Applied Anthropology

ANTHROPOLOGY, APPLIED. In Great Britain, public recognition of the advantages to be gained by the practical appli cation of anthropological knowledge had scarcely begun before the World War, and naturally suffered a severe setback from which it only slowly recovered. There were administrators who recog nized the native point of view, and were even prepared to study the sociology of their charges and, in a few cases, recorded the results of their observations; yet nowhere was there any general official recognition that the acquisition of such knowledge should be part of an administrative officer's duties, and adequacy in native affairs is even now not generally regarded as necessary for promotion. Nevertheless a healthy spirit is abroad even if per formance at times lags behind the demands of both theory and common sense.

Applied Anthropology has two main aspects : (I) Cultural (or in the broader sense psychological) . (2) Physical, embracing especially the great problems of racial characters both physical and mental, miscegenation, immunity and so forth.

Practical Considerations.

While every people presents its special problem, all these are but different aspects of the greater problem of adaptation, which must be worked out afresh in many instances if the widest range of physical and cultural types are to be given their best chance of survival and development within the conditions besetting them. From the practical standpoint it must be realized that there is no possible future for the few scat tered remains of the hunting peoples that still exist ; nor in cer tain instances is the white man responsible for their disappear ance, for at the time of the European colonization of the tropics superior "native" cultures were, in a number of instances, de stroying these humbler groups as effectively, if more slowly, than ourselves. With regard to the agricultural peoples but recently in the Stone Age, it is yet too early to speak with confidence, for although the natives of the smaller islands of the Pacific have been blotted out or exist only as degenerate remnants it is per missible to hope that under considered efforts those of the larger islands (such as New Guinea) may not only survive but even enjoy a measure of happiness.' Methods.—As to method, there is little to guide us in the past, for though culture contact is no new thing in history, the eco nomic needs of to-day present conditions differing from those of the past, and entirely new. Moral ideas have also changed, and it is no longer possible to enslave or exterminate all peoples un able or unready to adopt or adapt to a higher civilization. Yet in spite of these apparently favourable factors there has been nothing before comparable with the persistence and energy with which the higher race is imposing itself on the backward peoples.

For practical purposes, then, we can only be guided by the knowledge gained during comparatively few years, backed by the experience of our more successful administrators, the whole tempered by a quality of prevision and a capacity to "think Black," which experience has not shown to be unduly common.

Use of Existing Knowledge.

What then are the means by which the store of knowledge we already possess may be used, and how far is a practical rather than theoretic interest in native peoples likely to introduce new methods of acquiring knowledge, or eliminate methods known to be of scientific value? Nothing suggests that the practical or applied outlook makes, or should make, any change in the method of the field worker. For if it be urged that attention to any particular theory is likely to distract the observer from a fair all-round study of facts, the reply is obvious that theory can only stimulate the field worker to fresh observations, which should neither limit his area of outlook nor discourage him from seeking the fullest knowledge of the folk he is investigating in their present and past environment. The more complete the apparatus of the observer, whether government official, missionary or professional anthropologist, the more likely is he to form a complete picture of a people in which due weight is given to the activities both mental and physical of its members, enabling the administrator to foresee their behaviour as individuals, as members of a family, or of a larger social group.

Unity and Complexity of Social Life in the Lower Cul tures.—Ethnic and historical connections naturally are important, but stress must be laid from the practical point of view on the in 'The outlook as it presents itself to the three generations living in a Maori village is vividly presented by G. H. Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers in The Clash of Culture (1927), chap. xii.

teraction of existing ideas and customs. It is impossible to under stand the ideas regulating inheritance and bride price—two most important matters with which the administrator is concerned— without at the same time inquiring into the religion, sociology and economics of his people. Unforeseen and undesired ends have resulted from arbitrary interference with native custom. It can not be too strongly urged that the native has a point of view of his own, and before sweeping away seemingly objectionable cus toms, the white man with knowledge of anthropology should seek to preserve the driving force which runs through native life, while changing those features which are anti-social according to civilized ideas even though they instigate much praiseworthy social activity. One of the best examples that can be cited is offered by head-hunting, a widespread habit which white civilization cannot tolerate. Yet its suppression was regarded by W. H. R. Rivers as one of the main factors in the depopulation of Melanesia.

