The term Nacirema is American spelled backwards. It was first introduced by Horace Miner in, "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema." Today, it is mainly used by anthropologists to distance themselves, and avoid personal bias, when writing about American culture, its rituals and its customs.
In Nacirema country, the autumn term (known as fall semester in Nacirema speak) has finally arrived. At this time of year, the Nacirema engage in an ancient tradition of football. Despite its deceptive name, football involves neither a foot nor a ball (in the spherical sense), rather, it is more akin to handegg as the participants usually throw an oval-shaped inflatable device to one another.
To explain the tradition of football I must draw upon another ancient tradition of the Roman gladiators. Similar to the gladiator games, football is held in a giant arena where people (usually elites) come to watch young men (usually from humbler backgrounds) battle each other. Like Roman gladiators, the football gladiators usually wear armor as this practice can often get violent.
The football gladiators are not paid for their services, rather they receive compensation by being adorned in the finest garb and accepted into society, granted, these rewards are conditional on their success in the arena. Although football gladiators do not battle to the death as the Roman ones often did, these modern gladiators still suffer from complications to their health and welfare, usually stemming from repeated blows to the head.
The Nacirema regard themselves as modern folk, yet, it is difficult to understand why this primitive sport has lived on into “modern times.” In my ethnological studies, I have found that tribe mentalities have helped to support this dated tradition. It has come to my attention that the customs associated with football go beyond the battles of the arena.
Nacirema tribesmen often gather together before the game and practice “tailgating.” During the ceremony of tailgating, the Nacirema will drink fermented barley and eat grilled cows. At this time, the Nacirema will cloth or paint themselves in the colors of their fellow tribesmen so that they can easily identify each other once the fermented drink kicks into their system. In addition to tailgating, the customs of football also involve a variety of entertainments.
The two most impressive forms of entertainment include, firstly, a special performance from all the children of the village who play various instruments at high volumes (perhaps to alert nearby villagers that it is game day). The second impressive piece of entertainment is a special mating dance performed by a carefully selected group of young men and women. It appears that the importance of this dance is to reaffirm the sexual prowess of the tribe.
The Naciremanian tradition of football is long-standing and important to the various tribes. In many senses, this ceremony forms the foundation of their communities' public social exchanges. Indeed, one cannot think of the Nacirema without thinking of the football gladiators and the customs that underpin their games.
