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Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Summary and Analysis

“Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” is a satirical article written by American anthropologist Horace Miner and published in 1956 in the journal “American Anthropologist”. 

The piece uses a fictionalized account of American cultural practices to critique the anthropological approach to the study of other cultures, particularly the exoticization and misunderstanding of everyday practices.

Full Summary

The term “Nacirema” is “American” spelled backward, and the article describes the rituals of this “tribe” in a tone typically used by anthropologists to describe non-Western cultures. 

The Nacirema are portrayed as a group obsessed with rituals around the human body, particularly its health and appearance.

Key elements of the article include:

  • Shrine Rooms : Every household has one or more shrine rooms devoted to ritualistic practices, designed to improve the body’s appearance and health. These rooms contain charm-boxes filled with magical potions, a reference to medicine cabinets and pharmaceuticals.
  • Holy-Mouth-Men : The Nacirema visit these practitioners regularly, who perform rituals involving the mouth. This is a portrayal of dentists and the cultural importance placed on oral hygiene.
  • Listeners : These are special members of the society who listen to individuals’ problems and use magical techniques to influence the mental health of their clients, representing psychologists or psychiatrists.
  • The Latipso Ceremony : In this ritual, people are brought to a temple (latipso spelled backward is hospital) where they undergo extreme and often painful experiences to treat severe physical or mental illnesses, representing hospitals and medical procedures.
  • Body Rituals : The Nacirema are described as engaging in numerous body rituals throughout the day, such as scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument, a satirical description of shaving or makeup application.

Miner’s article serves as a critique of anthropological practices and the Western perspective on “exotic” cultures. 

By showing how familiar American practices can seem bizarre and irrational when described in the detached, academic tone often used by anthropologists, Miner emphasizes the importance of understanding and respecting other cultures without biased or ethnocentric viewpoints. 

The article continues to be widely read and discussed for its clever inversion of the anthropological gaze and its challenge to ethnocentric thinking.

Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Summary

“Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner offers a rich subject for analysis, particularly in its critique of anthropological methods and cultural ethnocentrism. Here’s a detailed analysis of the article:

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

  • Inversion of the Anthropological Gaze : Miner’s article cleverly reverses the typical anthropological study, where Western anthropologists study non-Western cultures. By describing American practices using anthropological terms and an ‘outsider’ perspective, Miner illustrates how familiar behaviors can appear strange or illogical when observed without cultural context.
  • Critique of Ethnocentrism : The article challenges readers to recognize their own ethnocentric biases. Ethnocentrism is the act of judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one’s own culture. By exoticizing the mundane aspects of American life, Miner highlights how ethnocentrism can lead to a misunderstanding or devaluing of other cultures.
  • Cultural Relativism : This is the principle that an individual’s beliefs and activities should be understood in terms of their own culture. Miner’s satirical approach encourages readers to adopt a more culturally relativistic perspective, understanding practices within their cultural context rather than judging them by external standards.

Anthropological Writing and Representation

  • Anthropological Language : Miner’s use of dense, academic language mimics the style of traditional anthropological literature, which can often seem detached and overly clinical. This stylistic choice underscores how the language used in anthropology can obscure understanding and empathy.
  • Representation of the “Other” : The Nacirema are depicted as exotic and their rituals as bizarre, echoing how non-Western cultures have historically been portrayed in anthropological studies. This representation challenges the reader to consider how the portrayal of the “other” can be skewed by biases and a lack of cultural understanding.

Modern Consumer Culture and Health Practices

  • Body Obsession : The Nacirema’s rituals reflect modern society’s obsession with physical appearance and health. These rituals, from daily hygiene to medical procedures, are a commentary on the lengths to which people go in pursuit of beauty and wellness.
  • Medical and Psychological Practices : The portrayal of the “holy-mouth-men” and “listeners” critiques the medicalization and professionalization of health and wellness in modern society, highlighting how such practices, while normal to us, can seem peculiar from an external viewpoint.

Social Commentary

  • Critique of American Culture : While the article is a critique of anthropological methods, it also serves as a subtle commentary on American culture’s peculiarities, especially its preoccupation with appearance, health, and wellness.
  • Reflection on the Reader’s Perspective : The article often leads to an “aha” moment for readers when they realize that the Nacirema are Americans. This realization forces readers to reflect on their own cultural practices and the initial judgments they made about the Nacirema.

Final Thoughts

“Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” remains a seminal work in anthropology for its incisive critique of the field’s methods and its ability to make the familiar seem foreign. 

Miner’s article urges anthropologists and readers alike to approach the study of other cultures with greater awareness of their own biases and with respect for the complexities and nuances of different ways of life.

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Body Ritual among the Nacirema Summary

Summary & analysis of horace miner's body ritual among the nacirema.

Body Ritual Among the Nacirema is a satirical essay written by Horace Miner in 1956. The essay describes the peculiar and seemingly bizarre rituals and behaviors of a fictional group of people called the Nacirema. However, the essay is a clever critique of American culture and its obsession with body image and the beauty industry.

Body Ritual among the Nacirema | Summary

Miner describes the customs of the Nacirema tribe as an extreme example of human behavior, showcasing the remarkable range of cultural practices. The Nacirema tribe, located in a bountiful natural environment between Canadian and Mexican tribes, has intrigued researchers, including Professor Linton. Despite extensive study, the tribe’s origins remain a mystery, although legends suggest they migrated from the east. The Nacirema culture revolves around a highly developed market economy that thrives within its habitat. A significant portion of their time is dedicated to economic activities, while the remaining time is devoted to rituals concerning the human body, its appearance, and cleanliness.

He starts by discussing the daily mouth rituals performed by the Nacirema, where they use a variety of tools and magical potions (toothbrushes and toothpaste) in a sacred shrine (the bathroom) to cleanse their mouths. The essay humorously portrays this everyday activity as a complex and mysterious ritual. Another ritual highlighted by Miner is the visit to the holy-mouth-men, who are the Nacirema equivalent of dentists. The holy mouth men perform painful and expensive procedures on individuals to improve their dental appearance, suggesting the extreme measures people take in pursuit of beauty and societal standards. This satirical portrayal of dental practices mocks the excessive focus on physical appearance in American society. Miner also touches upon the Nacirema’s preoccupation with the body and beauty. He introduces the “listener,” who is paid to listen to the personal troubles and insecurities of the Nacirema people. This character represents therapists or counselors in American culture, emphasizing the culture’s emphasis on self-reflection, self-improvement, and the industry built around self-help.

Additionally, Miner mentions the presence of the “charm box” in every Nacirema household, which is essentially the medicine cabinet. This box contains various magical and sacred artifacts (medications) that are believed to have curative powers, reflecting the reliance on pharmaceuticals and the medicalization of everyday life. Throughout the essay, Miner employs a satirical tone and exaggerated descriptions to critique American culture’s preoccupation with vanity, consumerism, and beauty standards. By presenting these rituals through the perspective of an outsider, he encourages readers to reflect on their own cultural practices and consider how they may seem strange or absurd when viewed from an external standpoint.

Next, we are told that the Nacirema tribe has a designated temple known as the lips, where elaborate ceremonies take place specifically for severely ill members of the tribe. These ceremonies involve the participation of magicians known as thaumaturges, who are skilled in performing miraculous acts. Additionally, maidens play a role in these ceremonies as they move throughout the latipso. The intensity of these rituals is such that children fear visiting the latipso, referring to it as a place where one goes to die. However, adults eagerly partake in ritual purification if they have the means to afford it, as the latipso only accepts clients who can pay for the services.

One notable aspect of the temple is that clients are required to remove all their clothing, which is unusual considering the Nacirema typically avoid exposing their bodies. Within the tribe, bathing and bodily functions are kept private and performed as secretive rituals. The experience of being in the latipso can be shocking for individuals who have never been exposed to or witnessed others engaging in excretory functions. However, this exposure is deemed necessary as excretions play a role in diagnosing illnesses. Within the latipso, women’s bodies are manipulated and examined by the medicine men. While in the temple, clients often remain in bed, where they are subjected to painful or potentially even life-threatening rituals, such as being pricked with needles.

The Nacirema tribe exhibits a strong aversion to the natural human body through various rituals. Ritual fasting is employed to achieve weight loss among individuals considered overweight while feasting rituals aim to do the opposite. There are also rituals focused on altering the size of women’s breasts, a body part that is often perceived as unattainable in its ideal form. Some women with exceptionally large breasts can earn a living by allowing villagers to simply gaze at their breasts. Similar to excretory functions, reproduction is highly ritualized and kept secretive. Discussions about intercourse are avoided, and sexual encounters are often scheduled. The use of magical potions is prevalent among the tribe to prevent pregnancies, resulting in a relatively low frequency of pregnancies. When women do become pregnant, they utilize clothing to conceal the growing size of their stomachs. Childbirth is carried out in secrecy, and the majority of women do not breastfeed their babies.

