Dawn Prince-Hughes
Encyclopedia
Dawn Prince-Hughes, is an anthropologist, primatologist, and ethologist who received her M.A. and PhD in interdisciplinary anthropology
from the Universität Herisau in Switzerland
. She is the executive chair of ApeNet Inc., has served as the executive director of the Institute for Cognitive Archaeological Research and is associated with the Jane Goodall Institute
.
Prince-Hughes is the author of Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism, Gorillas Among Us: A Primate Ethnographer's Book of Days, Expecting Teryk: An Exceptional Path to Parenthood, The Archetype of the Ape-man: The Phenomenological Archaeology of a Relic Hominid Ancestor, Adam, and the editor of Aquamarine Blue 5: Personal Stories of College Students with Autism. Her new book, Passing As Human/Freak Nation: How I Discovered That No One Is Normal will be released in December 2009.
. She watched how silverback male gorilla
s cared for their families and paternally intervened to resolve conflicts, thereby setting the tone for community behavior
. She came to conclude anger often stems from embarrassment, and humor is a natural response to fear.
Prince-Hughes challenges the predominant scientific paradigm
, which says the nature of mankind's cognitive processes is clearly distinct from that of primate
s. In most scientific circles, ascribing human characteristics to animal mind
s is anathema
. From her observations, Prince-Hughes has formulated several contrarian scientific conclusions, perhaps most notably that Bonobo
s (Pygmy Chimpanzees) can actually speak English
if one just learns to understand the accent
.
from experiences observing and interacting with gorillas at the Woodland Park Zoo. In Gorilla Nation, she explores how working with gorillas helped her escape her social isolation
. Asperger syndrome may be accompanied by difficulties processing stimuli
, sensory
sensitivity, and social awkwardness. As suggested by the title, which speaks of a 'nation' of gorillas, the author conveys an eyeview of the world from the perspective of primate
s, effectively demonstrating how people and gorillas are subsumed emotionally, socially, and spiritually under the same rubric
.
Expecting Teryk follows Dawn and her partner's journey from meeting and connecting to becoming parents.
Gorillas Among Us compresses Prince-Hughes' many years of observing captive gorillas through an enclosure—visitors usually average only a few seconds—into a diary chronicling the lives of one gorilla family. She creates a blended portrait of both peoples—gorilla and human.
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
from the Universität Herisau in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. She is the executive chair of ApeNet Inc., has served as the executive director of the Institute for Cognitive Archaeological Research and is associated with the Jane Goodall Institute
Jane Goodall Institute
The Jane Goodall Institute is an international wildlife and environment conservation organization with branches in many countries. It was founded in 1977 by English primatologist Dr...
.
Prince-Hughes is the author of Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism, Gorillas Among Us: A Primate Ethnographer's Book of Days, Expecting Teryk: An Exceptional Path to Parenthood, The Archetype of the Ape-man: The Phenomenological Archaeology of a Relic Hominid Ancestor, Adam, and the editor of Aquamarine Blue 5: Personal Stories of College Students with Autism. Her new book, Passing As Human/Freak Nation: How I Discovered That No One Is Normal will be released in December 2009.
Theories
As a young adult, Prince-Hughes was employed at Seattle’s Woodland Park ZooWoodland Park Zoo
Woodland Park Zoo is a zoological garden around the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. Occupying the western half of Woodland Park, the zoo began as a small menagerie on the estate of Guy C. Phinney, a Canadian-born lumber mill owner and real estate developer...
. She watched how silverback male gorilla
Gorilla
Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
s cared for their families and paternally intervened to resolve conflicts, thereby setting the tone for community behavior
Behavior
Behavior or behaviour refers to the actions and mannerisms made by organisms, systems, or artificial entities in conjunction with its environment, which includes the other systems or organisms around as well as the physical environment...
. She came to conclude anger often stems from embarrassment, and humor is a natural response to fear.
Prince-Hughes challenges the predominant scientific paradigm
Paradigm
The word paradigm has been used in science to describe distinct concepts. It comes from Greek "παράδειγμα" , "pattern, example, sample" from the verb "παραδείκνυμι" , "exhibit, represent, expose" and that from "παρά" , "beside, beyond" + "δείκνυμι" , "to show, to point out".The original Greek...
, which says the nature of mankind's cognitive processes is clearly distinct from that of primate
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
s. In most scientific circles, ascribing human characteristics to animal mind
Animal mind
The question of animal minds asks whether it is meaningful to describe a non-human animal as having a mind.Discussion of this subject is frequently confused by the fact that some schools of philosophy and psychology would question whether one should ascribe mind to anyone else...
s is anathema
Anathema
Anathema originally meant something lifted up as an offering to the gods; it later evolved to mean:...
