Mvskoke-Nene Momis Komet Yvkvpvkkeyetos/We Keep Walking
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University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 5-2021 Mvskoke-Nene momis komet Yvkvpvkkeyetos/We Keep Walking the Mvskoke Path: A Reflexive and Phenomenological Ethnographic Study of the Ceremonial Beliefs and Practices of a Modern Mvskoke Community in Florida Christopher B. Bolfing University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Citation Bolfing, C. B. (2021). Mvskoke-Nene momis komet Yvkvpvkkeyetos/We Keep Walking the Mvskoke Path: A Reflexive and Phenomenological Ethnographic Study of the Ceremonial Beliefs and Practices of a Modern Mvskoke Community in Florida. Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/3963 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Mvskoke-Nene momis komet Yvkvpvkkeyetos/We Keep Walking the Mvskoke Path: A Reflexive and Phenomenological Ethnographic Study of the Ceremonial Beliefs and Practices of a Modern Mvskoke Community in Florida A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Christopher B. Bolfing Texas State University – San Marcos Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Anthropology, 2010 Texas State University – San Marcos Master of Arts in Anthropology, 2012 May 2021 University of Arkansas This dissertation is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. _________________________________ Kirstin Erickson, Ph.D. Dissertation Director _________________________________ ________________________________ JoAnn D’Alisera, Ph.D. George Sabo III, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member ABSTRACT This dissertation is an ethnographic investigation of the intersection between cosmology, worldview, ethnoecology, and traditional religious performance, particularly in terms of the relationship between subjective experience and intersubjectivity. It is a study of how people come to understand the world – an attempt to understand understanding. I explore the acquisition of social, cultural, and ecological knowledge through participation in the traditional religious ceremonialism of a Mvskoke ceremonial community, called the Busk. I write about living people and living religious traditions, but I am also a member of this community and, therefore, I am also telling my own story. Reflexivity, then, serves a strong methodological role in highlighting my own positionality and experiences within the community. I use a phenomenological approach that directs the research focus to people’s actual experiences of the world around them in order to investigate how individuals come to perceive and understand the world differently as a result of participation in the Busks. The Busk ceremonials are the primary means of inculcation of the traditional teachings that inform and reinforce a distinctive framework of understanding, an intersubjectively negotiated worldview called the Mvskoke-Nene, or Muskogee Path. Walking the Mvskoke-Nene is a phrase used to describe a way of seeing and understanding the world, a way of being. As people walk the Mvskoke-Nene, the teachings of the Busk ceremonials are internalized and implemented into their daily lives, and give rise to new ways of perceiving and interacting with the world. In this dissertation, I examine the teachings of the Busk and explore the system of knowledge and natural symbolism that gives meaning to those teachings. ©2021 by Christopher B. Bolfing All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I could not have completed this dissertation without the love and support of my family and community; it is with sincere gratitude that I want to acknowledge Weso, Koha, and the entire Ekvnv Hvtke Community, with particular thanks to our Matriarchs, Makers of Medicine, and Ceremonial Leaders. I would also like to acknowledge my former advisor, Dr. Justin M. Nolan, who passed too early and did not get to see this dissertation completed. It also would not have been possible for me to complete this without the help of Dr. Kirstin Erickson, who stepped in to advise in the writing and editing of this dissertation. To you all, I say Mvto! DEDICATION For those who came before – whom we call ancestors, and to those who come after – by whom we will be called ancestors. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Hiyomat’ vlicecetomes (Now we begin). 1 Chapter 2: Ekvsvmkv tawvt heleswv em vnvttecetos (Ego is the first thing to get in the way of Medicine). 35 Chapter 3: Mvskoke-Nene kerretos (We Learn the Muscogee Way). 61 Chapter 4: Vketecetaks! Nak omvlkvn empaskofv ekvn’hokte ayicetomackes (Pay Attention! Everything in the Busk comes from the Growing World). 