Language and Myth (Ernst Cassirer)

Book Review: Language and Myth – by Ernst Cassirer – translated by Susanne K. Langer (Dover 1946, 1953)


This is an early work. The translator’s preface notes that Cassirer was interested in a theory of knowledge and wanted to include mythical knowledge emphasizing philosophical interpretations and implications of myth. Thus, the book can be considered a study in epistemology. He discovered that language is more a reflection of mythmaking than of rationalism. As she states it:


“Language as “the symbolization of thought, exhibits two entirely different modes of thought. Yet in both modes the mind is powerful and creative. It expresses itself in different forms, one of which is discursive logic, the other creative imagination.” 


Conception leads to symbolic expression. The symbols become the body of the idea. Ideas become language and ideas become myth or stories, both symbolic expressions. Language and myth likely co-evolved and continue to do so. Myths are figurative. Logic and reason are more literal. Language leads to both modes of thought. She says Cassirer came to realize a true philosophy of mind requires both a theory of knowledge and a theory of prelogical conception and expression. She seems to suggest that logic is a more evolved form than myth/prelogic. Not sure I agree or if it matters. 


Cassirer notes that name and etymology has always been intertwined with myth, that name and essence are intimately related. He mentions Herbert Spencer’s idea of the mythico-religious veneration of natural phenomena and philologist Max Mueller who considered myth to be attempts to account for things where language itself was inadequate. Mueller noted that etymologies and the sounds of words could support mythic relations between things. Mueller said:


“Mythology is inevitable, it is natural, it is an inherent necessity of language, if we recognize in language the outward form and manifestation of thought; it is in fact the dark shadow which language throws upon thought, and which can never disappear till language becomes entirely commensurate with thought, which it never will.….. Mythology, in the highest sense, is the power exercised by language on thought in every possible sphere of mental activity.”


For Mueller, however, he says, myth is more based on mental deception imposed by language. It is the view that myth, and all art for that matter, is an illusory imitation of reality, a form of idealization that is subjective. Myth, as a form of symbolism, is necessarily at a remove from reality and could potentially obscure what it intends to reveal. All conceptual knowledge, which derives from symbolism that builds concepts, is subject to the limitations of language. Thus, all conceptual knowledge is some level of fiction, some level of suggestion rather than fact and its value is determined by its usefulness in the “real” world. Cassirer disagrees that myth, language, art, and science are mere imitation but that they are also useful ‘ways of seeing.’ Modern writers who agree often refer to the “mythic mind.” As ways of seeing they are symbolic forms unto themselves, not imitations but organs of reality. They are ideational forms. Myth is not merely subjective imitation of the objective as Mueller would have it but a subjective reality unto itself. As such, interpretation of myth cannot be confined to mere reworking of objective reality or natural phenomena. He says: “… it is not a question of what we see in a certain perspective, but of the perspective itself.” 


Without language, how can we make concepts? We can’t. Thus, all knowledge, or at least all conceptual knowledge is language-based. According to Cassirer:


“The insight into the determining and discriminating function, which myth as well as language perform in the mental construction of our world of “things,” seems to be all that a “philosophy of symbolic forms” can teach us.” 


Usener depicted the study of myth as necessarily the study of epistemology, the study of knowledge itself and Cassirer sets out to see if that is true. Does knowing the origins of mythic idea lead to understanding their nature and importance? He goes through Usener’s classifications in his study of language and religion. Usener distinguished three phases in mythological conception. The first and oldest is momentary deities. These refer to spontaneous and instantaneous feelings of the holiness of something. It is intuition that appears and disappears. They do not personify a force of nature, rather they are qualities and parts of life we exalt into deified forms. Usener’s examples were Reason and Understanding, Wealth, Chance, Climax, Feasting, Wine, Or the Body of the Beloved … They arise from spontaneous feelings. Beyond the momentary deities are the special gods, or functional gods, those associated with specific groups, activities, places, and events. Everything has its divine patron in the classical paganisms. Such gods are invoked by their names, which verifies language and myth as twins. Beyond the special gods are the personal gods, which are imbued with not just names but with personalities much like the humans who conceived them. Naming precedes conception which precedes understanding.


The act of naming something is a kind of conceiving, a kind of mental creation. He talks about “ideational synthesis” our ways of making concepts. This comes about normally through discursive thought. He also talks about two logical modes of thought: the individualizing mode of history vs. the generalizing mode of science. History seeks out the “here and now” while science seeks out general rules. 


As well as logical conception there is also mythical conception. Linguistic conception is more aligned to mythical than to logical conception, he notes. Mythical and linguistic conception do not proceed discursively. In logic, everything is categorized and related specifically. Mythical-linguistic thought does not proceed discursively but “under the spell of a mythico-religious attitude.” According to Usener when explaining the momentary gods:


“In absolute immediacy, the individual phenomenon is deified, without the intervention of the most rudimentary class concept; that one thing you see before you, that and nothing else is the god.”


Cassirer mentions Hamann’s dictum:  that poetry is “the mother tongue of humanity,” that the origin of language derives from the poetic aspect of life. Myth is entwined with poetry. Before logical thought comes mythical images. Language also has practical aspects related to what the people do. Cowherders have well-developed cowherding words and ideas but poor agricultural ones. Likely too, their myths involve cows and not agriculture. Usener thought that all general terms in language went through a mythical phase. One example he used is that of nouns that are gendered, being once strongly associated with or as gods and goddesses.


“… it is evident that myth and language play similar roles in the evolution of thought from momentary experience to enduring conceptions, from sense impression to formulation and that their respective functions are mutually conditioned.”


Cassirer was insightful enough to notice the magical powers of words, that words are rooted in mythico-religious ideas. Later writers like David Abrams also noted the animism embedded in everyday language. In many religions, including shamanistic, Ancient Egyptian, and even Judeo-Christian ones, the Word is considered sacred and co-emergent with God or gods. The Word is the first way Chaos is transmuted into Cosmos. Modern sybils and mages may meditate and do magic rituals in order to “receive” special words related to their rites.


In particular, the name of someone was magically powerful. Isis was able to gain power over the great sun god Ra simply by knowing his secret name. Magicians will recall the magical powers of the Hebrew letters. In Tantra it is sometimes said that the seed syllable of a deity is itself the simplest form of that deity. The Ancient Egyptians considered one’s magical name, the Ren, as a component of one’s soul. New initiations and rites of passage often involve new names. Roman slaves were denigrated as nameless, or at least were not allowed legal names. Deities are addressed in certain ritualistic ways including the magic of their names. The names of heroes and kings are remembered and recited. On the other hand, in some eastern teachings it is said we can be attached to names which increases delusion. Particularly, we succumb to nama rupa, name and form, mistaking names or labels or symbols for the things they represent. Babylonians described Chaos as the time and realm where things were unnamed. 


Discursive thought does not just define terms but also establishes and examines relationships between words and ideas. It also explores similarities and differences via metaphor (as does myth). It is analytical and synthetical. It looks at the parts and the whole. Mythic conception, however, does not involve such relationships between words and ideas and is a wholly different kind of thinking. It is not logical but imaginative. Whatever momentary god enraptures us with its mystery and awe inspires our imagination. It is far more a subjective reality than an objective one. Magic suggests that what is named becomes real, that a symbol does not just point to a reality but is also a reality. In some contexts, this is considered dangerous. Mistaking a symbol for what it represents, for its meaning, is useless in logic and discursive thinking but standard practice in mythical thought. 


Cassirer suggests that since Usener’s time etymology studies came a long way. He notes various ethnic studies which indicate that animism, that all objects (and ideas) contain magical spirits (ie., mana). Such ideas inform ritual prescriptions and taboos. He mentions Marett’s early 20^th century idea that this “Taboo-Mana Formula” was regarded as the “minimum definition of religion.” Mythic thought takes impersonal forces and personalizes them, with names and attributes and finally with stories where they have anthropomorphic characteristics. Thus, such forces take form as they are named and given attributes. However, he notes that while what is considered as divine may have attributes in its various parts, when considered as a whole it is without attributes. Thus, the divine becomes something that is beyond words and concepts. This idea is most common among so-called mystics who are said to attain some kind of ineffable unity with the divine. Thus, the beginnings of divinity and how it is considered holistically are at odds. The way he says it is that language, originated co-emergent with myth and its attributes, leads eventually to that last step where divinity transcends language. This is true of ancient thought as well as modern thought.  Ancient Egyptian priests spoke of the “hidden god,” or the unknown god without attributes or name. Ancient Greek philosophers recognized the unity of Being that transcended the parts of Being defined as the various gods. The relationship of the One to the Many was a key study of theirs. This might be seen as the Primum Mobil or as the idea of monotheism embedded in a polytheistic belief system. Cassirer seems to suggest that it is a natural progression, an evolution of sorts, where polytheism eventually becomes monotheism. Thus, the assumptions (false in my opinion) that monotheism is somehow superior or more evolved than polytheism. In Babylon, Egypt, and India the declaration “I am …” identifies the hidden holistic God with the Self. 


“It is only by this transformation of objective existence into subjective being that the Deity is really elevated to the “absolute” realm, to a state that cannot be expressed through any analogy with things or names of things.”


