This presentation is was given at the Great Basin Conference in 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This talk presents key findings from the report- Ha`tata (The Backbone of the River): American Indian Ethnographic Studies Regarding the Hoover Dam Bypass Project (Stoffle et al. 2000). This talk highlights the pilgrimage trails to Sugarloaf Mountain.

The historiography on western European Holy Land pilgrimage effectively ends with the fifteenth century, giving the inaccurate impression that early modern western Christians either did not visit Jerusalem or, if they did, they were not true pilgrims. Though pilgrim numbers certainly declined in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries from their medieval heights, both Catholic and, much more surprisingly, Protestant pilgrims continued to make religiously motivated journeys to Jerusalem. Some even publishing pilgrimage narratives on their return. Twenty-five pilgrimage narratives, over half by Protestant authors and published in Protestant territories, were written between the mid-sixteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries. These largely unexplored sources underscore the complexities of confessional identity in the century and a half following the start of the Reformation. Without exception, the reformers condemned pilgrimage as part of an illegitimate theology of works righteousness. Using both historical and anthropological methodologies, this dissertation addresses the question of how Protestant pilgrims dealt with the apparent conflict between religious doctrine and personal action. It concludes that in the face of such attacks, Protestant pilgrim-authors, mostly Lutherans, attempted to redeem Holy Land pilgrimage by recasting the practice so as to neutralize criticisms and reinforce Lutheran doctrine. The dissertation's first part, comprising a chapter of background on medieval pilgrimage and a second analyzing the expressed motivations for Protestant pilgrimage, examines the ways Lutheran pilgrim-authors justified both traveling to Jerusalem and publishing descriptions of that travel. It argues that Protestant authors believed Holy Land pilgrimage and Holy Land pilgrimage narratives could lead to greater understanding and appreciation of Scripture, and thus to greater faith. The second part of the dissertation consists of three chapters. Chapter three deals with the place of Jerusalem in medieval and early modern Christianity, paying particular attention to the Ottoman Jerusalem of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Jerusalem encountered by these pilgrim-authors. The next two chapters (four and five) in turn examine the way the Protestant pilgrim-authors describe their encounter with the land and people of Palestine. For many Protestant pilgrims, the desiccated landscape of Palestine, what they saw as its ruined state, was a warning for their readers about God's righteous anger at human sinfulness. Again, the authors emphasize Biblical literacy. Protestant authors constantly read the landscape around them through the Bible, and read the Bible through the landscape. The final chapter explores the descriptions of other Christians residing in the early modern Holy Land, specifically the Franciscans and varied sects of Eastern Christianity. Much scholarly attention has been, for good reason, lavished on the relationship between Christianity and Islam, how Muslims were used as a mirror for creating European Christian identity. In their discussion of other Christians, however, Protestant pilgrims are able to produce a more finely detailed picture of their own particular religious identity. By bouncing their ideas of themselves off their image of other Christians, they come to a clearer understanding of what being a Christian meant for them. In the end, pilgrimage Jerusalem, was part of the larger debate about Christian identity and legitimacy.

