Back in the US: Reflections on Language, Ethnography and Theology, and Pollution

Greetings from New York City! I just got back to the US last night.

My first three months of fieldwork went by very quickly. After Matt’s visit, I had two more weeks in Ranchi. During that time I was able to get some important translation work done, interview some elderly church leaders, make two visits to the NWGELC seminary, hear a popular Christian rock band, celebrate Thanksgiving with three American missionary couples (and their 8 children), attend my first baptism, celebrate the retirement of the GELC seminary principal, copy about a 1 TB of digital data from the church archives, visit the state’s Tribal Museum, and more. Busy days!

"Original Man" - Display at the Tribal Museum
(Etymologically close to the term Adivasi, "Original Inhabitants")

My initial reflections on the past three months: I’ve accomplished a lot, but there’s so much more to do! This time has been primarily about reconnecting with people here (and making new connections with new church leaders), refining my research questions and learning to phrase them in ways that make sense to people here, and gathering written materials (archival documents and recent local publications in theology) to read while I’m at home. My Hindi has also improved a lot these months. Let me share a few observations related to my research:

Language: I’ve realized that language will have to be one of the key topics in my dissertation. Language politics are central to the conflict between the GELC and the NWGELC, with the NWGELC (which is mostly composed of members of the Oraon tribe) putting a much stronger emphasis on local languages. Linguistic differences are the biggest things that separate the different tribes and bind each tribe together.

A calendar published by the NWGELC's Center for Oraon Christianity, encouraging the use of their tribal language, Khurukh

This really hit me on Tuesday last week when I attended a NWGELC chapel service that was in Khurukh (the Oraon tribal language). A student translated the sermon into Hindi, but apart from that I couldn’t understand anything else. It was a really strange feeling! I’m so used to being able to understand things when everything’s in Hindi. The format of the liturgy was the same, but none of the words made any sense to me, except for “Amen.” Of course it makes sense that you would feel most comfortable around people who speak the same language as you. The moment they start speaking something you don’t understand, and all doing it in unison, you feel so alone and confused. It made me so appreciative of my knowledge of Hindi, but it also helped me realize how language unites and divides communities.

Chapel service at NWGELC seminary

Engaged Ethnography / Theology: The traditional anthropologist is supposed to be detached and try not to influence the people with whom she works but simply report what they themselves do and say (and analyze it according to some theory or another). I’m trying to straddle that role and the role of theologian and pastor. For example: while trying out my interview questions with the students in my English class, I asked them what they think theology is. They really struggled with that, even the one who just graduated from seminary. I wanted to listen and hear what they thought. But they know I’ve studied theology and they wanted to learn from me what I think theology is. And of course, I have strong opinions about theology, and I like to share them with others. So in the end, I got them to say a few things, but then I started preaching.

The students in my English class

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this, but I do think I have to be honest and upfront about the fact that I’m definitely influencing the people with whom I’m working. The very questions I ask encourage people to reflect on topics of my choosing, and perhaps get them to think about those topics in new ways. But anthropologists do this with other topics, say, gender or human rights or environmental issues or poverty. More and more anthropologists are taking on an activist role, although that’s usually “back at home” (anthropologists still prefer to study that which is different or foreign) and advocating for the communities they study. What I’m doing involves advocating particular beliefs to the community I’m studying, for example, about grace and ecumenism and pastoral ministry.

Baptism

I’m really committed to the people here and helping them to preach the Gospel. And I have some ideas about how to do that. Of course I’m trying to be as open as possible and learn as much as I can from them, but they see me as a partner who has gifts and talents and ideas to share with them too. This community has given me so much; I want to give something back to them.

Retirement of the GELC seminary principal

To that end, Matt and I are making some short promotional videos for the seminaries and other ministries of the church. I’m also organizing a seminar on Adivasi Theology that will bring students and faculty from both seminaries (GELC and NWGELC) together next spring. I edit people’s (English) writing, and I try to help them refine their ideas. I give them books about theology that I like. In short, I’m much more of a partner for them in theological reflection than the stereotypical researcher as disinterested outside observer.

 

NWGELC 4th year seminary students

Pollution: I’m quite worried about the air quality in India, and I’m not sure how that’s going to affect my relationship to this community long-term. Delhi is usually the city in the headlines (last month, there were new stories about how, on the worst of these days, just one day of breathing the air in Delhi was the equivalent of smoking 44 cigarettes), but other places in North India are almost as bad. Ranchi is slightly better, but still at levels 5-10 times that recommended by WHO (World Health Organization). If any of you know somebody who’s an expert in public health issues related to air quality, please let me know so I could talk to them about strategies for reducing exposure to these pollutants (face masks, time of year to visit, etc.).

Air Quality Index Standards

These sort of environmental concerns are going to have an impact on research, not just my research, but research in general, as researchers decide to avoid places like India for the sake of their health. I’d thought about factors of crime and personal safety in choosing a field site for research, but before this trip I’d never really thought about the effect of the environment on the health of the researcher. The only reason I became aware of the extent of the air pollution now is because flights to Delhi were being cancelled due to low visibility from the smog, and Matt and I were worried about whether our flight would be too. So we did a little research and were horrified by what we discovered. I can no longer in good conscience recommend people visit India for tourism, which is really sad. At least the Indian government may finally be starting to do something about the pollution now that there’s more public awareness and outrage. To put things in perspective, compare yesterday's air quality in New York City vs. Delhi:

I can leave India whenever I want and return to a healthier, wealthier, cleaner country. Most Indians, however, don’t have that option. This is a huge global justice issue. Even if you don’t believe that human pollution is causing climate change, you should be able to see that it’s hurting our health. The US’ high regulatory standards have helped to prevent the kind of air (and water) pollution found in India. (The latest big story involving Jharkhand, the state where I work, is the grossly excessive use of pesticides on crops.) I’m proud of our country (although many other developed countries have even stronger regulations, and of course I’m quite worried about recent developments at that EPA), but I also recognize that many of the companies from which we buy our clothes and other goods set up shop abroad precisely to escape these regulations. It’s all one planet, and we have to work together to put pressure on and, in some cases, financially assist developing countries like India to do something about their pollution.

Good News: The good news is… I’m home safe and sound, my research is going well, and there are a lot of people in India who I care about deeply and who care about me deeply in return. I am so grateful for all my experiences there and especially for the generous hospitality of my host family. My current plan is to return again February-April. In the meantime, it’s time to start writing my dissertation! I wish you all a blessed Advent.

Being silly with friends