This example demonstrates the interlocking of departmental activities, as a white man might be tempted to call them, in native life, and it furnishes the very type of practice which no white administration can permit. The impasse seems absolute, yet in Sarawak, where almost the same necessity for head-hunting exists, the difficulty has been overcome by sympathetic officials who have themselves taken charge of some of the old skull trophies of the people, and thereafter when the demand for the ceremonial use of a skull arose one of the old skulls was lent to the community, the whole transaction being put on a business footing by the care ful recording of skulls "in" and "out." Again, in an inland district of Papua, where no man could hope to marry unless he had taken a skull, the officer in charge was able to persuade the tribe that the killing of a wild boar offered at least as good a test of pluck and skill, and so was able to substitute the taking of a boar's head for that of a man (often a woman or child).

Importance of Ceremonial.

No one doubts the close re lationship between social organization, ceremony, morals, eco nomics and even ethics among ourselves ; everyone recognizes the psychological value of display, ceremonial and sport ; yet in the administration of the backward races this common knowledge is too frequently ignored. What government at home would presume to stop royal processions, the Oxford and Cambridge boat-race or public football matches? Yet the corresponding expressions re produced by natives in dances, initiation ceremonies and public feasts are frequently suppressed by the influence either of the administrator or the missionary, long before it is determined whether they are harmful or not. Active teaching is needed, now as much as ever, that the interests of people cannot be cut off with impunity, and the substitution of harmless for anti-social features in savage ritual and institutions is sound social psycho therapy.

Positive Interference.

Frequently new regulations are in troduced that undermine the native social structure of which administrators have remained entirely in ignorance.

As to the difficult subject of missionary work as it affects the simpler pagan societies, it seems obvious that instruction in the social side of anthropology equal at least to that given to Colonial Civil Servants should be provided for missionaries by teachers who have themselves had field experience. Though short courses of lectures are now given at various missionary training schools in Great Britain, it does not appear that any central body has yet organized a co-ordinated scheme of instruction. Official au thority, far-reaching though it may be, is simple compared to the complexity of influence exerted on native peoples by missions, for, in the intimate affairs of life some missionaries exercise such strong and constant pressure that members of their flock, and even individuals outside it, are deterred from following habits and customs which are in no sense forbidden by the civil administra tion. Moreover, the pressure exerted by many missions is so great that appeals to the civil authority are relatively rare, however much the native may feel aggrieved. Naturally missionary effort is largely directed to the "reform" of the sexual life of the native, i.e. not to any great extent against perversions or abnormalities— f or these are too rare to bulk largely in the life of most primitive peoples—but especially against polygyny (polygamy), which, whether it be advantageous or disadvantageous in a biological sense, is regarded as essentially evil and attacked in every pos sible manner. Even though the Church feels bound to maintain this attitude it may be doubted whether it is wise or beneficial for the Government to exert its influence against polygamy among relatively untouched natives. For instance in Papua (British New Guinea) no one having more than one wife may be appointed "village policeman." Obviously this excludes the majority of headmen, individuals whose authority is most easily exerted and most readily obeyed, from holding the very office in which they could be of most use alike to the Government and to their own people. Many missionaries have recognized the incompatibility of Christian monogamy with the social structure of some well organized pagan societies. But, while it is necessary to recognize the complications and difficulties introduced by missionary effort, not all missions are equally rigid, while it would be difficult to overrate the scientific and administrative value of the work of such men as the Rev. H. A. Junod, whose Life of a South African Tribe is an outstanding example of the sympathetic and under standing attitude.

Priest-kings and Magic.

In other instances trouble has been caused by ignorance of the fact that a chief may belong to that exalted class of beings called by Frazer "Divine Kings," or if not actually of this order, be at least of semi-divine nature, and re sponsible for rain and generally for the prosperity of the land. Here it may be wise to recognize frankly the hierarchical superior ity of the priest-king, and to appoint under him an administrative government chief ; indeed, besides the priest-king there are often one or more men recognized by the tribe as executive officers in everyday affairs. Nor can the administrator ignore magic and sorcery, and it is useless for him to affirm that the British Gov ernment cannot countenance a belief in sorcery; magic may be a fiction, but the belief in it is a potent reality in all the ruder cul tures, and is not extinct in higher cultures. Cases of death alleged to be caused by magic or by poison—the two often being synonymous—are continually brought before administrators, yet rarely is evidence produced against the magician which on the white man's laws of evidence can lead to conviction. In parts of Melanesia it is doubtful whether there is any authentic evidence for the use of poisons by a sorcerer ; yet folk undoubtedly die as the result of his machinations; they die from no other ostensible cause, and their death is ascribed to magic. The sorcerer is not convicted, but if the people take the law into their own hands and kill him the Government steps in and punishes the slayers, who according to their peers have performed a public duty. It is small wonder then that many natives believe that the Government en courages sorcery; indeed, the relative immunity of the sorcerer from all vengeance in certain instances may actually produce this result.

