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Blood and Voice - Navajo Women Ceremonial Practitioners (Paperback)
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Blood and Voice - Navajo Women Ceremonial Practitioners (Paperback)
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Adulthood in the Navajo world is marked by the onset of
menstruation in females and by the deepening of the voice in males.
Accordingly, young adults must accept responsibility over the
powers manifest in blood and voice: for women, the forces that
control reproduction and growth; for men, the powers of protection
and restoration of order that come through maintaining Navajo oral
tradition. The maintenance of the latter tradition has long been
held to be the function of the Navajo singer, a role usually viewed
as male. But despite this longstanding assumption, women can and do
fill this role. Drawing on interviews with seventeen Navajo women
practitioners and five apprentices, Maureen Trudelle Schwarz
explicates women's role as ceremonial practitioners and shows that
it is more complex than has previously been thought. She examines
gender differences dictated by the Navajo origin story, details how
women came to be practitioners, and reveals their experiences and
the strategies they use to negotiate being both woman and singer.
Women who choose careers as singers face complex challenges, since
some rules prohibit menstruating women from conducting ceremonies
and others regarding sexual continence can strain marital
relationships. Additionally, oral history places men in charge of
all ceremonial matters. Schwarz focuses on how the reproductive
life courses of Navajo women influence their apprenticeships and
practices to demonstrate how they navigate these issues to preserve
time-honored traditions. Through the words of actual practitioners,
she shows how each woman brings her own unique life experience to
the role. While differing among individuals, these experiences
represent a commitment to shared cultural symbols and result in a
consensus that sustains social cohesion. By showing the differences
and similarities between the apprenticeship, initiation, and
practice of men and women singers, "Blood and Voice" offers a
better understanding of the role of Navajo women in a profession
usually viewed as a male activity--and of the symbolic construction
of the self in Navajo culture. It also addresses classic questions
concerning the sexual division of labor, menstrual taboos, gender
stereotypes, and the tension between tradition and change that will
enlighten students of other cultures.
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