Body Ritual among the Nacirema | Analysis

In “Body Ritual among the Nacirema,” Horace Miner adopts a formal and scholarly tone, resembling the language used in anthropological publications. This tone enhances Miner’s credibility as an informed expert and establishes him as an authority on the subject matter. Consequently, it positions the reader to feel superior to the tribe being described. Miner’s use of the third-person narrative, presented in a detached and objective tone, reflects a culture that is gradually revealed to be that of Americans. Through the carefully chosen diction, Miner creates a linguistic barrier between the reader and the tribe, employing formalized language that may obscure the simplicity of certain practices. For instance, when describing the act of tooth-brushing as inserting “a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth” and performing “highly formalized series of gestures,” the academic language might prevent the reader from immediately recognizing the familiarity of the ritual. Furthermore, Miner employs wordplay by reversing the spelling of certain names, transforming “American” into “Nacirema” and “hospital” into “latipso.” He also utilizes specific diction and ritual descriptions to evoke an indigenous atmosphere within the tribe, referring to doctors as “medicine men,” dentists as “holy-mouth-men,” and hospitals as temples. This linguistic strategy aims to portray the Nacirema as a less civilized society, although the ironic twist remains that the readers are, in fact, learning about their own civilization. Miner’s tone effectively emphasizes the distancing effect created by the use of anthropological language and descriptions.

Miner highlights the intense obsession of the Nacirema with both beauty and the prevention/treatment of illness. Despite the potential for additional pain, individuals are willing to undergo painful “rites” or procedures in pursuit of these goals. Men engage in facial scraping rituals, while women subject their heads to heat from ovens (likely referencing the use of hair dryers) to enhance their appearances.

Additionally, Miner discusses the practices of the holy-mouth-men who create artificial openings in teeth to insert a magical substance. He suggests that the Nacirema associate oral hygiene with “moral fiber,” implying that appearance is closely linked to principles and values in American culture.

Miner’s satire in “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” cleverly highlights the significance of wealth and social status within the tribe. The medicine men, for instance, are rewarded with substantial gifts for their services, while herbalists exchange charms for various offerings. The accumulation of wealth allows wealthier tribe members to possess a greater number of magical charms in their charm boxes. Access to the latipso, the temple-like facility, is limited to those who can afford it, and even the most ill individuals are denied entry if they cannot provide sufficient gifts upon arrival and departure. The importance of social standing is further emphasized by the number and decoration of shrines (bathrooms) within a household. More influential members of the tribe boast shrines constructed with stone walls, and even economically disadvantaged families attempt to imitate this status symbol by affixing pottery plaques to their shrine walls.

“Body Ritual among the Nacirema” serves as a critique of anthropological studies, particularly highlighting the issue of ethnocentrism. Miner demonstrates how approaching a foreign culture solely through the lens of one’s own perspective can result in biased and limited understanding. Without considering the cultural context, the Nacirema’s behaviors related to physical appearance and illness may appear extreme and puzzling. However, when examined within the framework of their own culture, even seemingly peculiar customs become understandable. For instance, the extensively described “mouth-rite” is revealed to be a simple act of toothbrushing, a widely accepted and encouraged practice in contemporary society. Miner emphasizes that a comprehensive understanding of a culture can only be achieved by appreciating its specific values and beliefs. Through his satire, Miner sheds light on the problem of ethnocentric approaches in anthropological studies, which often lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretations of other cultures.

Body Ritual among the Nacirema | Title of the Story

The title “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” holds several significant elements within the context of the essay. The term “Body Ritual” emphasizes the central focus of the Nacirema culture on various rituals and practices related to the human body. It highlights the significance placed on physical appearance, hygiene, and the treatment of illnesses. By emphasizing the “Body Ritual,” the title foreshadows the satirical exploration of these practices throughout the essay.

The use of the term “Nacirema” is a clever linguistic play, as it is “American” spelled backward. This inversion serves as a satirical device, inviting readers to reflect on their own cultural practices and beliefs by presenting them in an unfamiliar and exaggerated manner. It creates a sense of irony and invites readers to question their own cultural assumptions and biases. The title “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” effectively encapsulates the satirical nature of the essay, highlighting the focus on cultural rituals, while using linguistic wordplay to prompt critical self-reflection and challenge ethnocentric perspectives.

Body Ritual among the Nacirema | Literary Devices

Literary devices like symbolism and irony are extensively used in the essay. The essay is primarily a satirical piece, employing exaggeration, irony, and humor to critique American culture and the practice of anthropology. Miner uses the fictional Nacirema tribe as a vehicle to expose cultural biases, ethnocentrism, and the obsession with bodily appearance and health in American society. The Nacirema tribe possesses a chest within a shrine where they store charms, which serve as powerful symbols of medicine and possess magical qualities. The charms hold significant importance in Nacirema culture to the extent that they are often hoarded, resulting in chests overflowing with charms and a loss of knowledge regarding their intended purposes. The acquisition of charms involves exchanging gifts, and those who are wealthier or hold higher social status can afford a larger collection. These charms symbolize not only medicine but also reflect the American obsession with seeking and paying for remedies to address even the slightest ailments. This illustrates the culture’s deep-rooted fear of illness, both real and imagined and their unwavering belief in the “magic” of the medicine men who possess the ability to cure their ailments.

Several other literary devices have been used to enhance this satirical critique. The entire essay relies heavily on irony, as the practices and customs of the Nacirema tribe, which initially appear strange and exotic, are gradually revealed to be satirical reflections of mainstream American culture. The irony lies in the fact that the readers themselves are likely members of the culture being satirized. Miner cleverly uses wordplay by spelling “American” backward to create the name “Nacirema,” which adds a humorous and disorienting element to the text. Additionally, he alters familiar terms like “hospital” to “latipso” and “medicine men” and “dentists” to “holy-mouth-men,” adding to the satirical effect.

Miner also employs understatement to downplay or minimize certain actions or practices in order to highlight their absurdity or emphasize the contrast between the Nacirema culture and the readers’ own culture. For example, toothbrushing is referred to as a complex “mouth-rite,” highlighting the exaggerated importance placed on oral hygiene.

The use of symbols is prevalent throughout the essay. Charms, for instance, symbolize both medicine and the American obsession with seeking remedies for every ailment. Shrines and temples symbolize the significance placed on bodily care and the role of magic in healing practices.

Miner parodies anthropological writing and research by adopting a scholarly tone, employing technical language, and mimicking the structure of anthropological studies. This satirical imitation serves to challenge the reader’s assumptions about the objectivity and cultural understanding present in anthropological works.

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The Long Life of the Nacirema

An article that turned an exoticizing anthropological lens on US citizens in 1956 began as an academic in-joke but turned into an indictment of the discipline.

A man looks through his medicine cabinet in the bathroom, circa 1955.

In 1956, the journal American Anthropologist published a short paper by University of Michigan anthropologist Horace Miner titled “ Body Ritual Among the Nacirema ,” detailing the habits of this “North American group.” Among the “exotic customs” it explores are the use of household shrines containing charm-boxes filled with magical potions and visits to a “holy-mouth-man.”

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It doesn’t take long for a reader of the paper to recognize the people in question—“Nacirema” is “American” spelled backward. The joke article spread quickly, with other journals publishing excerpts. Writing more than 50 years after its original publication , literature scholar Mark Burde notes that it remained among the most-downloaded anthropology papers.

Yet it was only through chance that the article was published to begin with. Miner initially submitted a version of it to a general-interest publication. In that context, Burde suggests, its satire would have appeared to be directed at the cultural conventions that fill such magazines with ads for breath mints and deodorant soap. He notes lines such as “were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that…their friends [would] desert them.”

When that publication rejected the article, Miner instead submitted it to American Anthropologist. There, the outgoing editor-in-chief initially rejected it, but his successor, Walter Goldschmidt, eventually decided to publish it.

Burde writes that many readers have viewed the paper as a challenge to the basic functioning of anthropology, showing how academic outsiders misunderstand the cultures they claim to chronicle. Some have pointed in particular to the paper’s final paragraph. Here Miner questions how the Nacirema “have managed to exist so long under the burdens which they have imposed upon themselves” and then quotes a 1925 essay by anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski: “Looking from far and above, from our high places of safety in the developed civilization, it is easy to see all the crudity and irrelevance of magic. But without its power and guidance early man could not have mastered his practical difficulties as he has done, nor could man have advanced to the higher stages of civilization.”

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Many readers have suggested that this ending exposed Malinowski’s prejudices and, more generally, the judgment implicit in ethnographers’ identification of cultures as “primitive” or “civilized.” But Burde writes that this was likely not Miner’s intent since he had approvingly cited the same quotation in the past. Instead, he seems to have been more focused on encouraging readers to recognize the way seemingly exotic “far-away” cultures are thoroughly normal to their members.

