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Department of Anthropology
ANTHROPOS
The Anthropology Newsletter
Vol. 23, No. 6
April-May 1999
In This Issue:
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- Thanks, Professor Gundrum - p. 1
- BU Outstanding. Anthropology Student - p. 1
- Lambda Alpha Members Inducted - p. 1
- SSHE Anthropology Conference - p. 1
- Reflections on the SSHE Conference by Dr. Wymer (p.2), Jessica Geffken (p.3)
Steve Estock (p. 3) & Louise Tokarsky (p. 3)
- Health Sciences Symposium - p. 4
- Drs. Baillie & Aleto Speak at Anthropology Club - p. S
- Chiropractic as Alternative Medicine - p. S
- BU Anthropologist News - p. 8
Benjamin Franklin Hall• Bloomsburg University• 400 East Second Street• Bloomsburg, PA 17815-1301
717-389-4860• FAX: 717-389-4459
A Member of Pennsylvania '.s Slate s_,stem of Higher Education
Thanks~ Professor Gundrum: The
Department of Anthropology wishes to
thank Professor Darrell Gundrum for his
teaching service during the 1998-99
academic year. Professor Gundrum
filled in for Dr. Aleto in the fall semester
and Dr. Dauria in the spring semester.
In the process, he taught eight courses,
including four different preparations,
each of which was new to him.
Professor Gundrum also
distinguished himself professionally in
this past year. He was a co-organizer
and chair of a session at the Society for
Americ&n Archaeology meetings in
Chicago in March; he also presented a
pap~r in that session. In addition, an ·
artide by him entitled "Fabric of Time,"
will be published this summer in the
magazine, Archaeology. He also has
three other articles in press. Professor
Gundrum expects to complete his Ph.D.
at the University of Illinois this summer.
BU Outstanding Anthropology
Senior: Louise Tokarsky was named
the BU Outstanding Anthropology
Student for 1998-99 in a vote of the
anthropology faculty. She will be
honored both at the BU Honors
Luncheon and in an awards ceremony in
the Department of Anthropology on May
.
6, 11 :45 AM to 1 PM in the
Archaeology Lab, GOS OSH.
Congratulations, Louise!
Lambda Alpha Inductees: The
following students will be inducted into
the Lambda Alpha National Honorary
Society for Anthropology during the
departmental awards ceremony on May
6: Michelle Renninger, Jodi Keller,
Heather Harbaugh, Michele Boyer,
Shana Adams, Ann Tracy, William
Dixon, Vanessa Madeira, Mary Jane
Blackman, Gabriel Cook, Jason Huggan,
Marissa Barrett, Jessica Stombaugh, Sue
Ann Williams, Jessica Brackbill, Kelli
Rodgers, Lynda Colligan, Melanie
Smith, Frank Carvino, Amanda Shearer,
Jeanie Golden, Thaddeus Haas, Steven
Estock, John Griffith, Rebecca Fernsler,
and Vishal Petigra.
SSHE Anthropology Conference: The
11 th annual SSHE Undergraduate
Anthropology Conference was held on
April 9 & 10 at Mansfield University.
Nine BU anthropology students made
presentations at this conference. They
were (in the order of their presentations):
Jessica Geffken - "An Ethnographic
Study of Rural Farms in PA."
Steve Estock - "Functionalism,
Violence, and the Straight-Edge
Movement."
Heather Harbaugh - "A Summer
Internship at the Smithsonian: The
Smithsonian Folklife Festival."
Thaddeus Haas - "The Modem
Construction of Sherpa Identity."
Louise Tokarsky- "Chokoj Peek,
Nojoch K'aan, and Other Oddities of the
Yukatan."
Sue Ann Williams - "Culture Shock and
the Migrant Farmworker Health Guide."
Jason Huggan- "An Applied
Anthropological Critique of the
Recreation of Tiwanaku' s Raised
Fields."
Christine Coulmas- "Non-Academic
Professional Opportunities in the Field
of Archaeology in North America."
Steve Miller - "Cultures at the
Crossroads: An Integrated Study of
Contact Period Native American
Villages of Columbia County."
Dr. Dee Anne Wymer and Professor
Faith Warner from the Department of
Anthropology accompanied the students.
In the following sections, we provide
summaries and impressions of the
conference from several participants,
beginning with Dr. Wymer.
Dr. Wymer: The SSHE Conference
was hosted by the Mansfield University
Anthropology Club who did a wonderful
job of creating and implementing the
conference this year. They structured the
conference to celebrate Native American
cultures. On Friday evening, the
participants took part in a buffet style
"traditional" Native American meal
while listening to Native American
music. After dinner, we listened to a
short lecture by Dr. Walter Funmaker, a
Native American anthropologist at
Mansfield who spoke about his own
"awakening" to what anthropology has
to offer to Native Americans and the joy
of discovering the insights his own
professors gave him in understanding all
cultures. Dr. Funmaker, however,
sternly cautioned the participants that if
they wished to study and work with
Native Americans, they must know the
local language to earn respect.
The highlight of the evening was the
delightful stories and deep insights of a
Cayuga grandmother, Julie GreenKaransky. Mrs. Green-Karansky, who
recently completed her M.A. in Social
Work at Mansfield, regaled us with tales
of her childhood in the Cayuga Indian
Reserve in Canada. She noted that one
of the strengths of Native American
cultures was their ability to "walk beside
the dominant culture." She further
admonished us that " ... Indians were the
first anthropologists ... we had to study
you (the dominant culture) to learn your
ways and survive."
Saturday we listened to a wide
variety of interesting and well done
student projects, from 9 AM until around
4 PM. Presentations ranged from
several great presentations on local
cultural anthropology projects by IUP
students to interesting accounts of their
work by Mansfield students. One
fascinating study by IUP student Abigail
Dreibelbis focused on the perceptions of
and stereotypes about sororities among
both Greek and non-Greek students. She
found interesting patterns by personality
traits between the two groups, including
that 45% of her non-Greek population
were the oldest sibling in their families,
while only around 20% were the oldest
siblings among the Greeks. Her work is
going to be published in an introductory
cultural anthropology text by Conrad
Kottak.
I may be biased, but I believe that the
finest presentations were given by our
own Bloomsburg University students.
They were extremely professional in
their presentation formats, and their
projects included good, clear
methodologies and were well-grounded
in theory and hypothesis-testing. The
papers by Steven Estock, Heather
Harbaugh, Louise Tokarsky, and Sue
Ann Williams especially sparked many
questions from the audience. I am quite
proud of the fact that every single one of
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our students gave excellent, thoughful
presentations. I am very proud of our
anthropology students.
Jessica Geffken: In order for us to be
well prepared for the 1999 SSHE
Conference, we decided to have two
practice sessions here at BU. Our first
practice session was for anyone who
needed help with their speeches. Dr.
Wymer and Professor Warner were
available to anyone who needed advice,
help with graphs and charts, or any other
details.
Our second meeting was held on
Thursday, April 8, just before the
conference. This was an informal
meeting where we could all run through
our speeches and our slides. Seven out
of the nine students presenting were
there. We had a pizza party and were
able to critique each other's speeches.
The practice session continued until
around 11 :30 PM when the last people
called it quits.
More practice was done on Friday
night in Mansfield after the Native
American presentation. We were all up
until about 1 AM practicing and making
all of our last minute changes.
Preparing for these presentations was
a lot of hard work, but we all had a lot of
fun, too. It was a good learning
experience for all of us.
We want to thank Dr. Wymer and
Professor Warner for all of their help
and support.
Steve Estock: For several of the
anthropology students, the adventures of
the SSHE Conference in Mansfield
began long before they arrived at their
destinations. Wanting to arrive early, all
five men attending the conference
managed to pack themselves and their
luggage into a small car and a Jeep.
They then set out on what was supposed
to be a simple hour and a half journey.
The directions were simple enough:
leave Bloomsburg on Rt. 80 heading
west, turn north on Rt. 15 at exit #32,
and stay on Rt. 15 until you get to
Mansfield. The men, confident in their
innate sense of direction, set off on their
journey. Blissfully unaware of their
direction, the men quickly made one of
several mistakes, turning east rather than
west on Rt. 80. The man rallied and
bonded, as they turned onto Rt. 81 north,
confident that they had several hours to
rest before the women arrived and the
conference began.
Nearly two hours into what was
supposed to be an hour and a half
journey, the men began to look for signs
of Mansfield. It was not until we saw the
signs for Binghamton, NY that we began
to realize the error of our ways. Our
innate sense of direction had taken us
some 120 miles in the opposite direction.
Turning abruptly onto Rt. 6, we were
finally on our way - in the right
direction. The next two hours were
spent exploring a variety of excuses to
tell the women who were probably
already there. Some will say that the
men were foolish for not having taken a
map. I say this "detour" served as an
excuse for the men to bond in a society
that stigmatizes male bonding.
Louise Tokarsky: The Bloomsburg
crowd arrived Friday evening at
Mansfield University. Most students
came in their own vehicles and had no
difficulty finding Mansfield. However,
a certain group of male students drove
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almost all the way to New York before
realizing that they had gone the wrong
way!
Mansfield had prepared a wonderful
buffet of Native American food for
everyone. After people had eaten, Dr.
Walter Funmaker talked about his
experiences with anthropology and how
it affected him as a member of the
Hochunk tribe. He then gave a prayer in
the Hochunk language.
Following him was Cayuga
grandmother, Mrs. Julie GreenKaransky, who shared her life and
culture with us. She was a marvelous
speaker whose life experiences taught us
more about ourselves than about her.
She shared her memories of childhood, a
time when she was living in the Grand
River territory on a reservation in
Canada. The words of her mother "Take what is good from a culture and
use it" - attest to her people's awareness
of other cultures. As she wisely pointed
out, Native Peoples were, in fact, the
first anthropologists. They have been
observing us very carefully, learning our
language and watching our behavior.
They've studied us in order to survive in
our society. And when we see things
that we don't like about Native
Americans, such as alcoholism, we are
in fact seeing things we don't like about
ourselves - things that were adopted by
Native Peoples. She was a powerful
speaker, and her words affected us all.
There were about 15 people in
attendance who didn't know anything
about the conference - they only came to
hear her. Among them, I met three old
friends, whom I hadn't seen for two
years. They are Native People and
cousins of Mrs. Green-Karansky. I had
not previously known that they were
related, but I should have suspected it
after Mrs. Green-Karansky pointed out
that most people among the Iroquois
(Cayuga is a tribe in the Iroquois
Federation) have a hard time finding
marriage partners because everyone is
related somehow. It was for that reason
that she married a Lithuanian!
After she spoke, people departed for
the evening. The Bloomsburg crowd
spent the rest of the night (and part of
the morning) polishing their
presentations.
Health Sciences Symposium: Faculty
members and students from the
Department of Anthropology along
faculty from the Department of
Languages & Cultures presented a panel
at the Health Sciences Symposium on
April 16, 1999.
Dr. Dave Minderhout began the panel
by giving a general overview of the field
of medical anthropology, including its
applied aspects. Professor Faith Warner
then gave a general introduction to the
Keystone Farmworker Health Program.
Then three BU anthropology majors,
Louise Tokarsky, Sue Ann Williams,
and Heather Harbaugh, who have
worked as interns on the project, spoke
about different aspects of delivering
health care to Spanish-speaking labor
migrants in Columbia County. Ms.
Tokarsky spoke about the culture and
· migratory background of the workers.
Ms. Williams then spoke about a guide
to Pennsylvania Health services that the
group has put together. Ms. Tokarsky
returned to the podium to speak about
the medication and illness prevention
section of the guide. Finally, Ms.
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Harbaugh spoke about a companion
guide for area health care professionals
that the group has compiled.
In a last presentation, Drs. Patricia
Dorame-Holoviak and Jesus SalasElorza spoke about the difficulties of
translating instructions from American
pharmaceuticals into Spanish.
Dr. Baillie Speaks at Anthro Club: by
Jessica Geffken. Dr. William Baillie,
chairperson of the English Department,
spoke to the Anthropology Club on
March 18 about his archaeological
research in Israel, and especially at the
site of Megiddo, the Biblical
Armageddon.
Dr, Baillie has a professional interest
in the Bible as literature. He has long
been interested in the links between
archaeology and the information
presented in the Bible. Because of that,
he has spent many summers actually
involved in excavations in Israel, the last
several at Megiddo.
Historically, Megiddo was located at
a point where three trade routes came
together. Because of its strategic
location, the site was inhabited for
hundreds of years. Today, Megiddo is a
tell, a mound of dirt built up from
generations of human use. The tell has
at least twenty separate strata, with two
to three times as many substrata.
Archaeological work there has gone on
most of this century, but because of the
size and complexity of the site, there is
always more to be discovered.
Legend says that both King David
and King Solomon of the Biblical
Kingdom of Israel were associated in
some way with Megiddo. Because there
is so little historical or archaeological
evidence to support the Bible stories of
David and Solomon, archaeologists have
hoped to unearth evidence of them at
Megiddo. Indeed, when massive gates
in one occupation level were uncovered
earlier in this century, they were
automatically dubbed the Gates of
Solomon. More careful research in
recent years has shown that the gates are
from the wrong time period to have been
associated with King Solomon. In fact,
Megiddo at the time of David and
Solomon's reigns, was apparently only a
small collection of houses around a
spring.
Dr. Baillie recommended the book,
Solomon Never Existed by Niels Peter
Lemche for anyone interested in reading
more on this subject.
The Anthropology Club wishes to
thank Dr. Baillie for his fascinating
presentation. We were delighted to have
him as a guest speaker with us again.
Dr. Aleto Speaks to Anthro Club: On
April 20 at 5 PM, Dr. Aleto will speak to
the Anthropology Club about the Mayan
frontier - the Mayan cities on the edge
of the great classic civilizations. He will
illustrate his lecture with slides from his
personal collection.
Chiropractic as Alternative Medicine:
In the Medical Anthropology course
(46.350), students are introduced to a
variety of traditional or "folk" medical
systems from many different nations,
including the United States. The
classification of a theory of health and
illness as folk, alternative, or traditional
has a built-in bias. It assumes that the
germ theory of illness (also called
allopathic medicine or biomedicine) is
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the proper standard against which all
other medical systems are measured.
This bias seems natural to most of the
students in the 46.350 course, who come
from the most part from a middle class
American background in which
allopathic medicine is seen as "normal;"
indeed, many of the students in the
course are preparing for a career in
allopathic medicine (e.g., nursing, premed, or medical technology.) Much of
the course is spent trying to convince
these students that other systems of
medicine have something to offer.
Some 46.350 students are surprised to
find that folk systems of medicine exist
in their own backyards. It is even more
surprising to many that not all of these
folk systems are associated with recent
immigrants or distinct ethnic minorities.
Some alternative folk systems in the
U.S. are practiced by middle class
Americans who are often not even aware
that the system they are consulting is
regarded as a folk (or even inferior)
medicine by allopathic health care
providers. A good example of this is
chiropractic medicine.
·
Chiropractic medicine was invented
by an Iowa storekeeper named D.D.
Palmer in 1895. Palmer, who - on the
side - practiced healing with the use of
magnets, came across a man with
impaired hearing. A physical
examination of the patient revealed a
lump on the man's back which Palmer
assumed to be a displaced verterbra.
When Palmer pushed on the lump, he
was rewarded with a satisfying snap, and
the patient reported that his hearing was
improved. Subsequent treatments are
said to have entirely restored the
patient's hearing. Palmer tried spinal
manipulations with a number of other
patients with varying degrees of success.
This led him to develop his own theory
about the caus~s of illness.
What makes chiropractic an
"alternative" medicine is that it rejects
the germ theory of illness. That is,
chiropractic teaches that illness comes
not from microorganisms such as viruses
or bacteria, but rather from the
interference with the normal
transmission of "mental impulses"
between the brain and body organs. In
chiropractic medicine, the brain is seen
as a kind of power plant. This power
plant generates "vital energy" which is
transmitted through the spinal cord to all
parts of the body. Ill health is seen as a
disruption of vital energy, due to
misalignment of the vertebrae. Healing
is by manual adjustment of the spine,
supplemented by massage and by proper
diet and rest.
Historically, chiropractic medicine
has presented itself as the better
alternative to allopathic medical
practice. Chiropractic patients are
encouraged to avoid medications, all of
which are classified as "drugs." Patients
who are taking drugs are encouraged to
"withdraw" from them. Surgery is seen
as violation of the sanctity of the human
body; only in obstetric care did
chiropractic medicine traditionally
sanction surgery. In the past,
chiropractic also encouraged its patients
to avoid vaccinations, as well, though
this is no longer the case.
A number of theories have been
presented to explain why chiropractic
medicine became so popular, especially
in the rural Midwest where it began.
Unlike medical doctors, who are
typically of a higher social class than
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many of their patients, chiropractors
historically have been from working or
lower middle class backgrounds.
Medical doctors typically dress in lab
coats and are surrounded in their offices
by a bewildering variety of arcane
equipment. Chiropractors used to
practice in everyday clothing out of
small offices that were typically attached
to their homes. Medical doctors often
use language that patients find hard to
understand; in addition, their
explanations - and cures - are often
complex and multileveled.
Chiropractors provide simple
explanations that are easily understood
and make "common sense." Take this
example from a pamphlet (no author
given) in a chiropractor's office:
"If some boulders fall into and
obstruct an irrigation ditch, thereby
cutting off the supply of water to an
apple orchard, it is common sense to
remove the boulders. If a machine gets
out of adjustment, it will not work
properly. And if an electrical circuit is
cut off, it will fail to supply energy."
Also, chiropractors' fees are
generally much lower than those charged
by medical doctors.
In 1961, anthropologist thomas
Mccorkle wrote that chiropractic was
particularly well suited to the values
expressed in a rural American
community. Foremost among these
were the values of work and remaining
active: "It is said that if a farmer retires
to town and stops working, he will be
dead in three years." Activity is good;
lying in bed is neither liked nor
approved. Getting a job done overrides
considerations of convenience, comfort,
or even illness. A good day is one spent
doing things.
Chiropractic medicine matches well
with that activity-oriented mentality.
Historically chiropractors did not
encourage their patients to take bed rest
as a therapy option. It was best to keep
active. Furthermore, a chiropractic cure
did not involve hospitalization, extensive
drug therapies, or multiple visits to a set
of specialists. One chiropractic therapist
could do it all in a short session in an
office in someone's home. Patients,
feeling better after having their spines
manipulated, could go right back to what
they were doing. In addition, the idea of
avoiding sur_gery matches well with the
Christian ideal of the body as God's
vessel, and the physical manipulations of
the chiropractor were similar to the
Christian healing device of the laying on
of hands. Besides, having a spinal
manipulation, perhaps combined with
massage and some foot reflexology, felt
good.
Since the 1970's, chiropractors have
been going through a process of
"professionalization." That is, they have
been reaching out for m~instream
approval and a wider audience by
emulating medical doctors.
Chiropractors are not alone in this;
professionalization has been occurring in
most medical professions in this country,
whether they are allopathic (e.g.,
nursing) or alternative (e.g. osteopathic
and homeopathic physicians).
Professionalization confers upon a
medical discipline the sense that it is
"science," whether or not that is
appropriate.
For example, I can remember going
with my mother when I was a child as
7
,
she had her weekly chiropractic
treatments. Unlike the medical doctors
and offices I had known, the
chiropractor was unimposing - ordinary,
really. He was known by his first name
to his patients ("Mr." to me); he wore
"street clothes;" he operated out of his
home; and his office was not awash in
the exotic smells and sounds of a
doctor's office. My mother liked him
because he made her feel better, and he
was cheap- less costly than having her
hair done.
Today, chiropractors insist on being
called "Doctor." They wear white lab
coats and operate out of offices
indistinguishable from those of medical
doctors. Their degrees are prominently
displayed in patient care areas. Their
educations have expanded as well. In
the first half of the 20 th century, a wouldbe chiropractor needed only to attend a
school of chiropracty. (The first was in
Davenport, Iowa, but they are all over
the U.S. now.) Today, like medical
students, chiropractors are expected to
complete a four year undergraduate
education before they go to chiropractic
college. Licensing boards in many states
also elevate the chiropractor's status by
conferring on them a degree of
legitimacy that unlicensed professions
do not have.
At the same time, chiropractors have
begun more open to allopathic disease
categories. While drugs and surgery are
still frowned on, modem chiropractors
are willing to accept the idea of "germs"
as well as the need for medicine to deal
with the more serious ailments.
allopathic medical professions. In
particular, tension exists between
chiropractors and physical therapists, the
latter operating out of a allopathic
medical arena (the hospital, the clinic,
and so on.) Both give massages and do
spinal manipulations (though this is a
minor part of physical therapy).
Physical therapists are also likely to
downplay the value of drugs and
surgery, at least as a first resort. But
unlike chiropractors, physical therapists
do not rely on a single, simple
explanation of bodily ailments; rather,
they see pain as the result of a complex
interaction of muscles, tendons,
ligaments, and joints. Physical therapists
encourage their patients·to stretch and
strengthen their muscles to improve
range of motion or locomotor abilities.
Chiropractors are prohibited by law in
Pennsylvania from saying they provide
physical therapy, though many in their
ads come as close to that as possible.
Meanwhile, physical therapists bristle at
the suggestion that they do chiropracty.
It is interesting that chiropractors
have not been as successful in England
at achieving professionalization. Cecil
Helman, a British medical
anthropologist, in his book, Culture,
Health & Illness writes of the efforts of
chiropractors and others, such as
osteopaths, to achieve higher status in
English medicine through
professionalization, but he asserts that
this has not worked there to date. He
gives no reason for this, though the
English national health care program
may have been a factor.
BU Anthropology News:
As chiropractors have
professionalized, ironically they have
become seen as more of a threat by
Dr. Aleto has reviewed Religion &
Magic in the Life of Traditional Peoples
8
by Alice B & Irvin L. Child for PrenticeHall Publishing, as the text goes into its
second edition.
Dr. Dauria presented a paper, "Creating
Research & Service Opportunities for
College Students in Central
Pennsylvania," at the Northeast
Anthropological Association meetings in
March in Providence, R.I.
Anthropology major Steve Estock has
been accepted for graduate school at
Eastern New Mexico University and
Ball State University.
Anthropology major Louise Tokarsky
has been additionally accepted for
graduate school at SUNY-Buffalo.
Program alumnus Peter Risso has been
additionally accepted for graduate school
at the University of Kentucky, Arizona
State University, and Brandeis
University.
Program alumnus Karin Rebnegger, a
Ph.D. candidate in anthropology at the
University of Oklahoma, has been
named lithics specialist at the famous
Olmec site of Chalcatzingo in Morelos,
Mexico. She will be analyzing the stone
tools from one of the most important
ceremonial centers of Central Mexico
during the Early (1200-900 BC) and
Middle formative (900-500 BC) Periods.
Program Alumnus Crystal Patil has
completed her qualifying exams for the
Ph.D. at Ohio State University. She will
be doing fieldwork in Sikkim State in
India with a culture called the Bhutia
along the Nepal border. She will be
studying patterns of pregnancy and
mortality, as part of an applied program
to increase birth weight among neonates.
9
Department of Anthropology
ANTHROPOS
The Anthropology Newsletter
Vol. 23, No. 6
April-May 1999
In This Issue:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
- Thanks, Professor Gundrum - p. 1
- BU Outstanding. Anthropology Student - p. 1
- Lambda Alpha Members Inducted - p. 1
- SSHE Anthropology Conference - p. 1
- Reflections on the SSHE Conference by Dr. Wymer (p.2), Jessica Geffken (p.3)
Steve Estock (p. 3) & Louise Tokarsky (p. 3)
- Health Sciences Symposium - p. 4
- Drs. Baillie & Aleto Speak at Anthropology Club - p. S
- Chiropractic as Alternative Medicine - p. S
- BU Anthropologist News - p. 8
Benjamin Franklin Hall• Bloomsburg University• 400 East Second Street• Bloomsburg, PA 17815-1301
717-389-4860• FAX: 717-389-4459
A Member of Pennsylvania '.s Slate s_,stem of Higher Education
Thanks~ Professor Gundrum: The
Department of Anthropology wishes to
thank Professor Darrell Gundrum for his
teaching service during the 1998-99
academic year. Professor Gundrum
filled in for Dr. Aleto in the fall semester
and Dr. Dauria in the spring semester.
In the process, he taught eight courses,
including four different preparations,
each of which was new to him.
Professor Gundrum also
distinguished himself professionally in
this past year. He was a co-organizer
and chair of a session at the Society for
Americ&n Archaeology meetings in
Chicago in March; he also presented a
pap~r in that session. In addition, an ·
artide by him entitled "Fabric of Time,"
will be published this summer in the
magazine, Archaeology. He also has
three other articles in press. Professor
Gundrum expects to complete his Ph.D.
at the University of Illinois this summer.
BU Outstanding Anthropology
Senior: Louise Tokarsky was named
the BU Outstanding Anthropology
Student for 1998-99 in a vote of the
anthropology faculty. She will be
honored both at the BU Honors
Luncheon and in an awards ceremony in
the Department of Anthropology on May
.
6, 11 :45 AM to 1 PM in the
Archaeology Lab, GOS OSH.
Congratulations, Louise!
Lambda Alpha Inductees: The
following students will be inducted into
the Lambda Alpha National Honorary
Society for Anthropology during the
departmental awards ceremony on May
6: Michelle Renninger, Jodi Keller,
Heather Harbaugh, Michele Boyer,
Shana Adams, Ann Tracy, William
Dixon, Vanessa Madeira, Mary Jane
Blackman, Gabriel Cook, Jason Huggan,
Marissa Barrett, Jessica Stombaugh, Sue
Ann Williams, Jessica Brackbill, Kelli
Rodgers, Lynda Colligan, Melanie
Smith, Frank Carvino, Amanda Shearer,
Jeanie Golden, Thaddeus Haas, Steven
Estock, John Griffith, Rebecca Fernsler,
and Vishal Petigra.
SSHE Anthropology Conference: The
11 th annual SSHE Undergraduate
Anthropology Conference was held on
April 9 & 10 at Mansfield University.
Nine BU anthropology students made
presentations at this conference. They
were (in the order of their presentations):
Jessica Geffken - "An Ethnographic
Study of Rural Farms in PA."
Steve Estock - "Functionalism,
Violence, and the Straight-Edge
Movement."
Heather Harbaugh - "A Summer
Internship at the Smithsonian: The
Smithsonian Folklife Festival."
Thaddeus Haas - "The Modem
Construction of Sherpa Identity."
Louise Tokarsky- "Chokoj Peek,
Nojoch K'aan, and Other Oddities of the
Yukatan."
Sue Ann Williams - "Culture Shock and
the Migrant Farmworker Health Guide."
Jason Huggan- "An Applied
Anthropological Critique of the
Recreation of Tiwanaku' s Raised
Fields."
Christine Coulmas- "Non-Academic
Professional Opportunities in the Field
of Archaeology in North America."
Steve Miller - "Cultures at the
Crossroads: An Integrated Study of
Contact Period Native American
Villages of Columbia County."
Dr. Dee Anne Wymer and Professor
Faith Warner from the Department of
Anthropology accompanied the students.
In the following sections, we provide
summaries and impressions of the
conference from several participants,
beginning with Dr. Wymer.
Dr. Wymer: The SSHE Conference
was hosted by the Mansfield University
Anthropology Club who did a wonderful
job of creating and implementing the
conference this year. They structured the
conference to celebrate Native American
cultures. On Friday evening, the
participants took part in a buffet style
"traditional" Native American meal
while listening to Native American
music. After dinner, we listened to a
short lecture by Dr. Walter Funmaker, a
Native American anthropologist at
Mansfield who spoke about his own
"awakening" to what anthropology has
to offer to Native Americans and the joy
of discovering the insights his own
professors gave him in understanding all
cultures. Dr. Funmaker, however,
sternly cautioned the participants that if
they wished to study and work with
Native Americans, they must know the
local language to earn respect.
The highlight of the evening was the
delightful stories and deep insights of a
Cayuga grandmother, Julie GreenKaransky. Mrs. Green-Karansky, who
recently completed her M.A. in Social
Work at Mansfield, regaled us with tales
of her childhood in the Cayuga Indian
Reserve in Canada. She noted that one
of the strengths of Native American
cultures was their ability to "walk beside
the dominant culture." She further
admonished us that " ... Indians were the
first anthropologists ... we had to study
you (the dominant culture) to learn your
ways and survive."
Saturday we listened to a wide
variety of interesting and well done
student projects, from 9 AM until around
4 PM. Presentations ranged from
several great presentations on local
cultural anthropology projects by IUP
students to interesting accounts of their
work by Mansfield students. One
fascinating study by IUP student Abigail
Dreibelbis focused on the perceptions of
and stereotypes about sororities among
both Greek and non-Greek students. She
found interesting patterns by personality
traits between the two groups, including
that 45% of her non-Greek population
were the oldest sibling in their families,
while only around 20% were the oldest
siblings among the Greeks. Her work is
going to be published in an introductory
cultural anthropology text by Conrad
Kottak.
