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Irving Goldman (September 2, 1911 – April 7, 2002) was an American anthropologist. He is known for his acute ability to reconstruct the
worldview A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural ...
s and systems of thought of the
indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
whose lives and thought he analysed in several major works, some now regarded as classics in the field of
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
.


Life

Goldman was born in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
to Louis Goldman, an immigrant Russian
carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...
, and his wife Golda, who died before he was six years old. Three elder brothers had died from a
plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...
epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...
in
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
before his parents took the step to immigrate to the United States. He intended to make a career in medicine, and graduated from
Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...
as a pre-med student in 1933, but quickly changed directions and went, as an "eager but utterly unoriented student" to study under
Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...
at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. Under Boas's supervision, he completed his PhD, with a thesis on the Alkatcho Carrier Indians of
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, having done research among the
Modoc Indians The Modoc are a Native American people who originally lived in the area which is now northeastern California and central Southern Oregon. They are currently divided between Oregon and Oklahoma and are enrolled in either of two federally recogn ...
in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
in the meantime (1934). His first major publication consisted of four chapters of a book co-authored with its by editor
Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Co ...
, namely, ''Cooperation and Competition Among Primitive Peoples,'' (1937). When Boaz received a substantial
grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama *Grant, Inyo County, C ...
from the
Social Science Research Council The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is a US-based, independent, international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines. Established in Manhattan in 1923, it today maintains a he ...
, Goldman was the beneficiary, along with several of his colleagues, (
Buell Quain Buell Halvor Quain (May 31, 1912 – August 2, 1939) was an American ethnologist who, after graduating from University of Wisconsin–Madison and studying as a graduate student at Columbia University, worked with native peoples in Fiji and Brazil ...
,
Jules Henry Jules Henry (November 29, 1904 – September 23, 1969) was an American anthropology, anthropologist. After studies at the City College of New York, Henry earned his Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University in 193 ...
, William Lipkind, Bernard Mishkin,
Ruth Landes Ruth Landes (October 8, 1908 – February 11, 1991) was an American cultural anthropologist best known for studies on the Brazilian religion of Candomblé and her published study on the topic, ''City of Women'' (1947). Landes is recognized by som ...
, Morris Siegal, and Charles Wagley) to open up what was then a ''
terra incognita ''Terra incognita'' or ''terra ignota'' (Latin "unknown land"; ''incognita'' is stressed on its second syllable in Latin, but with variation in pronunciation in English) is a term used in cartography for regions that have not been mapped or do ...
'' for anthropology. Goldman himself was assigned to study
Chibchan The Chibchan languages (also Chibchan, Chibchano) make up a language family indigenous to the Isthmo-Colombian Area, which extends from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia and includes populations of these countries as well as Nicaragua, Costa ...
-descended Páez of the Central
Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
of
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
. However, he defied his Department and on his own initiative decided to venture into the Vaupés for his fieldwork. The result was ten months of
fieldwork Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct fie ...
in 1939-1940, from September to June, in the southern region of Vaupés spent studying the Cubeo people of the Cuduiarí, which at the time was an 'anthropological
terra incognita ''Terra incognita'' or ''terra ignota'' (Latin "unknown land"; ''incognita'' is stressed on its second syllable in Latin, but with variation in pronunciation in English) is a term used in cartography for regions that have not been mapped or do ...
'. The result was a monograph, ''The Cubeo: Indians of the Northwest Amazon,'' still regarded by specialists as "the very best book on the Vaupés region". His work on the Cubeo, the name being a Europeanization of the Tukano jesting term ''Kebewá'' (meaning 'the people who are not') is still considered a classic in its field.
Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff (6 March 1912 – 17 May 1994) was an Austrian anthropologist and archaeologist. He is known for his fieldwork among many different Amerindian cultures such as in the Amazonian tropical rainforests (e.g. Desana Tucano) ...
called his
structural analysis Structural analysis is a branch of Solid Mechanics which uses simplified models for solids like bars, beams and shells for engineering decision making. Its main objective is to determine the effect of loads on the physical structures and thei ...
of Cuneo society 'among the best that have been written on the
social organization In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and social groups. Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, s ...
of Amazonian Indians in general. His acute observations combined with meticulous scholarship make this a book of lasting value.' The expertise he gained from his field work in
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
led to Goldman's recruitment as an analyst of the region. He worked in
Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
's Bureau of
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
n Research. When
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
broke out, he was drafted and assigned to intelligence work with Latin America as his area of analysis. Specifically, he worked as a research analyst for the
Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs The Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, later known as the Office for Inter-American Affairs, was a United States agency promoting inter-American cooperation (Pan-Americanism) during the 1940s, especially in commercial and econ ...
from 1942–1943. He was reassigned, with the
rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...
of
2nd Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
, to the
Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...
until war's end. He was then transferred to the
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
, as Chief of Branch for the Office of Research Analysis, until he was released in July 1947 as a
security risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environme ...
.
Ruth Benedict Ruth Fulton Benedict (June 5, 1887 – September 17, 1948) was an American anthropologist and folklorist. She was born in New York City, attended Vassar College, and graduated in 1909. After studying anthropology at the New School of Social Re ...
managed to secure him an appointment to
Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Supervision system, Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sara ...
, in
Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...
, New York. He was subsequently interviewed, in 1953, by the
McCarthyist McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origina ...
Jenner Committee. part of the
Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...
but, while answering all questions regarding himself, he refused to divulge the names of other members of the
Communist Party of the United States The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...
, citing his rights under the
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
, a risky tactic at the time, in the face of threats that he would be cited for
contempt Contempt is a pattern of attitudes and behaviour, often towards an individual or a group, but sometimes towards an ideology, which has the characteristics of disgust and anger. The word originated in 1393 in Old French contempt, contemps, ...
. He had joined the American Communist Party in 1936, but left it in 1942. His individual moral position was supported by Sarah Lawrence College and he was able to continue teaching there until his retirement in 1980. In the postwar period, he conducted fieldwork among the
Tzotzil The Tzotzil are an indigenous Maya people of the central Chiapas highlands in southern Mexico. As cited by Alfredo López Austin (1997), p. 133, 148 and following. As of 2000, they numbered about 298,000. The municipalities with the largest Tzo ...
of
Chamula San Juan Chamula is a ''municipio'' (municipality) and township in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It is situated some from San Cristóbal de las Casas. As of 2010, the municipality had a total population of 76,941. Virtually the entire populati ...
Indians in
Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. He returned for two stints of field research among the Cuneo in 1968-1970, and 1979 From 1980, he taught at the
New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...
until his full retirement in 1987. After his fundamental work on the Cubeo Goldman went on to publish monumental, if controversial, studies on two other classic areas of anthropological interest, on Polynesian societies, and on the Kwakiutl of North America. For him, the development of the discipline of anthropology best progressed, in his view, by a
dialectic Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing ...
al 'interplay between
field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...
and armchair', which he proceeded to undertake by advancing general interpretations. He died in 2002 at the age of 90.


