SNAKES IN THE LADIES ROOM - NAVAJO VIEWS ON PERSONHOOD AND EFFECT

In the summer of 1994 snakes were sighted in a public restroom facilit y on the Navajo reservation. In this article I analyze the reactions o f Navajo involved in this incident in order to illustrate the philosop hical principles governing Navajo views of the cultural construction o f the human body, self, personhood, and effect. The philosophical syst em, which provides a cultural context for explaining this disturbing e vent, is in part based on the principle of synecdoche--the premise tha t parts oi the body (hair, fingernails) and bodily secretions (saliva, blood, skin oil, urine) retain lifelong influence and can thereby aff ect the well-being of the individual from whom they originated for a l ong time after their detachment or expulsion. This analysis of the Nav ajo case contributes to broader disciplinary concerns about the opposi tion of ''self'' and ''person'' found in classic anthropological disco urse.