Probleminis (tiriamasis) klausimas: Kokie vadybiniai aspektai skatina žmones vykti į piligrimines keliones (Taize) ir užsiimti religine savanoryste (Taize)? Tyrimo objektas: Vadybiniai ir komunikaciniai piligriminių kelionių organizavimo aspektai. Tyrimo tikslas: nustatyti savanorystės ir piligrimystės sąsajas, analizuojant Taizė sukauptą patirtį. Uždaviniai: 1) Aptarti piligrimystės raidą pasaulyje ir Lietuvoje; 2) Ištirti patraukliausius religinės praktikos aspektus Taizė savanoriams; 3) Ištirti patraukliausius savanoriškos praktikos aspektus Taizė savanoriams; 4) Išnagrinėti vadybinius ir komunikacinius kelionės į Taizė aspektus; Rezultatai:. Tyrimo metu buvo nustatyta, kad žmones įsitraukti į religinę veiklą daugiausiai paskatina draugai - 33,7 proc. (n=31) respondentų. Taize vykusios pamaldos vertinamos labai gerai - 56,5 proc. (n=52) respondentų, stebimas didelis aktyvumas pamaldų lankyme: 37 proc. (n=34) pamaldose dalyvaudavo daugiausia du kartus, 34,8 proc. (n=32) - tris kartus, 26,1 proc. (n=24) - vieną kartą. Po kelionės į Taize 52,2 proc. (n=48) respondentų atsakė, kad jų religinės pažiūros sustiprėjo. Daugiausiai respondentų 62 proc. (n=57) vyksta į Taize savanoriauti, nes įdomu pabandyti. 48,9 proc. (n=45) respondentų savanoriavimą pačiame Taize viduje vertina labai gerai ir 38 proc. (n=35) – gerai. 63 proc. (n=58) respondentų pirmoje vietoje kaip savanoriavimo tipą renkasi maisto dalinimą. 66,3 proc. ( n=61 ) respondentų sužinojo apie Taize iš draugų. 35,9 proc... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Problematic question: what are the management aspects of encouraging people to go on pilgrimages (Taize), and involve people in religious volunteering (Taize)? Object: Communications and managements aspects volunteered in Taize religious activities. Objective of the study: to identify links between volunteering and pilgrimage, Taize experience analysis. Tasks: 1) to discuss the development of the pilgrimage in the world and in Lithuania; 2) to examine the most attractive aspects of the religious practice for Taize volunteers; 3) to examine the most attractive aspects of the volunteering practice for Taize volunteers; 4) to analyse the management and communicative aspects of Taize pilgrimage; Results: It was found that mostly 33.7 per cent (n = 31) of respondents get involved in religious activities by leading their friends. Taize worship service was evaluated very well by 56.5 per cent. (n = 52) of respondents. Moreover we observed relatively big activity in the worship attendance: 37 per cent (n = 34) of respondents participated in worship in a maximum of two times, 34.8 per cent. (n = 32) - three times, 26.1 per cent. (n = 24) - one time. 52.2 per cent. (n = 48) of respondents after Taize pilgrimage said that their religious attitudes strengthened. 62 per cent. (n = 57) of the respondents noted that volunteering in Taize is in their field of interest („it is interesting to try“). 48.9 per cent. (n = 45) of respondents evaluated volunteering in Taize as very good and 38 per... [to full text]

The purpose of the Pilgrimage to the Night Sky is to encourage a self driven journey of rediscovering the beauty and simple pleasure of looking up and seeing a star-filled sky. The goal is to create two sites in the landscape that will act as the starting points to this pilgrimage by showcasing the stars in the night sky and will nurture the curiosity of those who have an interest in the heavens. A progression approach is meant to be experienced while on this journey, with the first stage of the pilgrimage taking place in Assiniboine Forest. The second stage of the pilgrimage takes place ten minutes south of the city at Glenlea Observatory which hosts an exponential increase of stars in the night sky. The practicum concludes with an assortment of resources people can use to continue their pilgrimage and search for their darkest night sky.

This thesis is an ethnography of how children of Holocaust survivors interacted and connected with the March of the Living and Holocaust sites in Poland. This work explores how considering individual perspectives allows one to understand how the March works in complicated and nuanced ways to intensify connections with relatives and Jewish identity. In three chapters this work situates the experiences of four participants within theories of place-making and post-memory to consider methods they used to connect with Holocaust sites and what effect that connection had on their sense of identity.

This dissertation is focused on the study on the pilgrimage to the Divina Pastora, a municipality of the State of Sergipe. The issue concerns the efforts made by the pilgrims, to make this journey, experiencing the hardships of the journey of nine miles. The main objective was to conduct an anthropological study of religious ritual, from the perspective of relations between the pilgrim and divinity, which is consolidated from the payment of pledges in thanks to the graces obtained, which in most cases are related to miracle cures . We began the work by making a historical approach, analyzing the context in which the pilgrimage was established in the State of Sergipe and how the tradition is recreated year after year. The emphasis on pilgrimages to literature and historical documents, including the books falls church city Divina Pastora and the Metropolitan Curia of Aracaju. Through ethnographic data, we identify the universe of pilgrimage on the pilgrim's point of view, analyzing the socio-cultural profile and their reasons for pilgrimage. The central idea was to understand the reasons why the pilgrims to the Shrine of the Divine Shepherdess. / Esta dissertação tem como tema central o estudo sobre a peregrinação à Divina Pastora, município do Estado de Sergipe. A problemática aborda o esforço feito pelos peregrinos, ao fazerem tal percurso, enfrentando as adversidades da caminhada de nove quilômetros. O principal objetivo foi realizar um estudo antropológico desse ritual religioso, sob a perspectiva das relações entre o peregrino e a divindade, que se consolida a partir do pagamento de promessas em agradecimento às graças obtidas, que, na maioria das vezes, estão relacionadas às curas milagrosas. Iniciamos o trabalho fazendo uma abordagem histórica, analisando o contexto em que a peregrinação foi criada no Estado de Sergipe e a maneira como a tradição se recria ano após ano. Demos ênfase à literatura sobre peregrinações e documentos históricos, inclusive os livros tombos da igreja da cidade de Divina Pastora e da Cúria Metropolitana de Aracaju. Através de dados etnográficos, buscamos identificar o universo da peregrinação sob o ponto de vista do peregrino, analisando o seu perfil sociocultural e as suas razões para peregrinar. A ideia central foi compreender os motivos que levam os peregrinos ao Santuário de Divina Pastora.