Polynesian Society

Goldman turned his attention to what he saw as the twin features of early societies, religious worldviews and
aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At t ...
. Both of these latter two societies he regarded as examples of a primitive 'aristocracy'. In his view, "civilizations are the product of developing aristocracy", and their impact operates predominantly through the medium of
status Status (Latin plural: ''statūs''), is a state, condition, or situation, and may refer to: * Status (law) ** City status ** Legal status, in law ** Political status, in international law ** Small entity status, in patent law ** Status confere ...
-rivalry, status being analysed in 18 Polynesian societies in terms of
mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a ...
,
Tohunga In the culture of the Māori of New Zealand, a tohunga (tōhuka in Southern Māori dialect) is an expert practitioner of any skill or art, either religious or otherwise. Tohunga include expert priests, healers, navigators, carvers, builders, teache ...
(expertise) and ''Toa'' (military prowess). Though the
evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
ary reconstruction was dubious, the analysis of status and power gained acclamation. The thesis behind work on Polynesia is contained in its
keynote A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...
frontispiece quotation from Balzac: :
"The noble of every age has done his best to invent a life which he, and he only, can live."
At stake were three issues. One was historical: the nature of Polynesian societies before contact with the West irremediably altered them (2) How did existing socio-political systems function?, and (3) what were the underlying dynamics that accounted for the differentiation of social forms? In Alan Howard's view, given the virtual absence of reliable and detailed accounts of traditional Polynesian
social systems In sociology, a social system is the patterned network of relationships constituting a coherent whole that exist between individuals, groups, and institutions. It is the formal Social structure, structure of role and status that can form in a smal ...
, any attempt to reconstruct the ancient society was doomed to remain speculative, and yield only a theoretical sandcastle. He compared Goldman's work to that of his comprehensive predecessors, Robert W. Williamson and the latter's editor Ralph Piddington, whose wariness about the possibility of working out a system of
kinship In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that ...
structures from the large confusion of primary sources from dubious hands stood in marked contrast to Goldman's ambitious overview. Marshall Sahlins, in a critique of an earlier version of Goldman's theory, had implied that 'status rivalry', if not the operation of a type of political system, looks in Goldman's approach to be some 'disembodied value' or 'attribute of the Polynesian psyche' He proposed three evolutionary historic phases: ''Traditional'' (
seniority Seniority is the state of being older or placed in a higher position of status relative to another individual, group, or organization. For example, one employee may be senior to another either by role or rank (such as a CEO vice a manager), or by ...
of
descent Descent may refer to: As a noun Genealogy and inheritance * Common descent, concept in evolutionary biology * Kinship, one of the major concepts of cultural anthropology **Pedigree chart or family tree ** Ancestry ** Lineal descendant **Heritag ...
determines the way
authority In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...
and
power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...
are allocated, is religious and headed by a sacred
chieftain A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized a ...
); ''Open'' (where the traditional system undergoes modification to allow
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
military and political power to operate, sharpening status differences), and ''Stratified'' (where a clear-cut break in status emerges, which is both economic and political) in Polynesian cultural development, with each phase having its own characteristic forms of kinship, authority,
rite Rite may refer to: * Ritual, an established ceremonious act * Rite of passage, a ceremonious act associated with social transition Religion * Rite (Christianity), a sacred ritual or liturgical tradition in various Christian denominations * Cath ...
s, and beliefs. The status
lineage Lineage may refer to: Science * Lineage (anthropology), a group that can demonstrate its common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of descent from an ancestor * Lineage (evolution), a temporal sequence of individuals, populati ...
in Polynesia differed from the conventional form in its lack of
exogamy Exogamy is the social norm of marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which two groups c ...
. Goldman states "descent is not really a ''means'' to status, it is the heart of status" (Goldman's emphasis) and so, writes Alan Howard, descent is rooted in the overriding principle of
honour Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...
, and thus a certain "logistical freedom" exists for commoners to manoeuver. Thus, "structure thus arises from human motives." In the words of Howard, Goldman sees 'cultural forms in Polynesia as primarily resultant from the cumulative decisions of chiefs engaged strategically and tactically in a continual game of honour and power.' The book received mixed reviews. F.T. Legg found it to be 'a work of very high merit and considerable scholarship.' Alan Howard was generally dismissive of this, the ambitious work as symptomatic of a long Western armchair theorist obsession with the idea that '' l'homme naturel'' could somehow be discovered in the
Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
, though he wrote that the book's strength, brilliance and acuity lay in Goldman's analysis of the political dynamics of traditional Polynesian societies. As with other specialists, the main charge laid against his interpretation was that his schematic reconstructions smacked of (citing a 1957 paper by Hawthorne and Belshaw) "thinly veiled
monism Monism attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept e.g., existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished: * Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., i ...
" where a constant, namely status rivalry, is made to account for variability.


