An Indian anthropologist, Chandra Thapar, made a study of foreign culture which had customs similar to those of his native land.  One culture in particular fascinated him because it reveres one animal as sacred, much as the people in India revere the cow.

         The tribe Dr. Thapar studied is called the Asu and is found on the American continent north of the Tarahumara of Mexico.  Though it seems to be a highly developed society of its type, it has an overwhelming preoccupation with the care and feeding of the rac -- an animal much like a bull in size, strength and temperament.  In the Asu tribe, it is almost a social obligation to own at least one if not more racs.  Anyone not possessing at least one is held in low esteem by the community because he is too poor to maintain one of these beasts properly.  Some members of the tribe, to display their wealth and social prestige, even own herds of racs.

         Unfortunately the rac breed is not very healthy and usually does not live more than five to seven years, for it has a tendency to throw its shoes often.  There are rac specialists in each community, perhaps more than one if the community is particularly wealthy.  These specialists however, due to the long period of ritual training they must undergo and to the difficulty of obtaining the right selection of charms to treat the rac, demand costly offerings whenever a tribesman must treat his ailing rac.

         At the age of sixteen in many Asu communities, many youths undergo a puberty rite in which the rac figures prominently.  The youth must petition a high priest in a grand temple.  He is then initiated into the ceremonies that surround the care of the rac and is permitted to keep a rac.

         Although the rac may be used as a beast of burden, it has many habits which would be considered by other cultures as harmful to the life of the society.  In the first place the rac breed is increasing at a very rapid rate and the Asu tribesmen have given no thought to limiting the rac population.  As a consequence the Asu must build more and more paths for the rac to travel on since its delicate health and its love of racing other racs at high speeds necessitates that special areas be set aside for its use.  The cost of smoothing the earth is too costly for any one individual to undertake; so it has become a community project and each tribesman must pay an annual tax to build new paths and maintain the old.  There are so many paths needed that some people move their homes because the rac paths must be as straight as possible to keep the animal from injuring itself.  Dr. Thapar also noted that unlike the cow, which many people in his country hold sacred, the excrement of the rac cannot be used as either fuel or fertilizer.  On the contrary, its excrement is exceptionally foul and totally useless. Worst of all, the rac is prone to stampedes in which it runs down anything in its path, much like stampeding cattle.  Estimates are that the rac kills thousands of the Asu in a year.

         Despite the high cost of its upkeep, the damage it does to the land, and its habit of destructive stampedes, the Asu still regard it as being essential to the survival of their culture.

QUESTIONS

What is a Rac?
Who are the Asu?
Do you think this article presents an accurate view of the Asu?

Please post your response in the Forum for this assignment.

Hint: "The Nacirema" turned the anthropological community upside down when it was first published.  But upside down or rightside up, certain words in that article and this one are more comprehensible when read backwards.