Bohannan, Shakespeare in the Bush (article)
Starn, Ishi's Brain

1) What are some of the assumptions about kinship and morality revealed in Bohannan and the Tiv's different interpretations of Hamlet? What does her experience suggest about the process of doing fieldwork?

2) How do depictions of Ishi and his significance at various points over the past 100 years reflect ideas of infantilization and romanticization?

3) How did Kroeber's interest in Ishi reflect elements of evolutionary thinking, even as it also bore the anti-evolutionary ideas of his mentor Franz Boas?

4) What does the story of the repatriation of Ishi's remains reveal about the cultural and identity politics of contemporary Native Americans?

5) What broader lessons should we take from Ishi's story?

 

For more information, contact:  aleshkow@holycross.edu