I should note that Buddhists would call this an erroneous view, that of the extreme called eternalism – the notion that there is an eternally existing unchanging God or Self. The opposite extreme is called nihilism – the notion that there is no meaningful existence of any thing or idea. He notes that the Upanishads liberated the previous Indian notions of the Vedas that exact ritual and exact word was a necessity of true religious thought. The Upanishads are less concerned with the relativism of ritual and more concerned with the absoluteness of Being itself. 


The last chapter is called – The Power of Metaphor. Cassirer notes that metaphorical thinking shows both the similarities and differences of myth and language. As often noted, metaphor links language and myth. He notes that Mueller and his school saw mythology as appearing as a result of language. The “root metaphor” that underlies all myth was a verbal phenomenon. Other say myth preceded language. Cassirer sees them as two gradually diverging notions with the same root. He sees myth and language as co-emergent. Usener noted:


“Sense impressions are what the self receives from its encounter with the not-self. And the liveliest of these naturally strive for vocal expression.”


Thus, Usener has it that vocal expression derives from his notion of the momentary gods defined as “the spiritual excitement caused by some object [or event].”


Again, Cassirer contrasts logic with myth-language, with both linguistic and mythic conception. Logic yields to further analysis, but mythic and linguistic conception do not. Logic is basically a system of rules for handling concepts. Logic is quantitative but myth and language are qualitative such that every part of the whole contains the whole in a sense. 


Sympathetic magic as the magic of analogy is based on the idea that a part can suffice for the whole. A simple example is sprinkling water on the ground to make rain. Another is the notion among some Native Americans that the corn god lives in every grain of corn. Thus, one of the main types of metaphor is substitution of a part for the whole. Language itself has a metaphorical function. That function is not a part of language but inherent in all language. Thus, metaphor is inseparable from language. Language is conceived on the basis of sense experiences and so the meanings to words are also given on the basis of sense experiences. He gives several examples. One is the Egyptian sun god Horus. The sun flies across the sky like a bird flies across the sky. Horus is represented with the head of a hawk. Of course, the sun is not a bird but like a bird in the sense that he flies across the sky every day. Language and myth feed one another and are fed by one another. 


In contrast, in logic words are relegated to mere conceptual signs. Art also was once bound up inseparably with myth (and shamanism). Words were once wholly word magic and pictures wholly picture magic. Yet there is one form of word exploration that retains its relation to the mythic realm, that of poetry, particularly lyrical poetry. Lyrical poetry lives simultaneously in the realms of language and myth, without being under the exclusive control of either. 


Overall, this is a quite interesting foray into the nature of both myth and language.

Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America

Book Review: Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America – by John Avlon (Beast Books, 2010)

Here we harken back to the early days of the Obama presidency, perhaps a more innocent time compared to now, to see the rise of conspiracy-toting pundits whose influences are still relevant. In this book, they are mostly on the political right – many in response to Obama, with only a few given on the left for balance. Since then, however, the left has caught up a bit with anti-science bias and pandering to certain conspiracies and other biases. The internet has aided the fringe much more than many of us expected and that seems to continue with even more vigor today, nearly a decade after this book came out. The author was a speech writer for Rudy Giuliani (irony?) and was deputy policy director for his 2008 campaign, although he identifies more as politically center, more specifically an Independent – socially progressive but fiscally conservative. Avlon points out that many of the revered American leaders have also been more centrist and less polarizing. He notes that such designations may no longer be applicable in a world where political parties and the media are both quite polarized – and still so nowadays.

Lots of fringe groups are mentioned here. One is the Oath Keepers, who say they aim to prevent a dictatorship. It was started by a congressional aide to Ron Paul. Wingnuts are of course those on the political fringes of right and of left. He notes that the economic recession of 2008 led to anxieties that exacerbated hyper-partisanism. He thinks that parties out of power tend to be dominated by their most extreme voices so the right during the Obama years was the most wacko. Ideological activists preach absolutism, he says. Thus, we went from Bush Derangement Syndrome to Obama Derangement Syndrome. Another factor is that Obama was the first African-American president, which also was a new change, one that perhaps aided a new white minority politics that is still happening today. The Oath Keepers is not only a fringe group but one that has strongly influenced the Tea Party.

Wingnuts have been around since at least the 19^th century. Teddy Roosevelt coined the term “lunatic fringe” to describe them. In the 1950’s there was McCarthyism and the John Birch Society prompting the “red scare” where so-called communist sympathizers were ostracized. On the left there were radicals like the Black Panthers. Fringers often compare politicians in power to tyrants like Hitler or Stalin.

He notes, and I concur from recent observations, that the more extreme voices are often the loudest and the most willing to flood social media and the internet with their views. He thinks loyalty to country is being replaced by loyalty to party. 

Obama won the 2008 election against McCain by the largest margin in 20 years. During the campaigns Sarah Palin began her rants about “real Americans” she would later feed to the Tea Party. He notes that hardcore partisans like “play-to-the-base” politics. This has always been the modus operandi of Trump. Is he a hardcore partisan? I would say so. His views seem pretty inflexible and that is a hallmark in my opinion. He gives lip service to being flexible but usually only is flexible when he realizes he can’t get away with something. The embers of the seemingly perpetual culture wars are stoked with partisanism. I would say also stoked with inflexible views which tend to be more common in partisans but also possible to a lesser extent with moderates. 

He does note that vigorous “hatred” of G.W. Bush by the far left was a thing. Bush was compared to Hitler. Of course, these days any popular politician should expect to be depicted in caricature as Hitler.

He also makes the interesting point that centrists are often dubbed traitors or heretics by the partisans and the whole notion of compromise is seen as heresy. Thus, an us-and-them mindset is cultivated. We see this today with Trump using bully tactics to try and silence and weed-out anti-Trump Republicans. We also see it on the left with centrists and moderates being depicted as worse than Republicans, and thus the true enemy.

He notes the growing voting bloc identifying as Independents in the U.S., then 40% (I think now similar). He says most are fiscally conservative but socially liberal. He states that then 11% of Americans described themselves as liberal Democrats and 15% described themselves as conservative Republicans. Obama did not receive an ideological mandate and neither did Trump but both, especially Trump, have acted as if they did. Ideologues are ‘true believers’ who tend to see those who differ from them in belief as enemies. Such ideologues are antithetical to one of the founding US mottos, e pluribus umum, out of many, one. He talks about the moderate majority needing to stand up to and dismiss the loud extremes. Indeed, I do think, or at least hope, there is still a moderate majority.

The Tea Party protests began with Libertarian Ron Paul’s 2008 campaign. After Obama was elected the protests turned to government spending, particularly the bailouts (required around the world) in response to the economic downturn. Few now would question such spending to shore up imploding worth but then it was an excuse and an opportunity to rail about the excesses of Big Government and out of control spending. Obama’s new presidency combined with big spending brought charges of Obama being a socialist (although later the radical left would call him a Republican in disguise!) It is true that Obama campaigned on being non-partisan and reigning in spending, but the spending was probably necessary as he took office in the midst of an historical economic crash. However, he turned out to be more partisan than non-partisan, but he made some effort. Bailout backlash turned out to be a foothold for the Tea Party. On Tax Day, April 15, 2009 there were Tea Party protests in 346 towns drawing 300,000 people. One interesting note is that the Tea Party protests were quite benign, no violence or vandalism, although a few years later their rhetoric would inspire a deluded individual to shoot Democrat Rep Gabrielle Giffords.  Later the Tea Party went after the town halls typically sponsored by congresspeople for their constituents in August. Again, it was Big Government and spending that were demonized, now Obama’s health care plan especially. The teabaggers were fed their marching orders by the radio and TV pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Beck has more recently praised Obama. In his younger days Obama reportedly studied and taught Saul Alinsky’s techniques put out in his early 70’s book, Rules for Radicals, a radical ‘war’ manual for the left. The Tea Party actually took a similar approach, utilizing street theatre and radical messaging, for the right. Obama was mostly branded a communist. His health care plan was especially reviled. Fox News host Glenn Beck became the guru of the Tea Party, although years later he would regret demonizing Obama and offer him some praise. Advocates were called patriots, insinuating that those who were not Tea Party enthusiasts were not patriots. 

There was resistance to Obama as there is resistance to Trump now. White nationalist and White supremacist ranks grew a bit. Avlon profiles some of the more virulent Obama haters who called him a Muslim, a communist, Hitler, and the Anti-Christ. Some pastors and conservative radio hosts pushed the issue the most. He was often called by his full name Barack Hussein Obama, to exemplify his connection to Islam and having a similar name as Saddam Hussein. Of course, the real socialists and communists confirmed that Obama was no where near them in policies. Later, followers of self-avowed socialists like Bernie Sanders would suggest Obama was too conservative, just Bush-lite! Some people, like some in the infamous Westboro Baptist Church actually believed Obama was the Anti-Christ predicted in the biblical Book of Revelations. According to polls many Republicans actually believed that or at least stated that they did. 

