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Chapter 8. Recontextualizing Revitalization: Cosmology and Cultural Stability in the Adoption of Peyotism Among the Yuchi
- University of Nebraska Press
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 [First Page] [183], (1) Lines: 0 to 18 ——— 0.0pt PgV ——— Normal Page PgEnds: TEX [183], (1) 8. recontextualizing revitalization Cosmology and Cultural Stability in the Adoption of Peyotism among the Yuchi Jason Baird Jackson During summer 1993 I had the great fortune to begin a personal and research relationship with members of the Yuchi tribe, people of Woodland Indian heritage who live today in the region south and west of Tulsa, Oklahoma. My initial studies of Yuchi ethnography were focused on the recent history of community social institutions, particularly the ceremonial ground organizations in which distinctly Yuchi ritual and religious life persists (Jackson 2003). Despite this initial focus, my discussions with Yuchi elders ranged over a wide array of topics, and, as my years of involvement with Yuchi life and people have lengthened, I have had the additional benefit of seeing Yuchi community life through the lenses of history and personal experience. This chapter draws on these experiences in an effort to consider the Native American Church within the context of Yuchi culture and the anthropological study of revitalization movements. Prominent among those Yuchi elders who have expended considerable effort in sharing Yuchi cultural values and history with me is Jimmie Skeeter. For most of the 20th century, Mr. Skeeter had been an active participant in and keen observer of the life of his people. During the final year of his long and fruitful life, I had the honor of spending time with him. Like most of the Yuchi elders I have known, he possessed broad interests and an active intellect. He not only taught me much about his people but also coached me through my initial struggles with the strange anthropological business of actively learning an unfamiliar culture. In June of my first summer in Oklahoma we sat together in the shade outside his home in the Yuchi community of Duck Creek, seeking to escape the midsummer heat. We were enjoying the breezes that thankfully come at sunset during the Oklahoma summer, and we talked intermittently between silent pauses that were normal for him and still 184 jackson 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 [184], (2 Lines: 18 ——— 6.4pt P ——— Normal PgEnds: [184], (2 unnatural for me. The Native American Church emerged as a topic after I commented to him on seeing what I thought was a set of tipi poles in his backyard. He indicated that they were tipi poles and that they were used when he sponsored Native American Church meetings at his home. In the context of this discussion he related an informal telling of the account that follows. After his thoughts had wound around to another pause, I jumped in, excited by the detail and richness of Mr. Skeeter’s account. I made a request for a retelling, this time for my tape recorder. He agreed, and as is evident from the framing techniques he used, his audience for the second telling was no longer me but was instead the Yuchi community that he thought might one day find his narrative useful. Mr. Skeeter began: The year I don’t know, but I might get pretty close to the year. I’ll just tell it in English because a lot of them don’t understand the Yuchi language. Alright, I am going to say a few words regarding the Native American Church, to the Yuchi people. The story I got [was] that when my grandfather Big Mosquito had a service at his home, Sac and Fox Tribe of those people conduct[ed] a service at my grandfather’s home. It must have been during the time of World War I, the years when it [the Native American Church among the Yuchi] started. So this [peyote] service was for my uncle. He was going into the [military] service, so they had a service for him at my grandfather’s home. So in the service, they went through, [they] stayed up all night, and my grandfather sat outside and listened to what went on. And the reason [that] he could understand what...