[Aztlan] Remains found in Peru

[Alfred Climber]

Thank you Mr. Schwaller, 
I wish someone would get in touch with the author of the article and enlighten him/her about using this idiotic term. Lets be more professional when describing ancient native medicine peoples. I also have another question. How did the author know this guy "spoke with the Gods"? Maybe he believed in one God, or a deity he did not call God. Maybe he talked with a rock. Maybe he was mute, there were medicine people who were mute. We can not suppose he talked to anyone unless it was a fist hand observation. I thought these people were scientist?? 
  Maybe I am wrong.. 
                Thank you for your response, Al Climber Cortez
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: John F. Schwaller<mailto:schwallr at potsdam.edu> 
  To: Alfred Climber<mailto:climber1157_99 at msn.com> 
  Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 11:05 AM
  Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Remains found in Peru


  Hey.  I agree.  It's a stupid term.



  Alfred Climber wrote: 
    Hey All,
    I just wish that the article and the author would not use the term "Witch Doctor". I don't think that the term witch doctor was used for the "medicine people" of antiquity who were dug up in the old world. Why cant people get away from the negative connotations of this. In my culture a witch doctor just did not exist. The use of the word shaman (which came from China) should also be omitted when describing the native peoples 'priest' or medicine peoples. 
     Right or wrong there are many of us who still believe that SOME of what they did in spiritual medicine worked. It would be nice to show this 'priest' due respect and not belittle his beliefs by calling him/her a witch doctor. I don't see articles written by anyone "knocking" other persons beliefs except the native people. I guess we still are considered heathens. Yes I used that word before and someone said "well we did not call anyone that" well what is the difference between a witch doctor and a heathen?? Not much huh. Give me a break. Is this how educated peoples describe someone they dug up who lived over 800 years ago? I think the description could be much more professional!! How about you??
                     Thank you for your time,
                            Al Climber Cortez  





      From: John F. Schwaller<mailto:schwallr at potsdam.edu> 
      To: Aztlan<mailto:aztlan at lists.famsi.org> 
      Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 12:45 PM
      Subject: [Aztlan] Remains found in Peru


      http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=35886<http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=35886>

      800-Year-Old Remains of Witch Doctor Found with Aphrodisiac Seeds in Peru
      LIMA (EFE).- The remains of a witch doctor who lived 800 years ago in 
      the northern Peruvian region of Lambayeque and who was buried with 500 
      seeds believed to have aphrodisiac properties were found by 
      archaeologists in La Pava de Mochumi, the local press said Saturday.

      The individual not only performed cures but also spoke with the gods as 
      was the shaman's role in the Mochica and Lambayeque cultures, the 
      director of the La Pava de Mochumi archaeological complex, Marco 
      Fernandez, told the daily El Comercio.

      The ceramic vessel containing 500 nectarine seeds was the first clue to 
      finding the remains of the witch doctor from the pre-Incan Lambayeque 
      culture, buried near the valley of the Tucume Pyramids.

      Archaeologists also found a Peruvian scallop shell for inhaling tobacco, 
      gourds for drinking mate, pieces of textiles, a globular jug and a 
      wooden cane.

      Fernandez said that they found the remains of another individual from 
      the same culture, which flourished about 800 to 900 years ago, buried 
      with objects that identify him as a middle-ranked official.

      Together with the latter were found ceremonial knives of copper gilt, 
      fragments of quartz and seven ceramics.

      Meanwhile the director of Lambayeque's Bruning Museum, Carlos Wester, 
      said that the burials discovered, both of the medicine man and the 
      official, were evidence of intense cultural, artistic, technological and 
      ritual activity in the Mochumi area.

      The Peruvian government has set aside more than 1 1/2 million sols 
      ($500,000) for archaeological research at Lambayeque, one of the regions 
      where important pre-Inca cultures such as the Mochica, Chimu and 
      Lambayeque arose. EFE

      -- 
      *****************************
      John F. Schwaller
      President
      SUNY - Potsdam
      44 Pierrepont Ave.
      Potsdam, NY  13676
      Tel. 315-267-2100
      FAX 315-267-2496

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-- 
*****************************
John F. Schwaller
President
SUNY - Potsdam
44 Pierrepont Ave.
Potsdam, NY  13676
Tel. 315-267-2100
FAX 315-267-2496