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The Politics of Ecstatic Research
dissonance I felt emerged out of the inconsistency between the ideas
of immortal names and beings and historical, datable, lost, and re-
trieved names. I felt as if I was peering, or being asked to peer, too
closely behind the curtain, although community members did not ap-
pear to share this concern.
As I prepared to leave the ceremony, I went to the kitchen attached
to the longhouse in order to have some food for the drive back home.
There I choked on fry-bread, rendering myself completely unable to
breathe. I dimly heard people around me saying, “He’s choking; should
we try the Heimlich maneuver?” With great difficulty, I recovered and
stumbled out of the longhouse into the night, covered with sweat.
Late that night, while I was attending the ceremony and long be-
fore I returned home, my son arose from his bed because, as he told
my wife that night, he heard and saw me. He called out to me, desper-
ately concerned for my well-being and convinced that something was
wrong. When I arrived back home at three in the morning, my wife
anxiously inquired how I was, and informed me of my son’s actions
and worries during the night. I thought I knew what the local inter-
pretation would be; nothing happens for no reason. I had felt out of
synch and, in this case, danger had ensued.
Conclusion
My argument has been that there are practical and political dimen-
sions that support the adoption of an experience-near approach to
research. This approach is not akin to going native, and neither is it a
cultural relativist stance. This position allows scholars to avoid engag-
ing in dangerous activities that threaten community members’ health,
political and legal initiatives, and engagement with the mainstream
world. Such a stance enables anthropologists to move past the child or
ward role and to directly engage in what are seen locally as appropri-
ate forms of learning and adult modes of behavior. Embracing expe-
rience-near research helps reveal the beautiful, powerful, and engag-
ing features of local cultures. The presence of researchers who adopt
this approach can begin to transform academic life on campus and
make universities less hostile to indigenous students and faculty and
