Travels with Tooy by Richard Price - Essay Example

? To sum up my personal response the question, “What if any, are the lessons to be learned by of history from Price’s Book,” I as under: 1. A student must learn lessons of history from a well-versed anthropologist. 2. A student of history must study the life of tribes to have a firsthand knowledge about the area of his research. 3. I realize the important role played by the original residents of the America for building the country. 4. The rebel slaves fought to the best of their ability to assert their independence. 5. Immoral men were severely punished for their moral turpitude; howsoever important was their social standing. 6. This book has lots of details about the remarkable people who were inducted into slavery forcibly but subsequently asserted their independence. 7. Assimilation of the ethnic minority/black race into the American Mainstream society cannot be achieved though legal provisions only. All-round efforts at every level are required. 8. African culture is the intangible heritage of humanity and suitable steps need to be taken to preserve it. 9. The intrinsic value of the traditional/holistic medical practices need to done on scientific basis. 10. The white race should give up the concept that they are the superior race. All men are created equal by god. Order#: 522517 Topic: Richard P What, if any are the lessons to be learned by students of history from Price's book? An anthropologist is a great investigator. Just as a sculptor removes piece by piece from a stone block, to chisel ultimately a perfect statue, an anthropologist scores the achieves, sieves through the records, travels extensively, drafts questionnaires and gets the answers from the expected and unexpected quarters, and comes to his conclusions. His vision and mission is to find out the truth about the subject of his investigation. The geographical area chosen by Richard Price for his long and arduous task is Saramaka Maroons of Suriname, one of the most difficult places on Planet Earth. He has the harvest of mythologies relating to the tribes inhabiting in this place. His mentor and guide for his four decades of research is Tooy and he has covered three centuries of African exile and resettlement in America. To put the anthropological material in the narrative style is a tough asking. One has to be an anthropologist, historian and a fiction writer all molded into one. Richard Price is one such personality. Social imaginary of African American societies is unique. The common African-American citizen, men, women and children have played a historic role to build this country, without their being aware of it, and without being given any designated role or project. I have no hesitation to conclude that this is no ordinary travelogue in the company of a fellow-traveler Tooy, who is a local man. Price has a passionate commitment to the main subject of his research—Saramak Tribe. He gathers transcripts, writes field notes and presents before the reader, who feels that he is actually travelling with Richards while turning the pages of the book. One comes to know the dominant impact of ethnicity on Nationalism. This book provides great backgrounder information about the difficult process of assimilation of the tribes into the mainstream of American society. One important historical fact that I have learnt from Richard’s researched findings is the incredible role played by the rebel slaves. Though brought for slave labor against their will and with brutal force, some brave amongst them (tribal leaders?) had the guts and foresight to establish their own colony in the depths of the forests and they protected their culture, nurtured it, transmitted to the future generations and stood by their traditions. Perhaps African traditional divine powers wished to make the history of the region available to humankind which Richard tackled during the course of his adventurous research. His finding Tooy, a priest, philosopher and healer, I consider, is one such divine intervention. He must have facilitated Richard’s meeting with the descendants of rebel slaves in the South American rain forest. Tooy lived in a remote and rough shantytown on the outskirts of Cayenne, French Guiana. Richard and Tooy deserve thanks for providing much more than mere anthropological information. One sees a documentary, a movie through this book. (I do not know whether this book has been made into a movie) With great artistry Richard takes the reader to the eighteenth century, to listen to the accounts of the slaves just arrived from Africa, how they fought the colonial armies, their forced submission in some of the encounters, the challenge of the double agents, as per the famous principle of the colonial powers—‘divide and rule.’ Strange and unbelievable femme fatale forest spirits; the underwater sea gods who controlled the world; a peep into the life of the priest Tooy, his teachings, songs and stories and the secret languages though which the Africans survived and created their own magnificent new worlds of fantasy etc. The aspects of culture, jurisprudence or a cursory glance at the life of one man indicate many facets of the history of the concerned tribes/area. The method of dispensing justice with Saramaka Maroons of Suriname, for example! Richards (2007, p.177) writes, “of the seven deadly sins there’s little doubt that the favored choice of most Saramaka men has always been lust…..Adultery is by far the most common “crime” in Saramaka jurisprudence…..Most men have had to pay fines or have received beatings numerous times in their lives….and that’s only for the times they’ve been caught.” It is