essay

'Old Man' and the father image in Blood (Blackfoot) society

Psychoanalysis and culture, essays in honor of Geza RoheimNew YorkPublished In 1967 • Pages: 132-141

By: Goldfrank, Esther Schiff.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Esther Goldfrank argues that the emergence of the 'Old Man' creator figure in Blackfoot mythology as a malevolent trickster represents the means by which unprivileged (non-minipoka) or neglected sons express their normally repressed feelings of aggression toward their fathers. Goldfrank offers a plausible explanation for what appears to be a contradiction in mythical themes by demonstrating how the dual nature of Old Man draws its significance from the actual experience of Blackfeet who resolve, in the realm of symbols, conflicts which cannot be so dealt with in real life.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Mythology
Spirits and gods
Status of children
Reviews and critiques
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Blackfoot
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2019
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Plains and Plateau
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
M. A. Marcus ; J. Beierle ; 1983
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1939
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
not specified
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Blood Reserve, southwestern Alberta, Canada
NotesAdditional notes
By Esther S. Goldfrank
Includes bibliographical references
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Kainah Indians