book chapter
Taboo as a possible factor involved in the obsolescence of Navaho pottery and basketry
American anthropologist, n.s. • 40 • Published In 1938 • Pages: 257-262
By: Tschopik, Harry.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The author, an ethnologist who made several studies of Navajo material culture, carried out the fieldwork for this paper under the supervision of Dr. Clyde Kluckhohn. He traces briefly the history of the recent decline in the use of native baskets and pots as utensils and points out that their sole use today is as sacred objects used in ceremonials (and even these are obtained from the Utes and Paiutes.) Tschopik offers as his explanation for this the theory that the extremely elaborate taboos which surround their manufacture have discouraged women from undertaking the work.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Mats and basketry
- Ceramic technology
- Utensils
- Price and value
- External trade
- Decorative art
- Theory of disease
- Mythology
- Sacred objects and places
- Purification and atonement
- Avoidance and taboo
- Organized ceremonial
- Ethnobotany
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Navajo
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2004
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southwest and Basin
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- book chapter
- 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.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Katchen S. Coley ; 1951
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1937-1938
- 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)
- Ramah, New Mexico, United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- Harry Tschopik, Jr.
- This document consists of excerpts
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 1715424
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Navajo Indians