Teduray Cultural Practices In Elie Wiesel's Figel

Throughout his two years of research in Figel, Schlegel described many Teduray cultural practices; among them include their elaborate legal system, gender and sexuality, marriage and customs as well as their beliefs. Some of the practices he did not understand, but throughout his book he portrays the Tedurays as being spiritual, tolerant, peaceful and noncompetitive group of people. Compared to his upbringing, Schlegel starts to question his own way of life and he starts to change it by being tolerant socially and morally. One aspect of custom that he had a hard time understanding was the first marriage procedures the Tedurays had. He observed that the young people were not given a choice to choose who they wanted to marry or when they wanted
to get married. He points out that the marriage negotiations were done through the elders from both parties involved and once the agreement is reached the young people will be told to whom they are getting married to. Schlegel had a hard time understanding this. He felt that this was ‘emotionally and spiritually violent, and inconsistent to what he had accustomed to of the Teduray principles of respect and egalitarianism” (Schlegel, 2006, pp.123-124). Another aspect that Schlegel had a hard time understanding was the ability of the Teduray people to decide what gender to be. A man can choose to be a woman (the one who became a woman) or a woman can choose to become a man (the one who became a man) just like that. He was puzzled as in his world “a real man or woman is identified by their genitals” (Schlegel, 2006, p. 139). But in the Teduray customs, Schlegel (2006) found that “the social role you played: how you dressed, how you wore your hair, what you did all day, how you were addressed by people, and what you thought of yourself, you could be whichever gender you pleased” (p.139). The only thing that they could not do was to marry and have children as this will not be of any benefit economically. Schlegel notes of how the transgendered and transvestites are given a hard time in America. Based on anatomy you are either a male or a female and not otherwise. He talked about how he “had been taught by his family and peers to fear and despise people who are different, who were queer” (Schlegel, 2006, p. 147) and to come to Figel, a “primitive” society, people are accepted for who they are and are equal in every aspect of life. According to Schlegel, the Teduray society was an egalitarian society. There was no ranking or hierarchy as everyone was seen as being equal. Schlegel notes on page 97 that the Teduray did not compete with each other in any aspect of their life, instead, cooperation was part of the good life and it was highly valued. Compared to what he is used to growing up, he notes “we characteristically take the world to be inherently competitive a field of combat over mortal stakes of who will win and who will lose, who will succeed and who will fail” (Schlegel, 2006, p. 105). This is considered normal in America and other Westernized cultures, but not in Figel. They had a rule that you are not to give anyone a “bad gall bladder” (hurt anyone or their feelings) as it was against their morals. If there is a problem, it was to be solved rationally without causing any harm. Schlegel also talked about the elaborate legal system the Teduray had.
If there was anything to dissolve it was done by the “legal specialists” in which they worked together to solve whatever it is that they want to solve without having a one side winner and the other side a loser. “They all worked together to find the just outcome, to determine who truly had “the fault” and who had “the right”, recalled Schlegel. “The proceedings were cooperative and no way adversarial” (Schlegel, 2006, p. 155). The legal system was done this way to avoid any imbalance in their community as they did not want any “bad gall bladders”. The “specialists” had authority but did not take coercive measures as we have seen and seeing in today’s world (Western culture). Force and violence was not necessary to solve their issues; it was to be avoided at any cost. Though he concentrated his research on the Teduray legal system, economic system and language, Schlegel was also able to learn about their spirituality. He portrays the Tedurays as being spiritual people. They do not believe that there is a God but believe in cosmology. There are varieties of cosmos, one being a “Region of the Great Spirit”. According to Schlegel (2006), the Great Spirit is a creator of everything and is neither male or female, omnipresent, omniscient, nor omnipotent. (p. 217). “Everything was saturated with spiritual significance,” he notes (p.
194). As Schlegel pointed out that the Teduray people did not always live to their values, but they tried most of the time. After being there for two years he thought that the Teduray way of life was a way to live. He learned that in order to be whole, alive, to be human and to be able to love in a healthy and abiding way, the Teduray way of life is ideal (p. 230). What I have learned by reading the Wisdom from a rainforest is that we need to try to make our communities better where we are all equal and that no one should feel to be above anyone or feel that they are better than anybody else. Instead of violence, we should be compassionate and kind. We should help one another, treat each other with dignity and respect regardless of our beliefs or gender roles.