Dr. John H. Blitz

Dr. John Blitz was the guest speaker for the Nov. 8 meeting of the Kay County Chapter of the Oklahoma Anthropological Society in the Conoco Fourth Street Club House.He was introduced by Christina Rich-Splawn., program chairman.Dr. Blitz is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma.

His topic was "Vacant Ceremonial Centers of the Chachi Indians in Ecuador".While a doctoral candidate at the City University of New York, he spent three and a half months with an expedition studying this culture.He focused his talk on his learning experiences while living among the Chachi Indians in the tropical rainforest in Ecuador.

The individual homes are located along the river where travel is by dugout canoes.It is a roadless region and the team's equipment, food, and necessities for the 1991 expedition had to be brought in by motorized dugouts.He studied several vacant ceremonial centers that are still in use today beside the river.These centers are places where people do not live permanently, but instead, flock to periodically to conduct ceremonies for different situations.Scheduled events are those for religious services: Christmas and Easter.Situational events occur for rites of passage: weddings or funerals.

The Chachi claim their heritage of living in the Andes Mountains before the Incas or Spanish arrived causing them to move to the lowlands.They retain many of their native beliefs and about 3,500 Chachi Indians meet at the centers, said the speaker.

Dr. John Blitz was the guest speaker for the Nov. 8 meeting of the Kay County Chapter of the Oklahoma Anthropological Society in the Conoco Fourth Street Club House.He was introduced by Christina Rich-Splawn., program chairman.Dr. Blitz is an assistant ... (11/18/2001)

'Strawberries' Program Topic For Laureate Phi Chapter

Dr. John Blitz, University of Oklahoma Department of Anthropology, will then present a paper on his research on southeastern mound sites, some of which are 1,000 years old.

Membership in the Oklahoma Anthropological Society is open to anyone interested in learning about the long history of human occupation in this state.Currently, there are more than 500 members.The Society holds spring and fall meetings where current research is discussed.An annual excavation is held in the spring when Society members dig at a site under the direction of professional archaeologists.

A reception for members and friends will be held Friday evening at the museum.

Dr. John H. Blitz , assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma , will present the Nov. 8 program for the Kay County Chapter of the Oklahoma Anthropological Society.The meeting will be at 7 p.m. , Thursday , in the Conoco Fourth Street Clubhouse.

His topic is The Vacant Ceremonial Center in Ancient America and Modern Ecuador..He will compare some of the prehistoric cultures in the USA with existing cultures in Ecuador.

Dr. Blitz , who received a Ph.D. from the City University of New York in 1991 , has researched the origin and development of complex societies and has focused his archaeological explorations on pre-Columbian Mississippian societies in the North American Southeast.His many excavations also include an ancient Maya Center in Belize , Central America.

The meeting is open to the public , and anyone interested in archaeology is welcome to attend the monthly meetings.

Published Tuesday , November 6 , 2001 on page A9

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