Avlon notes that when Obama became president, white minority politics was born. Perhaps he is right since in more recent times the issue of non-whites gaining population on whites seems to have generated interest among the more racially insensitive people who actually believe that retaining a white majority matters in some way. This makes for resentment among those who believe in such a way. The Tea Party talked about “taking “our” country back” and about “real Americans.” Radio hosts Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh pushed similar sentiments, deriding ideas like multiculturism. Pat Buchanan was another extremist who peddled such ideas: ie., the dangers of multiculturalism, multiple languages, ethnicities, and races. In the American south the prominent display of the confederate flag was deemed “heritage, not hate,” although recently with the removal of some the massive amount of monuments venerating confederates (far more than the non-confederates who defeated them) is perhaps a sign that such brazen attitudes are fading. Palin’s “real America” implied that there was a “false America” and the guy with the middle name Hussein was its rep. People chanted against “Osama Obama,” Of course, Obama didn’t run on being a president for black America and even got re-elected by a wide margin. 

Avlon writes about the changes through the years that brought the GOP, once the ‘party of Lincoln’ who subdued the white southern Democrats to the ‘party of Reagan’ against the big government that threatened to be more inclusive. He writes a lot about the racism that came up over and over in various contexts. It has slowed down a bit overall but there is still plenty, with some more subtle than it used to be, since it is less tolerated these days. 

Another charge on both sides of the political aisle was the RINO’s and DINO’s: Republican in name only and Democrat in name only. This was simply a way to say that those with certain views on certain topics weren’t “real Republicans” or “real Democrats. Get too far towards the middle of the aisle and you will be deemed a traitor. Such thinking reinforces partisanism and extremists on both sides perpetuate such declarations. 

The cable news outfits came to specialize in particular political views. Avlon calls these “polarizing for profit.” Fox News on the right and MSNBC on the left were minted thus. Among pundits Glenn Beck proclaimed the extreme right at the time and Keith Olberman the extreme left. As partisan pundits they claimed only they had the freedom to speak their minds while others chose to be political correct, which also implied they were politically stifled by things like basic manners and sensitivities. Cass Sunstein talked about political divisiveness and fostering it, ie. the notion of the “echo chamber” where certain views were repeated over and over, memorized, and used in any debating. Fox News was very good at this (after all Roger Ailes studied and applied Nazi propaganda techniques) offering “talking points” on many issues that were repeated frequently enough that regular casual viewers would catch on and be able to parrot those points. As Avlon says it:

“Demagogues are the heroes in the echo chamber. They’re selling special knowledge combining old fears with new technologies and reaching a wider audience than ever before.”

One reason such partisan medias took off is that there became more and more choices with all the channels of cable, radio, and internet. Less biased newspapers and network TV were steadily losing market share. With all the choices, those who succeeded were those that could rally others and the key to rallying is providing concise clear messaging to a narrow partisan constituency so that they could be heard above the noise. People are attracted (at least initially) to the fringe and outrageous and if such voices are readily available in nice packets they will be imbibed. Stoking partisan anger = better ratings.

Fake News had yet to be popularly dubbed such at this time. It was there though. Now it is a mainstay, especially of the internet. The left has caught up to the right on the spreading of nonsense based on partisanism. Some purvayors have deferred, saying it’s just entertainment, ie. Alex Jones. The pundits on the right then like Beck and Limbaugh were like preachers in their pulpits rousing their congregations. Beck and others railed about an out-of-control government but soon enough the left would catch up with anti-corporatism, railing about out-of-control corporations. Keith Olberman was the pit bull on the left at the time, likely a response to the domination of partisan radio and TV by the Tea Party and the right. Olberman started out during G.W. Bush times more in the political middle but also with middling ratings. His ratings grew with his partisan pivot. He was called the “Limbaugh of Lefties” calling Bush a fascist dictator and Fox News worse than al-Qaeda and the KKK. Like the Fox pundits he also despised political moderates. With the proliferation of social media on the internet and the potential for news going viral the extremist left gained some traction. These days there are plenty of sites where leftist radicalism has become a huge echo chamber. Perhaps the left was more “techy” than the right then which made their echo chambers catch up but catch up they have. These days one has to consider and remember which sites are on which part of the political spectrum. One thing that annoys me these days is people sharing news stories that are not current, some several years old, presumably to keep the echo chambers echoing. I have seen this predominantly on the far left. Avlon suggests the solution to echo chamber – ism is to strive to be truthful before and beyond striving to be persuasive. Trump came to believe early that all media was biased against him, except Fox, although more recently some Fox commentators too. Though he has repeatedly called the press the “enemy of the people” it is more probably that they are simply hostile of him and his own enmity of them.  

A long chapter is devoted to Sarah Palin and the Limbaugh Brigades. McCain would come to regret picking Palin as his running mate. She promoted patriotism, social conservatism, and called Obama a socialist that pals around with terrorists. Even those that called McCain a RINO voted for him because of Palin who they considered a true God-and-country conservative. On the other hand, moderates who liked McCain may have not voted for him because of Palin. She came to be the quintessential Tea Party wingnut. She was praised for “bluntness and straight talk – no apologies.” 

Rush Limbaugh rose to popularity in the 90’s with his radio talk show. I remember because one place I worked had his show on all the time. He too was the quintessential wingnut, divisive and incendiary. The author points out that figures like Limbaugh have political power without the responsibilities of governing or policy making. He utilized conflict rhetoric to increase his ratings. Those who followed his model are dubbed here the ‘Limbaugh Brigades.’ Limbaugh’s response to Obama being elected was, “I hope he fails.” 

Another popular and rather outrageous wingnut was Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachman who spouted much fiery and controversial anti-Obama rhetoric. Another was Iowa Congressman Steve King, still in Congress but recently censured and stripped of committee positions due to his white supremacy statements. Back in 2008 he was rebuked by McCain for his extreme views. Arizona Congressman Trent Franks called Obama an “enemy of humanity.” Conservatives railed against gay rights and feminism. Presidential candidate and Fox News contributor Mike Huckabee was another wingnut. Several were part of the “Values Voters” coalition. Their argument was that most Americans didn’t want things on the socially liberal agenda. While Obama won re-election in 2012 the Tea Party Republicans also won many elections so the rhetoric was fairly successful. Polls indicate that most independent voters are fiscally conservative but socially liberal, so the centrists are much less likely to vote for extremists. The extremists conservatives were fairly successful at demonizing Republican moderates as RINOs. These days something similar has happened to a lesser extent on the left where moderates are deemed traitors and DINOs. Avlon suggests the extremists are “hunting for heretics.” It has gotten bad with Trump Republicanism where if a Republican is not wholly aligned with Trump he or she gets demonized. The Tea Party radicals tended to split the party much like the more radical progressives on the left do. In the past anti-segregationists and those dubbed communist sympathizers by McCarthy were hunted heretics. Now it was mainly RINOs and DINOs. Any Republican that had some socially liberal views was a potential heretic. 

Excommunications and defections were on the rise. Defectors included Chris Buckley (son of William F. Buckley), David Frum, David Brooks, Peggy Noonan, and Andrew Sullivan, each declaring in some way as Independents. Criticizing the extremists raised the ire of their followers and those that did got the heretic branding, as those on the right who criticize Trump do today.

Hunting for heretics is a way of gaining ideological purity, or as Avlon says it “burning down the big tent.” He suggests that famed Republicans like Goldwater and Reagan would not even meet the current ideological purity tests! Limbaugh, Beck, and Huckabee have all rejected any “big tent” notions. Former GOP Congressman and current MSNBC talk show host Joe Scarborough spoke out against the hunt for heretics. Trump reviles him and his co-host wife. 

The hunt for heretics on the left stoked up with the dubbing of Obama as Bush-lite. MSNBC’s Ed Schultz called him a corporate sellout. Arianna Huffington derided him for compromising with Republicans. Obama was dubbed a DINO. Groups like MoveOn.org complained about his having some Republicans in his cabinet like secretary of defense, Robert Gates and even Hillary Clinton as secretary of state was considered too hawkish, a “warmonger” as Tulsi Gabbard would later come to call her. Wingnuts of any ilk do not take kindly to bipartisanship. “No compromise” is their motto. The so-called “Blue Dog” democrats were deemed DINO’s and traitors. This continues with current progressivism.

Next, we come to far fringe politics, particularly the Birthers and Truthers. Birthers refers to the preoccupation among far right conspiracy theorists that Obama was not really born in America. They demanded his birth certificate (which of course was provided but it was obviously fake according to them). Oddly the birther conspiracy first appeared among Hillary Clinton supporters who did not want to concede in the primary. Democrats Linda Starr and Phillip Berg developed and supported the birther conspiracy. Berg was also a Truther – referring to those who believe that 9/11 was a coverup and the buildings were blown up from within. Of course, Fox’s Sean Hannity and Lou Dobbs picked up and carried the torch of birther-ism as did Donald Trump. Both of these conspiracies are patently ridiculous but show the gullibility of the people as well as the lengths they will go to keep believing.

Trutherism was likely fueled by Bush Derangement Syndrome. This was also begun on the left. Along with Berg there was far left Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney as well as well as filmmaker Michael Moore, Ralph Nader, Howard Zinn, Janeane Garofalo, Ed Asner, and Van Jones. Again, the right picked it up and ran with it. It became a staple of right wing provocateaur Alex Jones. Ron Paul is a frequent conspiracy peddler. Avlon is a New Yorker and while a speech-writer for Giulliani wrote many eulogies for those who died in the attack. For this reason Trutherism is perhaps a sore spot with him.