Another factor which greatly adds to the difficulty of dealing reasonably and justly with sorcery and witchcraft is that generally speaking the darker races are far more suggestible than ourselves; unfortunately, space is lacking to elaborate this statement or to set out a tithe of the evidence on which it is based.

As a general system of treatment, probably an ordinance of the kind in force in Papua is useful, in which it is stated that though there is really no such thing as sorcery yet the practice is so harmful that it is treated as criminal. At any rate, the ad ministrator is not the only person in a dilemma ; witness the plaint of one Tata Ko, a well-known sorcerer, to Capt. Barton, then Governor of Papua : "If a man falls sick his family come to me and ask me to make him well. If I don't do something for him they say, `Tata Ko, the sorcerer, desires to kill our brother,' and they are angry and will perhaps try to kill me. If I do give them something they insist on paying me well for it ; should I refuse to take their presents they would not understand it and they would think I was trying to kill their friend, but when I do take what they give me, you arrest me on a charge of sorcery black mail." Magicians not Charlatans.—In most instances magicians are not charlatans; though they may impose upon the credulity of their clients they do believe in their own power; they have in herited the gift and perfected their craft by means of hard train ing. Though legislation may be useful, magic cannot be disposed of by law, for every death except perhaps of the very old is at tributed to magic, and it is only when a man has some appreci ation of the natural causes of death and the benefits of medicine that he relies less upon magic. Missionaries have long been aware that their best weapon is the hospital; administrators should start clinics shortly after administrative posts, as in the case of the splendidly fitted hospital ship, with its medical officer and orderlies, placed by the Sudan Government in 1922 for service on the White Nile and its tributaries. Yet, however perfect administration, magic cannot die a sudden death ; and this has its advantages, for magic has its social as well as its anti-social side.

White magic will persist, and in Melanesia, for instance, its benefits are seen in connection with the Kula. In the Trobriand Islands the specialists in magic are experts in the various crafts, in gardening and canoe building, etc., and it is under their auspices that the good traditions of gardening and building are maintained. Though no canoe could sail unless the appropriate magic had been performed at each stage of its construction good magic would never be used to counteract the effects of bad ma terial or bad workmanship. Thus, the continual magical observ ances guarantee a careful selection and tests of material, and are an incentive to good work. A successful trading expedition is the result of good magic, and just as magic is the most important regu lator of the Kula, so is it of prime importance in garden work. The islanders, like most natives, are notoriously unthrifty, and it is doubtful if any native would cultivate sufficiently for his needs if left to individual responsibility. For man does not live by bread alone, and a garden which will make a fine display and be much talked of appeals to the mass of the population more than the knowledge of a supply against famine.

Practical Suggestions.

In order to save the backward races from extinction and enable them to adapt to new circumstances two courses seem advisable: (a) that all government servants, and others—especially missionaries—coming into direct contact with natives should take as part of their preparatory studies a course in anthropology; (b) that every government should appoint trained anthropologists, in order to make detailed investigations and to act, when needed, as advisers to the administration. Each of these plans has its definite sphere of usefulness, and calls for further consideration.

Training.

Apart from a degree in anthropology, which as matters stand at present it is idle to expect more than a small minority to possess, the preparatory course in anthropology may be of two kinds : a six to twelve months' course at one of the uni versities—usually three academic terms—in which, besides the social anthropology which is of prime importance from the ad ministrative standpoint, a certain amount of technology and physical anthropology will also be taught. Such a course, if due stress be laid upon practical difficulties and details, is no doubt excellent in those few instances in which a man has already a strong, almost a "natural" interest in anthropology; but this plan yields disappointing results when applied as hitherto to men who have had no foreign experience.