Kwakiutl

He then completed his major study, long in the making, and based on many manuscripts, some 17 volumes, which Boas and his native informants such as George Hunt had never published, on the Kwakiutl with his book, ''The Mouth of Heaven.'' Goldman set himself the task of reconstructing from the mass of these relatively unexplored materials the religious thought of the Kwakiutl. This was one of the legs of his growing interest in the formation of early aristocratic societies, which he believed to be intimately tied to religious systems. Extending his ideas, he thought that tribal elites, especially hereditary ones, reflect a religious idea. He sets forth his view of the priority of religion in his opening remark that: :
If a culture can be said to exist as a coherent system of thought, the source of coherence is in its religion... religion as an integrative system of thought identifies all fundamental concepts. The religious structures arises out of bservations of nature out of comprehension of natural principles. Ultimately, then, it is perceived natural principles that integrate a society and govern its structure.'
The thesis that emerged, according to which all aspects of Kwakiutl culture, and especially the key ceremony of the much-studied potlatch, hitherto studied as a classic example of materialist interests underlying ritual organizations, were coterminous with religion, and religion in term was grounded in the way nature is perceived, proved controversial among area specialists- As an anti-functionalist, he was opposed to cultural materialism. Bill Holm was sceptical, observing that Goldman lacked adequate familiarity with the Kwakiutl language in which these primary texts were written. This same charge from area specialists had been made earlier against his work on Polynesia. This lack of intimate linguistic knowledge caused him to make many errors in his review of Kwakiutl texts, and Holm found Goldman's conclusions both unconvincing and disturbing.
Philip Drucker Philip Drucker (1911–1982) was an American anthropologist and archaeologist who specialized in the Native American peoples of the Northwest Coast of North America. He also played an important part in the early excavations under Matthew Stirlin ...
ended his review by challenging Goldman's insistence that all aspects of the Kwakiutl lifeway were expressive of religious belief, and judged this approach preconceived, extremist and not believable. For him, Goldman's argument was both monotonous and biased. To those who criticized his
reductionism Reductionism is any of several related philosophical ideas regarding the associations between phenomena which can be described in terms of other simpler or more fundamental phenomena. It is also described as an intellectual and philosophical pos ...
, which inverted the materialist or sociological reductionism of his times and discipline, he replied:- :
'anthropologists belittle their own subject matter and the human beings who have produced it by arguing eternally like Durkheimeans that natural
taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
derive from social categories. The savage is smitten with himself-an original
narcissist Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism exists on a co ...
-and sees only himself in nature. We will not have a grown-up anthropology until we grant to the "
noble savage A noble savage is a literary stock character who embodies the concept of the indigene, outsider, wild human, an "other" who has not been "corrupted" by civilization, and therefore symbolizes humanity's innate goodness. Besides appearing in man ...
" parallel powers of reasoning, and qualities of curiosity and of close observation. I say that we should leave the fascinating questions of chickens and their eggs to coffee-klatsch
metaphysicians Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
!'


Notable remarks

Goldman characterized the Kwakiutl view of the animal-human relationship in the following vivid
metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
:- :
"The relations between men and animals may be visualized as two strands, coiled helix-wise around each other, touching at some point, separating at others, but always symmetrically positioned. When they touch, they exchange powers; when they are separate, they reflect each other -humans appear as animals, and animals as humans."
Of anthropologists he said: :
"The Western ethnographer will have to recognize that "natives think and reason philosophically and scientifically. In any case, the anthropological interest must move in this Boasian direction. It must shift from the
solipsistic Solipsism (; ) is the philosophical idea that only one's mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known an ...
fascination with one's own ratiocinations to a serious interest in what the native
savants Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...
have to say."Enid Schildkrout, "A Conversation with Irving Goldman", p. 553


Works

*'The
Ifugao Ifugao, officially the Province of Ifugao ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ifugao; tl, Lalawigan ng Ifugao), is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Lagawe and it borders Benguet to the ...
of the Philippine Islands,'in M. Mead (1937) ch.5, pp. 153ff. *'The Kwakiutl Indians of Vancouver Island,' in M. Mead (1937) ch.6, pp180ff. *'The Zuni Indians of New Mexico', in M. Mead (1937) ch.10, pp313ff. *'The Bathonga of
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
,' in M. Mead (1937) ch.11, pp. 354ff. *'The Alkatcho Carrier of British Columbia,' in
Ralph Linton Ralph Linton (27 February 1893 – 24 December 1953) was an American anthropologist of the mid-20th century, particularly remembered for his texts ''The Study of Man'' (1936) and ''The Tree of Culture'' (1955). One of Linton's major contributio ...
(ed.) ''Acculturation in Seven American Indian Tribes,'' D. Appleton-Century, New York, 1940 pp. 333–385. *'The Alkatcho Carrier: Historical Background of Crest Prerogatives,' in
American Anthropologist ''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), published quarterly by Wiley. The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John W ...
, July–September, 1941, Vol. 43 (3), pp. 396–418. *'Status Rivalry and Cultural Evolution in Polynesia,' in American Anthropologist 1955 (Vol. 57) pp. 680–697. *''The Cubeo: Indians of the Northwest Amazon,'' University of Illinois Press, 1963 *''Ancient Polynesian Society,'' University of Chicago Press, 1970 *''The Mouth of Heaven,'' John Wiley and Sons, 1975, *''Cubeo Hehénewa religious thought: metaphysics of a northwestern Amazonian people,'' (ed. Peter J. Wilson) Columbia University Press, 2004