Next on the fringes are the self-styled patriots who collect arms to go with their conspiracy-theory pandering. He calls them “hatriots.” They are rooted in the pro-gun lobby and the militia movements spurred by Clinton attorney general Janet Reno’s sacking of the Waco compound. One group is called the Oath Keepers. They assert that they will not obey when the government begin to oppress with things like detention camps. The militia movements of the 90’s opposed a Democratic administration but the new ones opposed a black Democratic president. That gave a jolt to white nationalist and white supremacists. Some claimed Obama was starting a civil war. Some conservative states called for secession. Add confederate sympathizers to the militias and the results could be even more dangerous, especially if spurred by an aura of acceptability. Many found that in Trump who refused to condemn the white supremacists at Charlottesville. He is very popular among white supremacists like the KKK and a few mass shooters and bomb senders. Wingnuts like Michael Savage stated that Obama would declare martial law much like the Nazis. Sometimes its hard to tell if its just the ideas that are unhinged or the people themselves, Unfortunately, unhinged ideas taken up by unhinged people often lead to bad results. 

As a conclusion Avlon makes suggestions for taking America back (ironically a typical wingnut phrase) from the lunatic fringe. He suggests we declare our independence from the far right and far left fringes, I agree. Good vs. evil or us vs. them attitudes are not conducive to political civility. Avlon notes that fear is often behind all the rhetoric:

“But when you pull the curtain back on all the Wingnut politics, behind the all-or-nothing demands, apocalyptic warnings and the addiction of self-righteous anger, you’ll see that fear is the motivating factor: fear of the other; fear wrapped up in the American flag; fear calling itself freedom.” 

He says the wingnuts are just snake oil salesmen. He suggests that far more Americans are moderates than are on the fringes (I do hope he is right but I wonder) and that we should be vocal in declaring our independence from extremists. He suggests that the moderate majority has been bullied into silence and simply to be silent no more.

The Emergence of the Moundbuilders: The Archaeology of Tribal Societies in Southeastern Ohio

The Emergence of the Moundbuilders: The Archaeology of Tribal Societies in Southeastern Ohio – edited by Elliot M. Abrams and AnnCorinne Freter (Ohio University Press, 2005)


This one is a series of papers by multiple authors about pre-historic tribal societies that settled here in the greater Hocking Valley of Southeastern Ohio. 


The preface notes that:


“The indigenous societies of the Ohio Valley were part of an ancestry that extended back at least ten thousand years.”


While true, that does not mean there were not additional migrations into the area as possibly evidenced by suggested large population increases in certain time periods.

It is also noted that this collection is the first in this area to include GIS site analyses and radiocarbon accelerator mass spectroscopy (AMS) to date the first instances of maize agriculture and pottery use in the area.
  

The first paper is: The Archaeological Research History and Environmental Setting of the Hocking Valley by Abrams and Freter.. First evidence of human occupation of the area dates to the 9^th millennium B.C.E. Mounds were built beginning in the first millennium B.C.E. and agriculture moved from local species to maize and beans by the end of the first millennium C.E. Most of the archaeologically discernible change in these societies occurs between 2500 B.C.E. and 1450 C.E:

“Those four millennia witnessed the establishment and expansion of tribal communities … “


The history of archaeology and especially that of the U.S. midcontinent moundbuilders, is fraught with wrong assumptions, pseudo-science, and hucksterism. Speculation in the 19^th century abounded about the mounds being built by great lost societies, often of non-Native Americans and sometimes by extremely unlikely peoples like lost tribes of Israel. Often, it was put forth that the Native Americans were the ones who killed off the ancient societies. This was done often for political reasons to deny that Native Americans were capable of generating such societies, especially urban ones. The 19^th century also saw quite a bit of excavation of these burial mounds and unfortunately many of the artifacts retrieved were lost. Other mounds and features were ploughed over.


Early surveys of the area included Squire and Davis’s 1848 Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley. William Mills’ 1914 Archaeological Atlas of Ohio documented many of the works of southeastern Ohio. As archaeology gradually moved away from hucksterism and speculation into a more anthropological science, more was learned. The focus moved to include non-mound areas like inhabited rock shelters, flint quarries, and mass cooking sites. The 1989 publication of James Murphy’s An Archaeological History of the Hocking Valley provides a detailed account from a lead excavator at several local sites. Murphy noted that archaeology knowledge of the area is scant, especially in the Middle Woodland period. The Ohio University field archaeology program was started by Eliot Abrams in 1986 specifically to excavate habitation sites (rather than more commonly excavated mounds) in order to better understand cultures and tribal features and how they changed through time. I took a non-field class in Anthropological Archaeology there that very year.

Tribal society is defined here by anthropologists Service (1962) and Sahlins (1961, 1968) as “of the order of a large collection of bands, but it is not simply a collection of bands.” What distinguishes ‘tribe’ is its set of social identities and relationships with other tribes. Households, villages, subtribes, and regional tribal societies is the sequence from small to large. With the advent of agriculture came the ability to be more sedentary and build larger communities. 


Chronology starts with Early and Late Paleoindian from ~15000 to 8000 BC to Early, Middle, and Late Archaic from 8000 BC to 1500 BC to Early, Middle, and Late Woodland from 1500 BC to 700 AD to Late Prehistoric from 700 AD to 1450 AD to Protohistoric from 1450 AD to 1600 AD and finally to historic from 1600 AD to present. This chronology is based on Murphy’s 1989 work on the Hocking Valley. Many radiocarbon dates are cited in the papers in this current book so that long histories of site occupation, though probably not continuous in many cases, can be established. The authors also acknowledge the difficulty of archaeological analysis and tying it to culture due to scant data. There is little to no actual history known of these peoples. While there were some native bands known and considered in historical time (1600 and later) it is not known how connected those people were to previous inhabitants as migration due to local wars and resource availability was likely in the previous centuries and millennia.


There is much emphasis on the environmental and geological variability of the Hocking Valley, which includes several glacial terminuses that help shaped local landforms. The native peoples took advantage of some of these landforms. Terraces formed by such glacial terminuses, or glacial outwash soil deposits, were key places of mounds and habitation for moundbuilder societies. A prime example is that of The Plains, a large flattened terrace region just west of Athens. Ohio. The terraces occur between the floodplain of the Hocking River and the ridgetops, with total relief being about 400ft or so. Quite variable soil types occur in the area as a result. Clays for pottery, chert for tools, and floodplain soil for agriculture were available along the Hocking watershed. There are also what are called saltlicks, left by evaporated glacial outwash lakes, that drew animals and provided salt for food. The different physiographic zones are also home to somewhat differing fauna and flora, as well as soils. Climatic variability is also a feature now as it was in the past, with extended droughts not uncommon. Climatic variability also leads to ecological variability. For example, edible nut production (acorns, beech nuts, hickory nuts, and black walnuts) vary considerably according to climate. 


The second paper/chapter by Stump, Lein, Abrams, and Freter is a GIS analysis of settlement trends in the Archaic and Woodland Hocking Valley. This is mainly modern mapping of sites and settlement trends according to time period. Maps of sites are given for each time period and analyzed according to preferred physiographic province such as glaciated vs. unglaciated and stream valley vs. upland slope vs. ridge top. Settlement distribution shifts indicate a southward movement from glaciated to unglaciated areas through time. There was also a clear preference for terrace and stream valley locations as time progressed from Archaic to Woodland times, when upland slope and ridge top sites were used just as much. Early and Middle Woodland sites are somewhat more numerous than Late Archaic and those two are much more numerous than Middle Archaic sites. The Plains, interpreted as a ritual center, has a high site density.  Another interpretation is that sedentism increased through time, especially as agriculture increased. 


Paper/chapter 3: The Bremen Site: A Terminal Late Archaic Period Upland Occupation in Fairfield County, Ohio by Pecora and Burks focuses on the Bremen upland site in Fairfield County in the upper headlands part of the Hocking Valley. Radiocarbon dating of burnt nutshells in a pit containing pottery suggest that it is the oldest site in the Hocking Valley region with pottery. Upland is characterized as an oak-maple forest. Bottoms were rich in beech, maple, and black walnut. The authors mention Late Archaic/Early Woodland (3000-1000BCE) primary changes as including increased sedentism, burial ceremonialism, and a greater reliance on cultivated plants. They see the Late Archaic as the transition between previous hunter-gatherer lifestyles and future agricultural-based living. Seasonal mobility of encampments was common as was camping to exploit local resources, such as flint for arrowheads and tools or perhaps clay for pottery. Two phases of Late Archaic/Early Woodland were proposed for the mid-Ohio Valley: Maple Creek phase (1650-1250 BC) and the Cogswell phase (1250-750 BC). The Cogswell phase included different projectile points for hunting and the beginning evidence of ‘domesticated cultigens’ and using wild varieties of starchy seed plants such as knotweed, maygrass, goosefoot, and ragweed. 


The Bremen site was excavated in 2000 and 2001. Radiocarbon dates of charred material date from 2826 BC to 1315 BC. A midden, or kitchen trash heap, was defined. Pottery and projectile points were found. One groundstone artifact was recovered.  Postmolds, places where wooden posts once existed, were found. Analysis of raw materials can detect regional geological sources of flint found. Upper Mercer, Vanport (biggest exposure at Flint Ridge in central Ohio), and other sources were found here. There are known outcrops nearby (within 20km). Evidence of flint flaking for tool-making is abundant. Tools were likely partially processed from raw materials for transport. Botanical remains include burnt hickory and walnut charcoal. The site has been interpreted as a short-term residency site, possibly in autumn or winter based on burnt nut residues. 


Next is: The Walker Site: An Archaic/Woodland Hunting-Collecting Site in the Hocking Valley by Abrams and DeAloia, an analysis of the Walker Site in Jacksonville Quadrangle of western Athens County. This is also an upland site, located on a small flat ridge crest overlooking the Hocking River. Excavation work was done by Ohio University archaeological field school in 1998. This site was also determined to be seasonal or short-term, but its use ranged from 8000 BC to 400 BC. Many artifacts were recovered including projectile points of different styles and ages, one drill fragment, and one celt fragment. No pottery was found. The majority of fragments were made from the local Brush Creek chert. Fire-cracked rock was also found and interpreted as rock-lined campfires or open hearths. No midden pits or postmolds were found here, which suggest the site was not a residential basecamp. It was more likely a resource procurement site, although it is not clear what resources may have been procured here. Food, perhaps nuts, are one possibility. The authors note that while such temporary sites are rarely excavated, much can be learned and perhaps more such sites should be excavated. 


The next paper is titled, Late Archaic Community Aggregation and Feasting in the Hocking Valley, by Heyman, Abrams, and Freter. They state that habitation sites in the Late Archaic were from 2-4 families in size, so small and dispersed. People were nomadic and procured their resources seasonally, often, as suggested here, in the form of aggregation of the greater community which included feasting. Nut harvesting and smoking and salting of fish and meat are suggested with both likely in autumn to store food for winter. Such aggregation in larger numbers may have contributed to greater tribal solidarity and integration. Examined here specifically are sites along Sunday Creek and where it drains into the Hocking River near The Plains. The Plains mound complex is prominent. 


The authors think such sites as the Plains mound complex shows the beginnings in the area of aggregation and that such aggregation could also be used for ritual purposes, feasting, sharing, mound burial ceremonialism, and perhaps exchanging of gifts between bands. Episodic macro-bands thus likely formed. The County Home site at the confluence of Sunday Creek and the Hocking River reveals a site with large cooking features. Five large features were described as Late Archaic and Early Woodland communal roasting pits. The pits were lined with fire-cracked rock. Granitic and quartzite groundstones were also recovered from all five features, likely found already rounded in stream beds. Residues and fragments of bones, botanical materials, and clay (possibly to seal in moisture during cooking) were also recovered. These roasting pits were large, typically 2 meters by 1 meter in size. In one feature burnt tree branches were found between fire-cracked rocks indicating a method of achieving even heating. This could be similar to historical accounts of Plains Indians cooking methods. Meat was likely wrapped in leaves and clay. The authors think the actual feasting took place below the site on the floodplain where the rivers conjunct. A nearby natural salt lick and abundance of nut trees as mast could have been exploited as a place to hunt game and a salt source for preserving meat and fish. Data indicate that mound construction and horticulture began in the area during the first millennium BCE. There is evidence for population increase beginning around 1500 BCE. 


“…the data from the Hocking Valley indicate a greater degree and more formalized type of interaction among local communities beginning ca. 1500 B.C. than was experienced by previous generations.”


Next paper is Woodland Communities in the Hocking Valley by Crowell, Abrams, Freter, and Lein. Much change was happening in the first millennium BC in the region as more sedentism, pottery, more evidence of wild seed harvesting and domesticating of plants, and mound building began. These riverine societies of the Midwest ushered (according to Brown 1985) “the appearance of permanent habitations, food storage, domestication of plants, multiregional exchange of valuables, cemeteries, intragroup ranking of individuals, and the elaboration of art in a social context.”


Few habitation sites in the area have been excavated but two, the Boudinot 4 site and the Woodland component of the County Home site, have yielded significant data. Dating indicates both sites were occupied from the Late Archaic to the Middle Woodland, generally the last two millenia BC. The Boudinot 4 site is on a terrace. Excavation yielded 19 subsurface features, mainly cooking units, generic pits, and architectural posts. It was estimated that 10-20 people lived there. The County Home site yielded a 25 x 25 meter habitation area and a total of 78 features, including the midden and large roasting pits noted previously. 29 postmolds were interpreted so large wooden structures are implied. Rocks in the post holes were interpreted as chinking to help hold the posts. Charcoal at the base indicates the in-ground part of the posts were charred to reduce effects of weathering and rot as was common with Adena peoples and still practiced by some farmers. The authors interpreted five large buildings at the site. The elevated terraces were above any point of flooding but are generally rare, representing about 5% of the Hocking watershed land. The nearby salt licks provided salt for humans to preserve foods, and for potential game animals. However, there is no real evidence of permanent occupation, so likely habitation at these sites was likely seasonal and the population still relatively nomadic.


Local mounds were built by small groups of people and were not as labor intensive as might seem. Burials were typically at the base, with men, women, and children, as in other regional mounds. There are hundreds of small conical mounds in the Hocking Valley, often on ridgetops. Only a few of those hundreds of mounds have been dated with dates ranging from 440 BC to 280 BC. The authors also think the mounds possibly served as communication since “any mound was visible from any adjacent mound.” The authors think the people spent fall and spring at the terrace habitation sites, summer on the flood plains and wintered in rock shelters.


Archaeobotanical data from the Boudinot 4 site show that one species of squash was grown ca. 1092 BC, by ca. 400 BC chenopods, erect knotweed, and sumpweed were eaten, and by 200 BC maygrass was eaten. These species likely entered the diet as wild species but were gradually domesticated, basically grown in gardens. Data indicates hickory nuts were 95% of nuts collected in 800 BC but by 100 BC hazelnuts, black walnuts, and butternuts were added. Maygrass is not available in southern Ohio which suggests domestication with seeds from farther away. It was also a spring plant that could have fed in spring when food was generally scarce. Overall, the data suggest farming began to supplement hunting and gathering in the area around 500 BC. It is estimated that chenopodium was eaten in wild form from at least 1500 BC. It is suggested that an Early Woodland local community was 25-35 people in 4 or 5 households. Marriage may have been to people from other households which is common. Regional DNA evidence has shown that the Ohio River served as a boundary between genetically distinct marital populations.


Next paper is Woodland Ceremonialism in the Hocking Valley by Blazier, Freter, and Abrams. With increased sedentism and larger communities by 100 BC likely came new social developments. One may have been lineage affiliation as the authors suggest. The mound complex in The Plains, Ohio was built between 50 BC and 250 CE. Likely due to lack of water there was thought to be no actual habitation at The Plains earthworks but that the area was used for ceremonialism, specifically mortuary ceremonialism. Some of these mounds were excavated in the 1800’s and apparently much data was lost. The authors go into detail about excavation of one mound, indicating six stages of construction, with fire-crack rock indicating possible ritual burning. Skeleton remains found in mounds there indicate  similar numbers of males and females, which suggests an egalitarian society according to the authors. 


The size of the larger mounds at The Plains suggests many more people built them than built the much smaller ridgetop mounds of earlier times. There are also 9 earthwork circles from 100ft to 210ft in diameter. Many were plowed over but the Courtney Circle is still visible. Its ‘walls’ are about 10m thick and there is a 20m diameter rise in the center. It is estimated that the exterior walls were originally 7ft high. Around 50 BC it is estimated that there was long distance trading among Middle Woodland tribes as evidenced by copper artifacts from the Great Lakes, mica from Tennessee, and bear claws and teeth and obsidian from the Rocky Mountains being found in Ohio mounds. The age of The Plains mound complex is similar to other mound complexes in Ohio and suggests a regional mortuary ceremonialism had developed. New social and political structures are also inferred. 

Evidence suggests that bodies of the honored individuals interred in the mounds may have previously been subjected to excarnation and cremation before internment. Bones of bear, eagle, and wolf were also recovered from the mounds. A shamanistic or animistic worldview is assumed. The burial pattern of the Armitage Mound is that of a 50-60 year-old man’s full skeleton surrounded by 15 cremated skeletons wrapped in bark. The authors think that individual mounds may have represented family lineages but that is speculative. In sum they note:


“The Plains was largely an unoccupied ritual center serving a dispersed population of small horticultural/hunting and gathering communities.”


They think this development from 50BC to 250 CE represents the largest regional extent of political inclusiveness in the greater Hocking Valley tribal societies.