The British Colonial Office has a syllabus for the preliminary training in native modes of thought of the men selected as African civil servants, in law, accounts, tropical products, hygiene, engi neering, and sanitation, ethnology and the principles of African languages. In the past this scheme has produced good results and experience shows that a certain small number of men will be sufficiently interested to study the tribes they live among and to record their habits and customs, or at least to keep in touch with their teachers.

A further development is for the Colonial Government to pay the expenses (fees and sustenance allowance) of men with ad ministrative experience who are keen enough to spend two to four months' leave working intensively at anthropology at one of the universities. Experience has already shown that this scheme is likely to prove of the utmost value both administratively and scientifically, one feature of special importance being that such students have a knowledge of at least some native language, and so are in a position to apply the technical knowledge they have gained directly on their return to Africa.

In France, the Institut d'Etlanologie and the Facultes et Etab lissements Publics d'Enseignement Superieur of the University of Paris provide instruction in the various branches of ethnography and linguistics, having special regard to the French colonies. In struction is given in the languages of the native populations of the French possessions, Arabic, Berber, the Sudanese languages, Ma lagasy, as well as the more important languages of the Far East, Siamese, Annamese and Cambodian. The social, family and re ligious organization of Islam and the social habits and religious beliefs of the natives of the French colonies are described and compared by a band of experts of European reputation. In Hol land there is a special faculty embracing ethnology, custom and law of the East Indies, Netherland law, Colonial economics, etc., in the Universities of Leyden and of Utrecht. Every candidate for the Colonial Civil Service must pass a preliminary and a doc toral (doctorandus) examination, after which he may become a full "Doctor" on presenting a thesis. In Austria, instruction in languages and, to a lesser degree, in ethnology, is given to mis sionaries at the Missionary college of St. Gabriel, near Vienna.

Professional Anthropologists.

The appointment of pro fessional anthropologists stands on a different footing. No argu ments need be employed in favour of their administrative and scientific value. The ordinary official has neither the leisure nor the training, even if he has the desire, to make intensive investiga tions, and as time goes on and means of communication improve, and his journeys take place increasingly by car, he will have less and less opportunity of meeting his people unofficially and study ing them at first hand. A further difficulty that stands in the way of the administrative official is that the native knows that his atti tude to many customs such as human sacrifice, cannibalism and black magic must be hostile, and however sympathetic he may be he is still regarded as the man in authority. The anthropologist stays at native villages remote from government headquarters, and, once he has been able to gain the confidence of the people and let them know that his only object is to learn, one of the chief obstacles to obtaining reliable information will be removed. An thropology as a profession presents a vicious circle. There are few men ready to become government anthropologists, though the machinery for training them exists at our universities. Men are not trained because there are prospects ; and then, when oppor tunities offer, there are insufficient candidates available. Should it be possible to anticipate a regular demand the men would soon be forthcoming.

Encouragement to anthropological research has been given by the Sudan Government ; the Gold Coast and Nigeria have ap pointed as anthropologists officers who had qualified by taking courses in anthropology. There is a trained government anthropol ogist in Papua, and chairs in Anthropology have been founded in the Union of South Africa and at Sydney, where special training is provided for administrative officers in Papua. Such action shows the trend of enlightened opinion, but the advantages that anthro pological knowledge offers are appreciated only in minute propor tion in comparison with needs and opportunities. All governments have their experts in geology, botany, agriculture and zoology in its many branches ; it is a strange paradox that so often man alone should be unstudied.

It may be useful to recall the old saying, "God made the white man, God made the black man, but the devil made the mulatto," if only to consider how far this proverb embodies a truth, and, if it does, how the facts are to be faced in practice. There are broadly two types of racial combination. In the first, the races coming together are so far apart as to make hybridization a real break ing down of the inherent characters of each, while in the second the fewer differences present offer only a moderate variability as a basis for recombination and selection which may be desirable. This latter type, socially constituting the "melting pot," is per haps best represented in history, and can best be appreciated anthropologically, by a study of the Volkerwanderungen, with the broad result that an outburst of vigour and capacity is found to follow the mixture of peoples belonging to the same great racial groups. From the political standpoint this form of miscegenation has become of increased significance since the opening of the loth century, but its importance from the standpoint of applied an thropology is in our present state of knowledge relatively limited.

Widely Divergent Unions.

