Anthropology

Paul Hockings has done the profession a favor by calling our attention to John R Baker's book, Race, and to its obvious failings (Newsletter, June 1974). Unfortunately the cure he proposes-implicitly if not explicitlyis worse than the disease.

Ethnohistory is not highly regarded within anthropology because of two factors. The first is that anthropologists do not value library research. The second, and more fundamental, factor is that ethnohistorians have largely failed to deal with problems of broad anthropological interest. Too often ethnohistorical studies deal not with culture but with chronology. The work of some ethnohistorians shows this need not to be the case. If more ethnohistorians were to pursue positivistic, scientific goals, they might achieve a higher standing within anthropology.

Ethnohistory is not highly regarded within anthropology because of two factors. The first is that anthropologists do not value library research. The second, and more fundamental, factor is that ethnohistorians have largely failed to deal with problems of broad anthropological interest. Too often ethnohistorical studies deal not with culture but with chronology. The work of some ethnohistorians shows this need not to be the case. If more ethnohistorians were to pursue positivistic, scientific goals, they might achieve a higher standing within anthropology.

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Varied anthropological approaches to cannibalism, both in general and in attempt to explain the behavior of specific groups, are identified. With reference to cannibalism among Iroquoian speakers in northeastern North America, these approaches are examined and criticized. Included, of course, is Witthoft's assertion that a decline in the economic importance of hunting led Iroquois males to become "hunters of men." These approaches, with few exceptions, prove less than satisfactory in light of data from both archaeological and ethnohistorical sources on Iroquoian culture and society. It is concluded that change in the intensity and frequency of cannibalistic activity supports Malinowski's view that ritual activity increases when uncertain outcomes plague the pursuit of important or vital activities. It is important to remember that while Iroquoian cannibalism was a product of conflict and aggression, it is also a powerful symbolic act of religious and ritual significance.

1997 Iroquois: The Tree of Peace and the War Kettle.  In Melvin Ember, Carol R. Ember, and David Levinson, eds.  Portraits of Culture: Ethnographic Originals.  Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall. Pp. 1-34.  Reissued on Interactive Anthropology CD ROM, Carol R. Ember and Melvin Ember, Cultural Anthropology, Eleventh Edition.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.  2004.  Also included in the CD ROM: New Directions in Anthropology.  Carol R. Ember, Melvin Ember, and Peter N. Peregine, eds.  Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.  2004.

In this brief monograph, David E. Jones argues that poisoned missile weapons were far more widely used in aboriginal North America than the ethnographic and ethnohistorical literature would suggest. Jones presents evidence that poisoned arrows were used in every culture area of Native North America. For most groups, the window in which this practice could be observed and reported was very short indeed, for use of firearms quickly replaced archery. As Jones points out, later ethnographic investigations often confounded actual poisoning of arrows with treatment of arrows with supernatural practices that promised a lethal outcome from an otherwise nonmortal wound. The 76 pages of text consist of a ten-page introduction, six short chapters, and a six-page conclusion. An appendix, notes, bibliography, and index make up the remainder of the book. The introduction discusses the development and occasional use of biological and chemical weapons by great powers and rogue states in the 20th century, leaping from there to a discussion of poisoned arrows in aboriginal North America. Jones's interest in the topic of poisoned weaponry grew out of his earlier work on the use of body armor in indigenous warfare. Jones dismisses the widespread belief that arrow poisoning was insignificant in North America. He cites cases of reputed wounds from poisoned arrows and argues that the denial of the practice in early ethnographic reports is often a result of its association with witchcraft. In chapter 1, Jones relies heavily on the work of popular science writer Edward R. Ricciuti to catalog poisonous plants available to Native North Americans, giving in most cases both their botanical names and their common English names. Chapter 2 discusses the knowledge and use of poisons more generally, focusing on the widespread suicidal use of poisonous plants alongside the common practice of poisoning fish. The next chapter provides data on the use outside North America of poison on arrows and other missiles. While Jones provides many claims that poison arrows were being used, the examples presented are widely spaced in both geography and time. Skeptical readers may doubt his conclusion that arrow poisons are " ancient, efficient, universal, and present as a potent weapon of warfare " (p. 30). Arrow poisons in North America are surveyed in chapter 4. The data are arranged by culture area. For the most part, the name of the group is given and, if a plant poison is being used, the

