Watching Birds and People: Where Anthropology Meets Ornithology -- A Few Personal Remarks

This article explores ornithology as a hidden resource in anthropological field work. Relating experiences among the Penan forest nomads of Sarawak, Borneo, the author describes how his personal knowledge of bird life paved the way for good working relations, and even friendship, with the Penan. Rep...

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Veröffentlicht in:Fieldwork in religion
1. VerfasserIn: Rothstein, Mikael 1961- (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
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Veröffentlicht: Equinox [2006]
In: Fieldwork in religion
weitere Schlagwörter:B Penan
B Fieldwork
B Borneo
B ornithology
B Birds
B rainforest
B Sarawak
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:This article explores ornithology as a hidden resource in anthropological field work. Relating experiences among the Penan forest nomads of Sarawak, Borneo, the author describes how his personal knowledge of bird life paved the way for good working relations, and even friendship, with the Penan. Representing two very different cultures simple communication between the scholar on duty and the Penan community was difficult indeed, but the birds provided a common ground that enabled the two parties to exchange experiences, knowledge and skills. In certain ways the author's fieldwork-based project relates to the Penan's religious interpretation of birds, but the article is primarily concerned with the fact that a mutual understanding was created from this common ground, and that our thoughts on fieldwork preparations may be taken further by such experiences.
ISSN:1743-0623
Enthält:Enthalten in: Fieldwork in religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/fiel2008v2i2.160