Next is The Swinehart Village Site: A Late Woodland Village in the Upper Hocking Valley by Schweikart. This site is in eastern Fairfield County south of Buckeye Lake. The site is on an upland terrace on a bluff. This is characteristic of many sites in the Ohio area dating from 250 CE to 400 CE. Evidence of occupation is from Early Archaic through Woodland but most recovered materials date from 300-800 CE. Blades of high-quality Flint Ridge/Vanport flint were found as well as Chilton-style gorgets. This is the only enclosed village in the Hocking Valley area and suggests that peoples north of Hocking Hills area may have been distinct from those south. The author sees two main reasons for development of such upland terrace sites during this time period: to maximize available resources and for defense. The defensive attribution is supported by a good surrounding view of the lower lands. There is one skeleton in Columbus, Ohio from this late Middle Woodland period that exhibits a lethal wound from a projectile. Horticultural fields were likely developed on the adjacent lowlands. The author speculates that since these defensive sites coincide with the last of the mound-building in the area that something happened to prevent the community aggregation that was previously more common.


Next is The Allen Site: A Late Prehistoric Community in the Hocking River Valley by Abrams, Bergman, and Miller. There are several known Late Woodland and Late Prehistoric (700-1300 CE) villages in the central Hocking Valley area. The Allen site was excavated in the 1990’s. Dates of occupation of the site were estimated at 600-1310 CE. Pottery types found were also consistent with dating. Projectile points found reach back to the Archaic but with most being Late Woodland to Late Prehistoric. 


The many architectural postholes found indicate about 5-8 buildings occupied at a time at the Allen 1 site and 4 or 5 houses at the Allen 2 site (max of 13 houses). This is consistent with other Fort Ancient time period hamlets that contained from 6 to 10 structures. Several indoor hearth areas were identified. Position of posts indicate the houses were rectangular. Population size is estimated at between 25 and 90 people, slightly larger but roughly consistent with the 24-44 people estimated for other Fort Ancient aged sites. The site yielded considerably less pottery sherds than similar aged site near or far. Even rockshelter sites have yielded more pottery. The authors note that one local researcher, Prufer 1967, remarked that “a distinctive, local Woodland pottery complex which appears during Adena times, remains essentially intact … into Late Woodland times.” One possible sherd of that type was found at the Allen site. The other types were likely manufactured onsite as one area was interpreted as a pottery firing pit. This was further away from the houses, suggesting that the smoke from firing was kept away. 


Most of the chert found was the local Brush Creek variety with lesser amounts of Upper Mercer/Zaleski flint that outcrops further away and even lesser amounts of Vanport flint which is even more distant. The authors go into detail about debitage (mostly flaked chert) and archaeological interpretation of lithic materials. The large amount of debitage recovered indicates that tool and projectile point making was a common activity at the site. They suggest the western area of the site was mainly used for toolmaking as most debitage was found there. Other flint tool types found were drills, scrapers, and one possible hoe blade.  They also go into detail about projectile points with several different types of different vintage but most being of the Prehistoric fine triangular type. They think that lithics were transported from their sites of origin partially worked then finished at the home site. 12 cooking features were identified of different sizes. One was significantly larger and further away indicating a possible communal feasting cooking pit. One possible waste pit was found. Their interpretations fit with other interpretations of similar sites of similar age.


Next is Late Prehistoric Agriculture and Land Use in the Hocking Valley by Wymer. By 700 CE the rich fertile soils along the Hocking River floodplain were being tapped for growing crops. It was at this time that maize agriculture took off in this area. Previous to this it was likely that this plant of tropical origin was genetically acclimating to temperate climates and through time working its way north. Paleobotanical samples were obtained from the Allen site, mentioned in the previous paper. These some 26 specimens were examined for composition and relative density and ubiquity. Wood charcoal, nutshell, nutmeat, maize, and seeds were the categories recovered in flotation samples. Nutshells were the most ubiquitous material but maize and seeds were nearly as much in terms of density. 7 fragments of maize were recovered, including an entire intact kernel which was dated at 689 CE. Wood charcoal fragments were mostly oak (59%), both white and red varieties, along with hickory, beech, ash, and buckeye. Nutshell fragments were hickory, black walnut, butternut, and acorn. Seeds were of raspberry and bedstraw. Macrobotanical samples include oak (both groups), hickory, walnut, maple, ash, elm, chestnut, and possible black cherry. By weight, oak and hickory comprised 85% of overall wood samples. These two woods are probably the best two fire woods growing in the area so that was likely their main use. Maize was found at other sites of the same age nearby. The author notes that the absence of more seed material such as fragments of Eastern Agricultural Complex (EAC) crops like squash, chenopodium, maygrass, goosefoot, and ragweed is quite anomalous as most similar sites have some of these. She also notes that the earliest occurrence of maize in the regional area is material from West Virginia dated to 425 CE. And she notes that there is no evidence that the Hocking Valley area communities aggregated to large nucleated communities as in the Fort Ancient sites during the 800-1000 CE period. 


Next is The Impact of Maize on Settlement Patterns in the Hocking Valley by Wakeman. First the author notes that maize agriculture began in the region by just before 700 CE as evidenced by the previous paper and that maize agriculture in this area required growing on the rich fertile floodplains (this is still generally true today with “corn bottoms” being the most productive plots). Of course, there were other reasons to frequent floodplains such as drinking water availability and fish and other aquatic food. He also notes that the study area of the Hocking Valley is unique in that it contains three distinct physiographic provinces: flat glaciated till plains in the north, glaciated Allegheny Plateau to the west and unglaciated Allegheny Plateau to the southeast. This topography was sculpted in the Pleistocene era about 1.8 million years ago. The different glacial terminuses in the area make for an unusually wide variety of soil types. The author notes that settlement patterns after maize agriculture became widely adopted tended to follow the most fertile soils, which could be quite small in areal extent. Moraine, floodplain, and terrace sites represented 78% of applicable sites. Data suggest that Late Woodland societies continued into Prehistoric times in the lower Hocking Valley but that new communities created ca. 1000 CE were restricted to the upper Hocking Valley to the northwest.


The final paper in the book is a long overview titled: Tribal Societies in the Hocking Valley by Abrams and Freter. They note the evolution of the development of archaeological goals in the region which is now more focused on trying to understand how these communities lived. They suggest that alliances, perhaps based on kinship, led to larger and more inclusive communities. Evidence of community feasting suggests different bands coming together likely on seasonal occasions to exploit and process food resources communally. Before horticulture there was likely nut processing and game processing. Mounds were likely another feature of smaller bands forming into regional tribes. Of course, the large mounds were only built in this area in about a 300-year period. With the observation that adjacent mounds were often visible from other mounds suggests that there was some regional planning. Horticultural pastimes like growing chenopodiums in gardens likely were learned from other nearby groups and adopted. Ceramics were likely used before horticulture was practiced, for carrying nuts and seeds.


The authors offer a new periodization in the Hocking Valley beginning with the Period of Intensive Hunting (3000-1500 BC). This corresponds to the Late Archaic and is characterized by gradually increasing rainfall which led to more production from food plants and game. More abundant food also likely increased sedentism and decreased nomadism. 

Next is the Period of Protohorticultural Communities (1500-500 BC). The authors think this period may have been a time of slow or no population growth due to less rainfall. Less available drinking water due to less rain in uplands likely led to more floodplain settlement as well. Evidence of communal feasting begins ca. 1500 BC. Fall collection of nuts and seeds was possibly made more efficient as a result off less availability due to less rainfall. More people meant more local nuts would be used up faster and so available seeds may have become more utilized. Newley cleared and/or burnt areas provided ideal spots for some of the EAC plants like chenopodiums. These plants provide a manageable supplement via gardening for a hunter-gatherer society. Now it was more a hunter-gatherer society that practiced seasonal sedentism. Small burial mounds first appear during this time period. Larger mounds began prior to 500 BC in regionally areas outside the Hocking Valley. The authors suggest that the mounds may have also provided a tribal unification mechanism to keep nearby tribes from taking their lands and resources. They are also indicative of shared ritualism, or a cultural-specific form of animism. The authors note that the Hocking Valley and nearby Muskingum River Valley have many of these small conical ridgetop mounds built beginning ca. 500 BC, but the Scioto River Valley does not. This could reflect the topography where the Hocking and Muskingum valleys are more narrow with less floodplain, only a few terraces, and steeper slopes. 


Third is the Period of Tribal Integration (50 BC-250 CE). The beginnings of larger and more mounds begins at this time. The bigger mounds such as the ones at The Plains required more labor and more people to build and it seems to have been a complex of mortuary cult ceremonialism. This general period has been termed as the Hopewell civilization, although the civilization is no doubt the same people as the Adena. People apparently used to think they were different peoples altogether and there is some possibility that the increase in population came about due to migration of other peoples into the area, however, there is no direct evidence of this. The greater Hocking Valley is part of what has been termed the Hopewell Interaction Sphere, based on the presence of copper and obsidian arriving by trade from long-distance. Mounds may have also delineated family lineage association with the land, or land ownership, a concept generally not adopted by historical Native Americans.

Next is The Period of Regional Tribal Fragmentation (250-500 CE). This period is when construction of burial mounds ceased throughout the Ohio Valley. Unfortunately, few artifacts from this period have been found in the area. Populations in the Scioto and Licking valleys are documented archaeologically to have continued, though on a smaller scale. The question is whether there was abandonment of habitation sites during this period and why. 