In general, Burde argues, readers came to see the article as more subversive than Miner had originally intended. That was partly thanks to shifts in scholarship in the 1960s that drew attention to anthropologists as interested parties with their own subject positions and experiences rather than purely objective observers. Burde suggests that part of what has made the Nacirema a durable concept is the way it straddles the line between academic in-joke and radical critique, delivering “a Montaigneseque message in a Woody Allen-esque package.”

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Home » Blog Posts » Anthropology Courses » The Nacirema

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Culture and Truth - Body Ritual among the Nacirema

Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

Horace Miner’s “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” has been reprinted in many anthropology readers, including Applying Anthropology . It endures as a first-day favorite for Introduction to Anthropology courses, and is read far beyond anthropology. It has become the most downloaded article from the American Anthropological Association–see What is the Deal with the Nacirema?!? I usually now use the original 1956 source, a free download from the American Anthropological Association.

In 2018, a Twitter debate emerged on the use of the Nacirema. I love this devastating two-tweet critique from Takami Delisle:

the fact of its extensive damages to Native American groups. Then Miner goes on to talk about "shrine" & "temple" (as opposed to "church") and "holy mouth man" "witch doctor" and on and on. The attempt to "eroticize" Americans is actually exoticizing non-EuroAmerican ppl. — Takami (TAH-kah-mee) (@tsd1888) June 23, 2018

The post below was originally written in 2013.

The Nacirema & Human Nature

I have used “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” as a way to introduce anthropology, ideas of human similarity and difference, ethnocentrism, and cultural relativism. It corresponds to the material in the section on Human Nature and Anthropology . These issues continue to be current. Accounts of human beings as inherently warlike, only tamed by modern states and modern moral codes, have become newly popular and quite entrenched. See War, Peace, & Human Nature: Convergence of Evolution & Culture for a 2013 book that provided a counter-narrative.

One example of an apparent human universal–defecation and urination. In What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper? Stephen E. Nash shows how these practices are shaped by culture, history, and power. “It’s hard to argue that the use of toilet paper is somehow natural. . . . Defecation and urination are more than biological functions; they are cultural activities that involve artifacts and technologies that change through time.”

I’ve used this article on the first day of class, giving students 20 minutes to read and report back. I’ve always wondered how much I should preserve the identity of the Nacirema as a surprise. It seems like it should no longer be a surprise since a simple web-search reveals a Wikipedia Nacirema that gives it all away. There are also several videos on YouTube– Who are the Nacirema? may be one of the better ones, capturing how my classes often proceed.

After the surprise, I have then emphasized how Miner’s article is in some ways prophetic and has enduring relevance. As one student perceptively put it: what if Miner had been able to see tanning beds? Or as Melissa Leyva ends in her YouTube Nacirema , what if Miner had seen the little black boxes and phenomena like “Gotta catch ’em all”? (Leyva’s YouTube account has some good historical and contemporary imagery to subtly accompany the summarized Nacirema reading.)

Critiquing the Nacirema

From the outset, I have also incorporated quotes that could critique how “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” is usually introduced. First, from Renato Rosaldo’s Culture and Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis : “In retrospect, one wonders why Miner’s article was taken simply as a good-natured joke rather than as a scathing critique of ethnographic discourse. Who could continue to feel comfortable describing other people in terms that sound ludicrous when applied to ourselves?” (1989:52). Is 'Body Ritual Among the Nacirema' a good-natured joke or scathing critique? Click To Tweet I have used Rosaldo’s quote to underscore how we need to be careful when reading overgeneralizing ethnographic accounts.

Second, and more importantly, from Michaela di Leonardo, Exotics at Home , on how Miner’s language “effaces the colonial encounter through which we have developed notions of ‘witch doctors’ and ‘exotic rituals.’ Miner’s whimsical frame also denies stratification and power dynamics on the American end” (1998:61).

I’ve always felt Miner’s account is misleading on the power dynamics of various ethnocentrisms. The sections from di Leonardo emphasize this aspect. However, the di Leonardo quote has been a bit too much on the first day of an Introduction to Anthropology course. It may work better within the context of a Cultural Anthropology course that is exploring the trajectory of the culture concept in its colonial context.

Should Miner’s article still be used to introduce anthropology? It’s definitely worth careful consideration. If you do use it, please consider the critiques.

Living Anthropologically means documenting history, interconnection, and power during a time of global transformation. We need to care for others as we attempt to build a world together. This blog is a personal project of Jason Antrosio, author of Fast, Easy, and In Cash: Artisan Hardship and Hope in the Global Economy . For updates, subscribe to the YouTube channel or follow on Twitter .

Living Anthropologically is part of the Amazon Associates program and earns a commission from qualifying purchases, including ads and Amazon text links. There are also Google ads and Google Analytics which may use cookies and possibly other tracking information. See the Privacy Policy .

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3.2: “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner

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Most cultures exhibit a particular configuration or style. A single value or pattern of perceiving the world often leaves its stamp on several institutions in the society. Examples are “machismo” in Spanish-influenced cultures, “face” in Japanese culture, and “pollution by females” in some highland New Guinea cultures. Here Horace Miner demonstrates that “attitudes about the body” have a pervasive influence on many institutions in Nacirema society.

The anthropologist has become so familiar with the diversity of ways in which different people behave in similar situations that he is not apt to be surprised by even the most exotic customs. In fact, if all of the logically possible combinations of behavior have not been found somewhere in the world, he is apt to suspect that they must be present in some yet undescribed tribe. The point has, in fact, been expressed with respect to clan organization by Murdock [1] . In this light, the magical beliefs and practices of the Nacirema present such unusual aspects that it seems desirable to describe them as an example of the extremes to which human behavior can go.

Professor Linton [2]  first brought the ritual of the Nacirema to the attention of anthropologists twenty years ago, but the culture of this people is still very poorly understood. They are a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. Little is known of their origin, although tradition states that they came from the east. According to Nacirema mythology, their nation was originated by a culture hero, Notgnihsaw, who is otherwise known for two great feats of strength—the throwing of a piece of wampum across the river Pa-To-Mac and the chopping down of a cherry tree in which the Spirit of Truth resided.

Nacirema culture is characterized by a highly developed market economy which has evolved in a rich natural habitat. While much of the people’s time is devoted to economic pursuits, a large part of the fruits of these labors and a considerable portion of the day are spent in ritual activity. The focus of this activity is the human body, the appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people. While such a concern is certainly not unusual, its ceremonial aspects and associated philosophy are unique.

The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such a body, man’s only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of ritual and ceremony. Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their houses and, in fact, the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses. Most houses are of wattle and daub construction, but the shrine rooms of the more wealthy are walled with stone. Poorer families imitate the rich by applying pottery plaques to their shrine walls.

While each family has at least one such shrine, the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. The rites are normally only discussed with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries. I was able, however, to establish sufficient rapport with the natives to examine these shrines and to have the rituals described to me.

The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into the wall. In this chest are kept the many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he could live. These preparations are secured from a variety of specialized practitioners. The most powerful of these are the medicine men, whose assistance must be rewarded with substantial gifts. However, the medicine men do not provide the curative potions for their clients, but decide what the ingredients should be and then write them down in an ancient and secret language. This writing is understood only by the medicine men and by the herbalists who, for another gift, provide the required charm.

The charm is not disposed of after it has served its purpose, but is placed in the charmbox of the household shrine. As these magical materials are specific for certain ills, and the real or imagined maladies of the people are many, the charm-box is usually full to overflowing. The magical packets are so numerous that people forget what their purposes were and fear to use them again. While the natives are very vague on this point, we can only assume that the idea in retaining all the old magical materials is that their presence in the charm-box, before which the body rituals are conducted, will in some way protect the worshiper.

Beneath the charm-box is a small font. Each day every member of the family, in succession, enters the shrine room, bows his head before the charm-box, mingles different sorts of holy water in the font, and proceeds with a brief rite of ablution [3] . The holy waters are secured from the Water Temple of the community, where the priests conduct elaborate ceremonies to make the liquid ritually pure.

In the hierarchy of magical practitioners, and below the medicine men in prestige, are specialists whose designation is best translated as “holy-mouth-men.” The Nacirema have an almost pathological horror of and fascination with the mouth, the condition of which is believed to have a supernatural influence on all social relationships. Were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them. They also believe that a strong relationship exists between oral and moral characteristics. For example, there is a ritual ablution of the mouth for children which is supposed to improve their moral fiber.

