Kuru Sorcery: Disease and Danger in the New Guinea Highlands

by Shirley Lindenbaum

Kuru, a fatal neurological disease thought to be transmitted through cannibalism, is examined in the Fore, a New Guinea people afflicted with the disease, who believe it to be caused by sorcery. The author also discusses Fore beliefs about diagnosis and prevention of other diseases.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, History, Science, Sociology, Biology

174 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1978

About the author

Shirley Lindenbaum is notable for her medical anthropological work on kuru in Papua New Guinea, HIV/AIDS in the United States of America, and cholera in Bangladesh.Beginning in 1972, she taught cultural anthropology at the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York, before accepting a professorship at the City University of New York. Admired by her colleagues and students, Lindenbaum was the editor of the international journal "American Ethnologist" (1984-1989), and later served as Book Review Editor for "Anthropology Now" (2010-2013). Professor Lindenbaum is currently living in NY and is emerita professor of the Graduate Division of the City University of New York.

Reviews

[Dennis Ashendorf · Rating 4 out of 5]

[I read the first edition in 1979-1980. The second edition, written decades later, was special to me because the first edition influenced me greatly. I didn't see all cultures as "equal" as professors did (early multiculturalism). "Equal" was an inappropriate concept. What matters is what works and whether responses/protocols work. Some societies handle some categories of issues better, and some are better in ways that we may like, which is OK. I was almost kicked out of class for stating what I thought was obvious.] Strange to see defects in my memory. I wasn't perfect.

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A classic in anthropology. Yet, not understood by anthropologists! Even MacArthur winners, like William H. Durham, missed the punch line: the Kuru failed. If not for the fortuitous visit by a Western scientist - a "viroid" expert- the etiology of Kuru would not have been determined, and the death rate would likely have overwhelmed the Fore society.

To almost all anthropologists, the Fore succeeded because they tried every mechanism from sorcerers to "town meetings" to beat Kuru. The society functioned even after encounters with outsiders.

Not wanting to judge, but needing to praise all societies as "equal," misses the point: sometimes some societies are more effective or, at least, better equipped to handle some types of problems. Western medicine and research programs work better than sorcerers and big meetings.

Pueblo Native Americans also held big meetings in Mesa Verde National Park, but the drought they faced could not be rectified. They left. Yes, the society functioned. Sorta sad; nothing to brag about.

[Melvin Marsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting little book about Kuru and the tribes reaction and what they felt was going on.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for Medical Anthropology in Biocultural Perspective, and for an assigned academic text, it was actually fascinating. She balances well the epidemiology of kuru with her observations of Fore political organization, social kinship structure, and beliefs about health and illness. There's a constant awareness of context, as if she's always asking, "Okay, so this practice or phenomenon happens. Why? What does it stem from?" I admire that.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An older, but invaluable document of the Fore society in a time of great transition. Despite the inclusion of "Kuru" in the title, this isn't a medical study but an anthropological one, discussing how a sweeping, incurable plague impacted a society, how they interpreted it, and what changes this forced. Fascinating reading.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real people eating dead people. And getting really sick...

[Thom Dunn]

{Velvetink RECO: for disease transmitted by cannibalsim.}

[Nick Wisniewski · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting ethnography.