Five questions with anthropology professor Dr. Marilyn Walker
2013-02-14 17:09:45
1- What are you currently researching?
I am working on a third book, this one on the ethnobotany of seaweeds. Ethnobotany is the study of the relationship between people and plants. It is bringing together my research from the Canadian Arctic where I worked for a long time, and the West and East Coasts of Canada. It is interesting for me because I am going back to my field notes from the Arctic when I first went there at seventeen — some of the information I recorded was about the plants they used, including seaweeds. There has not been much done on the ethnobotany of seaweeds and on traditional knowledge of seaweeds across Canada.
I have also studied traditional medicine in India. On one trip I looked at the Tibetan Bön tradition and their medical practices that include plant knowledge. The second time I visited an ashram in South India in Kerala. The Amritapuri Ashram has set up an excellent hospital and biotechnology projects. Their scientific studies demonstrate the benefits of yoga and meditation on stress and stress-related diseases, and for treating a range of conditions from obesity to anxiety, depression, and diabetes.
2- You were elected to be a fellow of the famous Explorers Club, founded by Sir Edmund Hillary, and are a member of the advisory board of Wings WorldQuest, which celebrates and supports extraordinary women explorers. What led to your nomination to these organizations?
I was invited to give a talk about my research in Siberia to the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Explorers Club and, after hearing about my work, they asked if I would let my name stand to be an international fellow. It was quite an honour and it is important to have women recognized. Wings WorldQuest recognizes women all over the world who have made contributions to the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
3- What are you most proud of?
My new-found ability to sing country and western music. The funny thing about country and western music is the sadder it makes you feel, the happier the audience is when you finish. It is cathartic and it addresses issues that are common to everyone regardless of their background. I’ve taught drumming for a long time and have seen first-hand how music can be a powerful healing modality.
4- Who is Amma and how did you come to know her?
Amma is a living saint in India and a great humanitarian. She has addressed many international gatherings, including the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations meeting in China and their international celebrations for their 50th anniversary in New York, the Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders in Geneva, and the Summit of the Global Peace Initiative of Women in Jaipur. About nine or ten years ago a colleague, who is a medical doctor, was interested in the medical benefits for individuals of having a spiritual practice and, as a medical anthropologist, I was very interested in following up on this. I went to see Amma when she came to North America on one of her world tours. It was such an extraordinary and profound experience that I have been to see her every year since. The yoga/meditation classes I have offered at Mount Allison for four years now are based on her teachings and on the scientific studies undertaken at her hospital.
5- How did you end up riding a reindeer in Mongolia?
I had been doing research for a number of years in Siberia on shamanism, ethnobotany, and indigenous knowledge systems. Bill Fitzhugh at the Smithsonian invited me to accompany them to Mongolia as their ethnographer. I looked at traditional plant knowledge and how people use plants for animal and human health.
It was the only way to get up into the Dukha summer camp because they are mountain people living in the alpine region of northern Mongolia. To get there you either have to take a horse or a reindeer and the reindeers are so much more comfortable to ride, they’re called a Cadillac ride. They go back and forth rather than up and down like a horse. A horse may also try and brush you off while a reindeer — and you only ride the male reindeer — are very protective of their antlers, so they make a careful path through the trees.