I may be biased, but I believe that the
finest presentations were given by our
own Bloomsburg University students.
They were extremely professional in
their presentation formats, and their
projects included good, clear
methodologies and were well-grounded
in theory and hypothesis-testing. The
papers by Steven Estock, Heather
Harbaugh, Louise Tokarsky, and Sue
Ann Williams especially sparked many
questions from the audience. I am quite
proud of the fact that every single one of
2
our students gave excellent, thoughful
presentations. I am very proud of our
anthropology students.
Jessica Geffken: In order for us to be
well prepared for the 1999 SSHE
Conference, we decided to have two
practice sessions here at BU. Our first
practice session was for anyone who
needed help with their speeches. Dr.
Wymer and Professor Warner were
available to anyone who needed advice,
help with graphs and charts, or any other
details.
Our second meeting was held on
Thursday, April 8, just before the
conference. This was an informal
meeting where we could all run through
our speeches and our slides. Seven out
of the nine students presenting were
there. We had a pizza party and were
able to critique each other's speeches.
The practice session continued until
around 11 :30 PM when the last people
called it quits.
More practice was done on Friday
night in Mansfield after the Native
American presentation. We were all up
until about 1 AM practicing and making
all of our last minute changes.
Preparing for these presentations was
a lot of hard work, but we all had a lot of
fun, too. It was a good learning
experience for all of us.
We want to thank Dr. Wymer and
Professor Warner for all of their help
and support.
Steve Estock: For several of the
anthropology students, the adventures of
the SSHE Conference in Mansfield
began long before they arrived at their
destinations. Wanting to arrive early, all
five men attending the conference
managed to pack themselves and their
luggage into a small car and a Jeep.
They then set out on what was supposed
to be a simple hour and a half journey.
The directions were simple enough:
leave Bloomsburg on Rt. 80 heading
west, turn north on Rt. 15 at exit #32,
and stay on Rt. 15 until you get to
Mansfield. The men, confident in their
innate sense of direction, set off on their
journey. Blissfully unaware of their
direction, the men quickly made one of
several mistakes, turning east rather than
west on Rt. 80. The man rallied and
bonded, as they turned onto Rt. 81 north,
confident that they had several hours to
rest before the women arrived and the
conference began.
Nearly two hours into what was
supposed to be an hour and a half
journey, the men began to look for signs
of Mansfield. It was not until we saw the
signs for Binghamton, NY that we began
to realize the error of our ways. Our
innate sense of direction had taken us
some 120 miles in the opposite direction.
Turning abruptly onto Rt. 6, we were
finally on our way - in the right
direction. The next two hours were
spent exploring a variety of excuses to
tell the women who were probably
already there. Some will say that the
men were foolish for not having taken a
map. I say this "detour" served as an
excuse for the men to bond in a society
that stigmatizes male bonding.
Louise Tokarsky: The Bloomsburg
crowd arrived Friday evening at
Mansfield University. Most students
came in their own vehicles and had no
difficulty finding Mansfield. However,
a certain group of male students drove
3
almost all the way to New York before
realizing that they had gone the wrong
way!
Mansfield had prepared a wonderful
buffet of Native American food for
everyone. After people had eaten, Dr.
Walter Funmaker talked about his
experiences with anthropology and how
it affected him as a member of the
Hochunk tribe. He then gave a prayer in
the Hochunk language.
Following him was Cayuga
grandmother, Mrs. Julie GreenKaransky, who shared her life and
culture with us. She was a marvelous
speaker whose life experiences taught us
more about ourselves than about her.
She shared her memories of childhood, a
time when she was living in the Grand
River territory on a reservation in
Canada. The words of her mother "Take what is good from a culture and
use it" - attest to her people's awareness
of other cultures. As she wisely pointed
out, Native Peoples were, in fact, the
first anthropologists. They have been
observing us very carefully, learning our
language and watching our behavior.
They've studied us in order to survive in
our society. And when we see things
that we don't like about Native
Americans, such as alcoholism, we are
in fact seeing things we don't like about
ourselves - things that were adopted by
Native Peoples. She was a powerful
speaker, and her words affected us all.
There were about 15 people in
attendance who didn't know anything
about the conference - they only came to
hear her. Among them, I met three old
friends, whom I hadn't seen for two
years. They are Native People and
cousins of Mrs. Green-Karansky. I had
not previously known that they were
related, but I should have suspected it
after Mrs. Green-Karansky pointed out
that most people among the Iroquois
(Cayuga is a tribe in the Iroquois
Federation) have a hard time finding
marriage partners because everyone is
related somehow. It was for that reason
that she married a Lithuanian!
After she spoke, people departed for
the evening. The Bloomsburg crowd
spent the rest of the night (and part of
the morning) polishing their
presentations.
Health Sciences Symposium: Faculty
members and students from the
Department of Anthropology along
faculty from the Department of
Languages & Cultures presented a panel
at the Health Sciences Symposium on
April 16, 1999.
Dr. Dave Minderhout began the panel
by giving a general overview of the field
of medical anthropology, including its
applied aspects. Professor Faith Warner
then gave a general introduction to the
Keystone Farmworker Health Program.
Then three BU anthropology majors,
Louise Tokarsky, Sue Ann Williams,
and Heather Harbaugh, who have
worked as interns on the project, spoke
about different aspects of delivering
health care to Spanish-speaking labor
migrants in Columbia County. Ms.
Tokarsky spoke about the culture and
· migratory background of the workers.
Ms. Williams then spoke about a guide
to Pennsylvania Health services that the
group has put together. Ms. Tokarsky
returned to the podium to speak about
the medication and illness prevention
section of the guide. Finally, Ms.
4
Harbaugh spoke about a companion
guide for area health care professionals
that the group has compiled.
In a last presentation, Drs. Patricia
Dorame-Holoviak and Jesus SalasElorza spoke about the difficulties of
translating instructions from American
pharmaceuticals into Spanish.
Dr. Baillie Speaks at Anthro Club: by
Jessica Geffken. Dr. William Baillie,
chairperson of the English Department,
spoke to the Anthropology Club on
March 18 about his archaeological
research in Israel, and especially at the
site of Megiddo, the Biblical
Armageddon.
Dr, Baillie has a professional interest
in the Bible as literature. He has long
been interested in the links between
archaeology and the information
presented in the Bible. Because of that,
he has spent many summers actually
involved in excavations in Israel, the last
several at Megiddo.
Historically, Megiddo was located at
a point where three trade routes came
together. Because of its strategic
location, the site was inhabited for
hundreds of years. Today, Megiddo is a
tell, a mound of dirt built up from
generations of human use. The tell has
at least twenty separate strata, with two
to three times as many substrata.
Archaeological work there has gone on
most of this century, but because of the
size and complexity of the site, there is
always more to be discovered.
Legend says that both King David
and King Solomon of the Biblical
Kingdom of Israel were associated in
some way with Megiddo. Because there
is so little historical or archaeological
evidence to support the Bible stories of
David and Solomon, archaeologists have
hoped to unearth evidence of them at
Megiddo. Indeed, when massive gates
in one occupation level were uncovered
earlier in this century, they were
automatically dubbed the Gates of
Solomon. More careful research in
recent years has shown that the gates are
from the wrong time period to have been
associated with King Solomon. In fact,
Megiddo at the time of David and
Solomon's reigns, was apparently only a
small collection of houses around a
spring.
Dr. Baillie recommended the book,
Solomon Never Existed by Niels Peter
Lemche for anyone interested in reading
more on this subject.
The Anthropology Club wishes to
thank Dr. Baillie for his fascinating
presentation. We were delighted to have
him as a guest speaker with us again.
Dr. Aleto Speaks to Anthro Club: On
April 20 at 5 PM, Dr. Aleto will speak to
the Anthropology Club about the Mayan
frontier - the Mayan cities on the edge
of the great classic civilizations. He will
illustrate his lecture with slides from his
personal collection.
Chiropractic as Alternative Medicine:
In the Medical Anthropology course
(46.350), students are introduced to a
variety of traditional or "folk" medical
systems from many different nations,
including the United States. The
classification of a theory of health and
illness as folk, alternative, or traditional
has a built-in bias. It assumes that the
germ theory of illness (also called
allopathic medicine or biomedicine) is
5
the proper standard against which all
other medical systems are measured.
This bias seems natural to most of the
students in the 46.350 course, who come
from the most part from a middle class
American background in which
allopathic medicine is seen as "normal;"
indeed, many of the students in the
course are preparing for a career in
allopathic medicine (e.g., nursing, premed, or medical technology.) Much of
the course is spent trying to convince
these students that other systems of
medicine have something to offer.
Some 46.350 students are surprised to
find that folk systems of medicine exist
in their own backyards. It is even more
surprising to many that not all of these
folk systems are associated with recent
immigrants or distinct ethnic minorities.
Some alternative folk systems in the
U.S. are practiced by middle class
Americans who are often not even aware
that the system they are consulting is
regarded as a folk (or even inferior)
medicine by allopathic health care
providers. A good example of this is
chiropractic medicine.
·
Chiropractic medicine was invented
by an Iowa storekeeper named D.D.
Palmer in 1895. Palmer, who - on the
side - practiced healing with the use of
magnets, came across a man with
impaired hearing. A physical
examination of the patient revealed a
lump on the man's back which Palmer
assumed to be a displaced verterbra.
When Palmer pushed on the lump, he
was rewarded with a satisfying snap, and
the patient reported that his hearing was
improved. Subsequent treatments are
said to have entirely restored the
patient's hearing. Palmer tried spinal
manipulations with a number of other
patients with varying degrees of success.
This led him to develop his own theory
about the caus~s of illness.
What makes chiropractic an
"alternative" medicine is that it rejects
the germ theory of illness. That is,
chiropractic teaches that illness comes
not from microorganisms such as viruses
or bacteria, but rather from the
interference with the normal
transmission of "mental impulses"
between the brain and body organs. In
chiropractic medicine, the brain is seen
as a kind of power plant. This power
plant generates "vital energy" which is
transmitted through the spinal cord to all
parts of the body. Ill health is seen as a
disruption of vital energy, due to
misalignment of the vertebrae. Healing
is by manual adjustment of the spine,
supplemented by massage and by proper
diet and rest.
Historically, chiropractic medicine
has presented itself as the better
alternative to allopathic medical
practice. Chiropractic patients are
encouraged to avoid medications, all of
which are classified as "drugs." Patients
who are taking drugs are encouraged to
"withdraw" from them. Surgery is seen
as violation of the sanctity of the human
body; only in obstetric care did
chiropractic medicine traditionally
sanction surgery. In the past,
chiropractic also encouraged its patients
to avoid vaccinations, as well, though
this is no longer the case.
A number of theories have been
presented to explain why chiropractic
medicine became so popular, especially
in the rural Midwest where it began.
Unlike medical doctors, who are
typically of a higher social class than
6
many of their patients, chiropractors
historically have been from working or
lower middle class backgrounds.
Medical doctors typically dress in lab
coats and are surrounded in their offices
by a bewildering variety of arcane
equipment. Chiropractors used to
practice in everyday clothing out of
small offices that were typically attached
to their homes. Medical doctors often
use language that patients find hard to
understand; in addition, their
explanations - and cures - are often
complex and multileveled.
Chiropractors provide simple
explanations that are easily understood
and make "common sense." Take this
example from a pamphlet (no author
given) in a chiropractor's office:
"If some boulders fall into and
obstruct an irrigation ditch, thereby
cutting off the supply of water to an
apple orchard, it is common sense to
remove the boulders. If a machine gets
out of adjustment, it will not work
properly. And if an electrical circuit is
cut off, it will fail to supply energy."
