Title: Picking and choosing from cultures
Product review: Originally published in 1960, this book is not particularly about Cuna mythology or cosmology. Instead, the author gathers bits and pieces of information from various cultures to support the theory that there is a universal story: creation, the flood, and onward, in all cultures. Although he visited with Cuna over 7 years, he repeatedly talks about "primitive cultures" as opposed to "civilized cultures". A paragraph may cite 3 or 4 disparate cultures. Descriptions of creation myths repeatedly refer to "onamism". Keeler's method of inquiry was to think of a feature from some other culture's mytholgy, and ask a shaman if there was anything similar in Cuna beliefs - not a method to provoke an unbiased result.
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
