The influences that led me to becoming an anthropologist go back to when I was a child, growing up on a farm in the Upper Pennisula of Michigan. I was always interested in other people and other places -- particularly the Menominee Indians who had traditionally occupied the area in which we lived. I was also very much interested in environmental issues -- living close to nature (out in the "boonies" as they say back home) with a father who was also a vocational agriculture teacher did much to encourage me in this direction. When I entered Michigan State University in the mid-1960's I had already decided to become a biologist. During the Spring quarter of my freshman year, however, I could not get into the chemistry class that I was supposed to take, so I took a introductory class in physical anthropology instead. I enjoyed the class so much that I decided to change my major to anthropology at the end of the quarter (even though I was not very clear about what anthropologists really did -- I just knew I did not want to take anymore chemistry). The rest is history.
The initial steps I took as an undergraduate to become an anthropologist were not so much influenced by the books that I read but by several instructors that I had. Dr. Joe Spielberg, who taught that first class, was a cultural anthropologist (with a specialty in cultural ecology) who had carried out fieldwork in Mexico and Guatemala. He introduced me to the work of Julian Steward, Leslie White, and the cultural evolutionary and ecological approach within anthropology. Exploring the dynamic and complex interplay between cultural and biological/environmental factors has been a focal interest of mine ever since. He also influenced my choice of graduate schools -- U.T. was his alma mater -- as well as my interest in Latin America. One other professor at M.S.U. also had a significant impact upon the direction that my life has taken -- Dr. Ruth Useem from whom I took an honors seminar in sociology focusing on contemporary issues in American society (in 1967 when the issues were hotly contested). Dr. Useem ( or "Mama U", as she was affectionately called) was a sociologist who had carried out fieldwork among the Dakota Sioux and in India; in my eyes, she was an anthropologist at heart. She introduced me to Goffman's "Presentation of Self in Everyday Life" as well as a number of other books on family and kin. More importantly, she taught me to take what I had learned in the classroom and apply it to my own personal life experiences. In part, because of her, anthropology became more than a discipline to study and a career to pursue; it became a way of looking at the world and a means to obtain a better understanding of both myself and the world in which we live. Both of these individuals gave me something else as well: a desire to share my experiences and understandings as an anthropologist with others; and a role model (of what a professor should be) to follow.
In the summer of 1968, immediately after graduating from M.S.U. with a B.S. degree, I participated in a field school in cultural anthropology in Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo, Mexico. I then went directly into graduate school at the University of Texas, Austin in order to obtain a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology with a focus in economics and cultural ecology. I spent two years in Mexico doing dissertation research, first, in an isolated village of the Tzeltal Maya in Chiapas and then among Zapotec peasants in Oaxaca. My focus was on economics and my dissertation did not include any real discussion of the realities and frustrations I had experienced in the field or of the true nature of the transformation I went through while there. Upon completing my dissertation in 1974, I accepted a position at the then California State College, Bakersfield and have been here ever since.
Throughout my twenties and into my thirties, my major source of identity was as an anthropologist and teacher/professor. After teaching for about ten years, at age 38, I was disenchanted with the direction of my life. I was looking for a more meaningful way to help others and integrate the various facets of mind/body/spirit within myself. Two major experiences changed the direction of my journey and present path. First, in 1984, I began exercising to get back in shape and, with the support and encouragement of friends, began participating in triathlons (multisport swim/bike/run events) beginning with the Bakersfield Triathlon in 1985. I also became fascinated with the way participation in this athletic lifestyle affected my sense of self and my relationship to others and, as a result, directed my research interests to studying the impact of such activities on individuals, particularly older women such as myself. In 1987, I completed the Hawaiian Ironman World Championship Triathlon (a 2.4 mile ocean swim followed by a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run) for the first time; by 1991, I had competed in over 70 triathlons including 7 ultradistance "Ironman" events. (As of 1996, I have completed over 120 events including 12 "Ironman" triathlons.) The key to all of these activities and to the new direction that my life was taking was the support of a new family -- the network of fellow triathletes, and most significantly, of other women with whom I trained and raced -- that I had established. I had also, in the process, rediscovered a sense of self, a reintegration of mind and body that had been missing for a long time. For all who participate in such ultradistance events, it is an ultimate test of one's abilities to endure, a search within oneself for the strength to continue and finish, and a continual vehicle for self actualization. I learned this lesson well after being blown over by the wind halfway through the bike portion of the 1990 Hawaiian Ironman; I just got back on my bike and finished the race. Despite injuries and other setbacks since then, participation in the triathlon lifestyle defines a core part of my identity; it continues to be a primary mechanism for the ongoing transformation in my perception of self and the way in which I interact with others that I continue to experience.
The second major experience that has affected the focus of my life and, in a very deep way, expresses the core of who I am as a person, began in March, 1992, when I participated in a five day "Women's Week" in Oracle, Arizona. One of our leaders, Carol Proudfoot Edgar, who through the Medicine Wheel and shamanic journeying taught us about becoming in tune with the spirits of nature, the interconnectedness of all life, the path of soul, had a very significant, transformative and spiritual impact on me. Later, in October, 1992, I took the "Way of the Shaman" seminar with Michael Harner. I also participated in four sweatlodge ceremonies with Marilyn Youngbird, between October, 1992 and April, 1993, culminating in a three day vision quest in May, 1993. In November, 1994, I was able to take the seminar, "Shamanism, Death, and Dying" from Carol and took another, "Shamanism and the Spirits of Nature," from her as well in November,1996. In February, 1997, while on sabbatical, I took a two week course in "Advanced Shamanism and Shamanic Healing" from Dr. Michael Harner at the Foundation of Shamanic Studies.
All of these experiences have helped me to look within, to find the path, the ways in which I can be of service in the healing of our planet, our environment, and most importantly, in the healing of ourselves. The more quiet meditative focus of shamanic practice is balanced with the active meditation I engage in through exercise. And, in every instance, I have sought to incorporate what I have learned in my teaching at the University. Sessions of shamanic journeying form a key experiential component of a graduate seminar in Symbolic Anthropology and Ritual that I began teaching in Spring, 1993. Since 1992, I have also incorporated a shamanic journey experience into several undergraduate classes including courses on South American Indians and the Anthropology of Religion. I continue to explore ways to incorporate my experiences into the classroom. And, in all respects, I remain a "student of life" who seeks to share what I have learned with others.
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