Dear Rob and members,

Just a quick note on the value that linguists (and anthropologists)
can bring to ethnoorn research - this may seem obvious to many of us
but in Australia I've found great value in the dictionary and
associated work that linguists undertake for my ethnoorn work - in
fact in my work looking at extrinsic sources for data dictionaries
are often the first place I look.

Linguists are also of great value in the field - my study area is a
large area of central Australia where a large number of well-
documented Aboriginal languages are still spoken.
I'm working with them to build up a database of comparative language
references for bird names throughout the region (which is all semi-
arid but with many localised habitats and landscapes). This material
is expected to be of use for linguists (they can track the
development/distibution of bird names throughout the region) but
also as an important source of data in addition to bird names. This
is particularly so where linguists record contextual narratives
about species or taxa - this provides additional morphological,
behavioural and related data that might not be important to the
linguist and participant/s but can be of value for identification
etc. Further data can be extracted from cultural information
provided by participants - this can be relevant to tracking cultural
practices and knowledge of particular species across culture, time
and space.

Anthropologists can also provide valuable material - as with
linguistic data this may be incidental to the original research
(land claims etc) but can provide useful data and leads for further
research. I've found the land claim transcripts and other evidence
and submissions made to the courts in these claims invaluable.

Cheers and best,

Robert Gosford

--- In Ethnoornithology@..., "FERGUS, Rob"
<rfergus@a...> wrote:
>
> Hey Robert, thanks for noticing my presentation. I'm working with
linguist Kerry Hull to document Ch'orti" Mayan bird names and
folklore. Next year we will probably expand this to include
additional Mayan language areas. Lots of interesting
information...now just need to find a good journal to publish in.
I'm not so interested in folk taxonomies as in the actual human-bird
relationships and how birds fit into the worldview of different
people. Cheers,
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Rob Fergus
> Senior Scientist | Urban Bird Conservation
> National Audubon Society
> 545 Almshouse Road, Ivyland PA 18974
>
> Phone: 215 355 9588
x17
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ethnoornithology@...
[mailto:Ethnoornithology@...] On Behalf Of Robert
Gosford
> Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 6:54 PM
> To: Ethnoornithology@...
> Subject: [Ethnoornithology] Abstract - Human - Bird relationships
among the Ch'orti' Mayans of Guatemala
>
>
>
> A recent presentation by Rob Fergisat the Middle States Division
of
> the Association of American Geographers 2006 Annual Conference
> October 13-14, Rutgers University in the United States
>
>
> 2,000 YEARS OF BECOMING-BIRD: CH'ORTI' MAYA ETHNOORNITHOLOGY AND
> HUMAN-BIRD
> RELATIONSHIPS
> Rob Fergus
> Urban Bird Conservation
> National Audubon Society
> Ivyland PA 18974
> ABSTRACT The Ch'orti' Maya of Jocotán, Guatemala descend from Pre-
> Classic and Classic Mayan ancestors that depended
> on birds and bird plumages to legitimize and maintain their
> political order. Over the course of two millennia, birds have
> remained important to the Ch'orti', though changing technologies,
> political structures, local ecology, and traditions have altered
> many ancient relationships with birds, as well as created new ways
> of relating to birds. This paper reports on recent field work
> conducted in Jocotán, and explores the various ways that Ch'orti'
> individuals create relationships with birds, as well as how these
> human-bird assemblages reflect or contrast with human-bird
> relationships documented in the Mayan archaeological,
> ethnohistoric, and ancient textual records.
>