The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a mouth-rite. Despite the fact that these people are so punctilious [4]   about care of the mouth, this rite involves a practice which strikes the uninitiated stranger as revolting. It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures. [5]

In addition to the private mouth-rite, the people seek out a holy-mouth-man once or twice a year. These practitioners have an impressive set of paraphernalia, consisting of a variety of augers, awls, probes, and prods. The use of these items in the exorcism of the evils of the mouth involves almost unbelievable ritual torture of the client. The holy-mouth-man opens the client’s mouth and, using the above mentioned tools, enlarges any holes which decay may have created in the teeth. Magical materials are put into these holes. If there are no naturally occurring holes in the teeth, large sections of one or more teeth are gouged out so that the supernatural substance can be applied. In the client’s view, the purpose of these ministrations [6]  is to arrest decay and to draw friends. The extremely sacred and traditional character of the rite is evident in the fact that the natives return to the holy-mouth-men year after year, despite the fact that their teeth continue to decay.

It is to be hoped that, when a thorough study of the Nacirema is made, there will be careful inquiry into the personality structure of these people. One has but to watch the gleam in the eye of a holy-mouth-man, as he jabs an awl into an exposed nerve, to suspect that a certain amount of sadism is involved. If this can be established, a very interesting pattern emerges, for most of the population shows definite masochistic tendencies. It was to these that Professor Linton referred in discussing a distinctive part of the daily body ritual which is performed only by men. This part of the rite includes scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument. Special women’s rites are performed only four times during each lunar month, but what they lack in frequency is made up in barbarity. As part of this ceremony, women bake their heads in small ovens for about an hour. The theoretically interesting point is that what seems to be a preponderantly masochistic people have developed sadistic specialists.

The medicine men have an imposing temple, or latipso , in every community of any size. The more elaborate ceremonies required to treat very sick patients can only be performed at this temple. These ceremonies involve not only the thaumaturge [7]  but a permanent group of vestal maidens who move sedately about the temple chambers in distinctive costume and headdress.

The latipso ceremonies are so harsh that it is phenomenal that a fair proportion of the really sick natives who enter the temple ever recover. Small children whose indoctrination is still incomplete have been known to resist attempts to take them to the temple because “that is where you go to die.” Despite this fact, sick adults are not only willing but eager to undergo the protracted ritual purification, if they can afford to do so. No matter how ill the supplicant or how grave the emergency, the guardians of many temples will not admit a client if he cannot give a rich gift to the custodian. Even after one has gained and survived the ceremonies, the guardians will not permit the neophyte to leave until he makes still another gift.

The supplicant entering the temple is first stripped of all his or her clothes. In everyday life the Nacirema avoids exposure of his body and its natural functions. Bathing and excretory acts are performed only in the secrecy of the household shrine, where they are ritualized as part of the body-rites. Psychological shock results from the fact that body secrecy is suddenly lost upon entry into the latipso . A man, whose own wife has never seen him in an excretory act, suddenly finds himself naked and assisted by a vestal maiden while he performs his natural functions into a sacred vessel. This sort of ceremonial treatment is necessitated by the fact that the excreta are used by a diviner to ascertain the course and nature of the client’s sickness. Female clients, on the other hand, find their naked bodies are subjected to the scrutiny, manipulation and prodding of the medicine men.

Few supplicants in the temple are well enough to do anything but lie on their hard beds. The daily ceremonies, like the rites of the holy-mouth-men, involve discomfort and torture. With ritual precision, the vestals awaken their miserable charges each dawn and roll them about on their beds of pain while performing ablutions, in the formal movements of which the maidens are highly trained. At other times they insert magic wands in the supplicant’s mouth or force him to eat substances which are supposed to be healing. From time to time the medicine men come to their clients and jab magically treated needles into their flesh. The fact that these temple ceremonies may not cure, and may even kill the neophyte, in no way decreases the people’s faith in the medicine men.

There remains one other kind of practitioner, known as a “listener.” This witchdoctor has the power to exorcise the devils that lodge in the heads of people who have been bewitched. The Nacirema believe that parents bewitch their own children. Mothers are particularly suspected of putting a curse on children while teaching them the secret body rituals. The counter-magic of the witchdoctor is unusual in its lack of ritual. The patient simply tells the “listener” all his troubles and fears, beginning with the earliest difficulties he can remember. The memory displayed by the Nacirema in these exorcism sessions is truly remarkable. It is not uncommon for the patient to bemoan the rejection he felt upon being weaned as a babe, and a few individuals even see their troubles going back to the traumatic effects of their own birth.

In conclusion, mention must be made of certain practices which have their base in native esthetics but which depend upon the pervasive aversion to the natural body and its functions. There are ritual fasts to make fat people thin and ceremonial feasts to make thin people fat. Still other rites are used to make women’s breasts larger if they are small, and smaller if they are large. General dissatisfaction with breast shape is symbolized in the fact that the ideal form is virtually outside the range of human variation. A few women afflicted with almost inhuman hyper-mammary development are so idolized that they make a handsome living by simply going from village to village and permitting the natives to stare at them for a fee.

Reference has already been made to the fact that excretory functions are ritualized, routinized, and relegated to secrecy. Natural reproductive functions are similarly distorted. Intercourse is taboo as a topic and scheduled as an act. Efforts are made to avoid pregnancy by the use of magical materials or by limiting intercourse to certain phases of the moon. Conception is actually very infrequent. When pregnant, women dress so as to hide their condition. Parturition takes place in secret, without friends or relatives to assist, and the majority of women do not nurse their infants.

Our review of the ritual life of the Nacirema has certainly shown them to be a magic-ridden people. It is hard to understand how they have managed to exist so long under the burdens which they have imposed upon themselves. But even such exotic customs as these take on real meaning when they are viewed with the insight provided by Malinowski [8]  when he wrote:

Looking from far and above, from our high places of safety in the developed civilization, it is easy to see all the crudity and irrelevance of magic. But without its power and guidance early man could not have mastered his practical difficulties as he has done, nor could man have advanced to the higher stages of civilization.

Footnotes are added by Dowell as modified by Chase

  • Murdock, George P. 1949. Social Structure . NY: The Macmillan Co., page 71. George Peter Murdock (1897-1996 [?]) is a famous ethnographer. ↵
  • Linton, Ralph. 1936. The Study of Man . NY: D. Appleton-Century Co. page 326. Ralph Linton (1893-1953) is best known for studies of enculturation (maintaining that all culture is learned rather than inherited; the process by which a society's culture is transmitted from one generation to the next), claiming culture is humanity's "social heredity." ↵
  • A washing or cleansing of the body or a part of the body. From the Latin abluere, to wash away ↵
  • Marked by precise observance of the finer points of etiquette and formal conduct. ↵
  • It is worthy of note that since Prof. Miner's original research was conducted, the Nacirema have almost universally abandoned the natural bristles of their private mouth-rite in favor of oil-based polymerized synthetics. Additionally, the powders associated with this ritual have generally been semi-liquefied. Other updates to the Nacirema culture shall be eschewed in this document for the sake of parsimony. ↵
  • Tending to religious or other important functions ↵
  • A miracle-worker. ↵
  • Malinowski, Bronislaw. Magic, Science, and Religion . Glencoe: The Free Press, page 70. Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942) is a famous cultural anthropologist best known for his argument that people everywhere share common biological and psychological needs and that the function of all cultural institutions is to fulfill such needs; the nature of the institution is determined by its function. ↵

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Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Summary

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Lesson 2: Culture

Growing up among the nacirema.

“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” – T. S. Eliot

If viewing an exotic and very different culture can help us leap out of the water of our own culture to truly see it, the Nacirema need to be high on our list of cultures to examine. In 1956, cultural anthropologist Horace Miner’s original article about the Nacirema provided an in-depth look at their ritual behaviors that show, in Miner’s words, “the extremes to which human behavior can go.” The work was so shocking and revealing that the article went on to be the most widely read article in the history of Anthropology.

As Miner explains in the article, the Nacirema are obsessed with the body, which they believe is intrinsically ugly and prone to debility and disease. Each Nacirema household has a shrine or sometimes several shrines in which private rituals are performed to mitigate what they see as ever-present and pervasive threats to their bodies. Various charms provided by medicine men are ingested, and they perform several rites of ablution throughout the day using a special purified water secured from the main Water Temple of the community.

Since Miner’s time, the Nacirema have started building very large temples called “ mygs ” that contain rows and rows of various body torture devices which they use to punish their own bodies. The devices are designed to tear and damage muscles, causing them to swell. Others are designed to completely exhaust the body and use up all of its energy so that the body starts to consume itself in order to provide energy for movement.

While the Nacirema believe that these rituals make their bodies stronger and more resilient to disease, the primary purpose of these rituals seems to be to transform the shape of the body to conform to Nacirema ideals. These ideals are so extreme that they are beyond the reach of natural human capacity. To achieve these ideals, some Nacirema go so far as to have ritual specialists cut them open and inject liquids into areas of their body that they desire to be larger, or remove soft body tissues and make other parts of their body smaller.

