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262 The Primitive Mind and Modern Man John Alan Cohan the agricultural officer and gather the ripening harvest in his coffee plantation, a crop his grandfather had never heard of, or fulfill his tribal responsibilities and attend the protracted funeral ceremonies of a chief in some distant village? Should he accept the judgment of his headman, who now has no power to enforce it but at least knows all the surrounding circumstances intimately, or take the charge to a European magistrate and submit to the tedious, and to him meaningless, procedure of the white man’s law? Should he spend his money on a new pair of trousers, which he badly needs, or pay the traditional dues to his chief? Should he listen to the missionaries who say that he is morally entitled to choose a bride for himself, or accept the stranger selected for him according to ancient usage by his kinsmen? Should he be strictly monogamous even if his one wife is barren or take an extra spouse to ensure the continuity of his clan? These and similar problems are cropping up all the time (pp. 38-39). Indigenous people became demoralized by the loss of their traditional way of life with the introduction of new morals and customs by the Europeans. Antagonism developed, coupled with resentment over the Europeans’ material advantages. There was a feeling of being exploited, resentment of colonial government, and the desire for liberation. Cargo cults gave the hope for a quick improvement of their situation. One might say that the people are foolish and gullible, believing that Europeans did not have to work for material goods. Particularly early in the cargo cult movements, they did not understand industrial processes such as manufacturing of the steel which forms the blade of a European axe or an automobile assembly line. To their animistic way of thinking, the physical and spiritual worlds are united into one comprehensive system. Agricultural and hunting success are a product of supernatural forces, and material prosperity is the gift of ancestral spirits. If villagers do not have command over material resources, this is due to some wrongdoing, disobedience, or taboo violations. To us, the people seem to resort to solutions that we might regard as irrational fantasies, but to them the idea of ancestors or other supernatural agents coming to their aid is firmly embedded in their thinking and is not regarded as irrational. To people the world over, there is often a pull to seek supernatural deliverance from misfortune, to hope for a savior or to be rescued or to attain a bounty without going through the ordinary steps of “hard work.” We see this in segments of the population that seek out unrealistic financial gain through fantastic schemes-Ponzi schemes, for instance. And even in economic downturns, believers in the “prosperity gospel” movement donate generously to preachers who promise that God will multiply their offerings a hundredfold (Goodstein, 2009). Cargo cults fit into this existing belief system of the Melanesians, who have cargo cults because they live in a tradition of magical and religious explanations of the world. This means that when they are faced with an intellectual problem the first and uncriticized assumption they make is “this has magico-religious explanation.” (Jarvie, 1963, p. 17) Throughout history we see movements where a society is stimulated into collective action due to persecution by outsiders, where the familiar way of life has become disrupted. The time is ripe for a charismatic leader to come upon the scene and offer assurances of greater material well-being and removal of the oppressive yoke. Thus, when a peoples’ way of life is disrupted by the intrusion of a “superior people,” and they are unable to assimilate new and difficult ideas- the native, faced with the collapse of many expectations and a multitude of new facts to be accounted for, naturally tends to move in the direction of least resistance: towards the vague, all inclusive and irrefutable magico-religious explanation (Jarvie, 1963, p. 17). Thus, oppressive colonial occupation, a sense of deprivation compared to the Europeans, a weakening of cultural autonomy and of of tribal authority, and the pressure to acculturate and change traditions caused a power imbalance, a sense of injustice, a feeling of inferiority-a sense of languor, envy, resentment of European domination-all contributing to the phenomenon of cargo cults.
