The Body Ritual of the Nacerima

The Nacerima is are the North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and theTarahumare of Mexico and the Crib and Arawak of the Antilles. Little known of their origin but are much known of their Body Ritual. American Anthropologist Horace Miner wrote a paper and was published in 1955.

Human Body- mainly as part of their ritual is the human body. Nacerima believe that human body is ugly and the fall down of human being because of illness and debility. Thus, they believe that having ceremonial and ritual activities is the only hope to avert the human body’s downfall physical characteristics.

Rituals- as all tribes and native people ritual are very holy and must keep secret. The sanctity of ritual also means the absolute effect of the superstitious power that is within. Nacerima has its own unique performance of rituals. For them the ritual possesses a powerful effect as being followed carefully. Some of the rituals are the focal point of the shrine is a box or chest which must built into the wall. Chest or the box where used to kept their potions and charms. These potions and charms were believed has a magical healing against illness and maladies. Each household has a shrine room where these box and chest built into the wall. Another body ritual performed was the mouth-rite. Nacerima believed that mouth as the opening part of the body was also the entrance of the illness into the body. Though the ritual was not humane, many of them believe that enduring the pain of ritual possess a powerful effect of the ritual.

Latipso- was ceremony conducted by the medicine men of the Nacerima community. The ceremony was performed in the temple.  Miner described the sadistic and inhumane way of ceremony.  Through the indoctrination of small children which they believed that prolonged the life of the children to the “protracted ritual purification” of sick adults. Part of the ceremony was being naked inside the temple which was for women cause of ridicule and manipulation where also believe that cleaning the excreta would help sick people to heal.

Listener- was another healing practitioner in the community. The author cited that, “Nacirema believe that parents bewitch their own children.” Thus, they also believed in the power of exorcism. The ceremony performed believed to be inhumane too as few individuals rejected their own family.

Ritual Life- many of the native people strongly believe in rituals either it could be humane or not. Before people were civilized many performed inhumane rituals. For them enduring the pain is also a symbol of the possess power against evil, illness, curse and maladies. Today, many people are still doing the rituals as part of their beliefs and culture. They performed these rituals to be part of the group they belong. However, many practice humane rituals. Rituals are sacred and to preserve the secrecy of ritual it has to be keep secret within the group.  As this ritual they are known to different and unique.

Nacerima's behavior is unique, believer of their culture,supertistious, ritualistic and inhumane.

1. The 4 adjectives I would still give it a credit to their behavior but the last adjective "inhumane" that I would change it.  Since I am not raised to their culture, I interpret it differently. For me the process of doing their ritual acivities are inhumane while to the Nacerima they see and interpret it as part of their culture, part of the group where they belong and they interpret it as normal way of expressing their beliefs and value it as part og the ethnic group. I do not think that Nacerima see, feel and interpret the inhumane way of their rituals. They see, feel, practice it with pride of their self belonging or identity.

2. Yes. I believe everyone of us exhibit ethnocentrism. I am bias because I am not one of them and my beliefs, practice, judgment and ethnicity is different from them. What I believe is wrong maybe right to them. The thing is I am in the right context to say something of what they are. Like I know one of the ethnic group in my country who eat dogs. That is one of their cultural practices and to them it is part of their identity. While here, we do not eat dogs instead we show love and care for our pets. You can not tell them to stop doing their ritual or practices because you can cause an aggravation and they might see it that you are not respectful.

Using the word "inhumane" is bias to me. Because I believe that hurting someone is an act of inhumane. While the words "unique, believer of their culture, supertistious,  and ritualistic" I consider it as unbiased. I believe each one of us is unique individual, believer in our culture, superstitious and ritualistic. As I mentioned being ritualistic doesn't mean you do the odd things or inhumane way.
Unique - because each one of us is created that way. Even twins are not the same.
Believer of their culture - people has its own ethnicity and we practice and believe in our culture. Superstitious - wary of things or believing of supernatural things. Most of the folk beliefs are superstitious. Ritualistic - is a behavior that someone is believing and practices something into symbolic value.

3. Instead of "inhumane" I should used "artistic". The way they do it, it is somewhat odd and you can see odd things through art. It is like abstract, their is always an interpretation of the figures which you or other people might interpret it differently. It is always considered a "taboo".

4. It is difficult to be not an ethnocentric. Since each one of us has different experiences, different practices, different beliefs, different culture. We tend to limit our reactions, our judgments into our own experiences, practices and beliefs. People have tendency to accept believable conclusions and the reject the unbelievable even if this is valid. This is what we called belief bias. It is important to describe another culture in a manner as free from personal cultural bias as possible because it is one way to understand ourselves. If we limit our reactions, observations, judgment thus we also limit ourselves of understanding people around us and ourselves as well. If we failed to do so, our culture fall short. Sometimes we give a mistaken impression that some cultures are better than others rather than unique. I believe that we can avoid personal bias and it is possible to avoid it through better understanding of different cultures, accepting that they are part of the world we are in and respecting each ideology, practices and beliefs.