BLOOMSBURG STATE COLLEGE Bloomsburg Pennsylvania Anthropology Newsletter Vol. 4, No. 1 September 1979 Department of Philosophy/Anthropology Welcome back to BSC, anthropology, and the Anthropology Newsletter. The crisp autumn air should be more than enough motivation to plunge you enthusiastically into school life. Through the Newsletter we hope to record, predict -- and yes, even lead -- those events of urgent anthropological interest on and around campus. We hope you have a profitable year. Southwest Trip. Twenty-three intrepid anthropology students joined Reeder and Minderhout for a 3 week tour of the American Southwest this past summer (May 21June 8). Despite the bad weather (it never rains in the Southwest in May and June - except this year) spirits were high, and the itinerary was completed. Included on the trip were visits to archaeological sites such as Canyon Du Chelly and Mesa Verde, surveys of contemporary Indian life, and natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest. Quotations from student journals best describe what happened~ "It was very gratifying to finally see things that we had been studying for four months. I got a much better realization of things like a kiva and a sipapu after actually seeing them," (K. Baggett); "We arrived at the Grand Canyon National Park a little before noon. It was more amazing than I had ever dreamed. The Grand Canyon was the most spectacular sight on the tour. I never took 20 pictures so fast. Each view had its own individual beauty." (M. Dinsmore); "This morning we went down to Cliff Palace (Mesa Verde). It was fantastic, even more so than from above. It was really entrancing being right down there among those ancient dwellings. I can't get over all the work that must have gone into building that dwelling. I was able to imagine the place as it was when it was inhabited. I will never forget. I LOVED it! I can't express how much it all meant to me. If someone asked me to do it again tomorrow I would!" (S. Weissberg); "What a fantastic time!" (S. fiimall). All in all everything went well, and the anthropologists are encouraged about other trips in the future. Join the AAA. The American Anthropological Association is the most important source of anthropological information and organization in this hemisphere. A student membership ($20 annually) keeps you informed of all the events happening internationally which are of interest to anthropologists. The AAA publishes the American Anthropologist quarterly; this journal contains important articles in the field, book reviews and ads, and, through its "Reports and Comments" column, views on significant controversies. A subscription also brings 8 issues of a newsletter which records conferences, reports on the availability of grants, announcements, and job openings. The newsletter's Legislative Calendar keeps anthropologists informed on the progress of legislation of direct importance to them, while another column profiles anthropologists in non-academic employment. The AAA sponsors an annual convention which brings anthropologists together from all over the world. This year's conference is in Cincinnati from Nov. 27 to De c.1. If you would be interested in atte nding one or two days of this con ferenc e contact Dr. Minderhout. 2 Archeology Class Digging New Site. This summer marked the end of excavations sponsored by the Northumberland County Historical Society of part of 18th century Ft. Augusta in Sunbury. BSC involvement, beginning with preliminary laying out of the site by Assoc. Prof. Robert R. Solenberger, working under a Faculty Research Grant, included participation of last Fall's Field Archeology Class and M.A. N. (archeology) Club students. Now a church will be built on the site. As a result of an archeological site survey conducted by Mr. Solenberger and David Kowalewski, currently President of the M.A. N. Club, in the Danville area last Winter, a number of prehistoric Indian sites were located, several of which seem well worth excavating. Consultation with local archeologists, including Mr. Bernard Zaborowski, Principal of the Danville Area Middle School, indicated that this was the strategic year to finish digging a relatively small site while it is still available, which had been opened up by pupils in the "gifted" class of that school. This semester's Field Archeology class, which has already surveyed and laid out the site, can expect to uncover, as at Ft. Augusta, a combination of 18th century trade goods and aboriginal Indian artifacts. As Part of last Winter's site survey, Solenberger learned from documentary sources that this location, near the mouth of Mahoning Creek in Danville, was a Deleware Indian village occupied as late as the founding of Danville in 1774, and probably until the American Revolution. Archeology at BSC began in 1966 as a club activity. The first class, in 1967, had a dozen students. By 1969 Mr. Solenberger was teaching a record 30 archeology students. After a decline in the early 1970's, team-teaching with Dr. Peter Roe brought class size back up to 20. This semester there are 10 Field Archeology students. M.A. N. Club plans. Current archeology students and others on campus have already expressed an interest in both exploring nearby Indian sites and in visiting museums and centers of contemporary Indian culture. As soon as corn is harvested, Mr. Solenberger, faculty sponsor of the club, plans