightly more than half of the participants were prepared for a disaster with supplies, a disaster plan, or both. Those religious groups which were not prepared stated it was due to the small congregation size or the lack of space for storing disaster supplies. All of the participants stated they provide relief services after disasters occur. The most common services included debris removal, the collection of monetary and clothing donations, and the collection and redistribution of food and water. Religious groups shared a common theme to explain why they provide relief, being that it is part of their faiths mission, beliefs, and/or teachings. Lastly, there was a weak relationship between religious affiliation and how these groups cope with natural disasters. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Archaeology after the field: assessment of the Josselyn Collection at the University of Alabama Birmingham

The University of Alabama at Birmingham's (UAB) Josselyn Archaeological Collection (Josselyn Collection) contains artifacts from over 100 Archaic and Woodland period Native American sites from Alabama and other states in the Southeast. The collection is named for avocational archaeologist, Dan W. Josselyn, and contains both amateur and systematic field collections. The collection is in a state of disorganization. Major organization and restoration of the Josselyn collection needs to be undertaken not only for it to meet federal standards, but to fully meet its research potential. A review of Museum Best Practices was conducted to develop guidelines to revise and improve the Josselyn collection. In addition, a review of five institutions with collections similar to UAB's was conducted to discover their procedures for implementing Museum Best Practices guidelines. Based on this study, it is recommended that the following measures be developed for restoring the Josselyn Collection; (1) Develop a collections management policy; (2) Develop a collections manager position or assign oversight of the collection to department member; (3) Address security of the collection, which includes NAGPRA issues, collection hierarchy, and access to collections; (4) Implement environmental and pest control measures; (5) Develop formal lab procedures; (6) Rectify the poor storage conditions of the collection; (7) Address records and documentation issues, such as offsite backup and the development of database and current institutional records for the collection. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Health & salvation: the social construction of illness and healing in the charismatic christian church

Health serves as a metaphor for salvation in the Charismatic Christian community at Tuscaloosa Life Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This ethnomedical account of the church looks at how church members conceptualize the causes of illness and approach the treatment of suffering in the context of their everyday lives. Suffering is a social experience, and while biomedical health care is an available and socially acceptable form of treatment among church congregants, many people look outside the confines of biomedical treatment to substantiate and validate their illness experiences. The shared cognitive models of the divine healing system in this population inform the ways that church members think about the causes of illness and the requirements or pathways for healing. My research seeks to elucidate these models or modes of thinking in an effort to understand the attraction to this particular healing system. My methods include participant observation at Tuscaloosa Life Church over a 6-month period, semi-structured interviews with core members of the church, and cultural consensus analysis among the larger church body using free-listing and pile-sorting techniques. My research shows that the church community at TLC does ascribe to shared models of health and illness - both in the way they think about the etiology of illness and in the ways that they conceptualize the requirements or pathways to divine healing - and these models allow church members to articulate their suffering experiences in more spiritual terms and to use these experiences to reenact the salvation story. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Afflictions of tradition: trends and consequences of traditional African American foodways

Heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and high cholesterol are among the leading health concerns facing African Americans. Since these conditions are related largely to lifestyle choices, such as diet, it is important to highlight the historical social significance of African American foodways, known as soul food. Using personal narratives from former slaves and individuals recollecting American life during socially traumatic times, - including life under Jim Crow laws, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights movement -compared with African American cookbooks from the same periods, show connections between dietary patterns and changes in African American identity. This along with information from studies of the causes, effects, and treatments of metabolic disorders shows that the prevalence can be seen as results of dietary traditions, maintained as coping mechanism for social marginalization. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries