Helpful Score: 1
This book is an ethnography by Colin Turnbull. What makes it interesting is that he got to his research site and nothing went the way he wanted. And he was living with a community of people who were starving to death because of governmental intrusion that was destroying their land and their means of living. This guy, however, judged the ways in which people interacted with one another as inhuman because he couldn't wrap his head around the fact that they were starving. Turnbull ends up having a mental breakdown.
Really intersting example of how the idea of objectivity really does not exist in the social sciences.
Really intersting example of how the idea of objectivity really does not exist in the social sciences.
This book was easily one of the most disturbing I've ever read. It completely laid waste to everything that I assumed was naturally a part of being human, and it was very difficult to not judge the tribe's behavior according to my own modern, Western standards. It was one of the most interesting things I've read, but I read each page filled with increasing horror. I can't help but feel thankful that I've never been in the same dire circumstances as the people of the Ik tribe. This is a book that I'm sure I'll think of for a very long time.
Sadly, there are no wishes, so I will leave this copy at the VA Clinic in Little Tokyo where it will find an interested reader the same morning. While I took only two Anthropology classes, the author found a rare opportunity when it was suggested he investigate these people. Be sure to read his entry in Wikipedia as there is controversy in his life (1924-1994) which I have not attempted to review.
Dr. Turnbull explains how he fell into sojourning with the Ik after plans for studying other little known (at that time) people India and Africa fell through. He offers an excellent description of the life of hunters and gatherer who garner a living by knowing where and when plants and game will be available. With the former, they keep mental notes of what may be 'ripe' the next day, week, or month. They take care not to overexploit a given area, leaving the flora and fauna to rebound. While they seldom had excess to lay away, they would eat every day.
Dr. Turnbull arrives ten years after independence in the nexus of Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda. Rather than moving with the seasons they were first limited to a large valley. It is admittedly the best part of their range, but disaster strikes when it is made into a national park and they are banished to a quite barren part of their range. When the anthropologist arrives, he finds a great opportunity to study people who are starving and it is every man and woman for her/himself. They let friends, spouses, and children die.
Photo captions include:
"Losike in happier days, still active as a potter. In a few months she was, like all useless things, abandoned to her fate."
"Adupa, in the unused kitchen area of her family compound, which was to become her grave. She made the mistake of expecting more of family than mere tolerance. Her parents were unable to feed her, and when she persisted in her demands they shut her in. She was too weak to break her way out, and after a few days, her dead body was unceremoniously thrown out."
"Loiangorok, with only just enough strength to put food in his mouth. We had to stand within arm's reach while he ate, to be sure that no one would snatch the food from his mouth."
I myself did not choose to read more than the preface and chapter one's excellent description of hunting & gathering as it was through the ages and at the time Dr. Turnbull arrived before the collapse of the Ik.
Maps, glossary, index.
Dr. Turnbull explains how he fell into sojourning with the Ik after plans for studying other little known (at that time) people India and Africa fell through. He offers an excellent description of the life of hunters and gatherer who garner a living by knowing where and when plants and game will be available. With the former, they keep mental notes of what may be 'ripe' the next day, week, or month. They take care not to overexploit a given area, leaving the flora and fauna to rebound. While they seldom had excess to lay away, they would eat every day.
Dr. Turnbull arrives ten years after independence in the nexus of Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda. Rather than moving with the seasons they were first limited to a large valley. It is admittedly the best part of their range, but disaster strikes when it is made into a national park and they are banished to a quite barren part of their range. When the anthropologist arrives, he finds a great opportunity to study people who are starving and it is every man and woman for her/himself. They let friends, spouses, and children die.
Photo captions include:
"Losike in happier days, still active as a potter. In a few months she was, like all useless things, abandoned to her fate."
"Adupa, in the unused kitchen area of her family compound, which was to become her grave. She made the mistake of expecting more of family than mere tolerance. Her parents were unable to feed her, and when she persisted in her demands they shut her in. She was too weak to break her way out, and after a few days, her dead body was unceremoniously thrown out."
"Loiangorok, with only just enough strength to put food in his mouth. We had to stand within arm's reach while he ate, to be sure that no one would snatch the food from his mouth."
I myself did not choose to read more than the preface and chapter one's excellent description of hunting & gathering as it was through the ages and at the time Dr. Turnbull arrived before the collapse of the Ik.
Maps, glossary, index.