266 The Primitive Mind and Modern Man, 2010, 266-273 Nomadic Peoples: A Case Study of the Batek People of Malaysia John Alan Cohan All rights reserved - © 2010 Bentham Science Publishers Ltd. CHAPTER 25 Abstract. Nomadic people lack a home base, except for temporary encampments, and have the tendency to roam at will. They display resourcefulness and the ability to quickly adapt to new circumstances. They are tremendously sensitive to the environment around them, and have the ability to get on with very little. The Bateks of Malaysia call themselves “forest people,” living in the forests, gauging their movements according to huntinggathering needs. They believe that if no one lived in the forest, the world would come to an end. They subsist on plants, animals (including fish and monkeys), wild tubers, yams, fruit and honey. They sell or trade honey, rattan and other forest products to Malay traders. They hunt monkeys and other small game with bamboo blowpipes with darts tipped with a poison made from sap. The Bateks are reluctant to uproot themselves into government settlements or otherwise integrate into modern society. Still, some Bateks now live in permanent settlements where they plant crops, while spending part of the year foraging for food and collecting rattan and other forest produce for trade. WHO ARE NOMADS? Nomadic people are something akin to the homeless of modern urban centers. What they have in common is the lack of a home base, except for temporary encampments; the tendency to roam at will; resourcefulness and the ability to quickly adapt to new circumstances; tremendous sensitivity to the environment around them; and the ability to get on with very little. The nomadic lifestyle is perhaps the earliest lifestyle in history, for this preceded settled communities. We can describe two types of nomads prevalent today: one consists of hunter-gatherers who move about with great frequency and spontaneity. That includes the Bateks of Malaysia, who do not cultivate crops or keep livestock, and whose subsistence depends entirely on hunting and foraging in the wild. The other type of nomadic group are pastoralists who develop herds of livestock and occupy various stretches of agricultural, forest or grazing lands. Still, they are nomads in that they have a continuous mobility. Pastoral nomads still flourish today in the Himalayas. McVeigh (2004) found that pastoral production, consisting mainly of mountain cattle called yaks, is critical to the Himalayan farming system, and is one of the most important economic activities of the region. According to McVeigh, nomadic people of Tibet are constantly on the move with their livestock and horses. They need to be vigilant for poachers, and use Tibetan mastiff dogs to keep animals from straying. According to Ekvall (1961), the people are also constantly on the alert for horse thieves, keeping lookouts by patrolling. Nomadic groups are generally atomistic. As we mentioned in chapter 1 (“The Nature of Primitive Cultures”), atomistic communities-in this case nomads frequently on the move-do not identify with a particular “homeland” and there usually is no particular person or “chief” who holds authority over the people. Decisions might be made by consensus, often spontaneously or on the go-but there is no “top-down” authority, nor any laws, governing the peoples’ choices. Today nomads constitute a dwindling portion of cultures, as a consequence of “modernity.” Government development and conservation policies, not to mention deforestation, have limited the traditional grounds occupied by nomadic peoples, and have encouraged them to establish sedentary populations with the promise of state social aid in the form of schooling for children, proper nutrition to alleviate malnutrition, and health care. Also, forest departments have voiced concern that grazing by nomadic groups leads to environmental deterioration. Still, there are pockets of nomads that have more or less managed to resist government efforts to move them into settlements-such as the Batek people of Malaysia.
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The Primitive Mind and Modern Man B
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CONTENTS Preface i CHAPTERS PART I:
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PREFACE Cultural anthropology is a
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consumer behavior, organizational c
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Why Study Primitive Cultures? The P
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Introduction The Primitive Mind and
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Cultural Relativism The Primitive M
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Apollonian and Dionysian Cultures T
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Apollonian and Dionysian Cultures T
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Mana The Primitive Mind and Modern
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Mana The Primitive Mind and Modern
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50 The Primitive Mind and Modern Ma
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Shamanism: The “Wounded Healer”
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Shamanism The Primitive Mind and Mo
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Envy and the Evil Eye The Primitive
Page 38 and 39: PART III: CONSCIOUSNESS AND MAGICAL
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Page 42 and 43: Trance and Possession States The Pr
Page 44 and 45: Trance and Possession States The Pr
Page 46 and 47: Magic, Sorcery and Witchcraft The P
Page 48 and 49: PART IV: CONFLICT AND DEATH
Page 62 and 63: Potlatches The Primitive Mind and M
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Page 68 and 69: PART VI: CULTURAL PHENOMENA AND FOL
Page 70 and 71: Culture-Bound Syndromes The Primiti
Page 76 and 77: Folk Medicine The Primitive Mind an
Page 78 and 79: PART VII: WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN PRI
Page 80 and 81: The Treatment and the Role of Women
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Page 84 and 85: Child Rearing and the Treatment of
Page 90 and 91: Nomadic Peoples The Primitive Mind
Page 96 and 97: Appendix The Primitive Mind and Mod
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