Gubida Illness and Religious Ritual Among the Garifuna of Santa Fe, Honduras: an Ethnopsychiatric Analysis
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Order Niunber 8820253 Gubida illness and religious ritual among the Garifuna of Santa Fe, Honduras: An ethnopsychiatric analysis Bianchi, Cynthia Chamberlain, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1988 Copyright ©1989 by Bianchi, Cynthia Chamberlain. All rights reserved. UMI 300N.ZeebRd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark V 1. Glossy photographs or pages. 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print. 3. Photographs with dark background____ 4. Illustrations are poor copy______ 5. Pages with black marks, not original copy. 6. Print shows through as there is text on both sides of p ag e. 7. Indistinct, broken or small print on several pages 'Z 8. Print exceeds margin requirements_____ 9. Tightly bound copy with print lost in spine_______ 10. Computer printout pages with indistinct print, 11. Page(s)___________ lacking when material received, and not available from school or author. 12. Page(s)___________ seem to be missing in numbering only as text follows. 13. Two pages numbered . Text follows. 14. Curling and wrinkled pages______ 15. Dissertation contains pages with print at a slant, filmed as received_________ 16. Other __________________________________________________ _____________ UMI GUBIDA ILLNESS AND RELIGIOUS RITUAL AMONG THE GARIFUNA OF SANTA FE, HONDURAS : AN ETHNOPSYCHIATRIC ANALYSIS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Cynthia Chamberlain Bianchi, B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1988 Dissertation Committee: Approved by E . Bourguignon J. Messenger Adviser D. Cooper Department of Anthropology ©1989 CYNTHIA CHAMBERLAIN BIANCHI All Rights Reserved GUBIDA ILLNESS AND RELIGIOUS RITUAL AMONG THE GARIFUNA OF SANTA FE, HONDURAS : AN ETHNOPSYCHIATRIC ANALYSIS By Cynthia Chamberlain Bianchi, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1988 Professor Erika Bourguignon, Adviser The Garifuna of Honduras are an Afro-Amerindian group inhabiting the shorelands of the Bay of Honduras. Their religious and ethnomedical practices reflect syncretism between West African, West-Central African, Island Carib Amerindian, Caribbean, and Hispanic-American cultural patterns. This study focuses on an emically recognized illness called hasândicfubida. a condition believed to be caused by the spirits of dead relatives. The physical and behavioral symptoms of hasândicmbida are related to similar phenomena in West and West-Central Africa attributed to the vengeance of angry ancestor spirits. The illness category hasândicrubida cross-cuts biomedical classifications of disorder. Distinctive behavioral symptoms are culturally patterned, especially stereotypical dreams and visions which reflect imagery of dead relatives demanding food and ritual sacrifices, or 2 persecuting the victim. In many cases physical symptoms appear to express somaticized anxiety. Hasândicmbida is associated with anxiety over disease and physical symptoms resistant to previous treatment, and with disruption in social relationships. This condition may be viewed as a culture-bound reactive syndrome. Although both males and females develop hasândiaubida. young adult females experience this condition most frequently. Males are most likely to manifest hasândicmbida during middle-age. This difference between the sexes reflects periods of increased distress in the lives of Garifuna males and females. The identities of spirits most frequently blamed for causing hasândiaubida reflect both the matrilateral emphasis of Garifuna social structure and differing expectations for males and females with regard to the fulfillment of familial obligations to various categories of relatives. A larger variety of relatives are named in female cases, whereas maternal spirits are most frequently blamed in cases involving males. The hasândicmbida complex, including therapeutic placation rituals, may be interpreted as a traditional ethnomedical system for dealing with emotional and physical distress. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to Mrs. Ellen Toplon for her expert advise and assistance in the preparation of the final copy of this dissertation. Thanks also go to Dr. and Mrs. William V. Davidson and Lie. and Sra. Fernando Cruz Sandoval for their friendship and extensive help while I was conducting fieldwork in Honduras. Gratitude is also expressed to the Doherty Foundation for the grant which made the fieldwork possible. The members of my dissertation committee at Ohio State University, Drs. Erika Bourguignon, John Messenger, and Donald Cooper, have been extremely helpful and supportive. I offer sincere thanks to my husband Thomas Bianchi who has continually provided love, encouragement, and companionship both in Honduras and during the preparation of the dissertation. Finally, I express my deepest thanks and admiration to the people of Santa Fe, Honduras who turned the fieldwork experience into the most enjoyable year of my life. 1 1 VITA ) June 15, 1954.........Born - Wilmington, Delaware 1977...................B.A., Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1979...................M.A., Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1979-Present.......... Research and coursework related to candidacy for Ph.D. PUBLICATIONS 1984 La enfermedad de gubida y el sincretismo religiose entre los garifunas: un anâlisis etnosiquiâtrico. America Indiaena 44 (3): 519-542. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Anthropology 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS............................................ Ü VITA....................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES........................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES............................................. X CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.......................................1 Questions for Research........................... 2 Research Strategy and Field Investigation....... 4 Culture-Bound Syndromes and Stress: Some Definitions..................................8 Culture-Bound Syndromes: Emic Considerations and Etic Classifications...................12 II. SPIRIT ILLNESS, POSSESSION TRANCE, AND THERA PEUTIC RITUALS : THEORETICAL APPROACHES 25 Altered States of Consciousness: Definitions...25 Possession Illness and Psychiatric Classi fications...................................29 Ritual Therapy, Possession Trance and Anxiety Reduction....................... .36 III. ANCESTOR SPIRIT ILLNESS AND TRADITIONAL THERAPY IN WEST AND WEST CENTRAL AFRICA........ 48 General Patterns................................ 48 Possession Illness and Ritual Therapy in West Central Africa........................ 53 West African Perspectives....................... 66 IV. CULTURAL CONTACT, SYNCRETISM AND CRYSTAL LIZATION: THE GENESIS OF GARIFUNA SOCIETY AND RELIGION...................... 73 Theoretical Considerations......................73 IV Regions of Supply and the African Slave Trade to the Americas....,................ 82 Religious Syncretism in Africa and the Caribbean................... 85 St. Vincent Island: 1600-1795...................90 Exile to Central America: The New Inter action Context............................ 102 Garifuna Ethnogenesis and the Development of the Gubida Cult........................ 108 V. SANTA FE, HONDURAS: PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, LIVING CONDITIONS, AND HEALTH PROBLEMS....... .117 Climate and Physical Environment.............. 120 Settlement Patterns............................ 123 Transportation and Communication.............. 123 Drinking Water Facilities, Sewage and Garbage Management........................ 125 Animal Life in Santa Fe and the Surrounding Environment................................126 Food and Drink.................................. 128 Health Problems in Santa Fe.................... 130 VI. SOCIAL SUPPORT AND SOCIAL CONTROL IN SANTA FE: THE ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT.................141 Introduction.................................... 141 Municipal Government........................... 142 Informal Community Organization, Social Support, and Social Control.............. 146 Support Networks, Kinship Organization, and Migration : Introduction...................149 Population Characteristics, Resident Status, and Migration............................. 152 Migration Patterns............................. 155 Mating Relationships and the Provision of Support.................................... 158 Kinship, Matrifocality, and Household Com position................................... 162 Kindreds, Nonunilineal Descent Groups, and Ritual Organization....................... 171 VII. ROMAN CATHOLICISM AND THE ANNUAL CYCLE OF RITUAL ACTIVITIES...............................176 Introduction.................................... 176 Religion in Santa Fe........................... 177 The Annual Ritual Cycle: Major Events......... 181 The Annual Ritual Cycle: Analysis.............. 201 VIII. OBLIGATIONS TO THE DEAD AND MANDATORY DEATH RITUALS.................................. 210 Introduction................................... 210 Death Rituals and Obligations to the Dead 211 Wakes and Funerals............................. 215 Garifuna Wakes and Funerals: Comparisons with Haitian and Spanish Custom.......... 224 Novenas......................................... 226 Garifuna Novenas: Comparisons with Spanish and Haitian Tradition.....................237 IX. GUBIDA ILLNESS : SURVEY DATA AND CASE STUDIES........................................