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Field Notes #4 Moon Ritual

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Em Gill Chozha Moon Ritual Description: Chozha is the biggest annual festival of the Oktip and takes place on a different island every year. This year is on Pikisenja (animal island) where most of the Oktip people's livestock graze in huge pastures across the island. The festival has been a huge celebration filled with beautiful song, dance, and decoration as well as delicious food and drink. This is the third and final night of the festival and the last full moon of the summer. My guide Gicheth tells me that tonight we will participate in the Matfunoktipa Daishe (moon song) ritual to thank the moon for their people's good fortune and ask for future blessings. After a long day of festivities, the sun has finally set and the crowds move towards the docks. With Gicheth and our traveling companions, I board the fishing boat we came to the island on as hundreds of others do the same. We sail a short ways out, far enough that there is ample space between each boat but still cl...
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Field Notes #3 Greeting

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Em Gill Greeting between old friends 6/24/19 Description: Today the weather is beautiful and our fishing was very successful. Gicheth, Osket, and I load our catch onto a cart and head up the beach. Osket tells us about a palachotshe (lecture) that they are going to be giving today to present a new medicine they've been developing to help reduce fevers. They hope to present the results of their testing and have the recipe added in medical books across all the islands. We arrive at the yitpikifun where fish are cleaned, cured for storage, and prepared for cooking and unload our day's haul. Once we finish, the three of us walk towards the yitchoshe (library) to collect Osket's research documents when a voice calls out behind us. "Osket!" yells a stranger running up the path. Osket turns around and lights up at the sight. "Thech!" they exclaim and embrace the newcomer. When they break apart, Thech takes Osket's hands and says "matfunoktipa ...
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Blog Post 4

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Title: Farewell Festival Date: 06/24/19 Observer: Michael Hamady Setting: The city of Lapaisenja Description of Activities             The bright full moon lit up the ocean’s waves as they crashed upon the Lapaisenja waterfront. Celebratory screams, drums, and long wind instruments accompanied the sound of crashing waves. Toza and a few other Oktip , acting as our guides, ushered I and my fellow colleagues away from the beachfront and towards a large wooden yit . Bamboo straw formed a triangular roof over the large yit. There were two large openings marking the front and back of the yit. Inside and around the yit , people danced, sang, and drank on the beach. We arrived at Oktipisenja during the spring, when the weather was crisp and nice. From my understanding, the Oktip host one large festival every season. Toza informed me days prior that the Oknyoja decided to merge our farewell party with ...
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Leaving Oktipisenja (Blog Post 4)

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            As I prepared to leave the Oktip people and return to my home, Rahli seemed sad to see me go. My interpreter and I had grown close as we explored the islands of the Oktipisenja and she had taught me much about the Oktip culture and language. I remarked that I was going to miss her and she should come visit me some day. The words seemed to surprise her. “I cannot visit,” she said, “if I leave Oktipisenja, I can never come back.”             I asked her if that meant I would not be allowed to return and learn more about the Oktip people or if that was a rule only for the Oktip.              “You can come visit when you like, but Matfunoktipa frowns upon her children who leave the world she made for them,” Rahli replied. When I asked to elaborate she explained, “We were given nine islands to live and grow on. We hav...
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On Compliments (Blog Post 3)

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On Compliments As I learned more about the Oktip people and their religious practices, the prevalence of Matfunoktipa, or the moon, in their daily lives seemed to grow. Or perhaps it had always been there and I was simply growing more aware of it. As I was visiting Lapaisenja with Rahli, my guide, I got to witness another aspect of the Oktip and how they pay homage to the moon, even with something as simple as accepting a compliment.               Rahli and I were walking among one of the marketplaces on Lapaisenja, or ‘Big Island’, when I observed this phenomenon. Trading among the Oktip is a highly polite and ritualized activity, stemming from the wars that used to be fought and using ‘peace’ and the word for currency. I was used to traders complimenting wares during these deals, where it was customary for the buyer to compliment the product before bargaining for it. It was surprising for me to learn that normal...
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Blog Post 3

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Title: Meditation with the Newly Elected Oknyoja Date: 06/24/19 Observer: Michael Hamady Setting: Oknyoisenja             The nine newly elected Oknyoja and I sat in a circle under the Oknyojayit (Council Temple). It was a pleasant day to join the Oknyoja for their first council meeting as the weather was not too hot, and we received periodic instances of shade. The newly elected Oknyota tapped the staff twice, and each Oknyo began to meditate. I was shadowing Toza, a young Oknyo representing Kofoisenja.             We were instructed to meditate for twenty minutes. By the tenth minute, my back began to ache. I broke my meditation and opened my eyes to see Toza sweating, swaying back and forth. Wondering if everything was alright, I continued to watch Toza when suddenly his stomach let out a thunderous, muffled growl. Immediately after his stom...
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Blog Post #4 – Request for Assistance

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FILENAME:       RequestingAssistance TITLE:                 Requesting Assistance DATE:                 20 May 2019 KEY WORDS:   politeness; speech acts DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY: SETTING & SCENE :   workshop of carpenter, at the start of the break for communal midday nourishment PARTICIPANT(S) :   carpenter; 4 apprentices, a new deliverer, and participant-observer ENDS :                           deliverer: to solicit help newest apprentice: to assist the deliverer participant-observer: to understand an unfamiliar an idiomatic expression ACT SEQUENCE :           As the usual time of the communal midday nourishment approached, activity began to ...
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