These new temples are just one example of how cultures are always changing, and over the past 70 years, the Nacirema have changed dramatically. For the Nacirema of Miner’s study in 1956, even simple black-and-white televisions were a new and exotic technology. Today the Nacirema can be found across the social media landscape on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube. This offers us the ability to observe this exotic culture simply by tuning in to their YouTube channels.

One of the more interesting rituals of the Nacirema is the strecnoc . Hundreds and sometimes thousands of people attend these rituals which take place around a large, elevated ritual platform known as an egats . The rituals are often at night, so he egats is lit up in spectacular fashion. Attendees gather in the dark around the egats and often consume mind-altering substances such as lohocla and anaujiram while they wait for the ritual leader to arrive. Attendees are often shaking with anticipation as they wait for the ritual to begin, and the first sighting of the ritual leader on the egats can send attendees into a frenzy of excitement, jumping up and down, screaming, with arms high in the air as if struggling to reach out and touch the ritual leader and feel their power.

In the late summer of 2013, I decided to examine one of these rituals in more detail. I did a YouTube search and watched the most-watched strecnoc of recent days. A large effigy of a bear, one of the most dangerous and feared animals among the Nacirema, was placed at the center of the egats. The bear was approximately 30 feet tall and styled to look like the small toy bears of Nacirema children.

Nacirema children, who are often required by their parents to sleep alone (a rare practice across cultures around the world), often sleep with these small toy bears, seeing them as protectors and often building up strong imaginary friendships with them.

Suddenly, a door opened up in the stomach of the large bear and the ritual leader stepped out from inside. Dancers in toy bear costumes rushed in from the sides of the egats to join her. Together they took to the center of the egats and started doing a special dance that is normally only performed in the privacy of one’s own room. It is an especially wild dance, not really meant for anyone to see, in which you simply allow your body to do whatever it feels like doing. This often results in a steady but awkward thrusting or shaking motion while the arms spontaneously mimic whatever is heard in the music. If a handheld string instrument is being played, the arms might move as if to hold it ( ria ratiug ). If drums are being played, the arms move as if to play the drums ( ria smurd ), and so on. It is a very fun form of dance to do, but it is usually not meant to be seen, and some attendees were uncomfortable watching it, especially as the ritual leader moved more deeply into this private dance and let her entire body move freely but awkwardly. Even her tongue seemed to be out of control, flailing wildly about her face.

“ Make some noise!” the ritual leader called to the attendees. They screamed into a frenzy as she started the core of the ritual, the gnos . The gnos is a poetry performance set to music and dance. The gnos began with a voice entering the room, projected from somewhere outside of the egats:

It’s our party we can do what we want.

It’s our party we can say what we want.

It’s our party we can love who we want

We can kiss who we want

We can see who we want

As the voice continued to poetically espouse these core Nacirema ideals of freedom and free choice, the ritual leader continued to demonstrate these values with her body. She bent over and started shaking her backside in an attempt to isolate a contraction of her gluteus maximus muscles which then send the fatty area of the buttocks region into a wave-like motion known as gnikrewt . This is often interpreted as being very sexually suggestive, and the mixture of childhood toys along with such sexually suggestive dancing (tongue flailing about, buttocks shaking), was simply too much for some of the attendees.

Some were especially shocked because this ritual leader had until recently been known as Annah Anatnom, a hero among children. And she is the daughter of another famous ritual specialist, Yllib Yar Suryc, who is best known for his wholesome family-friendly performances such as “Some Gave All,” (a tribute to military families) and “Achy Breaky Heart.”

Tweet and photo of Miley Cyrus concert and reaction from Will Smith and family

Ultimately, the Nacirema were deeply divided on the quality of the performance. It seemed as if there was no middle ground. You either hated it, or you loved it.

the body ritual among the nacirema summary

Even as the media criticized her performance, with many saying that it was likely the end of her career, the ritual leader, Yelim, turned their words to her advantage and celebrated the event as a great success.

the body ritual among the nacirema summary

As an anthropologist, I thought it was one of the most significant artistic performances I had ever seen, a telling portrait of what it is like to grow up among the Nacirema. The toy bears, the awkward “dance like nobody’s watching” dancing that you do in your room as a young child, and the ritual dress that included a cartoon mouse on a little girl’s tutu were clear marks of childhood, all of which were shed throughout the performance. The bears transformed into full- bodied voluptuous women. The little girl’s tutu was shed to reveal a flesh-toned bikini, and the awkward and childish dancing transformed into a sexual feast of humping, grinding, and gnikrewt . She was shedding the skin of her childhood, initiating herself into her own adulthood right in front of our eyes, struggling to show the world that she is now a full adult, not that little girl Aannah Anatnom.

Those Nacirema who had to turn away and just couldn’t stand to watch it were probably seeing a little too much of their own awkward childhood and transition to adulthood, for the Nacirema transition to adulthood is always awkward. It is, as they say, a “hot mess.”

the body ritual among the nacirema summary

The cost of their core values of freedom and choice is that there are no limitations or guidelines on how to grow up properly. There are no clearly defined rules for what it means to be an adult. There are no clearly defined pathways for becoming independent. Instead, there are options at every turn of life. The Nacirema cherish these options. But they also make growing up very, very hard.

Children are raised with the idea that they can “be whatever they want to be.” They are taught to question and distrust any message that attempts to tell them who they are or how they should behave. “Be true to yourself,” is a commonly espoused Nacirema proverb. Yelim echoed these sentiments in her performance, “We don’t take nothing from nobody.” But because they “don’t take nothing from nobody,” like advice or values, they are left with nothing to guide them. They set off on a lifelong quest to figure out what they want to do and who they want to be. “Who am I?” is a question that dominates the Nacirema psyche.

As a result, many Nacirema make it their life goal to “find” their “self.” Though most Nacirema take this goal for granted, it has not always been this way. Even in Miner’s time, the 1950s, things were different. Back then people were often encouraged to conform and follow the rules of society. But by the late 1970s, books like William Glasser’s “The Identity Society” and Christopher Lasch’s “Culture of Narcissism” documented a shift from a culture that valued humility and “finding one’s place” to one that valued self-expression and “finding one’s self.”

THE POWER OF CONTINGENCY 

AND “MAKING THINGS FRAGILE”

It is obvious at this point that the Nacirema are not some exotic culture, but are in fact American, and that “Nacirema” is just “American” spelled backwards. This was Miner’s trick. He forced us to see the strange in the familiar and used the art of seeing like an anthropologist on his own culture.

This trick is one method of “seeing your own seeing” without going to an exotic culture. You can find the exotic right around you, and the more mundane, the better. Because when you reveal that even the most mundane beliefs and practices that make up your life can be viewed as strange and exotic, they also become contingent , which is a fancy way of saying that they need not exist or that they could have been different. Our beliefs and practices are contingent upon the historical and cultural conditions that led to them. And once we recognize them as contingent, we can ask new questions about them.

What is a self? Is it really a thing? Or is it something you do? Would it be better to say that we “create” ourselves rather than “find” it? And what did that other great poet, Marshall Mathers, mean when he said “You gotta lose yourself”? Is it possible that you have to lose your self in order to find your self? If so, what is this “self” that must be lost? Am “I” the same thing as my “self”? If they are the same, how can I say “I” need to find my “self”? Can “I” really find, lose, or create my “self” or do I just need to let the “I” be my “self”?

These are a special kind of questions. These questions do not require answers; the questions are insights in themselves. They give you new alternatives for how to think about your life. They give you a little bit of freedom from the limited perspectives offered by your taken-for-granted assumptions, ideas, and ideals.

Michel Foucault, a social theorist and historian who has had a large impact on anthropology, says that this kind of analysis is a way of “making things more fragile.” It shows that “what appears obvious is not at all so obvious.” In his work, Foucault he tries to show that many of the “obvious” facts of our lives that we take for granted can be “made fragile” through cultural and historical analysis. In this way, we “give them back the mobility they had and that they should always have.” The ideas and ideals of our culture do not have to have total power over us. We can play with them, make them more fragile, and thereby take some of that power back.

This particular power of the anthropological perspective has been at the heart of anthropology since its founding in the late 1800s. Franz Boas, the father of American Anthropology, said that his whole outlook on life had been determined by one question:

How can we recognize the shackles that tradition has laid upon us? For when we recognize them, we are also able to break them.
  • Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, by Horace Miner
  • The Art of Being Human: A Textbook for Cultural Anthropology. Authored by : Michael Wesch, Kansas State University. Provided by : New Prairie Press. Located at : https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/20/ . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

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Body Ritual among the Nacirema

This journal article satirizes anthropological papers on "other" cultures, and the culture of the United States. Published in American Anthropologist , vol 58, June 1956. pp. 503–507.

HORACE MINER University of Michigan

The anthropologist has become so familiar with the diversity of ways in which different people behave in similar situations that he is not apt to be surprised by even the most exotic customs. In fact, if all of the logically possible combinations of behavior have not been found somewhere in the world, he is apt to suspect that they must be present in some yet undescribed tribe. The point has, in fact, been expressed with respect to clan organization by Murdock. In this light, the magical beliefs and practices of the Nacirema present such unusual aspects that it seems desirable to describe them as an example of the extremes to which human behavior can go.

