Joseph William Bastien

Background

Joseph William Bastien was born on February 8, 1935, in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States, to William Bastien, a bartender, and Lena (Arendt) Bastien.

Education

In 1958, Bastien received a Bachelor of Arts from Glen Ellen College. In 1963, he received a Master of Science from State University of New York. In 1971, Joseph received a Master of Arts from Cornell University a Doctor of Philosophy in 1973.

Career

From 1963 to 1969, Joseph William Bastien served at Maryknoll Fathers as Roman Catholic mission priest. Then, in 1977, he became a professor of anthropology at the University of Texas, and in 1978 he was a scholar in residence at Tulane University in Houston.

Joseph William Bastien writes after several years of living with the ethnic group, taking notes, photographs, and videotapes. Then he puts this information into a notebook program with which he can compare, analyze, and retrieve the information for analysis. Each book requires five to six years, with at least ten reviews. Each revision is critiqued by three or four reviewers who offer suggestions. Finally, when all are satisfied, the manuscript is reviewed by the university press board for approval.

Achievements

• Joseph William Bastien is known for his writings on biomedical methods, such as rituals, prayers, plants, and divination, which help in the healing process. The Bolivian Indians have inspired him to write about their outstanding culture and to share with the world their environmental views.
  
  Joseph received outstanding research awards from the University of Texas System and also he received a Bolivian Award in 1988.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Kiss of Death

    (Chagas' disease has become one of the major public-health...)

    1998
  • Mountain of the condor: Metaphor and ritual in an Andean ayllu

    (In midwestern Bolivia stands Kaata, a sacred mountain. In...)

    1985
  • Drum and Stethoscope: Integrating Ethnomedicine and Biomedicine in Bolivia 1992
  • Healers of the Andes: Kallawaya Herbalists and Their Medicinal Plants 1981
  • People of the Water: Change and Continuity Among the Uru-Chipayans of Bolivia 2012

Religion

Bastien had lived for six years among the Bolivian Aymard, learning their languages, as a Catholic priest trying to change their religion. Then it became clear that their religion adapted better to the environment and their lifestyle than Catholicism did, so he decided to study their religion, and later their medical practices.

Views

Joseph William Bastien loves to study other cultures and write about how these people live and adapt to the environment. He is especially interested in alternative healing systems.

Membership

Bastien was a member of the Ethnobiology Society and American Anthropological Association.

Interests

• flute, photography

• Sport & Clubs

  scuba diving, skiing, mountain climbing

Connections

On January 11, 1971, Bastien married Judy A. Wagner. The couple has three children: Brian, Suzanne and Kristin.

Father:

Bill Bastien

Mother:

Lena (Arendt) Bastien

Wife:

Judy A. Wagner

Son:

Brian Bastien

Daughter:

Suzanne Bastien

Daughter:

Kristin Bastien