The Spring a Time for Calving and Cleaving
A poet-anthropologist joins Sámi reindeer herders in Norway who are preparing for the spring migration. As an outsider, he feels a longing to connect, even as he remains “outside the fences.”
Ritual
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Five New Year’s Rituals of Renewal
An anthropologist explores a range of cultural celebrations around the world to mark the new year. Spoiler alert: They don’t all fall on January 1.
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I Carry My Grief With Me, but I Also Carry My Joy
The domino effect of anguish and loss unmoors, but a Black poet-anthropologist carries their joy as ritual—in the palms of their hands, soft, delicate.
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Mourning Kin After the End of Cannibalism
A Brazilian anthropologist reflects on the death of her adopted father, an Indigenous Wari' man from Amazonia, and what he taught her about mortuary cannibalism and other rituals of grieving.
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Peru’s Incan Rope Bridges Are Hanging by a Thread
A remarkable ancient technology and tradition of creating suspension bridges to unite communities in the Andes is sadly fading into history.
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The Macabre and Magical Human-Canine Story
Zooarchaeologists and geneticists are exploring how wolves and domestic dogs have been humanity’s predator, prey, and partner.