article

Menstruation and the power of Yurok women: methods in cultural reconstruction

American anthropologist9 (1) • Published In 1982 • Pages: 47-60

By: Buckley, Thomas C. T..

Abstract
Consideration of Yurok Indian women's attitudes towards menstruation and of the ritual observances surrounding it enhance our understanding of the position of women in Yurok society and of the aboriginal role of menstruation in the temporal structuring of village life. This paper exemplifies a methodology for investigating this and other topics incompletely reported in received ethnographies of now much-changed cultures. The specific ethnographic case to which this methodology is applied, viewed in light of current biological research, generates general hypotheses for testing in viable hunter-gatherer societies (p. 47).
Subjects
Menstruation
Sex training
Personal hygiene
Purification and atonement
Ethnometeorology
Ethnoanatomy
Revelation and divination
Outbuildings
Household
culture
Yurok
HRAF PubDate
2010
Region
North America
Sub Region
Northwest Coast and California
Document Type
article
Evaluation
Creator Type
Evaluation
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
John Beierle; 2010
Field Date
no date
Coverage Date
1900-1980
Coverage Place
North Pacific Coast, California, United States
Notes
Thomas Buckley
Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-60)
LCCN
17015424
LCSH
Yurok Indians