. From her observations, Prince-Hughes has formulated several contrarian scientific conclusions, perhaps most notably that Bonobo
Bonobo
The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...
s (Pygmy Chimpanzees) can actually speak English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
if one just learns to understand the accent
Accent (linguistics)
In linguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular individual, location, or nation.An accent may identify the locality in which its speakers reside , the socio-economic status of its speakers, their ethnicity, their caste or social class, their first language In...
.
Literary works
In Songs of the Gorilla Nation, Prince-Hughes describes how she learned techniques to manage her Asperger syndromeAsperger syndrome
Asperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...
from experiences observing and interacting with gorillas at the Woodland Park Zoo. In Gorilla Nation, she explores how working with gorillas helped her escape her social isolation
Social isolation
Social isolation refers to a lack of contact with society for members of social species. There may be many causes and individuals in numerous generally social species are isolated at times, it need not be a pathological condition. In human society, in those cases where it is viewed as a pathology,...
. Asperger syndrome may be accompanied by difficulties processing stimuli
Stimulation
Stimulation is the action of various agents on nerves, muscles, or a sensory end organ, by which activity is evoked; especially, the nervous impulse produced by various agents on nerves, or a sensory end organ, by which the part connected with the nerve is thrown into a state of activity.The word...
, sensory
Sensory system
A sensory system is a part of the nervous system responsible for processing sensory information. A sensory system consists of sensory receptors, neural pathways, and parts of the brain involved in sensory perception. Commonly recognized sensory systems are those for vision, hearing, somatic...
sensitivity, and social awkwardness. As suggested by the title, which speaks of a 'nation' of gorillas, the author conveys an eyeview of the world from the perspective of primate
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
s, effectively demonstrating how people and gorillas are subsumed emotionally, socially, and spiritually under the same rubric
Rubric
A rubric is a word or section of text which is traditionally written or printed in red ink to highlight it. The word derives from the , meaning red ochre or red chalk, and originates in Medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th century or earlier...
.
Expecting Teryk follows Dawn and her partner's journey from meeting and connecting to becoming parents.
Gorillas Among Us compresses Prince-Hughes' many years of observing captive gorillas through an enclosure—visitors usually average only a few seconds—into a diary chronicling the lives of one gorilla family. She creates a blended portrait of both peoples—gorilla and human.
Publications
- The Archetype of the Ape-man: The Phenomenological Archaeology of a Relic Hominid Ancestor, 2000, ISBN 978-1581121193
- Adam, 2001, ISBN 978-1890711108
- Gorillas Among Us: A Primate Ethnographer's Book of Days, 2001, ISBN 978-0816521517
- Aquamarine Blue 5: Personal Stories of College Students with Autism (editor), 2002, ISBN 978-1-4000-8092-2
- Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism, 2004, ISBN 1-4000-5058-8
- Expecting Teryk: An Exceptional Path to Parenthood, 2005, ISBN 978-0804010795 (hbk), ISBN 978-0804010801 (pbk)
- Passing As Human/Freak Nation: How I Discovered That No One Is Normal, TBP Dec 2008, ISBN 978-0307345530
See also
- Nim ChimpskyNim ChimpskyNim Chimpsky was a chimpanzee who was the subject of an extended study of animal language acquisition at Columbia University, led by Herbert S. Terrace....
- Jane GoodallJane GoodallDame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National...
- KokoKoko (gorilla)Koko is a female western lowland gorilla who, according to Francine "Penny" Patterson, is able to understand more than 1,000 signs based on American Sign Language, and understand approximately 2,000 words of spoken English....
- Louis LeakeyLouis LeakeyLouis Seymour Bazett Leakey was a British archaeologist and naturalist whose work was important in establishing human evolutionary development in Africa. He also played a major role in creating organizations for future research in Africa and for protecting wildlife there...
- SociobiologySociobiologySociobiology is a field of scientific study which is based on the assumption that social behavior has resulted from evolution and attempts to explain and examine social behavior within that context. Often considered a branch of biology and sociology, it also draws from ethology, anthropology,...
External links
- Arizona.edu - Gorillas among Us: A Primate Ethnographer's Book of Days (introductory chapter excerpt), Dawn Prince-Hughes (April 19, 2001)
- PoeticGenius.com - 'The Memory Tribe', Dawn Prince-Hughes, Poetic Genius Society (July/August, 2001)
- NWSource.com - 'One day, a gorilla touched her soul', Jennifer Langston, Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle Post-IntelligencerThe Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
(April 17, 2004) - WesternFrontOnline.com - 'Author demands human rights for gorillas', Amber Hurley, The Western Front, Western Washington UniversityWestern Washington UniversityWestern Washington University is one of six state-funded, four-year universities of higher education in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in Bellingham and offers bachelor's and master's degrees.-History:...
(January 28, 2002)
Audio link
- LOE.org - 'Gorilla Therapy: Dawn Prince-Hughes talks about her new book, Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey through Autism (August 13, 2004)