Darryl PriceGNED 100-41

1. Who are the Nacirema people?

The Nacirema people are Americans, or put more precisely, the average American. In his essay Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, Horace Miner uses geographic and anagrammatic clues, however the proof of the identity of Nacirema can be found in paragraph two. He writes: “Professor Linton first brought the ritual of the Nacirema to the attention of anthropologists twenty years ago...”. Here, Miner refers to a 1936 essay entitled “One Hundred Percent American” by noted Cultural Anthropologist Ralph Linton, in which he describes the morning ritual of the typical American and traces important aspects of these rituals, adopted through a process called enculturation, back to their cultural source.

2. Where do they live?

The boundaries of the Nacirema tribal area can be defined as: Southern Canada between Alberta to the west and Quebec to the east given that this is the area inhabited by the Cree. The Tarahumare of Mexico resided in Northern Mexico in what is now the State of Chihuahua which borders Texas and New Mexico. The Yaqui lived in Northwestern Mexico in what is now Sonora which borders the state of Arizona. Both the Arawak and the Carib inhabited the Islands of the Lesser and Greater Antilles in the Caribbean Islands. So it is fair to assume that the eastern border of Nacirema tribal area is the Atlantic Ocean. The region being described here is therefore the United States of America, HOWEVER, The Cree Indians did not inhabit British Columbia so what is not clear if the inhabitants of Washington State, Oregon and California were part of the Nacirema tribe.

3. What time period does the article reference (provide a range)?

The article was published in June of 1956 in Journal of the American Anthropological Association – American Anthropologist. Miner's essay is contemporaneous. He references a 1936 essay by Professor Linton and throughout the essay speaks of the Nacirema in present tense. “"... the culture of this people is still very poorly understood. They are a North American group living in the territory …" (para. 2). The kind of plumbing that would make the Nacirema way of life possible was not introduced in the United States until the latter part of the 19th century but did not become commonly available for another 50 years with the explosion of planned communities and tract homes. The time period would likely be the mid-to-late 1930s starting near the end of the Great Depression through the time that the essay was written in 1956

4. List 5 practices the Nacirema people practice

The private mouth rite and exorcism of evils of the mouth by holy-mouth-menThe laceration of the face ritual performed daily by menThe head baking rite performed 4 times per month by womenProtracted ritual purification at the latipso performed by a sorcerer and a compliment of vestal maidensRitual fasts to make fat people thin

A ritual worship of women with hypermammory development

5. Are their practices common or bizarre? Explain.

Quite common. Not only do they exist today but have existed for thousands of years. The first toothbrush dates back to 3000 BC. The practice of dental extraction by “holy-mouth-men” dates back several centuries. The history of pregnancy prevention dates back to ancient Egypt with documented use of condoms as well as female contraceptives. Documented history of the ancient world from Mesopotamia, to Greece, to ancient Rome and Egypt. In fact, much of what we have learned from the field of medicine over the past 50 years vindicates the Nacirema. As recently as 2007 a link between tooth decay, gum disease and heart disease was discovered. It is rooted in potentially fatal bacteria found in plaque that can lead to clotting and heart attacks. Bathing to prevent the spread of lethal bacterial infections such as Necrotizing Fasciitis (flesh-eating bacteria). Breast reduction for women with “hypermammory development” is sometime advised when a patient comes from a family with a history of breast cancer, and breast implants often used to help women recover from the emotional devastation of breast cancer and double-mastectomy.

6. Do you think you could live in Nacirema culture?

Yes, of course. Human beings are an adaptive species.

7. Do you think the Nacirema people still exist today?

They do, and through the processes of enculturation and acculturation they now exist in every part of the globe.

8. Please explain any other impressions of the Nacirema people

The Nacirema people, as described by Miner are quite normal, though based on his observations I would conclude the following:

1. They are overwhelmingly white2. While not necessarily wealthy they are decidedly upper-middle to upper-class economically3. They have a significant amount of disposable income4. They likely have a longer than average life expectancy5. They are more likely to be traditional in terms of their attitudes and conservative in terms of their politics