This study documents the tensions and violence that marked inter-ethnic interactions in Nova Scotia in the initial half-century of British rule, or rather attempted British rule, of the region. The complexity of the politics and conflict is revealed by John Grenier's careful use of ethnonyms to designate players in that arena. Those officials and soldiers, part of the colonial establishment, whose origin is in Great Britain are referred to as Britons or British. New Englanders are designated Yankees or Americans. Francophone inhabitants of the maritimes, descendents of the initial French colonization of the area, are Acadians. Canadians is utilized to distinguish the inhabitants of New France from the Acadians, while French is reserved for those serving in the French colonial establishment, including priests, nuns, and brothers in the church hierarchy. All of these had to deal with the indigenous population, predominately the Mikmaq in Nova Scotia, but also including the Maliseet and Abenaki. Other complications enter the picture, such as the Mohawks from New York recruited to fight alongside the Yankee Rangers against Mikmaq and Acadians. In 1710, in the midst of Queen Anne's War (the War of Spanish Succession), a force of British marines and provincial troops from Massachusetts captured Port-Royal on what is now mainland Nova Scotia. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 gave Britain nominal control over the lands of mainland Nova Scotia, while άe Royale (Cape Breton Island) and the remainder of what is now maritime Canada remained in French hands. The British renamed the settlement they captured Annapolis Royal and its defenses Fort Anne in honour of their queen. With their occupation of Annapolis Royal and their claim to the rest of Nova Scotia, the British faced two potentially hostile populations. On the one hand there were the mobile Mikmaq peoples, who had firmly embraced the Catholic faith and supported resident French missionaries. On the other hand there was the even-more Catholic francophone population, the Acadians, who had invested enormous amounts of labour to build dykes to hold back the sea while they wrested farmlands on the hostile Nova Scotia shores. Britain was ruled by a Protestant monarchy, but the Stuarts living abroad still lay claim to the throne. Thus even in their homeland, Britons were anxious that all declare loyalty to the reigning monarch. They continually attempted to force the Acadian population to swear loyalty to the British throne, but for most of the period examined in this study they lacked the military might to compel the Acadians to do so. When Britain finally did have the power to enforce its will, the Acadians still refused the loyalty oath and the result was the expulsion of a large portion of the Nova Scotia Acadians from their homes to various distant lands, an event still remembered with bitterness by descendents of those who either escaped removal or later returned to Nova Scotia. Grenier presents a picture of the British conquerors initially only able to exert any sort of control in the immediate vicinity of Fort Anne. Eventually fishing interests led the British and New Englanders to establish a presence at the opposite end of mainland Nova Scotia, at Canso. Between the formal wars, from the Treaty of Utrecht to King George's War (the War of Austrian Succession 1744–1748) and then to the French and Indian War (in Europe the Seven Years War 1754–1763) tensions and open hostilities between British and Yankees on the one hand and Acadians and Mikmaq on the other persisted in the region. The region never seems to have been really at peace, and Grenier's chapter headings indicate the major periods of conflict in this 50-year war. These are the Maliseet-Mikmaw War, 1722–1726;

Cities play pivotal role in the socioeconomic and physical development of countries worldover. Unfortunately, many cities especially in developing countries fall short of their expectation as they assume chaotic physical expression of growth. This situation is variously interpreted as Decay, Decline, Rot and Sprawl. Urban decay is the state of urban squalidness characterized by decrepit structures, poor amenities condition, overcrowding, under provision of amenities and general deterioration of the urban environment. Scholars of the built environment noted that obsolescence and poor planning combine with other factors brought about this urban menace in many cities. Urban renewal involves the redevelopment, rehabilitation, revitalization and regeneration of a degraded urban area. This research looks at the effort by Edo State government in tackling the problem of urban decay in Benin City, Nigeria, with focus on the cause(s), effect, the strategy adopted for restoration and its' impact on the quality of life of residents. The study was approached by way of field investigations. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. Findings revealed that the lack of attention by concerned government agencies and poverty caused the urban deterioration problem in Benin City. The study also shows that urban decline situation in Benin City is largely connected to economic downturn, lack of basic infrastructure and, poor planning coupled with nonchalance attitude towards public facilities by residents, and lack of environment cleaning culture on the part of stakeholders. However, the research revealed that the effort by government to transforming Benin City which is one of Nigeria's foremost cities was generally impactful. Nevertheless, the study suggested that integrated planning and development is sacrosanct to achieving sustainable urban renewal programme in Nigeria.