| OCR Text |
Show ()A The Sail Luke Tribune, Sundiij, January 12, W Standards Adopt Operators So Fidos Grave Will Get Perpetual Care " ' Pet-Cemet- ery Randolph Pic In Associated Pi ess Writer - WEST HUSH. N Y When Hover is laid to rest in a shady plot in a pet cemetery. Ins owner should not return a lew years later and find a tanrestaurant gle of weeds or a last-food That's what the International Pel Cemetery Association is trying to prevent now that more and more Americans are choosing to bury dead pets in cemeteries The group recently gathered in this upstate New York community to adopt a set ol standards for association members "that would cover everything. even down to the toilets." says executive Duertur l)r. Wendell C. Morse. "Pel cemeteries have just evolved, some in a good manner and some in a bad manner," he says. "We re trying to make them more alike " Use of pet cemeteries in this country is growing for several reasons duel among them, say cemetery owners, is that society is beginning to accept the loss ol a dog or cut, hamster or snake as a grief-tilleexperience Morse, a veterinarian lor 22 years, says. "I can remember in my early practice days, people would be very reticent to show any emotion over the death of a pet I think they thought people would make lun ol them ." "It's time that we pull up our bootstraps and get organized," says association President Thomas Lawton, whose Pines Pet Cemetery in Leba10,00(1 non. Ohio, is approaching graves g, iA.' Kild Press fholcj Polly Hanna Parnialee, 25, manages the It.I.P. Pet Cemetery property owned by her parents in West Rush, N.Y. on some Magic , Oaths Good Gesture - learned about local customs the hard, blushing, clammy way. T was in Djedaa (Chad) in 5467. leaving a building with a local businessman," he explained. "He reached out and started holding my hand Oh. bov. My palms sweated Then I realized that in li is country it was a sign ol respect and a tribute to my wis- g snake-infeste- dom "But there's still a problem when lie conics to Janesville, our little town m Wisconsin. We haven't held ' hands going down the mum street Then there is Johnny Carson, an"You know when Johnny stands there, slapping one hand on top of his exfist?" said Axtell, a pert on one man s panegyric being another country's faux pas. "In Chile, it means the same as our impudent finger. I don't imagine Johnny's audience is very big in Chile President Keugun. Axtell continued. is another prominent American who apparently is not up on the manners and manual messages of elsewhere d g where magic, perhaps more than in any pari controls the way people live Liberian authorities in the coastal capital ol Monrovia, about 220 miles southwest ol here, have been trying for more than HU years tu assert temporal hegemony over the sorcerers, the masked devils and the secret societies that are both religion and government in remote villages like Gbonwea (proof Africa, In Geneva, en route to a summit resession. Keugan gave a two-par- t ply to a reporter's question Verbally, lie said "Hell, no." Visually, and with cameras memorializing the niiscue. tie displayed two fingers. With the h ick of the hand toward cameramen nuf questioner. A Churciullian salute, in "sens reverse." as it were nounced But about 03 percent ot Liberia's 2 million people continue to believe in traditional religion. Thousands of rural Liberian boys and girls are sent off every year to "bush school." a rigidly secluded kind of summer camp w here they are circumcised by "devils" and taught how to farm, dance, fight and use herbal medicines. They also are indoctrinated in traditional religious beliefs. bon-way-- And in the sign language ot most British streets and motor ways, knows Axtell. that duplicates exactly what Johnny Carson's flourish lias been saying to Santiago. I didn't know that." a White House " spokesman said "That's interesting ReaHe explained that President gan does indeed have a habit ol illustrating answers with a wave, a descending salute that starts with the fingertips touching Ins forehead Then Keugan does not know the Anglo-Saxoroots ot the final gesture and he was not offering advice to the media'. "I'm sure that's not what the president intended," the spokesman said All of which. Axtell continued, am ply proves the point th it when in Rome do precisely what Homans do Axtell is vice president of market-mfor the Parker Pen Co a button-dowWillie Low man whose soiling eai oer goes 1j.h k to fountain (ions and ink. Ho supervises ulliees in lid countries where, since "The devil has the largest percentage ol believers, the Christians have much less." said David Menkua. 