From the Log of Agustus Brunton
Nov. 6 2008
N35 E-75
The Philadelphian Southlands
The best ethnographers are often sensible, yet sensitive people, with a well-developed appreciation of the absurd. These are particularly valuable traits for a field worker engaged in long-term research in an isolated area, far from the everyday amenities of Western life, among people who are very much ''the other.'' When the focus of study is the Mummers of Philadelphia, originally characterized by Napoleon Chagnon as ''the fierce harlequins,'' common sense, humour and a high level of empathy become, more than assets, central to survival.
It took grueling work hunkered over map and compass to pinpoint the tribe. But finding the mummers did not mean immediate access to their society. Many months of slight finesse finally ingratiated me to my hosts. I have found that donning my formal wear, usually reserved for Saturnalian Balls and Explorers Club roasts, had an easing effect on the tempers of the chiefs.
I've never felt more alive, nor more close to the satin covered hand of death.
-Agustus
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