Footnotes


References

*Mary Crauderueff
Register to the Papers of Irving Goldman
National Anthropological Archives,
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
, July 2008. *Philip Drucker, 'Review of ''The Mouth of Heaven: An Introduction to Kwakiutl Religious Thought'' by Irving Goldman,' in ''American Ethnologist'', Vol. 6, No. 1 (Feb., 1979), pp. 158–164 *H. B. Hawthorn, 'Review of Ancient Polynesian Society. by Irving Goldman,' in
Pacific Affairs ''Pacific Affairs'' (''PA'') is a Canadian peer-reviewed scholarly journal that publishes academic research on contemporary political, economic, and social issues in Asia and the Pacific. The journal was founded in 1926 as the newsletter for the ...
, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Winter, 1971–1972), p. 651 *Alan Howard, 'Polynesian Social Stratification Revisited: Reflections on Castles Built of Sand (and a Few Bits of Coral), review of Ancient Polynesian Society by Irving Goldman,' in ''
American Anthropologist ''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), published quarterly by Wiley. The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John W ...
'', New Series, Vol. 74, No. 4 (Aug., 1972), pp. 811–823 *Bill Holm, 'Review of The Mouth of Heaven: An Introduction to Kwakiutl Religious Thought by Irving Goldman,' in ''Ethnohistory'', Vol. 23, No. 1 (Winter, 1976), pp. 72–74 *Jean E. Jackson, 'Irving Goldman (1911¬–2002): A Brief Remembrance,' in ''Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America,'' Volume 1, Number 1, June 2003 *F. T. Legg, ' Review of Ancient Polynesian Society. by Irving Goldman,'
Man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...
, New Series, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Jun., 1972), p. 347 *Douglas L. Oliver, ''Polynesia in Early Historic Times,'' Part 4, Bess Press, 2002 *Margaret Mead (ed.) ''Cooperation and Competition Among Primitive Peoples,'' (1937) Transaction Publishers, 2003 reprint *David H. Price, ''Threatening anthropology: McCarthyism and the FBI's surveillance of activist anthropologists,'' Duke University Press, 2004 *David H. Price, 'Standing Up For Academic Freedom: The Case of Irving Goldman', ''Anthropology Today,'' 20(4) 2004 pp. 16–21. *
Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff (6 March 1912 – 17 May 1994) was an Austrian anthropologist and archaeologist. He is known for his fieldwork among many different Amerindian cultures such as in the Amazonian tropical rainforests (e.g. Desana Tucano) ...
, 'Review of The Cubeo: Indians of the Northwest Amazon by Irving Goldman,' in
American Anthropologist ''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), published quarterly by Wiley. The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John W ...
, New Series, Vol. 65, No. 6 (Dec., 1963), pp. 1377–1379 *Paul Rubel & Abraham Rosman, 'Irving Goldman (1911–2002),' in
American Anthropologist ''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), published quarterly by Wiley. The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John W ...
, volume 105, p. 4. * Marshall Sahlins, ''Social Stratification in Polynesia,'' University of Washington Press, 1958. *Enid Schildkrout, with Irving Goldman. 'A Conversation with Irving Goldman,' ''American Ethnologist'', Vol. 16, No. 3 (Aug., 1989), pp. 551–563 *Jody Shenn, with Judith Schwartzstein,
''Remembering Irving Goldman.''
Sarah Lawrence College Newsletter, Wednesday, May 15, 2002 *Bradd Shore, ''Culture in mind: cognition, culture, and the problem of meaning,'' Oxford University Press US, 1998 *Donald Tayler, 'Review: The Cubeo: Indians of the Northwest Amazon. by Irving Goldman,'
Man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...
, Vol. 65 (Sep - Oct., 1965), p. 171 {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldman, Irving 1911 births 2002 deaths American communists American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish American social scientists Jewish anthropologists Brooklyn College alumni 20th-century American anthropologists