Anthropology

Thoden van Velzen has been traveling to Diitabiki for fifty years. As a young anthropologist, he spent a year and a half learning the language and becoming acquainted with the culture, and since then he has made a great number of return visits. On his most recent trip to Diitabiki, he brought a student of his, a linguist, to study how the Ndjuka language has changed. Memory of the rich polite forms and various greetings for different types of people has all but faded, except in Diitbaiki, the village of the paramount chief. Even here the younger generation rarely uses formal speech.

Thoden van Velzen and his wife have written several books on the Ndjuka. In the Shadow of the Oracle describes and gives the background of Ndjuka politics and their belief system. During my first year, In the Shadow of the Oracle taught me many of the cultural nuances that, as I am not an anthropologist, I had not picked up.

I talked with Thoden at length while he was here, and depending on the subject and who was around, we switched freely between English and Ndjuka. When he lived here, van Velzen was not allowed to have a dugout canoe, as it was considered obvious that foreigners would be thoroughly inept at such activities. The culture has indeed changed significantly in the last fifty years, and the formal events no longer draw the crowds that they used to.

The legacy of Thoden van Velzen has affected the Ndjuka perception of why I live in Diitabiki. Many people assume that I am here to learn the Ndjuka language, and they feel a little frustrated when I do not learn all the forms as enthusiastically as they expect. The chiefs have often called me to observe formal rituals, and have helpfully described the significance of what they do. Many Peace Corps volunteers come with the expectation of teaching other people, forgetting that from the villager’s perspective, the American is the one who needs an education.

Dr. van Velzen’s recommendation to me and to Peace Corps in general is to prepare new volunteers by teaching them about the specific villages in which they will live. Indeed, since volunteers serve a mere two years and even staff work at the most three years in one country, there are few opportunities to build more than a surface knowledge of the places we serve. My final project will be to write down all that I have learned for the volunteer who follows me.