Schooling Islam: The Culture and Politics of Modern Muslim Education edited by Robert W. Hefner and Muhammad Qasim Zaman (original) (raw)

2008, American Anthropologist

Eastern Cherokee Fishing, by Heidi M. Altman, is a welcome addition to the corpus of literature on Cherokee ethnoecology. Using a diachronic approach, Altman interweaves archaeological, linguistic, and historical documentary information with her own ethnographic field research to examine traditional and contemporary fishing practices among the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians living on the Qualla Boundary, western North Carolina. Her objectives are to understand the function of fishing in past and present-day Cherokee economy, to examine indigenous ecological knowledge and its adaptation to local changes, to analyze the boundaries of identity construction within the context of today's ethnotourism, and to compare fish terminology between Cherokee and English vernacular. The resulting publication is an informative presentation of how Cherokee fishing evolved from a seasonally significant aspect of a mixed subsistence economy in the past to a profitable, nearly year-round role in a cash-based tourist economy today. Moreover, from the perspective of fishing, Altman explores cultural, linguistic, and environmental changes, as related to aquatic resources, spanning the period from European contact to the present. The book is divided into six chapters followed by six short appendices. The introductory chapter presents the methodology and theoretical approach used, the objectives of the study, and a brief discussion of the Cherokee language. Ethnographic fieldwork includes conducting interviews with local Cherokee and non-Cherokee people to collect life histories, folktales, and reminiscences about fish and fishing; arranging fishing expeditions to observe traditional and modern fishing practices; and holding directed elicitation sessions to obtain names of fishes. Documentary sources are consulted for information on traditional cultural practices and beliefs related to fishing. Chapter 2 reviews Cherokee history in relation to changes in the local environment. Perspectives on the environment are gleaned from early contact narratives, later ethnohistorical documents, and recent ethnographic interviews. Altman examines environmental changes resulting from the earlier impact of colonization and the later pro