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14+ obres 763 Membres 5 Ressenyes

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Crèdit de la imatge: FAMOUS ARCHAEOLOGISTS WORLDWIDE

Obres de Keith H. Basso

Obres associades

Language and Social Context: Selected Readings (1972) — Col·laborador — 149 exemplars
Antaeus No. 61, Autumn 1988 - Journals, Notebooks & Diaries (1988) — Col·laborador — 34 exemplars

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Specific to Western Apache, this relatively short book (152 pp.) shows us the way in which the lands of their traditional home nurture proper action and wisdom in those brought up in the traditional way.
Basso has worked with this community for decades, and has won their trust in preserving a portion of their culture in writing. The elders with whom he speaks may be uneducated but they have given a lot of thought about how their culture works, the role of traditional teachings, and seeking inner wisdom.
This book is an excellent combination of dense academic/theoretical introductions (which could be glided over for those non-academics), verbatim interactions between some Western Apache elders, followed by their explanations which bring meaning to what was intended. We get a sense of the distinction between places that might be individually important to a person, such as our own selves, versus the places that have a meaning in a social context, recognized by all in one's culture as having specific meanings and as being currently active in showing us how to act. It has caused me to ponder on places that white Americans have placed meaning to at different points in our history but which have faded in potency over time as we see history as a linear progression: e.g. Plymouth Rock, Alamo, Iwo Jima, and even the Twin Towers is losing its powerful imagery to the younger generations.
In the 1st chapter, Charles takes him by horseback around 20 miles of their community, gives names for dozens of specific locations, and tells the story behind the names. Basso produces a map for the community but does not publish sensitive material.
In the 2nd chapter, a relevant conversation illustrates how place names are used as pointed lessons for community members.
In the 3rd chapter, Basso witnesses a conversation between Apaches which seems to consist solely of naming places between pauses yet they appear to have shared something substantive. He is later able to speak with each of those persons to understand what was going thru their minds when they said what they did. He elicits some Apache values: the basic courtesy of "refraining from 'speaking too much'...[taking] steps to 'open up thinking,' thereby encouraging his or her listeners to 'travel in their minds.'" (p.85) Using "delicacy and tact" in speaking about another's actions, in a manner which allows "ancestral knowledge" to show the way, and which encourages the person "to take remedial action on behalf of themselves." (p.91).
In the 4th chapter, Basso asks Dudley Patterson to explain what he understands of the oft-repeated phrase "wisdom sits in places." First Dudley has to explain how he defines wisdom, and we see an almost zen-like attitude of mind: "You must make your mind smooth. You must make your mind steady. You must make your mind resilient" (p.126) and then he goes on to portray exactly what is mean by these qualities, how they help in life, and how they support each other. Wisdom is the development of "prescient thinking" which is key to survival(p.130-1) and is based on knowledge which can be swiftly recalled--which is why stories based on real places are so effective: they can be immediately pictured (p.124).
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juniperSun | Hi ha 3 ressenyes més | Apr 14, 2020 |
Honestly this book (or at least excerpts of it) should be required reading for all historians, the end, thank you, good bye. The opening essay ("Quoting the Ancestors") introduces this idea of "place-making" and is really incredible and guys I cannot stress to you how much you should read this just for that, honestly. Basso notes in his introduction that some of the essays overlap in their content, and that is true in some ways--the further you get into the book, the more perhaps it becomes (rightfully so!) about the Western Apache at Cibecue specifically, and so may feel less "universalized" than the opening essay, but I really do think those essays as well are rich with things for historians to consider.… (més)
 
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aijmiller | Hi ha 3 ressenyes més | May 27, 2017 |
This slim book is a very interesting look at how a community of Western Apache people—centered around the village of Cibecue, Arizona—conceive of their relationship with their past, the process of passing on their culture, and how they view the physical world around them. "Wisdom Sits in Places" is more than a catchy title; it is how the Apache themselves think of 'wisdom'. It's something which is gained from a long meditation on the symbolic dimensions of the physical landscape, and on the stories which are linked to particular locations through place names. Indeed, the Apache people see the land around them—their continual contact with it, how they have shaped it and named it, and how they continue to remember those moments of naming—as being a far better means of understanding themselves as a people than an abstract process of placing discrete events into a linear chronological narrative (in other words, the Euro-American historical tradition). Really fascinating reading.… (més)
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siriaeve | Hi ha 3 ressenyes més | Mar 20, 2013 |
An ethnography of the Cibecue Apaches. This book is informative, and by virtue of its small size does not bite off more than it can chew.
 
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wesh | Mar 5, 2011 |

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