Nowaday pilgrimage is more pupolar each year that is proved by statistical records. They show the raising interest for religious travel. This work examines the relationship between pilgrimage and psychology. It claimes that pilgrimage has a meaning also for modern people, it can provide them with time that can be used for thinking about varios aspects of life and himself. Furthermore the pilgrimage is no more the dominancy of religious people.

For tens of thousands of contemporary Latter-day Saint pilgrims, the Kirtland Temple near Cleveland, Ohio, provides an opportunity to visit a place where they believe Jesus appeared and restored long-lost priesthood powers. The Kirtland Temple, however, is not owned by the LDS church. Instead, the shrine is owned by a related denomination that has doctrinally aligned itself with mainline Protestant Christianity--the Community of Christ (formerly known as the RLDS church). Members of both churches include Kirtland on pilgrimage itineraries yet have understood the site's significance in radically different ways between themselves and within their denominations over time. The Kirtland Temple provides an opportune case study for changing contestation and cooperation by multiple groups at an American pilgrimage shrine--a phenomena that I term parallel pilgrimage. Two orienting metaphors help focus my moving picture of parallel pilgrimage: proximity (how the site ”moves“ in relation to changing pilgrimage routes, new shrines, and new interest groups) and performance (plays re-enacting the history of the temple and tour scripts, along with the reception of these performances). My study works out these two themes across the last forty years of change at the Kirtland Temple. Ultimately, I draw three main conclusions in my study. First, parallel pilgrimage at Kirtland Temple reveals sacred places, not simply pilgrimage routes, as itineraries in motion, constantly contested and constantly changing. Second, acts of cooperation and contestation at Kirtland Temple have formed a dialectical relationship that allowed the site to function. Acts of contestation helped the site retain its heightened importance while acts of cooperation allowed members from various denominations to minimize potentially disruptive conflict. Finally, in a wider context, parallel pilgrimage at Kirtland Temple, with its moving alliances and contested narratives, may be seen as suggestive of how many late twentieth-century Christians negotiated a pluralistic and fragmented religious America.

