Chapter 15 Student Activities

Politics: Power and Social Control

Witchcraft Among the Azande Activity

Witchcraft Among the Azande is a classic ethnographic documentary available in many college libraries (also on YouTube). Begin by showing this to the class and consider the following questions: Given our perspectives of science, politics, and law, determining the guilt or innocence of a suspect by poisoning chickens might seem ridiculous. What role does witchcraft play in Azande society? Are the methods used by the oracle effective?

After viewing the documentary, divide students into groups of two. They will be simulating an Azande trial with one major exception—the results will be entirely based on random chance. Each pair of students will need a six-sided die to play. Here are the rules:

  • The student whose last name comes first alphabetically rolls the die. If it lands on an even number (2, 4, 6), you have been accused of using sorcery to poison a neighbor’s crops. If it is an odd number (1, 3, 5), the other student is the accused, and you give him or her the die.
  • From the accused person’s perspective, is he or she guilty of sorcery? Roll to find out: even = yes, odd = no.
  • Now it is time to appear before the village chief. He asks for your plea. If you rolled an odd number in the previous step (not guilty), plead your innocence. If you rolled an even number in the previous step, decide whether to confess or attempt to conceal your guilt. Roll the die again: even = confess, odd = lie (or at least don’t reveal the whole truth, as the couple accused of adultery in the documentary did).
  • If you confessed, the chief accepts your plea, asks you to spit water as a sign of contrition and assigns you to work in his garden as penance. Game over.
  • If you lied to the chief, roll again to see if he believed you: even = yes, odd = no.
  • If the chief believed your “not guilty” plea, you have gotten away with sorcery (but it’s on your conscience!). If he doubted you, he demands that you consult thebenge oracle for further evidence.
  • The ritual specialist asks “Did this person use sorcery to poison his neighbor’s crops?” and administers poison to a chicken. Roll again: even = chicken dies, odd = chicken lives.
  • If the chicken lives, this piece of “data” will be shared with the chief and you have, once again, cheated the system (but you should still feel remorse because, in your heart, you know you practiced sorcery). If the chicken dies, you must return to face the chief.
  • The chief asks again, more pointedly, for your plea. You confess that you did not intentionally poison your neighbor’s crops, but it is possible that you have harbored ill will or jealousy toward the neighbor and that this might have ruined his crops. You agree to spit water and work in the chief’s garden. Game over.

After playing this simulated game, how do you feel about Azande justice? Which elements of the system do you think are effective? Which aren’t?

The “Chagnon Wars” Research Project

This chapter discusses Napoleon Chagnon’s work among the Yanomamo and controversy over his characterization of the “fierce people.” Chagnon represents a particularly good way to explore both the politics of violence among tribal peoples and the politics of anthropological research. In fact, Chagnon’s memoir is titled Noble Savages: My Life Among Two Dangerous Tribes—The Yanomamo and the Anthropologists.

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