Professor Linton first brought the ritual of the Nacirema to the attention of anthropologists twenty years ago, but the culture of this people is still very poorly understood. They are a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. Little is known of their origin, although tradition states that they came from the east. According to Nacirema mythology, their nation was originated by a culture hero, Notgnihsaw, who is otherwise known for two great feats of strength—the throwing of a piece of wampum across the river Pa-To-Mac and the chopping down of a cherry tree in which the Spirit of Truth resided.

Nacirema culture is characterized by a highly developed market economy which has evolved in a rich natural habitat. While much of the people's time is devoted to economic pursuits, a large part of the fruits of these labors and a considerable portion of the day are spent in ritual activity. The focus of this activity is the human body, the appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people. While such a concern is certainly not unusual, its ceremonial aspects and associated philosophy are unique.

The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such a body, man's only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of ritual and ceremony. Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their houses and, in fact, the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses. Most houses are of wattle and daub construction, but the shrine rooms of the more wealthy are walled with stone. Poorer families imitate the rich by applying pottery plaques to their shrine walls.

While each family has at least one such shrine, the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. The rites are normally only discussed with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries. I was able, however, to establish sufficient rapport with the natives to examine these shrines and to have the rituals described to me.

The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into the wall. In this chest are kept the many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he could live. These preparations are secured from a variety of specialized practitioners. The most powerful of these are the medicine men, whose assistance must be rewarded with substantial gifts. However, the medicine men do not provide the curative potions for their clients, but decide what the ingredients should be and then write them down in an ancient and secret language. This writing is understood only by the medicine men and by the herbalists who, for another gift, provide the required charm.

The charm is not disposed of after it has served its purpose, but is placed in the charmbox of the household shrine. As these magical materials are specific for certain ills, and the real or imagined maladies of the people are many, the charm-box is usually full to overflowing. The magical packets are so numerous that people forget what their purposes were and fear to use them again. While the natives are very vague on this point, we can only assume that the idea in retaining all the old magical materials is that their presence in the charm-box, before which the body rituals are conducted, will in some way protect the worshiper.

Beneath the charm-box is a small font. Each day every member of the family, in succession, enters the shrine room, bows his head before the charm-box, mingles different sorts of holy water in the font, and proceeds with a brief rite of ablution. The holy waters are secured from the Water Temple of the community, where the priests conduct elaborate ceremonies to make the liquid ritually pure.

In the hierarchy of magical practitioners, and below the medicine men in prestige, are specialists whose designation is best translated as "holy-mouth-men." The Nacirema have an almost pathological horror of and fascination with the mouth, the condition of which is believed to have a supernatural influence on all social relationships. Were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them. They also believe that a strong relationship exists between oral and moral characteristics. For example, there is a ritual ablution of the mouth for children which is supposed to improve their moral fiber.

The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a mouth-rite. Despite the fact that these people are so punctilious about care of the mouth, this rite involves a practice which strikes the uninitiated stranger as revolting. It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures.

In addition to the private mouth-rite, the people seek out a holy-mouth-man once or twice a year. These practitioners have an impressive set of paraphernalia, consisting of a variety of augers, awls, probes, and prods. The use of these items in the exorcism of the evils of the mouth involves almost unbelievable ritual torture of the client. The holy-mouth-man opens the client's mouth and, using the above mentioned tools, enlarges any holes which decay may have created in the teeth. Magical materials are put into these holes. If there are no naturally occurring holes in the teeth, large sections of one or more teeth are gouged out so that the supernatural substance can be applied. In the client's view, the purpose of these ministrations is to arrest decay and to draw friends. The extremely sacred and traditional character of the rite is evident in the fact that the natives return to the holy-mouth-men year after year, despite the fact that their teeth continue to decay.

It is to be hoped that, when a thorough study of the Nacirema is made, there will be careful inquiry into the personality structure of these people. One has but to watch the gleam in the eye of a holy-mouth-man, as he jabs an awl into an exposed nerve, to suspect that a certain amount of sadism is involved. If this can be established, a very interesting pattern emerges, for most of the population shows definite masochistic tendencies. It was to these that Professor Linton referred in discussing a distinctive part of the daily body ritual which is performed only by men. This part of the rite includes scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument. Special women's rites are performed only four times during each lunar month, but what they lack in frequency is made up in barbarity. As part of this ceremony, women bake their heads in small ovens for about an hour. The theoretically interesting point is that what seems to be a preponderantly masochistic people have developed sadistic specialists.

The medicine men have an imposing temple, or latipso , in every community of any size. The more elaborate ceremonies required to treat very sick patients can only be performed at this temple. These ceremonies involve not only the thaumaturge but a permanent group of vestal maidens who move sedately about the temple chambers in distinctive costume and headdress.

The latipso ceremonies are so harsh that it is phenomenal that a fair proportion of the really sick natives who enter the temple ever recover. Small children whose indoctrination is still incomplete have been known to resist attempts to take them to the temple because "that is where you go to die." Despite this fact, sick adults are not only willing but eager to undergo the protracted ritual purification, if they can afford to do so. No matter how ill the supplicant or how grave the emergency, the guardians of many temples will not admit a client if he cannot give a rich gift to the custodian. Even after one has gained and survived the ceremonies, the guardians will not permit the neophyte to leave until he makes still another gift.

The supplicant entering the temple is first stripped of all his or her clothes. In everyday life the Nacirema avoids exposure of his body and its natural functions. Bathing and excretory acts are performed only in the secrecy of the household shrine, where they are ritualized as part of the body-rites. Psychological shock results from the fact that body secrecy is suddenly lost upon entry into the latipso . A man, whose own wife has never seen him in an excretory act, suddenly finds himself naked and assisted by a vestal maiden while he performs his natural functions into a sacred vessel. This sort of ceremonial treatment is necessitated by the fact that the excreta are used by a diviner to ascertain the course and nature of the client's sickness. Female clients, on the other hand, find their naked bodies are subjected to the scrutiny, manipulation and prodding of the medicine men.

Few supplicants in the temple are well enough to do anything but lie on their hard beds. The daily ceremonies, like the rites of the holy-mouth-men, involve discomfort and torture. With ritual precision, the vestals awaken their miserable charges each dawn and roll them about on their beds of pain while performing ablutions, in the formal movements of which the maidens are highly trained. At other times they insert magic wands in the supplicant's mouth or force him to eat substances which are supposed to be healing. From time to time the medicine men come to their clients and jab magically treated needles into their flesh. The fact that these temple ceremonies may not cure, and may even kill the neophyte, in no way decreases the people's faith in the medicine men.

There remains one other kind of practitioner, known as a "listener." This witchdoctor has the power to exorcise the devils that lodge in the heads of people who have been bewitched. The Nacirema believe that parents bewitch their own children. Mothers are particularly suspected of putting a curse on children while teaching them the secret body rituals. The counter-magic of the witchdoctor is unusual in its lack of ritual. The patient simply tells the "listener" all his troubles and fears, beginning with the earliest difficulties he can remember. The memory displayed by the Nacirema in these exorcism sessions is truly remarkable. It is not uncommon for the patient to bemoan the rejection he felt upon being weaned as a babe, and a few individuals even see their troubles going back to the traumatic effects of their own birth.

In conclusion, mention must be made of certain practices which have their base in native esthetics but which depend upon the pervasive aversion to the natural body and its functions. There are ritual fasts to make fat people thin and ceremonial feasts to make thin people fat. Still other rites are used to make women's breasts larger if they are small, and smaller if they are large. General dissatisfaction with breast shape is symbolized in the fact that the ideal form is virtually outside the range of human variation. A few women afflicted with almost inhuman hyper-mammary development are so idolized that they make a handsome living by simply going from village to village and permitting the natives to stare at them for a fee.

Reference has already been made to the fact that excretory functions are ritualized, routinized, and relegated to secrecy. Natural reproductive functions are similarly distorted. Intercourse is taboo as a topic and scheduled as an act. Efforts are made to avoid pregnancy by the use of magical materials or by limiting intercourse to certain phases of the moon. Conception is actually very infrequent. When pregnant, women dress so as to hide their condition. Parturition takes place in secret, without friends or relatives to assist, and the majority of women do not nurse their infants.

Our review of the ritual life of the Nacirema has certainly shown them to be a magic-ridden people. It is hard to understand how they have managed to exist so long under the burdens which they have imposed upon themselves. But even such exotic customs as these take on real meaning when they are viewed with the insight provided by Malinowski when he wrote:

Looking from far and above, from our high places of safety in the developed civilization, it is easy to see all the crudity and irrelevance of magic. But without its power and guidance early man could not have mastered his practical difficulties as he has done, nor could man have advanced to the higher stages of civilization.

