essay
Ojibwa world view and disease
Contributions to anthropology : selected papers of A. Irving Hallowell • Chicago • Published In 1976 • Pages: 391-448
By: Hallowell, A. Irving (Alfred Irving).
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article Hallowell discusses the relationship among Ojibwa cognition, etiology, and values. He criticizes the natural/supernatural dichotomy when applied to the Ojibwa world view. The Ojibwa, he argues, do not see the world so divided, but regard 'supernatural beings,' such as the Grandfathers or wind spirits, as having a real in-this-world ontological status and he refers to these spirits as 'other-than-human-persons.' Persons have a reciprocal relationship with these 'other-than-human-persons,' in which curing and protective power is exchanged for maintaining certain personal taboos. Hallowell argues that these personal taboos have a general disciplining effect, which guides Ojibwa social life. Disease is considered the consequence of transgressing Ojibwa 'equalitarian' values. In this regard, Hallowell sees Ojibwa understanding of disease causality as a social sanction that reinforces their moral codes and behavior.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Gift giving
- Ethics
- Theory of disease
- Magical and mental therapy
- Spirits and gods
- Avoidance and taboo
- Ethnometeorology
- Ethnopsychology
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Ojibwa
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2000
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Arctic and Subarctic
- 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.
- Ethnographer
- 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
- Ian Skoggard ;1998
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1930-1940
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1930-1940
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Berens River, Manitoba, Canada
- NotesAdditional notes
- [A. Irving Hallowell]
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 445-448)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 75020890
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Ojibwa Indians