Book
Gregorio, the hand-trembler: a psychobiological personality study of a Navaho Indian
The Museum • 40 (1) • Published In 1949 • Pages: xiv, 177
By: Leighton, Alexander H. (Alexander Hamilton), Leighton, Dorothea (Cross).
Abstract
This is the first of the Peabody Museum reports on the Ramah project. The project is a systematic study of the Navajo living in the off-reservation area of Ramah, which began officially in 1936. It is based on the belief that following a small community and its culture through time was a needed experiment in anthropology. Pooling their resources in this project are some thirty people representing such varied fields as anthropology, physiology, psychology, botany, immunology, education, etc. Thus, the fortunes of the individuals and their culture are charted by multiple observation. This report, by two distinguished psychiatrists who have also earned a well-deserved reputation as anthropologists, introduces a new method of presenting and analyzing personal document data. Part I is an attempt to describe, analyze, and interpret the life of a particular Navajo who happens to be a hand-trembler (Gregorio). Part II consists of the material on which this formulation is based. It contains not only an autobiography as dictated through an interpreter by Gregorio, but also field observations made in a day-by-day record of the authors and other participants in the project. This material is grouped under the following topics: Subsistence, Survival, Social Relationships, Constitutional Nature, Opinions and Attitudes, and Religion. The total result is a psycho-biological personality study, although unfortunately, there are certain major gaps in the information, such as data on sex behavior, habits of thought, and dreams.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2004
- Region
- North America
- Sub Region
- Southwest and Basin
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Psychiatrist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- John Beierle ; 2003
- Field Date
- 1939-1942
- Coverage Date
- 1902-1940s
- Coverage Place
- Ramah, New Mexico, United States
- Notes
- [by] Alexander H. Leighton and Dorothea C. Leighton with the assistance of Catherine Opler
- Includes bibliographical references (p. vii-viii, 167-168)
- LCCN
- a 51001908
- LCSH
- Navajo Indians/Navajo Indians