Saint Georges : “Un Saint “Partagé” en Méditerranée ? Approche historique et anthropologique du pèlerinage (Turquie et Liban)Résumé Les peuples du bassin méditerranéen partagent depuis multimillénaires des manières de vivre et de pratiquer leur foi, qui résistent aux divisions religieuses et aux manipulations politiques Le paysage religieux de la Méditerranée orientale est plus complexe et marqué par un foisonnement de formes de convergence interconfessionnelle moins éclatantes. Certains sanctuaires ambigus convoquent parfois les fidèles des trois religions monothéistes. Cette thèse souligne les transformations récentes du religieux et la conversion du regard anthropologique vers une lecture plus sensible aux changements économiques, politiques et culturels qui affectent rites et sanctuaires Bien que cette thèse porte sur deux études de cas particuliers, à savoir Aya Yorgi en Turquie et Mar Jirjes al Batiyeh au Liban, elle s’appuie sur une recherche multidisciplinaire pour définir un contexte plus large. Ces lieux sont explorés en profondeur grâce à une analyse qualitative, tout en prenant en compte des travaux parallèles concernant d’autres sites tels que Lod (Israël), Edirne (Turquie) et Athènes (Grèce). Partant de la recherche de la spiritualité autour des sites dédiés à saint Georges, mes découvertes révèlent des aspirations spirituelles et séculières et suggèrent une déconstruction de pôles de sens tels que sacré et profane, mouvement et lieu, religion et laïcité, communauté et individu. En s’appuyant sur diverses approches méthodologiques, cette étude arrive à la conclusion que, contrairement à la perception commune, les formes traditionnelles de rituels religieux ne sont pas nécessairement incompatibles avec la culture de consommation moderne. A travers celle-ci, les traditions religieuses sont en train de se revitaliser. La popularité renouvelée du pèlerinage aujourd'hui montre comment certains paysages et espaces religieux comme ceux d'Aya Yorgi et d'Al Batiye sont restés importants grâce aux mouvements politiques et religieux, à la littérature, aux médias, aux marchés touristiques spécialisés et à l'entreprise privée. Enfin, cette étude révèle une image d'une grande diversité de groupes et d'individus qui les visitent.Dans le monde universitaire occidental moderne, le sujet des saints et des pèlerinages « partagés » semble avoir été le plus clairement mis en évidence par un archéologue britannique vivant au début du siècle dernier et poursuivant des recherches à la British School d'Athènes, où il s'est concentré sur des sanctuaires ambigus dans les anciennes possessions ottomanes, principalement dans les Balkans et en Anatolie, avec un intérêt supplémentaire pour la Syrie et la Palestine. FW Hasluck (1878-1920) a étudié ces sites avec un regard particulier sur la religion populaire turque et le transfert de sanctuaires de tradition religieuse à une autre, en plus des cas de parrainage multi-religieux continu et fluide sur un même sanctuaire, comme c’est aussi le cas dans cette étude. Son œuvre, portant sur le christianisme et l'islam sous les sultans, est la plus complète de ce genre. / Saint Georges: "A Shared Saint" in the Mediterranean ? An Historical and Anthropological Approach to Pilgrimage (Turkey and Lebanon)Abstract The people of the Mediterranean basin share ways of living and practicing their faith, which resist religious divisions and political manipulations. The religious landscape of the Eastern Mediterranean is more complex and is marked by forms of inter-confessional convergence. This thesis is an anthropological gaze towards a reading of political and cultural changes that affect sanctuaries and recent transformations of rites around two ambiguous shrines. Although this thesis pays attention to two case studies in particular, namely Aya Yorgi in Turkey and Mar Jirjes al Batiyeh in Lebanon, it draws on multi–disciplinary research in order to set a broader context. These places are explored deeply through qualitative analysis, while at the same time taking note of parallel work concerned with other sites such as Lod, Edirne and Athens. Ranging from the search for spirituality around the sites dedicated to St George, my findings that include spiritual as well as secular aspirations suggest a deconstruction of poles of meaning such as sacred and profane, movement and place, religion and secularity, community and individual. This methodologically diverse study argues that, contrary to perception, traditional forms of religious rituals are not necessarily incompatible with late–modern consumer culture. Through consumer culture, religious traditions are being revitalized. Despite the “deep rooted kinship” of the territorial resemblances of modern Turkey and Lebanon, for almost one hundred years, they have been evolving in their own separate lines and pace. Turkey has almost managed to become a nation state after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, less heterogeneous in terms of religious confessions and growing prevalence of Sunni Islam in public and private sphere along with ambivalent secularism. However Lebanon on the other hand is a small country in the region with sectarian political structural system where the confessions sometimes act like different ethnical entities and creating a nation is still a goal matter. Therefore via this study I aim to clarify if the difference between two countries’ demographic, linguistic, and socio political constructions have impact on the attribution of meaning to recently popular anthropological research area: “shared sacred sites” The shared sacred sites that I am scrutinizing throughout this study are both dedicated to Saint George - an outstanding saintly figure all around Middle East, Europe and Balkans: Aya Yorgi is the Turco-Greek name for Saint George and Mar Jirjes (Jiryes, Gerges) is the name given to the same saint in Lebanese Arabic.

This manuscript focuses on performances of place and faith inside the Holy Land Experience (HLE), an edutainment complex nestled in the fantasy nexus of Orlando, Florida. A self-proclaimed living-history museum, the HLE includes animatronic Bible characters and musical dramas. The HLE enacts and embodies evangelical narratives of Christianity and Christian faith, and visitors to the park are asked to join the performances, blurring the distinctions between spectators and professional actors. I argue that visitors' performances of faith invest the space of the HLE with sacredness, while the location and design of the HLE infuses the space with elements of the secular. The HLE exemplifies the performative nature of the sacred and shows how sacredness is a process (a performance), not an inherent property. Through participant observation, interviews, and critical/cultural analysis, I engage the multiple meanings of the HLE with the intention of facilitating empathic understandings of the complex, embodied phenomenon of faith as it manifests in this hybrid space.