POWWOWING IN UNION COUNTY: A STUDY OF PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLK MEDICINE IN CONTEXT

Statement of problem. This dissertation in Folklore and Folklife undertakes to describe powwowing, a Pennsylvania German folk-medical tradition in the context of the community in which it occurs. Rather than isolating this tradition, this dissertation attempts to describe its connections with religion, education, and community life, and to describe this tradition from the point of view of people in Union County, Pennsylvania. The esoteric nature of this tradition and the dynamics of its transmission pose problems in fieldwork and in the presentation of results. This research was undertaken in the author\u27s home community, which facilitated fieldwork while raising other questions. Procedures and methods. This study was conducted through fieldwork and library research. Individuals who were interviewed included powwow doctors, their families, their patients, physicians, and other people. The transcriptions of these interviews, along with field notes and secondary sources, provide the basis for this ethnography. The author also attempted to develop a style of writing that would satisfy scholarly standards while remaining accessible to the people interviewed. Results. The results of this study include over thirty taped interviews and transcripts now filed with the Union County Oral Traditions Project, Lewisburg, Pa., under whose auspices these interviews were conducted. Field notes also provide many narraives about healing, descriptions of methods involved, legends about powwow doctors, botanical remedies, historical background, proverbs, and beliefs. While published sources based on the research of other scholars were consulted, this dissertation is based largely on fieldwork. Conclusions. People in Union County have a view of healing which differs from the academic view, being practical, empirical, and religious in nature. Powwowing, the tradition which most clearly embodies this belief system, co-exists with modern medicine, although its existence is not a matter of public record or discussion. The latter may explain why both folklorists and the folk sometimes think the tradition in disappearing; however, its essentials survive, even though its form may alter slightly with each generation. Doing fieldwork at home, provided depth in the author\u27s understanding of her own background as well as enriching her understanding of the field of folklore