The Story of Colonialism, or Rethinking the Ox-Hide Purchase in Native North America and Beyond

In this paper I offer a comparative assessment of the ox-hide purchase narrative (tale type AT 2400, ATU 927C*; Motif K185.1) in Native North America. Drawing on my own fieldwork and the beginnings of a historic-geographic treatment, I consider the story from the perspective of work on historical consciousness in Native North America and treat it as an opportunity to establish a link between folkloristics and other fields concerned with interpreting the legacies of colonialism

Chinese Vernacular Culture in the Global Midwest: A Workshop Held at Indiana University, September 4-6, 2014

A report on a project planning workshop--Chinese Vernacular Culture in the Global Midwest--held at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures, September 4-6, 2014.(1) College Arts and Humanities Institute (CAHI, College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University. (2) The Humanities without Walls Consortium with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Spirit Medicine: Native American Uses of Common Everlasting (Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium) in Eastern North America

Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium (L.) (= Gnaphalium obtusifolium L.) is an important plant used in the practice of traditional medicine among many Native American groups in eastern North America. This essay documents use of this plant among the Yuchi, an American Indian people from the Southeast now residing in eastern Oklahoma. This use is contextualized within a survey of published and unpublished sources on the plant as utilized by other peoples in the Eastern Woodlands. This survey finds several clusters of practices and beliefs that are widely held across the region. Viewed more broadly, these findings suggest the value of a comparative study of American Indian ethnobotany and the place such study might have for reassessing anthropological understandings of American Indian life throughout the region and general models of regional social patterning. As a preliminary test case in the comparative ethnobotany of eastern North America, the study of P. obtusifolium contradicts previous findings that have suggested that the pharmacopoeia of individual groups tended to be unique

Ethnography and Ethnographers in Museum-Community Partnerships

The Fund for Folk Culture, Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Community Folklife Program, Oklahoma Arts Council, CITGO Petroleum Corporation, Gilcrease Museu

Basketry among Two Peoples of Northern Guangxi, China

In this article, the authors introduce the present-day basketry practices found among two minority nationalities populations living today on the northern borders of China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region: the Baiku Yao of Lihu Yao Ethnic Township in Nandan County and the Dong of Tongle Miao Ethnic Township in Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County. The manufacture, marketing, and use of varied basketry forms is discussed for each of these groups, setting up a concluding comparison that situates these basketry practices in relation to more celebrated textile arts heralded within the People’s Republic of China’s extensive system of intangible cultural heritage promotion

Anthropology of/in Circulation: The Future of Open Access and Scholarly Societies

In a conversation format, seven anthropologists with extensive expertise in new digital technologies, intellectual property, and journal publishing discuss issues related to open access, the anthropology of information circulation, and the future of scholarly societies. Among the topics discussed are current anthropological research on open source and open access; the effects of open access on traditional anthropological topics; the creation of community archives and new networking tools; potentially transformative uses of field notes and materials in new digital ecologies; the American Anthropological Association’s recent history with these issues, from the development of AnthroSource to its new publishing arrangement with Wiley-Blackwell; and the political economies of knowledge circulation more generally

Lay and Expert Knowledge in a Complex Society: The AFS Teagle Foundation Project

The Teagle FoundationHow Do You Know What You Know? 2-3, Jay Mechling; Lay and Expert Knowledge in the Community College 4-5, Sean Galvin; Teaching to Live with Moving Horizons of Knowledge: Folklore Studies and New Social Problems 6-7, Jason Baird Jackson; Confronting Alternative Realities 8-9, Howard Sacks; Knowledge Gaps, Lay Experts and Feedback Loops 10-11, Sabina Magliocco; Fostering Critical Engagement through Experiential Learning 12-13, Danille Elise Christensen; Documenting Community Knowledges in Houston 14-15, Carl Lindahl; The knowledge gap as it relates to the concept of expert and lay knowledge 16-17, Tom Mould; What can student vets teach the teachers? An observer's perspective 18-19, Dorothy Noye