REFERENCES CITED

Linton, Ralph 1936 ⁠ The Study of Man. New York, D. Appleton Century Co.

Malinowski, Bronislaw 1948 ⁠ Magic, Science, and Religion. Glencoe, The Free Press.

Murdock, George P. 1949 ⁠ Social Structure. New York, The Macmillan Co.

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Summary of Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

The Nacirema culture believed that practices that most people wouldn't even think about. They were found in North America around the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumara of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. This culture believes that the human body is unappealing and naturally weak. The Nacirema culture believes in several rituals and has many practitioners in their community; medicine men, holy-mouth-men, and listeners. The medicine men are the most important and they have a sacred language that they can only understand.

This culture has almost an obsession with the mouth. They believe that that without all of these rituals they complete; they would not have any friends, they would have abnormally small jaws, and their teeth would fall out. Just a couple of rituals consist of having a shrine or box that is built into their living room wall, where it is filled with magical potions to help a number of things. These potions are created by the medicine men as they tell their clients what ingredients should be in them. Another ritual is where the female clients go into their temple completed stripped of clothing and are subject to manipulation. Even though most of the clients never really get healed, the medicine men have clients that keep coming back year after year.

Reaction Essay

If I had to put my reaction to the Body Ritual among the Nacirema by Horace Miner in one word, it would be unbelievable. I would not have known that there are cultures in North America that still practice unbelievable rituals. 

I understand having a shrine in your home, even if it is built in the wall. The rituals that are being performed are ridiculous but, in some ways, they could relate to our civilization. They have rituals that are supposed to make fat women skinny and skinny women fat. In our civilization, we have medical doctors that do the same but they typically undergo surgical procedures. We also have women who show off their chests for money, although it is illegal in most places. Although this culture is comprised of many absurd rituals, I can see similarities in our civilization.

In this culture, I have noticed a trend between women's rituals seem to be more intrusive and painful. Rather than men's rituals, although equally as embarrassing, is not as intrusive. One ritual they discussed in the article was when they enter the temple, both men and women are stripped naked of clothing. Women seem to have to undergo securitization and prodding by the medicine men when their husbands have really never seen their bodies but on the other hand, men have maidens help them perform natural functions into a sacred vessel. With intercourse being pretty much unspoken about, the medicine men seem to take an interest in it for their rituals.

This article has opened my eyes to how grateful I am that we are in the civilization we are in today. Although many cultures have different ceremonies and rituals, I believe the Nacirema culture is a bit overboard in their beliefs, ceremonies, and rituals. 

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Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

By horace miner.

The anthropologist has become so familiar with the diversity of ways in which different peoples behave in similar situations that he is not apt to be surprised by even the most exotic customs.  In fact, if all of the logically possible combinations of behavior have not been found somewhere in the world, he is apt to suspect that they must be present in some yet undescribed tribe.  This point has, in fact, been expressed with respect to clan organization by Murdock (1949:71).  In this light, the magical beliefs and practices of the Nacirema present such unusual aspects that it seems desirable to describe them as an example of the extremes to which human behavior can go.

Professor Linton first brought the ritual of the Nacirema to the attention of anthropologists twenty years ago (1936:326), but the culture of this people is still very poorly understood.  They are a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles.  Little is known of their origin, although tradition states that they came from the east.  According to Nacirema mythology, their nation was originated by a culture hero, Notgnihsaw, who is otherwise known for two great feats of strength — the throwing of a piece of wampum across the river Pa-To-Mac and the chopping down of a cherry tree in which the Spirit of Truth resided.

Nacirema culture is characterized by a highly developed market economy which has evolved in a rich natural habitat.  While much of the people’s time is devoted to economic pursuits, a large part of the fruits of these labors and a considerable portion of the day are spent in ritual activity.  The focus of this activity is the human body, the appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people.  While such a concern is certainly not unusual, its ceremonial aspects and associated philosophy are unique.

The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease.  Incarcerated in such a body, man’s only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of the powerful influences of ritual and ceremony.  Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose.  The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their houses and, in fact, the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses.  Most houses are of wattle and daub construction, but the shrine rooms of the more wealthy are walled with stone.  Poorer families imitate the rich by applying pottery plaques to their shrine walls.

While each family has at least one such shrine, the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret.  The rites are normally only discussed with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries.  I was able, however, to establish sufficient rapport with the natives to examine these shrines and to have the rituals described to me.

The local point of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into the wall.  In this chest are kept the many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he could live.  These preparations are secured from a variety of specialized practitioners.  The most powerful of these are the medicine men, whose assistance must be rewarded with substantial gifts.  However, the medicine men do not provide the curative potions for their clients. but decide what the ingredients should be and then write them down in an ancient and secret language.  This writing is understood only by the medicine men and by the herbalists who, for another gift, provide the required charm.

The charm is not disposed of after it has served its purpose, but is placed in the charm-box of the house hold shrine.  As these magical materials are specific for certain ills, and the real or imagined maladies of the people are many, the charm-box is usually full to overflowing.  The magical packets are so numerous that people forget what their purposes were and fear to use them again.  While the natives are very vague on this point, we can only assume that the idea in retaining all the old magical materials is that their presence in the charm-box, before which the body rituals are conducted, will in some way protect the worshipper.

Beneath the charm-box is a small font.  Each day every member of the family, in succession, enters the shrine room, bows his head before the charm-box, mingles different sorts of holy water in the font, and proceeds with a brief rite of ablution.  The holy waters are secured from the Water Temple of the community, where the priests conduct elaborate ceremonies to make the liquid ritually pure.

In the hierarchy of magical practitioners, and below the medicine men in prestige, are specialists whose designation is best translated “holy-mouth-men.”  The Nacirema have an almost pathological horror of and fascination with the mouth, the condition of which is believed to have a supernatural influence on all social relationships.  Were it not for the rituals the mouth, they believe that their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them.  They also believe that a strong relationship exists between oral and moral characteristics.  For example, there is a ritual ablution of the mouth for children which is supposed to improve their moral fiber.

The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a mouth-rite.  Despite the fact that these people are so punctilious about care of the mouth, this rite involves a practice which strikes the uninitiated stranger as revolting.  It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures.

In addition to the private mouth-rite, the people seek out a holy-mouth-man once or twice a year.  These practitioners have an impressive set of paraphernalia, consisting of a variety of augers, awls, probes, and prods.  The use of these objects in the exorcism of the evils of the mouth involves almost unbelievable ritual torture of the client.  The holy-mouth-man opens the client’s mouth and, using the above mentioned tools, enlarges any holes which decay may have created in the teeth.  Magical materials are put into these holes.  If there are no naturally occurring holes in the teeth, large sections of one or more teeth are gouged out so that the supernatural substance can be applied.  In the client’s view, the purpose of these ministrations is to arrest decay and to draw friends.  The extremely sacred and traditional character of the rite is evident in the fact that the natives return to the holy-mouth-men year after year, despite the fact that their teeth continue to decay.

It is to be hoped that, when a thorough study of the Nacirema is made, there will be careful inquiry into the personality structure of these people.  One has but to watch the gleam in the eye of a holy-mouth-man, as he jabs an awl into an exposed nerve, to suspect that a certain amount of sadism is involved.  If this can be established, a very interesting pattern emerges, for most of the population shows definite masochistic tendencies.  It was to these that Professor Linton referred in discussing a distinctive part of the daily body ritual which is performed only by men.  This part of the rite involved scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument.  Special women’s rites are performed only four times during each lunar month, but what they lack in frequency is made up in barbarity.  As part of this ceremony, women bake their heads in small ovens for about an hour.  The theoretically interesting point is that what seems to be a preponderantly masochistic people have developed sadistic specialists.

The medicine men have an imposing temple, or  latipso , in every community of any size.  The more elaborate ceremonies required to treat very sick patients can only be performed at this temple.  These ceremonies involve not only the thaumaturge but a permanent group of vestal maidens who move sedately about the temple chambers in distinctive costume and headdress.

The  latipso  ceremonies are so harsh that it is phenomenal that a fair proportion of the really sick natives who enter the temple ever recover.  Small children whose indoctrination is still incomplete have been known to resist attempts to take them to the temple because “that is where you go to die.”  Despite this fact, sick adults are not only willing but eager to undergo the protracted ritual purification, if they can afford to do so.  No matter how ill the supplicant or how grave the emergency, the guardians of many temples will not admit a client if he cannot give a rich gift to the custodian.  Even after one has gained admission and survived the ceremonies, the guardians will not permit the neophyte to leave until he makes still another gift.