Also, chiropractors' fees are
generally much lower than those charged
by medical doctors.
In 1961, anthropologist thomas
Mccorkle wrote that chiropractic was
particularly well suited to the values
expressed in a rural American
community. Foremost among these
were the values of work and remaining
active: "It is said that if a farmer retires
to town and stops working, he will be
dead in three years." Activity is good;
lying in bed is neither liked nor
approved. Getting a job done overrides
considerations of convenience, comfort,
or even illness. A good day is one spent
doing things.
Chiropractic medicine matches well
with that activity-oriented mentality.
Historically chiropractors did not
encourage their patients to take bed rest
as a therapy option. It was best to keep
active. Furthermore, a chiropractic cure
did not involve hospitalization, extensive
drug therapies, or multiple visits to a set
of specialists. One chiropractic therapist
could do it all in a short session in an
office in someone's home. Patients,
feeling better after having their spines
manipulated, could go right back to what
they were doing. In addition, the idea of
avoiding sur_gery matches well with the
Christian ideal of the body as God's
vessel, and the physical manipulations of
the chiropractor were similar to the
Christian healing device of the laying on
of hands. Besides, having a spinal
manipulation, perhaps combined with
massage and some foot reflexology, felt
good.
Since the 1970's, chiropractors have
been going through a process of
"professionalization." That is, they have
been reaching out for m~instream
approval and a wider audience by
emulating medical doctors.
Chiropractors are not alone in this;
professionalization has been occurring in
most medical professions in this country,
whether they are allopathic (e.g.,
nursing) or alternative (e.g. osteopathic
and homeopathic physicians).
Professionalization confers upon a
medical discipline the sense that it is
"science," whether or not that is
appropriate.
For example, I can remember going
with my mother when I was a child as
7
,
she had her weekly chiropractic
treatments. Unlike the medical doctors
and offices I had known, the
chiropractor was unimposing - ordinary,
really. He was known by his first name
to his patients ("Mr." to me); he wore
"street clothes;" he operated out of his
home; and his office was not awash in
the exotic smells and sounds of a
doctor's office. My mother liked him
because he made her feel better, and he
was cheap- less costly than having her
hair done.
Today, chiropractors insist on being
called "Doctor." They wear white lab
coats and operate out of offices
indistinguishable from those of medical
doctors. Their degrees are prominently
displayed in patient care areas. Their
educations have expanded as well. In
the first half of the 20 th century, a wouldbe chiropractor needed only to attend a
school of chiropracty. (The first was in
Davenport, Iowa, but they are all over
the U.S. now.) Today, like medical
students, chiropractors are expected to
complete a four year undergraduate
education before they go to chiropractic
college. Licensing boards in many states
also elevate the chiropractor's status by
conferring on them a degree of
legitimacy that unlicensed professions
do not have.
At the same time, chiropractors have
begun more open to allopathic disease
categories. While drugs and surgery are
still frowned on, modem chiropractors
are willing to accept the idea of "germs"
as well as the need for medicine to deal
with the more serious ailments.
allopathic medical professions. In
particular, tension exists between
chiropractors and physical therapists, the
latter operating out of a allopathic
medical arena (the hospital, the clinic,
and so on.) Both give massages and do
spinal manipulations (though this is a
minor part of physical therapy).
Physical therapists are also likely to
downplay the value of drugs and
surgery, at least as a first resort. But
unlike chiropractors, physical therapists
do not rely on a single, simple
explanation of bodily ailments; rather,
they see pain as the result of a complex
interaction of muscles, tendons,
ligaments, and joints. Physical therapists
encourage their patients·to stretch and
strengthen their muscles to improve
range of motion or locomotor abilities.
Chiropractors are prohibited by law in
Pennsylvania from saying they provide
physical therapy, though many in their
ads come as close to that as possible.
Meanwhile, physical therapists bristle at
the suggestion that they do chiropracty.
It is interesting that chiropractors
have not been as successful in England
at achieving professionalization. Cecil
Helman, a British medical
anthropologist, in his book, Culture,
Health & Illness writes of the efforts of
chiropractors and others, such as
osteopaths, to achieve higher status in
English medicine through
professionalization, but he asserts that
this has not worked there to date. He
gives no reason for this, though the
English national health care program
may have been a factor.
BU Anthropology News:
As chiropractors have
professionalized, ironically they have
become seen as more of a threat by
Dr. Aleto has reviewed Religion &
Magic in the Life of Traditional Peoples
8
by Alice B & Irvin L. Child for PrenticeHall Publishing, as the text goes into its
second edition.
Dr. Dauria presented a paper, "Creating
Research & Service Opportunities for
College Students in Central
Pennsylvania," at the Northeast
Anthropological Association meetings in
March in Providence, R.I.
Anthropology major Steve Estock has
been accepted for graduate school at
Eastern New Mexico University and
Ball State University.
Anthropology major Louise Tokarsky
has been additionally accepted for
graduate school at SUNY-Buffalo.
Program alumnus Peter Risso has been
additionally accepted for graduate school
at the University of Kentucky, Arizona
State University, and Brandeis
University.
Program alumnus Karin Rebnegger, a
Ph.D. candidate in anthropology at the
University of Oklahoma, has been
named lithics specialist at the famous
Olmec site of Chalcatzingo in Morelos,
Mexico. She will be analyzing the stone
tools from one of the most important
ceremonial centers of Central Mexico
during the Early (1200-900 BC) and
Middle formative (900-500 BC) Periods.
Program Alumnus Crystal Patil has
completed her qualifying exams for the
Ph.D. at Ohio State University. She will
be doing fieldwork in Sikkim State in
India with a culture called the Bhutia
along the Nepal border. She will be
studying patterns of pregnancy and
mortality, as part of an applied program
to increase birth weight among neonates.
9