The last is the Period of Agricultural Tribal Communities (500-1450? CE). During this period there was increasing reliance on maize agriculture with community sizes ranging from 35 to 80 people. Villages were situated near good bottom land. Depletion of soils was likely, although some fallowing of good land was also likely eventually practiced. Soil depletion likely caused communities to move. Skeletal analysis from southwestern Ohio indicates that maize was up to 65% of the diet for pre-historic societies there. Around 1450 CE the Hocking Valley along with other nearby riverine communities seems to have been abandoned. Drought may have been a factor as well as the benefits of moving closer to the Ohio River with its larger swathes of fertile bottom land. Defensive earthworks appear early in this time period ca. 600 CE. The authors suggest that food surpluses enabled the more organized tribal integration period from 50BC to 250 CE and lack of such surpluses led to its ending. They also suggest that maize agriculture was difficult early in this area due to climatic and seasonal variability so even with it dominating the diet there were not significant surpluses.  They note a few “stages” od sedentism: gardening of local crops, membership in regional tribal alliances, and adoption of maize agriculture as a staple crop. 


The author recommendations for future research in the area include more intensive excavation, especially more rockshelter excavation as only one of several known has been extensively excavated. More excavation of extraction sites is also recommended. Some parts of the Hocking Valley area such as Federal Creek have not even been surveyed well for sites. They note again the biggest enigmas are the postulated abandonment period (250-500 CE) as well as the postulated abandonment period after 1450 CE. 


Overall, this is a great book not only for those interested in the area but those interested in Native American history. It is also a great book that details archaeological methodologies as well as comparison to various archaeological theories and classifications based on other societies.

Amrita of Eloquence: A Biography of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche

Book Review: Amrita of Eloquence: A Biography of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche – by Lama Karma Drodul-translated by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso, KTD Publications (2009)


For me, this is the story of my guru, or the closest interaction with an authentic teacher I have encountered. Lama Karma as author is knowledgeable and capable as is Lama Yeshe as translator. 


The 17^th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, wrote in the forward that he rejoices in its publication since Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche is worthy of praise and his biography will be a source of goodness. In the first preface by the late Ninth Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche, he notes the three traditional qualities of a teacher: extensive learning, impeccable moral character, and a kindly disposition and says that Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche possesses all three in abundance. He tells of Rinpoche’s great learning and his care for his students around the world. He tells of his commitment as a fully ordained Buddhist monk for most of his life. He tells of his great humility and patience. He praises the biography as a source of inspiration. In the second preface by the Ninth Thrangu Rinpoche, it is noted that Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche and Thrangu Rinpoche knew each other as young monks at Thrangu Monastery in Tibet and fled Tibet together in 1959. He notes that Rinpoche “has consistently demonstrated his reliability and his goodness, The characteristics of a genuine spiritual friend.” 

Lama Karma also expresses happiness for the opportunity to write a namtar (spiritual biography) of his guru and dedicates the merit to all beings. Translator Lama Yeshe Gyamtso notes that the Tibetan version, written in 2005 is titled: Amrita of Eloquence, Medicine for Our Faith: A Brief Biography of Our Great Holy Guide, the Learned and Accomplished Khenpo Karma Tarchin. He notes that Lama Karma’s account of the value of a namtar is that studying the life of a guru brings devotion and devotion brings awakening. He also gives a short account of Lama Karma’s life thus far: born in 1974, became a monk at 13, fully ordained at 20, came to America in 1997 and became Rinpoche’s attendant. Rinpoche is his uncle. He also notes Lama Karma’s traditional Tibetan habit of denigrating his own importance compared to the teacher. Lama Yeshe notes this habit as a reminder toward humility. He also thinks this work is a good example of how to practice devotion to the guru in the tradition of the three yanas. Thanks to the efforts of Lama Karma and Lama Yeshe we are able to have the opportunity to study the life of our guru. The publisher notes that Lama Karma wrote the biography at the request of Lama Nyima Rinpoche (it is customary to do such actions by request) of Thrangu Monastery in East Tibet. 


Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche passed away on Oct. 6, 2019 at age 96. He was cremated in a traditional ceremony a few weeks later. As the death of one’s teacher is said to be a good time to do practices, in order to mix one’s mind with the mind of the guru, I thought it would also be good to become re-inspired by his virtuous life and awakened qualities.


The book is full of pictures, old and new, from Tibet, America, Taiwan, Bhutan, India, etc. Rinpoche was one of the foremost teachers of dharma in the “West” over the last 43 years of his life. The book is a traditional namtar, or spiritual biography. It is structured around the analogy of the twelve deeds of the Buddha with twelve chapters explaining the “greatnesses” of the guru. The book includes some splendid lyrical dharma poetry and lots of anecdotes and stories of Rinpoche’s life. Lama Karma also includes explanatory verses from various sutras and tantras.


The first part is called Virtue in the Beginning and gives veneration, the writer’s promise to write, and an introduction. First given are the traditional attributes of a guru or a ‘spiritual friend:’ He should be very leaned in the Mahayana path and very disciplined in practice are two of the main requirements. One thing Lama Karma notes is that the 16^th Karmapa conferred upon him the title “Lord of Dharma” before sending him to America in 1976. Such a title being conferred by the Gyalwang Karmapa shows that the lord of the Karma Kagyu lineage has confidence in Rinpoche’s qualities as a teacher of dharma. Lama Karma also gives the meaning and qualities of a namtar: it means “complete liberation” and is the story of the guru’s liberation through practice. It has the quality to inspire, to stir others to attention and practice. It inspires devotion to the guru as well. He notes that devotion is a special quality of the Dakpo Kagyu, the Kagyu schools that come through the teacher Gampopa. Transference of the lineage blessing from the guru is a key feature and devotion enables such transmission.


The second part is called Virtue in the Middle and contains the actual biography.  The first part is about his birth and childhood. Rinpoche was born in Kham, a region of East Tibet. It is a region of steppe-like valleys and high mountains. There are grazing herbivore animals like gazelles and yaks, water birds like geese and swans, and grasses and flowers. Nomadic Tibetans there keep goats, sheep, cows, and horses as well. As is customary Lama Karma gives some details of Rinpoche’s birth and potentially auspicious signs associated with it. One is that he was born at sunrise, indicating his wisdom. Another was his birth on a Dharmapala day, indicating his strength. Some dharma activities of Rinpoche’s parents are recounted, including his father’s carving of the Amitayus Sutra and a stupa on a large flat rock sticking out of a mountain. His father studied under a Great Perfection teacher, Drimay Ozer the yogin, and practiced daily recitations including the names of Manjusri. Rinpoche played old cymbals as a child during family Guru Rinpoche practices. The yogin also taught Rinpoche’s parents the Powa, or ejection of consciousness practice. His father was said to be heard reciting the mantra Phat!, from the Powa practice when he died. Several of Rinpoche’s brothers are/were also lamas of some distinction. 


Rinpoche became a novice monk when he was 12 and lived at Thrangu Monastery. When he was 15 the 16^th Gyalwa Karmapa stayed for a month at Thrangu Monastery bestowing empowerments and teachings, Including numerous black crown ceremonies. Rinpoche was able to attend all of these events. When he was 16 he went on pilgrimage to Lhasa on foot as was customary for monks. When he was 20 Rinpoche received the bhikshu vows of full ordination. In Lama Karma’s poetic words:


You saw sacred places and the Black Crown that Liberates upon Sight.

Your past aspirations and virtuous habits were awakened.

You properly received the precious moral discipline pleasing to the victors

And are magnificent amidst the saffron-adorned.



Rinpoche did a one-year retreat soon thereafter and then his three year retreat on the six dharmas of Naropa at Thrangu Monastery. Inspired by teachings from Jamgon Rinpoche he decided to spend the rest of his life in retreat but after a few months Traleg Rinpoche insisted that he would be of more benefit if he attended the college so at age 26 he attended the college for the next 5 years. He received more teachings from the Karmapa and traveled for the next 5 years with Thrangu Rinpoche doing ceremonies and teachings. He was also manager of Thrangu Rinpoche’s residence. He was inspired when Khenpo Gangshar visited Thrangu Monastery and gave teachings on guidance of the mind. In 1958, due to politics and war Rinpoche fled Tibet with Thrangu Rinpoche, Traleg Rinpoche, Zuru Tulku, and Rinpoche’s brother Lama Sonam Chodar. A few weeks into their journey they were fired upon by the Chinese, but no one was hit. Rinpoche recounted that he visualized the Gyalwa Karmapa on his back like a shield of protection as he ran. In 1959 they reached the refugee camp in Buxa, India. Rinpoche spent 9 years there studying with lamas of all traditions. In 1967 Rinpoche went to Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim and taught monks there. He was there for a year and a half then went to Tilokpur nunnery where he stayed and taught for another year and a half. Then Karmapa sent Rinpoche to be rainy season abbot at Dungkar Tashi Choling, a monastery in Bhutan. He stayed there with some others from Thrangu monastery for the rainy season then went to Khamtrul Rinpoche’s monastery in Tashi Jong, also in Bhutan, to receive four months of teachings and empowerments from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Throughout these narratives Rinpoche has various dreams which he interprets. One recurring theme is that of the Thrangu Upasaka (a non-monastic Buddhist with liberation vows), a kind of spirit who helps protect Thrangu monastics and practitioners. Rinpoche credits the Karmapa’s compassion and the Thrangu Upasaka’s guidance as keys to his own success at serving the dharma. At this time Rinpoche has begun suffering from tuberculosis. He suffered for five years finally being hospitalized for 11 months. He felt he was close to death and began to prepare. He began to improve, especially after he made it to America in 1976 to become the Gyalwa Karmapa’s representative. Karmapa believed Rinpoche would have died had he not received treatment in America.