37. a graduate. father of 10 children, husband of two wives, head schoolmaster in Gbonwea and heir apparent as village cliiel. a position by his uncle "The devil is the only thing we believe in. and w hen we sacrifice to it. it bush-scho- two-dig- now-hel- w ill help us " Time and outside pressure have mellowed the sacrificial appetites of Gbonwea's devils Menkua said the blood ol a sheep or goat, instead of a human, is now a respectable offering to a devil being asked to rid the village of illness Women, once killed it they accidentally caught sight of a devil s mask, now are let off with a fine Devils in Liberia, it should be pointed out. are not devils in the Christian sense. Rather, they are believed to be benevolent spirits who live in the bush and occasionally come into a blue-blac- in the form ol a costumed man village inften the village blacksmith) with a devil's mask to solve problems Menkua said a devil last helped out Gbonwea by settling a fight that broke out after a i event soccer match lie said the devil, a village man who by donning a mask had merged been buying people Parkers ithat generic rciercncc d gum The sorcerer came and went. .So far, so good. The sacred cottonwood is thriving, shading the chief's palaver house, and no one has been killed by lightning Bui in Gbonwea. a village of 600 inhabitants swallowed up in the dead-greeWest African bush, people remember the sorcerer's edicts, and they still shy away from Chiclets. For this village lies in the heart of a region other scoff lore hac cemetery "There isn't a thing in the standards that they can't do or haven't done." says Morse "These standards are just to jack them members up and say let's do things right. ' According to the association, theie are 400 legitimate pet cemeteries in the United Stales, at least one in every state, with some dating back to the 800s "Theresa silent but steady giowtli in the useol pel cemeteries primarily because the grieving process when a pet dies is more and more not being called stupid." says James (Juacken-busli- , an instructor at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia Quackenbush, a social worker in Penn's veterinary medicine school, spends his time helping people cope with the death of a pet. He counseled 1,000 people last year. Lawton and Morse both cite changes society and the increased attention given the bond between pets and their owners as triggers lor the growth in pet cemeteries "It hasn't been that long ago that if you hail a pet it didn't sleep in the hed in with sou and eat out of the can or the guarded the sheep or the barn restau sour at loaches killed the cal Law rant they were liiiictioiiu! ton says pels take the Today, however (daces of babies, spouses and friends They soothe prison inmates, cheer up the elderly and preside companion ship tor young single people and "People have lose and emotion its got to go somewhere arid I think more of it is going into these pets Las, ton says Another indication ol society s changing altitudes legaidmg pet death is the introdm turn last year ol two Pel Loss sympathy cants by Hallmark Cards lie "So tar the card' me selling as well as the ones loi loss ol son or daughter." savs Itachel Holton, a spokes woman lor the Kansas f 'll v. Kan based company "I think the public thinks pel ceme ter les are lor the rich and that certainly isn true, says Lawton "Mu' generally when you hear about pel burials it's usually some oddball or i He says the average pet burial with tombstone and casket costs about jU. or about It) percent ol what it would cost to bury a human Pick Benner ol Milwaukee. Wis dancer i ecu Is the time an exotic python wanted her cremated He (.ait pet. part prop savs he also cremates a lot ol pet groundhogs and while rats. pat Blosser cremated her first tur-Hthis vear and Carolyn Kinsey ol II Tampa. Via . says she never forget the elaborate funeral one man had lot Ins hamster "He said it was his only a I -- e If nnJ." Kinsey Nays eccentric thing " That's nut the case tor the most part, although pet cemetery owners have been known tu tell a story or two. "We have three people buried in our cemetery." Lawton says. lie savs the people wanted to be with their (jets, so they had their cremated remains buried in his ceme-ter- ' , I LUCKY 1CJ()7 1980 III "OUR B cuy KLflllKE. B Lx I'LL v I be bur-je- d "They said why should next to someone 1 don't know. I d rather be next to my dog." Lawton says UP Photo Granite headstone marks Luckys final resting place. and Secret Cures Are Part of Life in Rural Liberia By Blaine Harden The Washington Post Writer GBONWEA. Liberia - When lightning struck a mud hut here 23 years ago and killed an old man, Gbonwea's chief did what any responsible official in this region would do. He called in a specialist. The lightning doctor, a sorcerer from across the swamps, came at once. He promptly planted a sacred cottonwood seedling beside the chiefs palaver house and harked out three magical commandments that were to he obeyed forever Do not (lour cooking oil on a lire, he said. Do not walk into the village carrying a bunch of coconuts. Finally, the sorcerer warned, no G bon wean ever again should chew