Journeys to the Edge: In the Footsteps of an Anthropologist

Rewards of Fieldwork

Rewards of Fieldwork I can’t tell you that everything was a disaster. To start with, there were two extraordinary pleasures: spending eighteen months in the company of tolerant people, and discovering I was making sense of a wholly alien way of life on my first try. And my other rewards were many; I will describe just three of them. It slowly became apparent that Paliyans were weaving me into their social fabric; several good friendships developed; and I was able, by project’s end, to set out for home with a relatively healthy family. Never Quite One of the Boys, But . . . If my living in a Paliyan community was problematic at first—for them as well as for me—by working on it we fostered a relationship that felt quite comfortable. People became less apprehensive as I learned to avoid acts that might worry or offend them. Even when I noticed lingering remnants of guardedness, I had no reason to take it personally. After all, weren’t Paliyans only protecting themselves in a time-honored way from the assaults that the world passes out to them? In time, my interview sessions became more relaxed, and our interpersonal relations took a warm and positive turn. Regardless of what you may have read about the tendency of anthropologists to “go native,” most in my field who have done studies in cultures so different from their own are likely to be viewed by their subjects as childlike in their innocence and as thoroughly alien, as much so as 79 green Martians would be. I know I was. That doesn’t mean, though, that we are unable to develop warm relations.Wasn’t ET of film fame lovable? One measure of my improving situation was that, during visits of the gods, four of the conservative, wary Paliyan caamis addressed me. Two of them spontaneously came over to me and took up matters of my family’s and my welfare and responsibilities. The third caami needed no prolonged coaxing to respond to a woman’s enquiries about my abdominal pain. And the fourth one, after some negotiation, went as far as including me among those whom he addressed as “grandchild.” Better yet, the people around me nodded, smiled, and voiced their approval of my being referred to in this way. Although caamis both tell Paliyans not to mix with outsiders and tend to refrain from making an appearance when strangers are present, caamis proved accepting of me in two different Paliyan communities. I read this as an encouraging sign that my quiet behavior had earned me a degree of social inclusion. When we are thousands of miles from our homes and family doctors, illness is doubly nasty. It creates a feeling of being not only unwell but also lost and vulnerable. So you can imagine how wonderful it felt to have Paliyans extend me their unsolicited help when I was flat on my back with ulcer pain. The concern on their faces was real and reassuring ; it gave me a sense of being among caring friends. Knowing my various needs, they shared even minor health measures with me. Recall that we were moving about for part of each day, usually without footgear , in a tropical thorn forest. It became my routine to examine each of my soles two or three time daily to pluck out thorns and treat as best I could all the accompanying infections. The young people soon introduced me to a small plant our botanists know as gigantic swallowwort. From its cut stem drips a powerful astringent latex that blanches and puckers the skin; within fifteen minutes of applying a drop of it, the thorn will emerge and all signs of infection will vanish. I chose to be self-sufficient with my food. This turned out well, for it was exactly what Paliyans expected of their fellows. Paliyans did, however , make at least some gifts of food to close kin, say to adult siblings of the opposite sex, to elderly parents, or to grandchildren. It might have been as an extension of that practice, or because people grew used to sharing their observations with me in the forest and sharing information in interviews, that I was occasionally offered food gifts in a similar spirit. Someone would come to me with a warm smile and say, “Eat this!”Thus it was that I was given tasty roots, many types of fruit as they 80 Journeys to the Edge [3.129.247...