Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Maine Folklife, Vol. 17, Iss. 1-2, Maine Folklife Center

Maine Folklife Center Newsletter

The Maine Folklife Center has embarked on an ambitious project to digitize the entire collection of the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History. To that end, the University of Maine has contracted with George Blood L.P. of Philadelphia to provide audio digitization services to create a digital preservation master of each of our sound files for the Library of Congress and the University of Maine from our original copies of analog tapes (reel to reel, cassettes, and VHS). George Blood L.P. was chosen from a group of companies who responded to a request for proposals because his company was …

Hybrid Healing: Reiki And The Integration Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine (Cam) Into Biomedicine, Heather M. White

Honors College

This thesis explores complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) through research on the modality of Reiki. Reiki is an energetic practice that uses the “laying on of hands” to facilitate healing. The aim is to give insight both on a specific mind-body-spiritual practice and on how Reiki and similar modalities might be accepted as treatments and integrated into biomedicine. Research was completed through standard anthropological methods: interviews, participant observation, and field notes. Twenty-seven Reiki practitioners were interviewed to learn about their perspectives on Reiki and the progression towards integration.

Through analysis of the interview transcripts and participant observation, I developed a …

Assessing The Controversy: Female Genital Mutilation Or Legitimate Rite Of Passage?, Morgan Haley Brockington

Honors College

Female genital cutting/circumcision, the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, is a common practice in many parts of Africa. To those who perceive female circumcision as a legitimate rite of passage, the practice is culturally approved and steeped in tradition. The negative reactions and harsh judgments of Westerners who then seek to eradicate the practice are seen as ethnocentric. On the other hand, opponents of female genital cutting emphasize that the practice is a ritualized form of violence and a detriment to women’s health. The practice deprives girls and women of the basic rights to physical wellbeing …

Health Impacts At The Advent Of Agriculture, Erin L. Snape

Honors College

The transition from a hunting and gathering lifestyle to one based in agriculture may have been the most crucial development made by past peoples, transforming not only diet, but social structure, mobility, and resource use. I present human skeletal evidence illustrating the consequences of agriculture on human health using case studies from prehistoric Mesoamerica, the American southwest, and regions in Asia. Such evidence has indicated that intensification of maize agriculture in the New World correlates with increased infant mortality rate, dental caries, iron-deficiency anemia, and an overall decline in general health while these health problems have little to no correlation …

A History Of The Use Of Swedish Language In New Sweden, Maine, Kaitlyn Anderson

Honors College

Swedish has a significant role in the history of Aroostook County. In the 1870s, a group of Swedish immigrants settled in the then newly-formed Maine’s Swedish Colony. They brought traditional Swedish customs, dress, food and language. Meanwhile in Sweden, a change was occurring in the Swedish language that led to the development of modern Swedish into the contemporary Swedish that continues to be spoken in Sweden today. While many of the oldest generation of Swedes in New Sweden know this older style of Swedish, the language was not readily passed down to their children or their children’s children. Despite the …

Motherhood As A Unifying Theme In Social Movements: Symbolic Essentialism, Environmental Justice, And The Movement Against Bisphenol A In Maine, Kalie Hess

Honors College

Environmental injustice has typically been an infringement of the rights of poor and minority communities from a “Not in my Backyard” mindset with regards to harmful chemicals. However, the pervasiveness of many chemicals, including bisphenol A has narrowed the exposure gap so that everyone, regardless of class or race, is affected by these chemicals. The United States has a history of being a responsive rather than a proactive agent regarding chemical regulation, but the environmental and health stakes are now too high to continue with this approach. The movement in Maine to reduce exposure to bisphenol A can be seen …

The Worst Angels Of Our Nature: Has Violence Declined?, Redyn Keller

Honors College

The purpose of this study is to examine and assess the accuracy of Table 6.1, Annual Warfare Death Rates, and Table 6.2, Percentage of Deaths Due to Warfare, in Lawrence Keeley’s text, War Before Civilization. There has been a lot of recent debate within anthropology about the intensity and impact of small-scale warfare. In this book, Keeley argues that pre-contact, small-scale warfare produced higher death rates than the most war-torn modern states. The following thesis will examine the war death percentages of these two tables and will evaluate the accuracy of Keeley’s calculations, citations, and the sources that he used …

Earl Henry Lubensky (March 31, 1921 - May 1, 2009), Deborah Pearsall

Andean Past

No abstract provided.

The Destruction Of The Yurac Rumi Shrine (Vilcabamba,Cusco Department), Brian S. Bauer, Miriam Dayde Araoz Silva, George S. Burr

Andean Past

No abstract provided.

The Well And The Huaca: Ceremony, Chronology, And Culture Change At Huaca Cao Viejo, Chicama Valley, Peru, Jeffrey Quilter, Regulo Franco J., Cesar Galvez M., William Doonan, Catherine Gaither, Victor F. Vasquez S., Teresa Rosales Tham, Jaime Jimenez S., Hal Starratt, Michele L. Koons

Andean Past

No abstract provided.

Moche Architectural Vessels: Small Structures, Big Implications, Juliet Wiersema

Andean Past

No abstract provided.

Adobe Bricks And Labor Organization On The North Coast Of Peru, Howard I. Tsai

Andean Past

No abstract provided.

A Changing Society? Craft Specialization And Complementarity Systems During The Formative Period In The Cochabamba Valley, Bolivia, Olga U. Gablemann

Andean Past

No abstract provided.

Wabanaki Resistance And Healing: An Exploration Of The Contemporary Role Of An Eighteenth Century Bounty Proclamation In An Indigenous Decolonization Process, Bonnie D. Newsom, Jamie Bisonette-Lewey

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this paper is to examine the contemporary role of an eighteenth century bounty proclamation issued on the Penobscot Indians of Maine. We focus specifically on how the changing cultural context of the 1755 Spencer Phips Bounty Proclamation has transformed the document from serving as a tool for sanctioned violence to a tool of decolonization for the Indigenous peoples of Maine. We explore examples of the ways indigenous and non-indigenous people use the Phips Proclamation to illustrate past violence directed against Indigenous peoples. This exploration is enhanced with an analysis of the re-introduction of the Phips Proclamation using …

On The Politics Of Climate Knowledge: Sir Giddens, Sweden And The Paradox Of Climate (In)Justice, Cindy Isenhour

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

There is a widespread assumption that most people will not effectively respond to climate risk until they personally experience its negative effects. Yet this assumption raises some interesting questions in the Swedish context. The majority of Swedes say they have not experienced the negative effects of climate change, but they are among the world’s citizens most concerned about and active on the issue. These observations raise the question - why do many Swedes act progressively if they do not feel environmental risks “closer to home”? Is there something exceptional about Swedish environmental ethics, political culture or governance structures? This paper …

Before Elites: The Political Capacities Of Big Men, Paul B. Roscoe

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

In directing us “beyond elites”, the editors of this volume invite us to consider not only whether we have over-estimated the centralized control that metal working enabled or demanded in prehistoric Europe but also to move beyond standard typologies of political forms and evolutionary concepts (Kienlin, this volume). To move beyond elites, of course, we must understand what constitutes an “elite” and elite society. If we take these concepts to imply some kind of socially reproduced restriction on access to leadership positions and accompanying social stratification, then we are asked to consider whether Bronze or Iron Age European societies operated …

Shifting Policies, Access, And The Tragedy Of Enclosures In Ecuadorian Mangrove Fisheries: Towards A Political Ecology Of The Commons, Christine M. Beitl

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

After decades of mangrove deforestation for the development of shrimp farming, the Ecuadorian state began to officially recognize the ancestral rights of traditional users of coastal mangrove resources in the late 1990s. This article traces the trajectory of coastal policy change and the transformation of mangrove tenure regimes from an implicit preference for shrimp aquaculture to a focus on conservation and sustainable development with greater community participation through the establishment of community-managed mangrove areas called custodias. I argue that while the custodias have empowered local communities in their struggle to defend their livelihoods and environment against the marginalizing forces of …

Msss Curriculum Connection Series - Lesson Number: 06, Geoff Wingard

Maine Song and Story Sampler: Curriculum Connections Series

Political events can impact citizens across borders and through time. Folklore is powerful because it provides a vehicle for cross-cultural connections.

Msss Curriculum Connection Series - Lesson Number: 03, Geoff Wingard

Maine Song and Story Sampler: Curriculum Connections Series

Students are social actors. As young citizens they can make their voices heard and promote ideas, causes and issues they hold dear. In this exercise students will have the opportunity to see how historic and imaginary characters have promoted their ideals (or the ideals ascribed to them).

Msss Curriculum Connection Series - Lesson Number: 05, Geoff Wingard

Maine Song and Story Sampler: Curriculum Connections Series

Citizens participate in government, exercise their rights and fulfill their responsibilities in formal and informal ways. The history of citizen governance in Maine is robust. Maine’s people have articulated the republican virtues of local governance, citizen advocacy and educated participation for nearly two centuries. Maine’s democratic tradition spans generations and has crossed regional and class boundaries. In this exercise students will have the opportunity to learn how citizens in Maine’s working class communities have seized the opportunity to make change and fulfilled their obligations as community leaders.

Msss Curriculum Connection Series - Lesson Number: 04, Geoff Wingard

Maine Song and Story Sampler: Curriculum Connections Series

Citizens participate in government, exercise their rights and fulfill their responsibilities in formal and informal ways. An important part of civics education is the study of citizens’ motivations and the types of expressions these motives have given rise to in public discourse. The Maine folklore tradition celebrates the various ways that Maine citizens, particularly Maine’s poor and working-class population, have made their voices heard in the public forum.

Msss Curriculum Connection Series - Lesson Number: 02, Geoff Wingard

Maine Song and Story Sampler: Curriculum Connections Series

Citizens participate in government, exercise their rights and fulfill their responsibilities in formal and informal ways. The history of citizen governance in Maine is robust. Maine’s people have articulated the republican virtues of local governance, citizen advocacy and educated participation for nearly two centuries. Maine’s democratic tradition spans generations and has crossed regional and class boundaries. In this exercise students will have the opportunity to learn how citizens in Maine’s working class communities have seized the opportunity to make change and fulfilled their obligations as community leaders.

Msss Curriculum Connection Series - Lesson Number: 08, Geoff Wingard

Maine Song and Story Sampler: Curriculum Connections Series

Citizens participate in markets in formal and informal ways. Public commercial transactions and private economic exchanges have historically been important to Maine’s economic viability. Students should be aware of the diversity of economic activity in Maine.

Msss Curriculum Connection Series - Lesson Number: 10, Geoff Wingard

Maine Song and Story Sampler: Curriculum Connections Series

Maine’s diverse geography has created a diverse folkloric tradition. Students should be able to identify characteristics of Maine regional diversity in its folklore.

Msss Curriculum Connection Series - Lesson Number: 09, Geoff Wingard

Maine Song and Story Sampler: Curriculum Connections Series

Maine’s physical environment is comprised of diverse regions, micro-climes and landforms. This diversity is reflected in various economic, social and cultural developments across the region.

Msss Curriculum Connection Series - Lesson Number: 11, Geoff Wingard

Maine Song and Story Sampler: Curriculum Connections Series

Historical analysis is an essential component of folklore studies. Folklore is best understood in historical context. Furthermore, the process of change and evolution – central to the development of folksongs and stories – can only be assessed in light of other social/cultural changes.

Msss Curriculum Connection Series - Lesson Number: 07, Geoff Wingard

Maine Song and Story Sampler: Curriculum Connections Series

Maine’s economy has historically been based upon resource extraction and use. Furthermore, Maine’s has historically contained only a very small middle class. Most Mainers could reasonably be described as working class while a small population of upper class elites (known variously as Great Proprietors, owners or sports) has provided structure and capital to Maine industry.

Msss Curriculum Connection Series - Lesson Number: 12, Geoff Wingard

Maine Song and Story Sampler: Curriculum Connections Series

Students are the historical actors of the future. Their actions, attitudes and artifacts are the stuff future historians will collect and analyze in order to understand our time. Although we may not consider our lives “historic” to historians of the future they may be. Likewise, the actions, attitudes and artifacts collected in the Maine Song and Story Sampler may not have been considered historic by their creators, but are worthy of our consideration today. In this exercise students will have the opportunity to analyze one artifact from the MS&SS website from the perspective of a professional archivist to determine its …

Msss Curriculum Connection Series - Lesson Number: 13, Geoff Wingard

Maine Song and Story Sampler: Curriculum Connections Series

The study of folklore is a useful pedagogical tool across the Social Studies. As students develop skills and expertise in historical methods, civics, economics, geography and history they can draw upon Maine’s rich folk tradition to illustrate social phenomena. The Maine Song and Story Sampler has been designed to allow citizens access to Maine’s rich folk tradition.

Msss Curriculum Connection Series - Lesson Number: 01, Geoff Wingard

Maine Song and Story Sampler: Curriculum Connections Series

Contemporary social issues are not divorced from the past and arise from specific historical, economic and cultural conditions. In this exercise students will have the opportunity to develop a position on an issue of current concern in their community with an understanding of its cultural context and relevance.