IN MEMORIAM: George Dearborn Spindler 1920-2014

Abstract

IN MEMORIAM GeorgeDearbornSpindler 1920-2014 George Spmdler athis 85th birthday celebration, 2005. (Photo courtesy of Spindler family archives.) GeorgeDearborn Spindler was an anthropologist for67 ofhis94 years,mostin close cooperation withhis wife,Louise. Theyweremarried for56 yearsand anthropologists together for50 years, untilshepassedawayin 1997.Theirfirst decade in anthropology was sharedwiththeMenomini (now Menominee) people of Wisconsin and focused on the use of psychologicaltests in ethnographic fieldwork. They workedwiththe Menominiforseven summers (1948-1954) and returned forbrief annualvisitsfordecades.They wouldhavelikedanygroupofpeople- thatis thewaytheywere- buttheMenomini touched their souls. In 1951,Georgestarted fieldwork in middle-class American schools, butthey disrupted hissoul.He disliked howthedominant American culture was forcing the Menominiintoassimilation, but he was in awe of the ingenuity andpersonal integrity withwhichthepeopleresisted. Traditional Menomini education, he saidin 1963,was "successfully refractive ... tothe educational experience contrived by theagentsof thedominant society." Among traditional Menomini,educational"encountersare nearly all favorable to thechild,and,as a consequence, [s]/he developsverylittle by wayofrecalcitrant or ambivalent feelings towards adultsor whatever they wouldhavehimlearn."In American schools, wracked byfierce competition andtheopposingdemandto appearegalitarian, bothchildren andteachers werepsychologically divided andinconstant badfaith with eachother. Spindler wastrained intheassumptions andmethods oftheculture and personality schoolthat headlined American anthropology from 1930to 1955 withstudiesof dreams,fears,wishes,and neuroses.He and Louise used projective techniques - often modified to fittheparticulars oftheculture under analysis - inall their fieldwork. Theirearlyworkwith theMenomini soughtto characterize thecorepersonality typesof individuals. After the collapseof personality studiesin thelate 1950s,Spin (as he was known) stayedthecourse,butworried moreabouttheenvironments shapingand maintaining whathebeganin 1968tocall the"cognitive orientation" ofthe people theystudied.Personality studiestendedto isolateand stereotype individuals as theproduction centerof societiesand theirproblems, but Spin'slaterwork - by1959forAmerican education, by1963for Menomini education - emphasized individualsengagedin struggles organizedby 4 Journal of American Indian Education -Volume 53,Issue2,2014 others. Ifprojective techniques showeddeeplydividedsouls,Spinwanted to showhowemerging circumstances madethedifference. Because their analyticvocabularychanged over the years, the Spindlers' workwith theMenomini canbestbe readbackwards. Theywould preferit. When theypublishedDreamerswithout Power in 1971, the "without"was meantto emphasizethe poundingput upon Menomini individuals bymainstream Americans. Whentheir Menomini friends raised an alternative perspective, theSpindlers changedthetitletoDreamerswith Power.Itfitbetter themorecritical viewthey hadbeendeveloping. Culture andpersonality theory brought them insights, butshielded them from others. Washawaythepersonality focus, andthere is muchtoappreciate. Spinwrote lovelyaccountsofgreetings, silences,andquestion-answer linkagesamong theMenomini, buttreated themas products of thecharacter structure of individuals. He appreciated whenothers longlater described thesameevents as interactional accomplishments. In hislastpaper,in 2008,Spinsuggested thatprojectivetechniqueswere disappointing scientific tools, but great contexts for meaningful conversations. He likedrenewal. Spinwitnessed anddocumented cultural changesofall kinds.During hislongteaching careerhe lovedtomentor students. At Stanford, he was a keyfaculty person for first generations ofNativeAmerican andother minority students entering university life.His struggle across 60 yearsof writing anthropology was to capturethehumanity of people getting through life together. Kind,gentle, andappreciative alwayscamefirst, although he hada goodeyefor thecontradictions inhabiting every life. He hada large institutional career, butwanted onlytoputittogooduse.He taught 40,000students, but had no desirefora following. He becameknownas thefounder of the anthropology of education, butrejected thetitleand resisted anyidolatry. With no head for business,he ran a small empirefor introductory anthropology texts,including 200 case studies, morethan20 focusing on NativeAmerican cultures. For countless students acrossthecountry, these case studies offered their first understanding ofNativeAmerican cultures as richandrewarding worlds, alternatives totheir own. GeorgeSpindler lovedto do work.He lovedtopublishhisworkand other people'swork.On a great day,he wouldblurthelinesbetween work, relaxation, family andfriends whilewaiting fora publication toarrive inthe mail.He was kindto all whocamehisway,andifanyonewas notkindto him, hewouldonlysay,"I don'tunderstand why." - RayMcDermott, Professor ofEducation andAnthropology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA Janice E. Stockard, Editor, Case Studies inCultural Anthropology and Lecturer, St.Mary'sCollege,Moraga,CA August 4,2014 Journal of American Indian Education -53,Issue2,2014 5 GeorgeSpindler andI werebothbornin North Central Wisconsin, andhe was rearedthere. I came to realizeovertheyearsnotonlyhow muchhe respected people- thedetailsoftheir dailylivesandtheingenuity oftheir dailyresourcefulness - butalsohowdeepwashisawareness andrespect for place. He had come to care verymuch forthe people who lived in Menominee County andhealso lovedthelanditself - itswaters, itsforests. He hunted and fishedin thosewoods and lakes,and did so withrespect, returning toMenominee County everysummer thathe couldandstaying as longas possibleintothefall,givena taxingacademicscheduleandcareer. Laterinlifehecametohavea similar appreciation oftheimportance ofplace as helivedandconducted research ina smallvillageinGermany. Ina sense, his critiqueof modernAmericansocietywas thatit was without place, without rootedness. Yet he didnotjustromanticize a primal utopiaas some anthropologists havedone- hewasrealistic about change, itsnecessity, andits concomitants. In all this, acrossa longlifespan,heheldtrue tothevaluesof modesty andkindliness, learned ina Midwestern childhood. - Frederick Erickson, Inaugural Kneller ChairofAnthropology and Education, Emeritus, UCLA Garrett...