David, only because I think so highly of you... First, googling "head hunter" yields a great many entries on employment facilitation and relatively few on any kind of cultural practice. Not that sheer numbers make anything right, but it does say something about common understanding of the phrase. To my vaguely anthropological mind (4 years of undergraduate studies and early stages of a doctoral degree with 25 years of museum administration superimposed) the popular idea of head-hunting probably encompasses both altering the head of an already-dead person (generally assumed to be an enemy) and cannibalism. The best known of the "head altering" groups are the Jivaro of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon who practiced head-shrinking. A fairly detailed analysis of this (including history and a photo gallery) can be found at www.head-hunter.com. Other groups who used parts of human heads as trophies include Native Hawaiians and Tibetans. Cannibalism is a very different issue. There is fairly good evidence for sporadic cannibalism in a great many cultures (including ours). It is less easy to identify any group that practiced this on a regular basis. The Wikipedia entry on cannibalism is fairly complete (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibalism) so I won't add anything here except to point those who might be interested in reading more to "The Man-Eating Myth: Anthropology and Anthropophagy" by William Arens. Finally, a word on scalping (which also has both a relatively pejorative cultural meaning and a more benign contemporary one). It is now generally agreed that scalping was a practice introduced by the Europeans, originally against the Indians. Again, more information can be found at http://ct.essortment.com/historyscalpin_rdrp.htm. janice (who is not only avoiding work, but apparently channeling for Gene Dillenburg) Janice Klein Director, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian [log in to unmask] www.mitchellmuseum.org -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of David E. Haberstich Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2005 10:37 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Headhunters With all due respect to Geri Thomas, I'd like to argue a bit with the characterization of "headhunter" as a pejorative term. I can well understand a "search and recruitment" specialist preferring not to be called a headhunter or any other slangy term, just as many psychiatrists prefer not being called headshrinkers or "shrinks" (although I have known several who didn't mind the slang at all). But I question the notion that calling "some tribal peoples in the past" headhunters is pejorative, which I take to imply incorrect or unfair. I suspect that "headhunting" is probably surrounded by myth and misunderstanding, and I invite any anthropologist or other expert to clarify or correct me, but is it not a bald (ha) fact that "some tribal peoples in the past" hunted for heads to shrink, under certain circumstances? Even if the practice of headhunting were a complete myth, for that matter, isn't the notion of search and recruitment specialists hunting for good heads a rather apt metaphor? What's next? Disc jockeys objecting to the term because they disapprove of horseracing as a cruel sport that exploits helpless creatures? David Haberstich ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).