to lead a Saturday morning surface reconnaissance to locate the probable site of an Indian village known in the 18th century at Glassanawoge, at the mouth of Roaring Creek. Permission to do this has already been obtained from the owner. An important site might become available there for excavation by BSC over the next several years. Another nearby area where a surface survey, and possible later excavation, would be possible to M.A. N. Club members is the upper part of the Chillesquake Creek drainage in northern Montour County. This is an area of prehistoric hunting camps, rather than large Indian villages. The PP & L Company, which had sponsored the Danville area survey, would welcome . the help of student archeologists in setting up a meaningful archeological exhibit based on excavation in that area in the Visitor Center Museum at their Montour Preserve near Washingtonville. We can count on the help of local archeologists in locating significant sites. One M.A. N. Club expedition already being planned for the week-end of Oct. 12, 13 & 14 (an alternative date being Oct. 19, 20 & 21) is a camping trip including two nights in Allegany State Park, just over the line in New York State, primarily to visit the adjoining Seneca Indian Reservation, guided by Mr. Solenberger, who has known the Indians there since 1942, and often attended their ceremonies. A highlight of the visit will be a tour of the new Seneca-Iroquois National Museum in Salamanca, N.Y., with exhibits covering eco logy, archeology, and the distinctive Seneca lifeway of recent and contemporary times. Departure from the BSC campus would be 3 mid-afternoon on a Friday, with return Sunday evening. So far transportation is planned by private car, with expenses shared. If enough sign up, M.A. N. may arrange to rent a CGA v~n, and possibly extra canoes for use in a nearby lake. If interested please place a note saying which weekend you could go in Hr. Solenberger's mailbox. M.A. N. CLUB MEMBERSHIP includes all who participate in even one activity. are no dues. There Book Review by Jeff Bohlin. For the reader unacquainted with the works of Claude Levi-Strauss, Myth and Meaning would be a good introduction. This book is a result of interviews held with Levi-Strauss by the Canadian Broadcasting System. In these interviews (and the book) Levi-Strauss generalizes upon his research into mythology. He explains his concept of structuralism as well as the relationship between mythology and science. Levi-Strauss also draws connections hetween mythology and history and mythology and music, stating the points in common. Presumed universals in mythological thought, such as binary oppositions, are also discussed. While the book is lacking in details due to its brevity, it is a good start for anyone who wants to read Levi-Strauss. Interested readers will, I hope, go on to read the more difficult words of this French anthropologist in which he provides the details lacking in Myth and Meaning. Medical Anthropology. Dr. Minderhout has proposed a new course called Medical Anthropology. Medical Anthropology has become one of the most exciting subfields of anthropology, and substantial portions of last year's AAA conference and the medical anthropology surveys cultural conceptions of disease, health, and curing as well as health care delivery in this country and abroad. Medical anthropology emphasized the human element in the spread and curing of disease and tries to ease the antagonisms between Western medicine and non-Western conceptions of disease. Hopefully other departments, such as Nursing, will find this course useful. Given the course approval process at BSC, the course will probably not be offered until Spring 1981. Ethnographic Facts Why did American movies dealing with love have to be censored before being shown in Japan? •Wrong! It is because of the scenes of men and women kissing. Kissing is an extremely private act among the Japanese and for it to be displayed so publicly is the ultimate in cultural bad taste. In fact it seems that prior to Western contact, most ©f the world's cultures did not kiss at all, often viewing the Westerner's practice as deplorable, unnatural, unhygienic, bordering on the nasty and even definitely repulsive. For many cultures kissing suggested cannibalism. Witness the account of the young English explorer who in 1863 chose to kiss a pretty African girl. What happened? We quote: "She gave a shriek and bounded from the house like a frightened fawn . • • Ananga knew that the serpent moistens its victims with its lips before it begins its repast. All the tales of white cannibals which she had heard from infancy had returned to her. The poor £hild had thought that I was going to dine off her, and she had run for her lifeo" You'll be relieved to know that like Westernization in general, kissing is spreading among the world's peoples (often under the influence of American movies). But there is nothing "natural" about kissing as a display of affection; kissing is learned and culturally defined. Help! We need it - for the Newsletter and for anthropology programs. We need ideas to keep the Newsletter going as well as willing workers to get the issues out. How about reviving the Anthropology Film Festival or redoing our bulletin bo~nd in Bakeless? How about some new programs to help to promote interest in our degree and courses? Your suggestions will be greatly appreciated.