In the Auerbach reading, Explorers in Eden, the author discusses the life of Frank Hamilton Cushing and his journey as the first Anglo American to become a participating observer amongst the Zuni people. Cushing was introduced as a staff member of the Smithsonian Institute in the late 19th century. During this time, the director of the Smithsonian, Spencer F. Baird, advised Cushing to go on the Stevenson expedition to gain information about the Zuni people in New Mexico (18). As a young ethnographer at the time, Cushing accepted the invitation and eagerly left Washington D.C. on a journey of self-transformation (20). In his first few months amongst the Zuni people, Cushing framed the Zuni as Middle Eastern images and continuously compared
