book chapter

The Chipewyan medicine fight in cultural and ecological perspective

culture and the anthropological tradition : essays in honor of robert f. spencer • Lanham, Md. • Published In 1990 • Pages: 153-175

By: Smith, David Merrill.

Abstract

In this paper, Smith discusses Chipewyan sorcery, or 'medicine fights' --the term he prefers--in context of a general Chipewyan understanding of power. The Chipewyans see all beings as repositories of power including animals. In fact animals are more powerful than humans, because they can survive without culture. The Chipewyan word for power is 'INKONZE,' meaning 'to know a little something.' Success is understood in terms of one's knowledge/power. Bad luck, i.e., the loss of power, is attributed to either a violation of a taboo or a jealous adversary. Smith recounts three stories of medicine fights in which envy is the prime motive between either a chief and his brother-in-law, or older and younger men. (Two other tales involve a bully and the misuse of INKONZE to kill animals.) According to Smith, the Chipewyan quest for power is a quest for control over the environment. Any social relation that undermines confidence in this quest is contested, even if the result is self-destructive.

HRAF PubDate

2000

Region

North America

Sub Region

Arctic and Subarctic

Document Type

book chapter

Evaluation

Creator Type

Ethnologist

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Ian Skoggard ; 1999

Field Date

1968-1972

Coverage Date

not specified

Coverage Place

Great Slave Lake region, Northwest Territories, Canada

Notes

David M. Smith

Includes bibliographical references (p. 172-175)

LCCN

90033411

LCSH

Chipewyan Indians