Body Ritual Among The Nacirema

Body Ritual among the Nacirema
● The modern anthropologist has become so familiar with the diverse ways
in which different people behave in similar situations he is rarely
surprised by even the strangest customs. Nevertheless, the magical beliefs
and practices of the Nacirema are so unusually strange that it seems
useful to describe them as an example of the extremes of human behavior.
● Professor Linton first introduced the Nacirema to anthropologists twenty
years ago, but the culture of these people is still very poorly understood.
They are a North American group living in the territory between the Cree
people, the Yaqui, and Tarahumare. Little is known of their origin,
although tradition states that they came from the east.
● According to the Nacirema myth, their nation was originated by a
cultural hero, Notgnihsaw a great warrior with wooden teeth. Nacirema
culture is devoted to economic pursuits and ritual activity. The focus of
this activity is the human body, its appearance, and health which are
major concerns for people. Many of the Nacirema’s traditions are based
on preserving bodily health and youth.
● The basic belief of the culture is that the human body is ugly and that it
naturally becomes weak and filled with disease. However, it is believed
that people can avoid these evils by using magic potions and rituals.
● Every household has one or more shrines devoted to such rituals. Very
powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their houses; in
fact, houses are said to be better if they have more shrines. Most houses
are constructed from wood and plaster, but shrine rooms are walled with
expensive stone.
● Shrine rituals are not family ceremonies, they are private and secret.
Rituals are normally only discussed with children; they are too personal
to be discussed with other adults.
● The main focus of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into the wall.
Many charms and magical potions are kept in this chest and the natives
believe that without these things they would not be able to live. The
charms and potions are received mainly through powerful medicine men.
As such, medicine men are very highly Page 24 regarded in Nacirema
society. After providing a potion, medicine men must be rewarded with
gifts of great value.
● Medicine men practice their craft in a latipsoh. Upon entering the
latipsoh, Naciremas are sometimes required to strip naked. Those who do
not respond favorably to the potions of the medicine men often undergo a
latipsoh temple ceremony. These ceremonies can be so harsh on a
person’s body that those who enter the latipsoh never recover; sometimes
the ceremony ends up killing them. If the ceremony is successful,
Naciremas are required to provide a gift of great value when they leave
the temple. Beneath the charm-box is a small bowl.
● Each day every member of the family enters the shrine room, bows his
head before the charm-box, and goes through a religious cleansing
ceremony. The holy waters are received from the Water Temple of the
community. Another daily body ritual performed by most everyone
includes a mouthrite.
● This ritual involves a practice that may seem horrible. It has been
reported that it consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the
mouth, with certain magical ointments, and then moving the bundle in a
series of gestures. Approximately twice a year the Nacirema will journey
to the holy mouth man. There they will undergo a ritual whereby the
holy-mouth man may scrape or stick the person with a number of sharp
instruments often causing pain and blood.
● Such traditions show that the Nacirema may value and even enjoy bodily
pain (this theory is supported by another Nacirema tradition involving
scraping the surface of the skin). Similar to the medicine man, the holy
mouth man is part of Nacirema society’s upper class.
● Our review of the ritual life of the Nacirema has certainly shown them to
be a person who believes a great deal in magic, and it is hard to
understand how they have managed to survive so long.
1) Why is it useful to study the Nacirema civilization?

2) Where do Naciremas live and where did they come from?
3) What is the basic focus of Nacirema society? Do you agree with these
beliefs? Why?
4) Describe the Nacirema shrine. Do we have anything like this in our culture?
Explain your answer.
5) Describe the job of the holy mouth man. Why do you think the Naciremas
visit him?
6) What are your general feelings about the Nacirema civilization? Would you
like to live in this society? Explain your answer.

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Body Ritual among the Nacirema

1) Why is it useful to study the Nacirema civilization?

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