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Bear's Journey and the Study of Ritual in Archaeology: Some Comments on Howey and O'Shea's Midewiwin Paper

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Ronald J. Mason*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI54912-0599 ([email protected])

Abstract

Howey and O'Shea (2006) believe they have demonstrated the prehistoric manifestation of a particular Ojibwa Midewiwin origin story in the arrangement of features at an archaeological site in Michigan, thereby negating ethnohistorical arguments that the Midewiwin was of post-European-contact origin. The authors also believe they have shown that explaining past ritual behavior "can be derived from archaeological data alone." There is ample information in their own argument to disallow such claims.

Résumé

Résumé

Howey y O'Shea creen haber demonstrado las manifestaciones prehistóricas de una historia peculiar de los orígenes de los Ojibwa Midewiwin en el arreglo característico de un sitio arqueológico en Michigan negando, por ende, argumentos etnohistóricos que afirman que el origen de los Midewiwin se debe al contacto con los europeos. Los authores también creen haber probado que se pueden explicar los comportamientos rituales pasados en base, únicamente, a datos arqueólogicos. Hay amplia información en sus propios argumentos para negar tales afirmaciones.

Type
Comments
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2009

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References

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