reasonable to guess that women too were the willing partners in the game of adultery. The issue was about getting caught, and even when caught the same mistakes were repeated, and the punishment was only when they were caught in the process of adultery! It was strange that many men received beatings numerous times in their lives, which meant that men took adultery as an adventurous sport and they were not ashamed of it and took the beatings in their stride, only to get ready to commit the next act of adultery. Now let us try to know about the ‘history’ of the man who contributed much to the book under review. Tooy, apart from his scholastic achievements, was famous for his sexual exploits. These incidents from his life will provided to us glimpses as for the history, culture and social beliefs and traditions of the Saramaka tribes. Richard writes, “After all, it was widely rumored that Tooy sometimes allowed professional consultations, especially with Creole women, to be paid by sex. And some of these women should surely be willing to come forward and claim they’d been raped, if there will be 25,000 Euros waiting at the other end.”(p.198) Notwithstanding the facts that Tooy was convicted for moral turpitude and sentenced to imprisonment, he was highly popular in the social circles and was held in high esteem for his professional knowledge about the traditional African cures. This compels me to thinks about the ‘mass popularity’ of some of the current, corrupt industrialists/politicians/ movie heroes notwithstanding their negative credentials on many counts like corruption, sex life, drug-dealings etc. Even after undergoing imprisonment for his excessive sexual indulgence/rape convictions, popularity of Tooy at the grassroots level was astounding. Richard writes to recall the visit of Tooy to a new mega supermarket: “As we walk from the parking g site, the greetings begin.: “Bonjour, M. Alexndre,” people say with pleasure as he gives out handshakes or kisses on the cheek, like a celebrity or local politician. From the security guards and the store hostesses to the employees loading shelves and the salesgirl who sells us the phone, everyone seems to know him. All are former or present clients. All seem delighted to see him.”(p.231) The contents of this book set me thinking about one fundamental issue concerning the white and black races. In this scientific age, viewed from the modern angle, there seems to be many shortcomings and superstitious beliefs which are the essence of the African tribal life. The white race always considered itself as superior, and whites assume credit for having ‘reformed’ the black race. This is a contentious claim. An individual may worship a stone, a tree or a leaf. That doesn’t entitle one to transport the other by force and induct into the slave labor and make one work under inhuman conditions. The African-Americans have a right to live as per their cultural traditions and this book will tell you why! The contribution of African-origin cults to the progress of America is great and as such they need to be protected by all the right thinking people. To sum up my personal response the question, “What if any, are the lessons to be learned by students of history from Price’s Book,” I state as under: 1. A student must learn lessons of history from a well-versed anthropologist. 2. A student of history must study the life of tribes to have a firsthand knowledge about the area of his research. 3. I realize the important role played by the original residents of the America for building the country. 4. The rebel slaves fought to the best of their ability to assert their independence. 5. Immoral men were severely punished for their moral turpitude; howsoever important was their social standing. 6. This book has lots of details about the remarkable people who were inducted into slavery forcibly but subsequently asserted their independence. 7. Assimilation of the ethnic minority/black race into the American Mainstream society cannot be achieved though legal provisions only. All-round efforts at every level are required. 8. African culture is the intangible heritage of humanity and suitable steps need to be taken to preserve it. 9. The intrinsic value of the traditional/holistic medical practices need to done on scientific basis. 10. The white race should give up the concept that they are the superior race. All men are created equal by god. Conclusion I feel Richard Price is eminently suited to write on the topics that he has dealt with in this book. He is the Duane A. and Virginia S. Dittman Professor of American Studies, Anthropology, and History at the College of William and Mary. He has authored and co-authored more than twenty books, including the award-winning Alabi’s World. His books have been translated into French, Spanish, Dutch, German, and Portuguese. This book contains history of the remarkable people, who were forcibly brought as slaves and subsequently asserted their independence. Tooy’s version is the testimony to the valiant struggles of generations of captive Africans and I feel great about their relentless efforts to maintain their original African identity, in circumstances that were hostile to them on all counts. Richard sums it up beautifully. He writes, “We must take into account of conflict as well as consensus in representing culture and demonstrate its role in shaping and reshaping institutions.”(p.304)This book is the storehouse of knowledge about the African past and provides meaning for the present. Works Cited Price, Richard, Travels with Tooy: History, Memory, and the African American Imagination, University Of Chicago Press, November 1, 2007. Read More