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    Thesacredracoftheasutribe

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    The Asu tribe in North America considers the rac, an animal similar to an ox, as sacred in the same way Indians revere cows. Each family owns at least one rac which they invest heavily in to keep healthy. At age 16, youths undergo a ritual involving rac care. While rac are used as beasts of burden, their rapid population growth and waste have negatively impacted the environment. The rac's destructive rampages also kill thousands annually but the Asu still see them as essential to their culture.

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    Thesacredracoftheasutribe

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    The Asu tribe in North America considers the rac, an animal similar to an ox, as sacred in the same way Indians revere cows. Each family owns at least one rac which they invest heavily in to keep healthy. At age 16, youths undergo a ritual involving rac care. While rac are used as beasts of burden, their rapid population growth and waste have negatively impacted the environment. The rac's destructive rampages also kill thousands annually but the Asu still see them as essential to their culture.

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    The Asu tribe in North America considers the rac, an animal similar to an ox, as sacred in the same way Indians revere cows. Each family owns at least one rac which they invest heavily in to keep healthy. At age 16, youths undergo a ritual involving rac care. While rac are used as beasts of burden, their rapid population growth and waste have negatively impacted the environment. The rac's destructive rampages also kill thousands annually but the Asu still see them as essential to their culture.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    9K views1 page

    Thesacredracoftheasutribe

    Uploaded by

    api-204141131
    The Asu tribe in North America considers the rac, an animal similar to an ox, as sacred in the same way Indians revere cows. Each family owns at least one rac which they invest heavily in to keep healthy. At age 16, youths undergo a ritual involving rac care. While rac are used as beasts of burden, their rapid population growth and waste have negatively impacted the environment. The rac's destructive rampages also kill thousands annually but the Asu still see them as essential to their culture.

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    The Sacred Rac of the Asu Tribe"

    (1) An Indian anthropologist decided to study foreign cultures which had customs similar to those
    of India. One culture fascinated him because it considers one animal sacred, much as the
    people in India love the cow.
    (2) The tribe he studied is called the Asu and is found in North America north of Mexico. This
    society has a great interest in caring for and feeding of the rac--an animal much like a bull in
    size, strength and behavior. In the Asu tribe, it is almost a requirement to own at least one rac.
    Anyone not owning at least one is held in low esteem by the community because he/she is too
    poor to maintain one of the beasts properly. Some members of the tribe, to display their
    wealth, even own herds of racs.
    (3) Unfortunately, the rac breed is not very healthy and usually does not live more than five to
    seven years. Each family invests large sums of money each year to keep its rac healthy and
    shod, for it needs new shoes often. There are many rac specialists in each community, and
    they demand a large payment whenever a tribesman must treat his ailing rac.
    (4) At the age of sixteen, many Asu youths undergo a puberty rite in which the rac is important.
    The youth must petition a community council and then go through the ceremonies that
    surround the care of the rac. If proven worthy, the youth can keep a rac of his/her own.
    (5) Although the rac may be used as a beast of burden similar to an ox, mule, or horse, they have
    many habits that are considered by other cultures as harmful to the life of the Asu people. For
    example, 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 their love of racing other rac at high speeds require special
    areas to be created to prevent them from hurting themselves. The cost of smoothing the
    ground is too expensive for any one Asu tribesman to afford, so it has become a community
    project and each tribesman must pay an annual tax to build new paths and maintain the old
    ones.
    (6) In addition, unlike the sacred Indian cow, the excrement of the rac cannot be used as either
    fuel or fertilizer. On the contrary, its excrement is totally useless and harmful to the natural
    environment. Worst of all, the rac is prone to rampages in which it runs down anything in its
    path, much like stampeding cattle. Estimates are that the rac kill thousands of Asu tribesmen in
    a year.
    (7) Despite the rac's high cost of its upkeep, the damage it does to the land, and its habit of
    destructive rampages, the Asu still regard it as being essential to the survival of their culture.
    Adapted from "The Sacred Rac," by Patricia Hughes, Focusing on Global Poverty and Development, by
    Jayne C. Millar (Washington D.C. Overseas Development Council, 1974), p. 357-8.
    Sacred: adjective. dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving great respect.
    Esteem: noun. respect and admiration
    Shod: adjective. Wearing footgear/ shoes
    Petition: verb. to make or present a formal request to (an authority) with respect to a particular cause.
    Beast of burden: noun. an animal such as a mule or donkey that is used for carrying loads.
    Annual: adjective. occurring once every year.
    Excrement: noun. waste matter discharged from the bowels; feces; poop
    Essential: adjective. absolutely necessary; extremely important.

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