The interaction between religious beliefs and hunting practices among the Asiniskawidiniwak or Rock Crees of northern Manitoba is the focus of Robert Brightman's detailed study. This foraging society; he says; bases aspects of its hunting and trapping largely on what we call "religious" conceptions.Seeking an ideology; however; that incorporates Cree beliefs about human-animal differences and the relationships that should exist between them as hunter and prey; Brightman finds these beliefs to be disordered and unstable rather than systematic. Animals are represented as simultaneously more and less powerful than humans. The hunter-prey relationship is talked about as both collaborative and adversarial. Exploring the influence of these religious representations on technical aspects of subsistence historically; Brightman finds that Crees' attitudes and actions toward animals were; and are; relatively arbitrary with respect to biological and environmental forces. Anthropologists will see in his well-researched discussion a challenge to prevailing ecological and Marxist approaches to foraging societies.
#414877 in Books 1975-06-23 1975-06-23Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x .78 x 5.40l; .74 #File Name: 0520029054304 pages
Review
17 of 21 people found the following review helpful. California Anti-Chinese Movement Traced to Jacksonian TimesBy mwreviewIn "The Indispensable Enemy;" Alexander Saxton presents a broad study of American ideological history and an intricate examination of the California political system to further a better understanding of the anti-Chinese movement in California from the 1860s to 1902. According to Saxton; Chinese workers were "indispensable" to California for two reasons. First; the Chinese provided an important source of cheap labor for California industries. Second; the Chinese aided the labor movement in California (albeit unintentionally) by being the subject of the issue on which the majority of white workers could agree: the anti-Chinese issue. Saxton examines American ideology in the early nineteenth century to determine the roots of the anti-Chinese movement.Alexander Saxton offers a comprehensive study on the ideological origins of the anti-Chinese movement; the political importance of the issue; and the issues's future expansion to include the Japanese. The Jacksonian ideas of nationalism and racial superiority provide a clear foundation for understanding American attitudes towards African Americans and; later; Californian attitutudes towards the Chinese. Moreover; Saxton emphasizes the psychological and ideological reasons for the reactions against the Chinese instead of economic reasons more commonly used by historians. By not relying on the economic motivation for anti-Chinese demonstrations; Saxton is able to distinguish the persecution endured by the Chinese from the persecutions endured by other ethnic groups; like the Irish and Germans. Unfortunately; Saxton's main points often get lost in the maze of comments about social; intellectual; and political history as well as a detailed chronological description of California political affairs. A more focused study on the anti-Chinese movement would help to underline his main points for the reader.Saxton relies primarily on primary sources for his work such as newspapers; labor publications; and memoirs. Saxton; however; does deomonstrate an awareness of the limitations of such materials. Saxton also uses his sources appropriately. For example; Saxton does not include a chart on the number of Chinese workers in various occupations (as calculated by the Trades Assembly) as accurate statistical data. Saxton states that the chart is meant to show "how trade unionists viewed the [labor] situation in 1881-1882" (170).One main problem with Saxton's study is that he does not explain the actions of the labor unions from the point of view of the Chinese; He does not mention any Chinese leaders in California or the reactions of leaders in their homeland. In a couple of cases; Saxton does hint at a Chinese backlash. For exapmple; Saxton describes Chinatown in San Francisco as a fortress protecting the residents from outside threats. In other cases; however; the Chinese are vaguely described as passive recipients of persecution (for example; the Chinese did not offer any protest against their forced removal from Eureka and Seattle). A closer examination of the Chinese side would make "The Indispensable enemy" a more complete work.
