Pig Lovers and Pig Haters Essays

Pig Lovers and Pig Haters Essays Pig Lovers and Pig Haters Essay Pig Lovers and Pig Haters Essay Harris reasoning brings the history of the people and the land into account. They were nomadic pastoralist and the climate and location simply was not good to be raising pigs. They would have required too much energy to raise, for not as much output for the people. Harris took and ecological approach to explain away pig hatred. When it comes to pig lovers, Harris goes into great detail on the Marina clans in New Guiana. Long story short, they raise pigs because they are holy and need to sacrifice them to their ancestors in order to declare war and make peace. They are raised for years on end, ND take up more and more energy as the years go on. However, unlike the pig haters, the Marina people live in an area perfect for pigs. Pigs also give them necessary nutrients and protein for their fighting. Harris states, Rapport insists correctly, I believe- that in a fundamental ecological sense, the size of a groups pig surplus does indicate its productive and military strength and does validate or invalidate its territorial claims. In other words, the entire system results in an efficient distribution of plants, animals, and people in the region, from a human ecological point of view'(56). Both of his examples show materialism taking place in cultures and he goes further in to explain how these pigs actually affect the lives of the people and, in essence, help structure their everyday culture. This reading was different from Radcliff-Browns reading, because where R. B. Would give you insight into what was hipping within a culture or within a society, Harris went into explanations about why it is happening. He also went even more in depth to explain the evolution of possible theories to explain the current behavior of the societies. He didnt simply stick you with his idea and leave it at that; he resented explanations for what people during different stretches of time may have been, or were, thinking about the topic, and showed how it evolved into his own theory. R. B. , on the other hand, gave a straight forward, this is what you see, this is what you get approach. My first question is who is Cashew? I dont have much knowledge on this culture and they Just threw his name into the reading without any form of explanation on who he is/was. My second question is about the rumba tree. The reading talked about once the tree gets pulled out, the next round of fighting will begin and you ant to pull yours before your neighbor does. If the neighbor does indeed pull their tree out first, do they warn them that a fight is about to start, or do they Just attack? . Pig haters- Jews, Moslems, and Christians -God of ancient Hebrews denounced the pig as unclean, a beast that pollutes if it is tasted or touched -However, pigs convert grains and tubers into high-grade fats and protein more efficiently than any other animal Why hate? Pig is a dirty animal-(but other animals are Just as dirty)-recognized at beginning of Renaissance when rabbi Moodiness said swines flesh has a bad and damaging effect upon the body 19th cent. discovered trichinosis was caused by eating undercooked pork- verified rabbis findings (but cooked pork is fine to eat! ) Cashew must have something else in mind other than protecting the health of the people Most Jewish and Moslem theologians have stopped looking for a naturalistic basis of pig hatred. A frankly mystical stance had recently gained favor, in which the grace afforded by conformity to dietary taboos is said to depend upon not knowing exactly what Cashew had in mind and in not trying to find out. (39) Modern anthropologists Frazer- pigs like all UN-clean animals, were originally divine. This is NO help b/c other animals were also once worshiped in the Middle East Other scholars- pigs, and other animals tabooed in the Bible and Koran, were once totemic symbols of dif tribal clan s. But if we agree with this, we have to think that maybe clean animals were also totems. Author prefers Moodiness approach. Placed it in a natural context of health and disease where definite mundane and practical forces were at work. Need to adopt a broader deaf of public health that includes the essential processes by which animals, plants, and people manage to coexist in viable natural and cultural communities. Authors hype: the Bible and Koran condemned the pig because pig farming was a threat to the integrity of the basic cultural and natural ecosystems of the Middle East. (40) History shows the Hebrews were nomadic pastoralist living in arid regions. Pigs dont do well here (they cant sweat) and gain most weight when eating nuts, fruits, tubers, and grainsmaking them a direct competitor of man. (41-42) Pigs only poop and pee everywhere when temps get above 84 deg BC they deed to cool themselves off. Below 84 they keep their business and sleeping quarters separate. So only Really dirty BC of natural causes, not pigs want, but their need Pork was a luxury food. Only meat, no milk, fibers, labor 7,000-2,000 BC- 60 fold increase on human pop in mid east, so hade and water( what a pig needs) became more scarce SOCIO- pigs tasted good, but too expensive to feed them and keep them cool, so better to interdict the consumption of pork entirely, and concentrate on other livestock. (ECOLOGICAL EXPLANATION) Pig Lovers- New Guiana and the South Pacific Melanesian islands swine is holy and must be sacrificed to the ancestors and eaten on all important occasions (marriage, funeral, etc) -pigs must be sacrificed to declare war and make peace -sometimes huge feasts and all the tribes pigs are eaten at once! Vomit to make room for more) Then years to rebuild the herd Just to do it all over again. -one cannot truly be human except in the company of pigs. (46) Pig love involves sacrificing and eating of pigs on special occasions (46) The climax of pig love is the incorporation of the pig as flesh into the flesh of the human host and of the pig as spirit int o the spirit of the ancestors. (46) New Guiana- Marina people. Every 12 years each Marina subgroup, or clan, have a pig festival that is a year long (called khaki) 2-3 months after khaki, clan engages in armed combat with enemy clans, lots of death, and either loss or gain of territory. Each clan sacrifices more pigs during fighting. Now NO MORE pigs. Fighting STOPS. Plant rumba trees in sacred spot. Every adult male touches the tree as planted. War magician talks to ancestors. No more pigs, thankful to be alive, the fighting is over, no more fights as long as tree stays in ground. Now they begin raising more pigs. When enough for another major sacrifice, they uproot the tree and have another fight. This is all not crazy. Every part of this cycle is integrated within a complex, self-regulating ecosystem, that effectively adjusts the size and distribution of the Testaments (another clan) human and animal population to conform to available resources and production opportunities. (48) How do they decide when they have enough pigs to thank the ancestors properly? Marina have no calendar and numbers dont go past 3. Pig to people ratio. Women have to care for the pigs, as well as gardens, families, and household. Caring for 6 grown pigs uses half of her energy. More pigs?more people. More pigs and more people= more work for women. Pigs eat garden, they get angry, neighbors fight. Move houses away from each other= less secure = more Jittery. Women start to get angry and snap at families. Men check tree for growth, women yell, start a new khaki. Allies come to see if they are prosperous and powerful enough to continue supporting Practical explanation to love: Scarcity of meat in their diet. Pork is their best potential source of high-quality animal fat and protein. Makes good ecological sense to raise pigs. Temp and humidity ideal for pigs. Can feed by roaming through forest. BUT: Unlimited growth of pig pop can only lead to competition between man and pig. Can endanger gardens if pop. Let go too far Growing pigs take more time to feed, pulling away from feeding people Virgin land= efficiency of agricultural system plummets SO, khaki takes place Enhances the ability of the group to survive and defend its territory (55) by: Raises the level of protein intake for the entire group during the rumba truce?heather pop. By linking the khaki to then of the truce, ancestors guarantee massive doses f high-quality fats and proteins are consumed at the period of greatest social stress- in the months before the fighting Able to attract and reward allies when they are most needed-Just before the war Relationship between success in raising pigs and military power Rapport insists -correctly, I believe- that in a fundamental ecological sense, the size of a groups pig surplus does indicate its productive and military strength and does validate or invalidate its territorial claims. In other words, the entire system results in an efficient distribution of plants, animals, and people in the region, from a human ecological point of view. (56