85 Chapter 5: Heleswv emahayetos; em heleswv mahakv kerrcicetomackes (Medicine is its own Teacher; from Medicine, Lessons are Learned). 109 Chapter 6: Mvskoke Oketv (Muscogee Time). 128 Chapter 7: Mvskoke-Nene momis komet yvkvpvkkeyetos (We Keep Walking the Muscogee Path). 145 References/Works Cited/Bibliography. 169 Appendix. 187 LIST OF IMAGES Figure 1. Map of the research area, which indicates a general location of the ceremonial grounds and where research was conducted with community members. 9 Figure 2. A Muscogee cosmogram conceptualizing the tripartite cosmos and Turtle Island. 10 East Arbor, also called Topv Hokte (Women’s Arbor). 11 (photo by author) A Community Ballgame. 12 (photo by author) Various buildings and structures surrounding the grounds. 13 (photo by author) Running Around the Fire. 34 (photo by Cheyenne Alderson, image used with permission) Emv. Former Matriarch and Beloved Woman - entered the “Dog’s Road” in 2019. 38 (photo by author) Skinning hogs in the summer heat (David Zeigler). 58 (photos by author and Elizabeth Zeigler, image used with permission) The Log Bearers with the Daughter Logs . 87 (photo by author) Author serving as hamatlv at a Busk . 88 (photos by David Zeigler, images used with permission) Hvse Opvnka, the Women’s Ribbon Dance. 90 (photo by author) Rango, my companion throughout this research process. 137 (photos by author) Our Wedding Gorgets. 165 Shell carvings by Christopher Thompson (Muscogee Nation of Florida) (photo by author) LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS FOR TAXONOMIC NAMING A.E. Murray – Murray, A. E. 1983. Cupressaceae Juniperus virginiana (L.) var. silicicola (Small). Kalmia 13:8. A.Gray – Gray, Asa. 1856. Manual of the Botany of the northern United States: Second Edition; Including Virgina, Kentucky, and all east of the Mississippi: Arranged according the Natural System. New York: George P. Putnam & Co. (http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/50405#/summary). Hilliard & B.L. Burtt – Hilliard O.M. and B.L. Burtt 1981. Some generic concepts in Compositae-Gnaphaliinae. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 82:181-232. L. – Linnaei, Caroli. 1753. Species Plantarum: Exhibentes Plantas Rite Cognitas, ad Genera Relatas, cum Differentiis Specificis, Nominibus Trivialibus, Synonymis Selectis, Locis Natalibus, secundum Systema Sexuale Digestas. Toma I. Stockholm: Impensis Laurentii Salvii. Biodiversity Heritage Library (http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/669#/summary). Michx. – Michaux, André. 1803. Flora Boreali-Americana, Sistens Carateres Plantarum quas in America septentrionali collegit et detexit. Tomus Primus. Paris and Strassburg: Apud fratres Levrault. Biodiversity Heritage Library (http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/330#/summary). Small – Small, John Kunkel. 1923. Cupressaceae Sabina silicicola. Journal of the New York Botanical Garden 24:5. W.T. Aiton – Aiton, William Townsend. 1789. Hortus Kewensis; or, a Catalogue of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. London: Printed for George Nicol, Bookseller to his Majesty, Pall Mall. (http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/4504#/summary). EXPLANATORY NOTE ON MVSKOKE ORTHOGRAPHY AND PRONUNCIATION Mvskoke was not traditionally a written language and there have been various systems of representation that have been used to transcribe the language. The Mvskoke language is a tonal language and makes use of phonological alterations, including the nasalization of vowels and changes in pitch or stress, to modify words and express particular grades, aspects, and moods. In this dissertation, I follow the basic orthographies used by Robert Loughridge and David Hodge (1914) and Jack Martin and Margaret Mauldin (2000). I do not provide tonal, accent, stress, or nasalization markers for each word, which are generally absent from most Mvskoke scripts. I indicate elided syllables, which are associated with community-specific dialects, by using an apostrophe (‘/’). For more information on the Mvskoke language, I strongly recommend Martin’s (2011) A Grammar of Creek (Muskogee). Vowels A – ah like in taught or cob: hayetv (to make) E – regular vowel ē as in beet : efv (dog); short vowel ə like in orbit : momis komet (persevering) I (æ) – ay, ey : like in gate: wikvs (stop); short vowel: eh like in pet : momis komet (persevering) O – ō : like in rope : hotvle (wind) U – ooh : like in boot : cuko (house, building) V – uh : like in fun : vcenv (cedar) Diphthongs UE – oy like in toy : uewa (water) VO – sounds between aw, as in paw, and ow, as in pow : vhvoke (door) EU – ew as in pew or cue (eu