In considering the interbreeding of widely divergent races it must be realized that the above prov erb is intended to apply to moral values, and that the children of such unions are almost invariably relegated to the inferior race (in practice, the mother's) for their upbringing, and so are socially and morally at a grave disadvantage, except where a sufficient number of mixed marriages occur, when a hybrid community, with its own social habits and values, is established, allowing a fair estimate to be formed of the physical and mental qualities of its members. The only all-round study of such a community is that of Prof. Eugen Fischer of the Reheboth community of south-west Africa (Die Reheboth Bastards and das Bastardierungsproblern beim Menschen [Jena, 1913]). This consists of the descendants, some 15o in number, through five or more generations, of the hybrid offspring of a group of trek Boers and Hottentot women, and includes the offspring of a number of unions with members of the parent races. The genealogies are not always easy to follow, but the Reheboth Bastaards show extreme variability, and are di vided into "European," "Hottentot" and "Intermediate" groups. They are a strong, healthy and fruitful people, taller than either parent race, i.e., they show a common indication of hybrid vigour. Physically there is no predominance of heritage from either race, but the inheritance of facial characters and colour is described as alternate, and in spite of the three groups there is no special tend ency for the inheritance of groups of characters the unit elements of which are combined in either parent race. Psychologically the most important observation is that the Hottentot mentality pre dominates ; there is neither European energy nor steadfastness of will. Further, though several subjects show a fairly high degree of intelligence, the Bastaards live entirely in the present ; they are typically Augenblickmensc/ien, while this character is not com pensated by any special power of imagination or proficiency in the arts and crafts, in which they are distinctly weak.

Other Groups.

As instances of other hybrid groups, with their own adequate social organization, certain Arab tribes of the Sudan carrying much black blood, the mixed European-Chinese popula tion of the Straits Settlements, and the negro-Amerind hybrid population of Guiana may be added. Owing to lack of precise knowledge of the building up of these groups little of importance can be said on the physical side, for terms having no precise con notation are used; e.g., it is obvious that there is a vast difference genetically and socially between the tall dolichocephalic Dinka and the short mesaticephals of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, though both would be classed as "negro" by Arabs and Europeans; while with regard to the Arab stocks there can be no certainty whether any par ticular strain carries Armenoid blood. The members of these tribes appear to have adapted themselves admirably to their mode of life, which is predominantly Arab, socially, economically and re ligiously, and the majority of individuals appear to present an in termediate type with regard to two of the most easily observed characters, namely skin colour and breadth of nose, though strik ing individual variations occur, e.g., a "black" skin may be asso ciated with a face and nose almost typically Caucasian. Further, darkness of skin tends to be predominant, and there are certain families in which this tendency is so marked that it would perhaps be fair to speak of these as exhibiting dominance in the true Men delian sense. Mentally and morally these tribes are Arab, not negro ; thus socially and morally the inferior stock may be said to have been improved by the mixture. How far the Arab has suffered must remain an open question, and whether the improve ment may not be in part due to the direct influence of Islam. The reconquests of the Sudan demonstrated the truth of an observa tion made years before in Arabia by Robertson Smith, namely that not the pure Arab but the mixed Arab-negro population exhibits the quaiity of religious fanaticism.

In both the other two examples quoted, whatever the physical differences between the races concerned, they stand on equal or more nearly equal level. The mental and physical alertness of the mixed Chinese-White population of Singapore is striking, and they form a definite social class furnishing many highly efficient civil servants and clerks. Generally, Mongolian traits of feature pre dominate and it appears that the Mongolian eye, at least in the F.I. generation, is dominant, as it is in Malay-Melanesian matings observed in New Guinea. It may indeed be found that Mongolian-White matings give particularly interesting, and per haps desirable, combinations. In one Japanese-White marriage the children (all female) exhibited a high degree of hybrid vigour, considerable artistic ability, and in type approximated to Polyne sian ; unfortunately, they passed out of observation before ma turity, and it can be stated as a matter of experience that five other children, the result of two Japanese-White coatings, did not reproduce this type.

With regard to the negro-Amerind mixture of Guiana, there seems no doubt that a definite type has been produced which has largely taken to a special mode of life as boatmen on the rivers, for which it is well fitted, and that this hybrid population exhibits much of the physical efficiency of the negro without his laziness and excitability. For books on the subject see the Bibliography to the article ANTHROPOLOGY and the works quoted in the text, The Clash of Culture (Pitt-Rivers) being specially important.

(C. G. S.)