Rinpoche gave his first teaching in America in New York City in 1977. The Karmapa was there and was pleased. Land was found to begin construction of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD) near Woodstock, New York. There was trouble hitting water with a water well as after drilling 500ft no water was found. Karmapa suggested they offer a golden drink, an offering to the ‘golden guardian of the earth,’ who Karmapa said was a great protector of the USA. Soon thereafter water was secured. The 16^th Gyalwa Karmapa died in America in the fall of 1981. Karmapa gave two vials of his blood to Rinpoche for use in rituals and formulations of dharma pills. During this time – late 70’s, early 80’s – many Karma Kagyu centers were established in America. Rinpoche first taught tranquility meditation but as disciples matured he also began to confer empowerments and other ritual practices.



Rinpoche was known for his hard work. He filled many statues with dharana rolls and precious stones, was renowned at sowing thankas, brocades, and other fabrics, built drums, was an expert in geomancy (he taught some geomancy from Karma Chakme’s teachings when I was in attendance once), and painted and gilded statues. He gathered gifts and practice aids for dharma practitioners at the various centers.



Rinpoche had a very strong dharma practice that began as he awoke early in the day. He often kept his back erect throughout the day (a yogic practice) and sat with his hands touching the ground in front of his knees in the manner of Lord Marpa.



Rinpoche was known to offer blessing by touching the top of his head to those of his disciples. I was fortunate to receive some of these, usually during empowerments, but once when I asked him to introduce me to the nature of mind. Of course, the blessing went right through me as I was not so aware. Rinpoche was devoted to the Kagyu masters of the past, especially Gampopa. Some of his students even consider him as an emanation of Gampopa. He was also very devoted to the 16^th and 17^th Gyalwa Karmapas.



Rinpoche also travelled to Taiwan a few times, where he had disciples. There he helped heal a woman who had had a stroke. He visited ill disciples when he could and helped the dead by performing Powa. With Lama Norlha he was able to attend the enthronement the 17^th Karmapa at Tsurphu in Tibet and on his return he saw a certain yak which he identified as an emanation of the Thrangu Upasaka. In 2004 when he visited Tibet again he identified a butterfly that followed them a long way as an emanation of the Thrangu Upasaka. Interpretation of dreams, events, and appearances of beings has long been a feature of Karma Kagyu Buddhism, especially among the more dedicated practitioners.



Rinpoche, along with Bardor Tulku Rinpoche and Tenzin Chonyi made KTD an inspiring place to practice and receive teachings. They also helped establish and sustain many meditation centers which continue today. There are daily ritual practices at KTD including Green Tara, Chenrezik, and Mahakala sadhana practices. Every new year there are long practices of the three principle Kagyu yidams – Vajravarahi, Chakrasamvara, and Jinasagara. There is also a long Amitabha practice performed. When Rinpoche first met the 17^th Karmapa he was addressed as “Agama” just as the 16^th Karmapa addressed him – as a term of endearment.



In 1990 the groundbreaking for Karme Ling was blessed during a visit by Jamgon Rinpoche. He died later that year in a car accident in India. This was to be the first three-year retreat (actually three years, three months, and three days) set up in America. The retreat begins with the mahamudra preliminaries (ngondro) according to Jamgon Lodro Thaye’s Torch of Certainty. Next comes the three guruyogas of Marpa, Milarepa, or Gampopa. Then the six dharmas of Naropa are practiced. Then the practice of Chakrasamvara is done. Other daily practices such as torma offerings, chod or severance, burnt offerings, smoke offerings, and physical practices are done as well. Elaborate practices and fire offerings are done at the conclusion of retreat. Rinpoche sowed all the garments for the retreatants.



Lama Karma notes that Rinpoche’s foremost disciple was Lama Yeshe Losal. He spent four years in retreat performing one million prostrations among other practices. He now(?) lives at Samye Ling in Scotland. Another is the American woman Lama Karma Wangmo, who practiced Vajrayogini for twelve years after preliminaries that included a hundred Nyung Ne practices. She is said to wander without a fixed location. Others are the American man Lama Tsultrim who has completed three three-year retreats and the Taiwanese woman Ani Lodro, who also completed three three-year retreats. Another Taiwanese woman Ani Karma Puntsok continued to practice after three-year retreat, not leaving at all but entering the next retreat, practicing Jinasagara. Other three-year retreatant veterans including Lama Kathy Wesley, or Jigmay Chotso, continue to teach at affiliate centers. Lama Kathy has been the most active teacher to tour the other centers and give teachings. Those who do not do three-year retreat are encouraged to practice the four hundred thousand preliminaries, or ngondro, which may take some years, followed by the Karma Pakshi Gurusadhana.



Rinpoche has taught many teachings over the years, including teaching Powa to many Chinese students who accumulated six million Amitabha mantras. Rinpoche would teach at KTD, occasionally visit affiliate centers (we were very lucky to host him three times in Athens, Ohio), and teach at Karme Ling. Since 1991 Rinpoche taught a 10-day teaching at KTD in the summer. At the request of the 16^th Karmapa, Rinpoche taught over the course of a few years the Mountain Dharma of Karma Chakme. These teachings are available in book form. He taught many different teachings like those from Atisha and the Bodhicharyavatara of Shantideva, and many books were published of his teachings and instructions. When Rinpoche visited Tibet he again served as rainy season abbot as he did once in Bhutan. As a fully ordained monk he encouraged the other monks to keep their moral discipline, stating that:



A bhikshu with moral discipline is luminous



In 2001 Rinpoche visited the 17^th Karmapa in India and attended the Kagyu Monlam, or prayer festival. While there Rinpoche and Bardor Tulku Rinpoche offered a traditional mandala to the Karmapa and many other offerings to those present. Lama Karma praises his teaching thus:



Through the current of empowerment, transmission, and instruction.

You ripen and free beings, placing each appropriately on the three yana’s path,

Your activity is tremendously vast, including direct and indirect disciples,

You free your mothers born in foreign lands from the ocean of becoming.



In 1996 Rinpoche attended the stupa consecrations in Crestone, Colorado. Rinpoche visited Thrangu Monastery in Tibet in 2004. He was met with a great procession at that place where he first studied and practiced dharma intently. He taught there for as long as he could then returned to the U.S. and resumed his regular duties as primary teacher and retreat master. He was delighted by news of his brother Lama Sonam who was doing life-long retreat and had completed 100 million mani recitations and his sister who had completed 200 million mani recitations. His disciple Bhikshuni Karuna Lodro Dronma completed 108 Nyung Ne practices. Rinpoche offered a mandala at the first teaching of Khenpo Ugyen Tendzin, who had recently arrived from Rumtek Monastery to be a teacher at KTD. Khenpo Ugyen is still there and now travels to teach at affiliate centers. Many great lamas have visited KTD and gave teachings and consecrations including Garchen Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, Thangu Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, Jamgon Rinpoche, Traleg Rinpoche, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and others. During this time period a columbarium, to store ashes of deceased dharma practitioners was built at Karme Ling with statues of the five Buddha families and the Eight Mahabodhisattvas.



Guru devotion is considered a special teaching of the Dakpo Kagyu lineages. Devotion to one’s guru is considered the key to attainment through the blessing powers of the lineage. According to the sutras the guru is Buddha, dharma, and sangha. Since we do not have the fortune and karma to meet the Buddhas and bodhisattvas directly our meeting with an authentic guru is most important. It is the guru who shows us the two bodhicittas and points out mahamudra. In the tantras it is noted:



It is better to briefly recollect the guru

Than to meditate on a deity with marks and signs

For a hundred thousand kalpas.

The merit of remembering the guru is infinite.



It is also said that all deities are indistinguishable from our guru. Through such devotion all attainments and understanding are possible. There are four requirements for authentic devotion: Never examine the guru’s faults, know that whatever he or she does is good, one must resolve to eliminate hope and fear, and one must think of the guru as a parent. One will receive blessings from the guru according to how one perceives the guru, ie. as a Buddha, bodhisattva, siddha, or ordinary spiritual friend. Many sutras, tantras, and teachers have taught the great value of guru devotion. Lama Karma gives many examples.



Lama Karma also says that Rinpoche did not dictate any stories about his life and did not expect a biography to be written but told him it was up to him whether he would write it. Many of the stories and facts therein Lama Karma remembered from conversations and his own observations. His goal is/was to increase the devotion of himself and others. This biography was completed in late November 2005 while Lama Karma was in his second three-year retreat.



The last chapter includes several longevity supplications for Khenpo Rinpoche’s long life. It was great for many of us that he got to live and teach until he died at age 96. I remember the last few words of instruction from him I read on a Facebook post:



In practice, be courageous. Do not be timid.  (paraphrased but I think that is right)



It is no small matter in one’s life to meet an authentic being and I and many others have been fortunate enough to do just that and learn from his example and his teachings.