The supplicant entering the temple is first stripped of all his or her clothes.  In every-day life the Nacirema avoids exposure of his body and its natural functions.  Bathing and excretory acts are performed only in the secrecy of the household shrine, where they are ritualized as part of the body-rites.  Psychological shock results from the fact that body secrecy is suddenly lost upon entry into the  latipso .  A man, whose own wife has never seen him in an excretory act, suddenly finds himself naked and assisted by a vestal maiden while he performs his natural functions into a sacred vessel.  This sort of ceremonial treatment is necessitated by the fact that the excreta are used by a diviner to ascertain the course and nature of the client’s sickness.  Female clients, on the other hand, find their naked bodies are subjected to the scrutiny, manipulation and prodding of the medicine men.

Few supplicants in the temple are well enough to do anything but lie on their hard beds.  The daily ceremonies, like the rites of the holy-mouth-men, involve discomfort and torture.  With ritual precision, the vestals awaken their miserable charges each dawn and roll them about on their beds of pain while performing ablutions, in the formal movements of which the maidens are highly trained.  At other times they insert magic wands in the supplicant’s mouth or force him to eat substances which are supposed to be healing.  From time to time the medicine men come to their clients and jab magically treated needles into their flesh.  The fact that these temple ceremonies may not cure  and may even kill the neophyte, in no way decreases the people’s faith in the medicine men.

There remains one other kind of practitioner, known as a “listener.”  This witch-doctor has the power to exorcise the devils that lodge in the heads of people who have been bewitched.  The Nacirema believe that parents bewitch their own children.  Mothers are particularly suspected of putting a curse on children while teaching them the secret body rituals.  The counter-magic of the witch-doctor is unusual in its lack of ritual.  The patient simply tells the “listener” all his troubles and fears, beginning with the earliest difficulties he can remember.  The memory displayed by the Nacirema in these exorcism sessions is truly remarkable.  It is not uncommon for the patient to bemoan the rejection he felt upon being weaned as a babe, and a few individuals even see their troubles going back to the traumatic effects of their own birth.

In conclusion, mention must be made of certain practices which have their base in native esthetics but which depend upon the pervasive aversion to the natural body and its functions.  There are ritual fasts to make fat people thin and ceremonial feasts to make thin people fat.  Still other rites are used to make women’s breasts larger I they are small, and smaller if they are large.  General dissatisfaction with breast shape is symbolized in the fact that the ideal form is virtually outside the range of human variation.  A few women afflicted with almost inhuman hypermammary development are so idolized that they make a handsome living by simply going from village to village and permitting the natives to stare at them for a fee.

Reference has already been made to the fact that excretory functions are ritualized, routinized, and relegated to secrecy.  Natural reproductive functions are similarly distorted.  Intercourse is taboo as a topic and scheduled as an act.  Efforts are made to avoid pregnancy by the use of magical materials or by limiting intercourse to certain phases of the moon.  Conception is actually very infrequent.  When pregnant, women dress so as to hide their condition.  Parturition takes place in secret, with out friends or relatives to assist and the majority of women do not nurse their infants.

Our review of the ritual life of the Nacirema has certainly shown them to be a magic-ridden people.  It is hard to understand how they have managed to exist so long under the burdens which they have imposed upon themselves.  But even such exotic customs as these take on real meaning when they are viewed with the insight provided by Malinowski when he wrote (1948:70):

Looking from far and above, from our high places of safety in the developed civilization, it is easy to see all the crudity and irrelevance of magic.  But without its power and guidance early man could not have mastered his practical difficulties as he has done, nor could man have advanced to the higher stages of civilization.

References Cited

LINTON, RALPH, 1936 The Study of Man.  New York, D. Appleton-Century Co.

MALINOWSKI, BRONISLAW, 1948 Magic, Science, and Religion.  Glencoe.  The Free Press.

MURDOCK, GEORGE P., 1949 Social Structure.  New York.  The Macmillan Co.

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COMMENTS

  1. Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Plot Summary

    Body Ritual Among the Nacirema | Summary Share Summary Most cultures have a defining feature. Anthropologists are so familiar with the wide variety of ways humans behave, even in similar circumstances, that they shouldn't be surprised even by strange traditions.

  2. Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Summary and Analysis

    Body Rituals: The Nacirema are described as engaging in numerous body rituals throughout the day, such as scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument, a satirical description of shaving or makeup application.

  3. "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" by Horace Miner

    Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their houses and, in fact, the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses.

  4. Body Ritual among the Nacirema Summary

    Body Ritual Among the Nacirema is a satirical essay written by Horace Miner in 1956. The essay describes the peculiar and seemingly bizarre rituals and behaviors of a fictional group of people called the Nacirema. However, the essay is a clever critique of American culture and its obsession with body image and the beauty industry.

  5. The Long Life of the Nacirema

    In 1956, the journal American Anthropologist published a short paper by University of Michigan anthropologist Horace Miner titled " Body Ritual Among the Nacirema ," detailing the habits of this "North American group."

  6. PDF Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

    Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Horace Miner University of Michigan The anthropologist has become so famil-iar with the diversity of ways in which different peoples behave in similar situ-ations that he is not apt to be surprised by even the most exotic customs.

  7. Body Ritual Among the Nacirema: Classic Anthropology

    Horace Miner's "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" has been reprinted in many anthropology readers, including Applying Anthropology. It endures as a first-day favorite for Introduction to Anthropology courses, and is read far beyond anthropology.

  8. Body Ritual among the Nacirema

    Click on the article title to read more.

  9. PDF Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

    In every-day life the Nacirema avoids exposure of his body and its natural functions. Bathing and excretory acts are performed only in the secrecy of the household shrine, where they are ritualized as part of the body-rites. Psycho- logical shock results from the fact that body secrecy is suddenly lost upon entry into the latipso.

  10. The Nacirema Revisited

    IN 1956, anthropologist Horace Miner published the article for which he is best known, Body Ritual among the Nacirema.2 This short but groundbreaking essay described rituals practiced by a fascinating people whom Professor Miner situated ethnographically "between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of ...

  11. Nacirema

    The original use of the term in a social science context was in "Body Ritual among the Nacirema", which satirizes anthropological papers on "other" cultures, and the culture of the United States. Horace Mitchell Miner wrote the paper and originally published it in the June 1956 edition of American Anthropologist. [1] [2] [3]

  12. 3.2: "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" by Horace Miner

    Nacirema culture is characterized by a highly developed market economy which has evolved in a rich natural habitat. While much of the people's time is devoted to economic pursuits, a large part of the fruits of these labors and a considerable portion of the day are spent in ritual activity. The focus of this activity is the human body, the ...

  13. [PDF] Body Ritual among the Nacirema

    Body Ritual among the Nacirema. H. Miner. Published 1 June 1956. Sociology. American Anthropologist. THE anthropologist has become so familiar with the diversity of ways in which different peoples behave in similar situations that he is not apt to be surprised by even the most exotic customs. In fact, if all of thelogically possible ...

  14. PDF Body Ritual among the Nacirema

    everyday life the Nacirema avoids exposure of his body and its natural functions. Bathing and excretory acts are performed only in the secrecy of the household shrine, where they are ritualized as part of the body-rites. Psychological shock results from the fact that body secrecy is suddenly lost upon entry into the latipso.

  15. Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Summary

    Jeffrey Kahn. In 1956, anthropologist Horace Miner published the article for which he is best known, "Body Ritual among the Nacirema." This short but groundbreaking essay described personal rituals practiced by a fascinating but poorly understood people. Inspired by Miner's work and based on close-quarters field research, this essay revisits ...

  16. Growing up Among the Nacirema

    Since Miner's time, the Nacirema have started building very large temples called " mygs " that contain rows and rows of various body torture devices which they use to punish their own bodies. The devices are designed to tear and damage muscles, causing them to swell. Others are designed to completely exhaust the body and use up all of its ...

  17. Body Ritual among the Nacirema

    According to Nacirema mythology, their nation was originated by a culture hero, Notgnihsaw, who is otherwise known for two great feats of strength—the throwing of a piece of wampum across the river Pa-To-Mac and the chopping down of a cherry tree in which the Spirit of Truth resided.

  18. Summary Body Ritual Among the Nacirema 1

    The main practice of the Nacirema cultural rituals is based upon the premise that the human body is "ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease". From here, Miner begins to describe the acts of ritual and ceremony that all of the Nacirema practice on their daily lives. A couple of examples include the use of charms and ...

  19. Summary: "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" / Horace Miner

    "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" by Horace Miner (1956) is an ethnological account of the Nacirema, a tribe located in North America. According to Miner, the Nacirema culture presents a highly developed market economy but with a main focus on ritual activity which focuses on the human body and its appearance of health.

  20. Body Rituals Among the Nacirema Summary

    100% plagiarism free Rating: 4.8/5 Views: 829 Orders: 17 Sample details Summary of Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Check out more papers on Nacirema The Nacirema culture believed that practices that most people wouldn't even think about.

  21. Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

    Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their houses and, in fact, the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses.