Papago Woman: An Intimate Portrait of American Indian Culture

by Ruth M. Underhill

A groundbreaking blend of ethnographic fieldwork and American Indian oral history by a pioneering female anthropologist. Anthropologist Ruth M. Underhill (1883 1984), a widely acknowledged expert on Native American life, published The Autobiography of a Papago Woman in 1936, the first-known oral history of an American Indian woman. The story of Maria Chona, a Papago (Tohono O'odham) woman, is a sequence of intimate episodes and crises from her traditional and nontraditional life, including childbearing, marriages, family and reservation life, song making, and knowledge of practical medicine. The strong Papago fear of women's impurity restricted her, and all females, from having an active role in ceremonial life, yet her independent spirit and dynamic personality led her to challenge tribal taboos. The rare autobiography of Chona, which forms the core of this historically significant case study, appears in Part II of Papago Woman. Underhill adds interpretive analysis, historical background, and absorbing ethnological descriptions in Part I as well as commentary on Papago views on child training, women, love, and the continuing effects of Roosevelt's New Deal in Part III. Useful student study questions (by Catherine Lavender) are included. Visit waveland.com for a complete list of modern and classic ethnographies on Apache, Navajo, Pueblo, Papago, Shoshone, Comanche, Crow, and other American Indian cultures.

Genres: Nonfiction, Native American

100 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

Ruth Murray Underhill was an American anthropologist. She was born in Ossining-on-the-Hudson, New York, and attended Vassar College, graduating in 1905 with a degree in Language and Literature. In 1907, she graduated from the London School of Economics and began travelling throughout Europe. During World War I, she worked for an Italian Orphanage run by the Red Cross. After the war, she married Charles C. Crawford and published her first book The White Moth. Her marriage ended in 1929 and by 1930 she decided to go back to school to learn more about human behavior. After speaking with Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict in the Anthropology Department at Columbia University, she decided to pursue the field, graduating in 1937. She wrote numerous books on Native Americans and helped to dispel many myths about their culture.

Reviews

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read, but full of biases. As an educational tool can be used to explain ritual. It's the story of a Todo'onham woman (no longer Papago), who shares her native philosophy and how it has influenced her life experiences. This book is an early example of ethnographic work in the Anthropology field...Although Underhill is the author of this book, she doesn't write from a native perspective, she writes from a western perspective. Therefore, the 'meat' of her experience is lost...

[Marieta Grissom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a ground-breaking study of a Papago woman and the culture of her people. While the detail may not be totally accurate due to the language barrier, certainly the overall relevance is very significant. This book reveals some of the most intimate details of a woman's life, in fact, somewhat nonchalantly. Rarely are an individual's or a people's lives so candidly discussed.

[Myra Schouten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book about the Tohono O'odham people

[Funda Guzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keyif ile okudum.

[Mario · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most captivating ethnographic pieces I've ever read. It is a fine example of a life-history ethnography, and reads like the best love story and adventure. Underhill makes a point of detailing her editorial hand in the publication to tell a story that makes sense to a non-native reader. I have read this book at least ten times, and I assign it to my anthropology students to read as well.

[Suz Alcantar · Rating 1 out of 5]

SUCKY!

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I dont know if i understood this book. Some parts were kinda interesting.

[Bill Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many do not understand RMU, but she is dedicated to bring authentic information to light.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent insight into the lives of the Papago people before European influences.