Chiclets Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES Huger Axtell iiwC. cem-eterie- Sorcerers Specialize in Snakebite Umiedky- - Sign Language Not Always A nder the new standar ds. pet must be on dedicated land which means the land cannot be used tor anything but a cemetery They also must measure at least five acres, thereby" eliminating "backyard operations In addition, a pet cemetery owner will have to set up a permanent care fund to provide lor grounds maintenance regardless ol who owns the I By and m'ci national honor standing along-uhHoovers and Thermos flasks, bo cause the late George S Iarkei on c Our (icns wiito in anv Ian s.iid his soul with that ol a peacemaking spirit, simply presented himself to the brawlers and they went home. Besides being in the heart of Africa's devil country, the bush around Gbonwea also is notable as the home of about 20 species of the world's most poisonous snakes. There are green mambas - slender, blindsnakes that hung ingly quick around in trees and. according to one snakebite hook, "have an extremely virulent nerve poison, which can quickly lead to an emergency situation." There are spilling cobras, creatures five to eight feet long that, when provoked, stand up. spread their hood and spit venom, aiming fur the eyes. And there are Gaboon vipers, rather stout and stubby creatures with lovely pastel coloring, an tin earthly hiss and a venom that attacks nerves and destroys blood vessels Snakes (and snakebites) are so much a part of Gbonwean existence that they, like devils, long have been incorporated into the villages social fabric. Snake societies, amiable chibs somewhat akin to Rotary or Kivvanis, meet regularly in the village for drinks, singing and seminars on snakebite treatment Unlike the fanatically secretive organizations that deal with devils, snake societies welcome outsiders. So an American reptile merchant who lives in Monrovia recently drove out to Gbonwea. along with two reporters. for a look at the snakes, a taste of village life and news, if any. of the devils October and November are tune in the Liberian hush. In that interlude between the rainy and the hot seasons. snakes like to get out. wiggle around, eat rodents and. occasionally, lute people Snake society members have their best luck catching snakes this time of year, and Charles Miller III. the Monrovia snake merchant. has his best luck buying them On a recent Saturday in high snake season, with the snake merchant in town and the promise of his hard currency in the air, Gbonwea transformed itself in the passage from day to night By midnight Gbonwea was jumping. Outside the lull where the snake merchant had set up shop a hundred or su villagers gathered to clap hands circle ol Beyond the kerosene stood dancers, a score or so o snake-sellerquietly in the shadows With win lung bags ol reptiles at their leel. they waited their turn to bargain with the snake merchant and Inside the hut. Miller. 33. Yale graduate corpulent, a Long Island-borwith a degree in anthropology, sat on the edge of a squeaking tied, chainl smoked cigarettes, sipped cane juice and made his usual ofler lor a colira "I have only one price No talk. $22.30. that's the price," said Millei. who has been buying snakes in Gbonwea since 1070. Resells them to zoos and snake hulls in the United States "Twenty-thredollars, insisted Mur Bin a chief from nearby Gayelay His cobra, shiny, black, about eight teel long and thumping around in a box at his b ot, was tugger than most of the cobras sold in Gbonwea Mnr Bin hi gueil lor an appropriated tugger price "No I have one price It uu $23. pa everybody else will gio me a humbug." snake-catchin- g two-mont- h lamp-lighte- s steel-sprin- e I For snakebite victims in Liberian village, this holy man, Yosn Peter, may hold the only cure available. The remedy in the horn is a secret. Miller said Mor Bin took the $22.50 and left the cobra. While the people ol the Gbonwea area are more than willing to make money off snakes, enthusiastically welcoming Miller and the he sometimes brings to skittish hangers-othe village, they maintain a l evel cnee lor the creatures, which are linked in their tradition al religion with the powers ol the devils m the hush A zo. a traditional holy man in the Liberian hinterlands, a man known both tor his contact with devils and his air ol unflappability, often is adept at handling snakes Yosn Peter is Gbonwea's top snake zo In his hut hangs a framed certilieate from Libe- ria's Local Government Ministry that states "The holder of this certificate is fully and officially authorized to practice herbs as lie has been properly tested and found to lie " qualified as such Peter makes Ins living treating snake, scorpion and spider bites, as well as by selling snakebite medicine. His medicine, the ingredients ot w hich he says "can't tie exposed." is made from roots and herbs he gathers from the bush. Late at night, around midnight ("so nobody can see"), he mixes up the medicine and stores it in tleer horns, w hich lie sells for $13 each For personal treatment, he charges $75 lor a snakebite. $10 $5 for a scorpion bite. lor a spider bite, and A snake zo. Peter said, sometimes has to demonstrate in public the utility of his medicine. He savs he occasionally allows a snake to bite him. rubs Ins medicine on the lute and does not get sick or die According to "Poisonous Snakes." a snakebite pamphlet written this year In Alex MacKay. head ol the herpetology department ol the National Museums ut Keiiv.i. nothing neutralizes snake poison other than a serum derived from the blood id animals immunized against that specific poison MacKay acknowledges, however, that when the amount ol poison injected into a snakebite victim is less than lethal, tradition al cures lof the sort Peter sells) "can ollen do wonders" by calming victims down Menkua. the man who one dav will be the duel of Gbonwea. is the best educated, must person in the village He sees no reason, however, to stop believing in the spiritual power o devils and snakes Without a snake sonctv. he said, lie never would have been hoi n I am a snake ha by My patents could not conceive a child lor main sears Then my lather was advised by a snake zo to join a snake society here in Bebuelong. I w as hoi n well-spoke- n ituago hlcrs Soul Of lf Geof gc l.. a P bpeeial ( 'orrespo As gmem RELI hl'UNTK. Pa ment officials see it. all tin-;- want Little Bad o the Hunt Snow is her Social Security number Hut to the child s fa tiler. Unde Sain is after her xerx soul caches the s supreme Court this week, su pin n In a struggle that i has i elused to give the Pern-;- . W lepal mclit ol Public las daiiglilci s Social Set only iiuii, he numbei - eipjll Id ll In 1; (I Am! li "in the ledei pi ogram CIllldltT With lies a III '"I Dependent l(o I l to colli inue he But Hu grandson ot a dud ol the Abnaki Indian tribe, teats Ilia: allowing Little Birds number to be plugged into a computer would barm the girl Ue figure in giving them thu number wed be cooperating with wlial we would call a great ex in that they use this number in their computet s. said Hoy "In using these numbers they dehumanize people They iuh them ol then uniqueness ll would take a pal ol hci spu n away, wlial people normally icier to - a soul That s wlial we call then (ill'll To stay in good health to lie a v !u ollg person x oil ve got to ha e a "I pint (InlamiR Ihe same to.e-uI a- -- -- I I -- JU eai old I gl eat n does not allow photographs to he tak en The government insists that Social Security numbei s are necessary to determine whether welfare appli cants arc eligible fui aid and tu pic cnt fraud and waste Government officials say the Hoys ate a good illustration ol how dilii cult it could fie to cheek on eeipmnts In 1083, the Social ScninU eompiPei system listed more than '' Him people III the United States unit Hie Iasi name Hoy and 2 willi Hie name Sic i Securitv number lawsuit. Roy and Karen Miller 20 Ins common-lawife of 10 years and the girl s mother, said the government. in l ulling ulf assistant e fui Little Bird, violated their right to lively exercise their religion under the hirst Amendment US District Judge Malcolm Mini ordered the payments reinstated in June 1084. ruling the Social Senility requirement was tineuns' nut lotial in tlie ease ut Little Bird lie said had made a late but nut bent i cquesl tur an exemption in the mm cere belie! thcirchild ' pint eouid In endnngcll'd if the numhi'l wele The Ahnakl. one ot sexei.H li l. - m se( 1,1 In a m phi'll Hoy In Seplembei 1082 !(o s cash as sislanet Im Little Hud up to $00 a month and medical benelits were lulled because lie lelused to use hei lu-- -- not them New England linked by Algonquian languages, believe all efforts must be made to devi Hie spirit, which sometimes can 'o (low ers of healing ! I "There's only a few people that are We don t bni ii to that." said Roy know if Little Bird is horn to that or md We won t know until she discovers on her own Until then, we leel that s something we have to protci t " Muirs exemption ex lend- - until Lit lindx loth birthday when. Rov s.inl sie i an decide lor liersell whether she wauls lo pinxide the number He 'd t Tlie government appealed tiling lo the Sup! erne ( 'our t Mon s R"y s.od Ins decision not to pt oxide Li'lle Buds number was influenced by a traditional Abnaki duel he heard speak in IUHU on how technology was stealing the spu it of man B".v a muscular but and folksy mail, wears his dark 'down hair in braids, as is the Abnaki custom I t'l' Hud o the Snow was given lici n. line when Kmspoiled a goshawk in tlie simw during a traditional s' 1,1 I" lax lie loot Im tin' solt-spokc- t'.ilix s I m gox ci Fill lent s eon! u med bet said "They xe un ' hi oiigli their eomputei -hex haven found anx hods else H, "niiuen, ,"'1 ';'mir s- and "Hi K -- hi- i I Im h,( i j h- I |
