Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Essay -- Anthropology

Body Ritual Among the Nacirema What is the precise geographical location of this strange tribe, the Nacirema? The Nacirema is a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. Little is known of their origin, though tradition states that they came from the east. What are the private and secret shrines of the Nacirema? In the Nacirema, the belief is that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Every household has one or more shrines devoted to the hope that mans body will be changed through the use of the powerful influences of ritual and ceremony. Each family has at least on such shrine; the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. The rites are normally only discussed with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries. The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into the wall. Many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he could live. These preparations are secured from a variety of specialized practitioners. The most powerful of these are the medicine men, whose assistance must be rewarded with substantial gifts. Who are the Nacirema’s holy-mouth-men? In the hierarchy of magical practitioners, and below the medicine men in prestige, are specialists whose designation is b...