As usual, seagulls filled the air at Canal Park. And that's exactly what UMD senior Carrie McKee wanted. She needed the gulls, along with some popcorn and the help of Davin Heckman, to complete her senior project, the American Sky Burial. The project incorporates Anthropology, Art, Religion, Philosophy, and Popular Culture--just some of the subjects that McKee studied for her Interdisciplinary Studies major.

The purpose of the project, McKee said, was to provide a humorous social critique of American spirituality. Visually, it was modeled after a sacred ritual--the Tibetan Sky-Burial. But that's as far as the similarities go. The Tibetan Sky-Burial is a sacred ceremony, where Lamas and others gather to pray, burning incense fills the air, and prayer flags fly in the wind. The body of the deceased is lain out and cut open, ready for the vultures to feed.  In ironic juxtaposition, Heckman, a UMD graduate student, wearing a suit on which McKee had sewn individual kernels of popcorn, lay on the ground April 19, waiting for seagulls to feed. Although the birds were timid at first, once McKee threw some popcorn around Heckman, the birds closed in, and soon, two of the gulls perched themselves on his body, snatching popcorn off his suit.

 The main point of McKee's project was to examine Americans' tendencies to commercialize Eastern (and other) traditions and religions. For instance, in her project proposal, McKee discusses the rising popularity and fashionableness of things like yoga, henna, and "kharma beads." McKee also discusses religion, in America, as a self-serving practice. We all want to be saved, enlightened, freed, fulfilled, etc . . . she says on her website, as long as we don't have to put too much effort into it." McKee stressed that sheís not against people trying to find themselves in spirituality. In fact, "I'm all for it," she said. However, she added, A lot of people have become religious hobbyists. Religion used to be the center of peopleís lives, but now itís just something we do as recreation." McKee's project has the exact opposite meaning of the Tibetan Sky-Burial. Not only was her project mimicking a ceremony and making a shallow public spectacle" of it, but Heckman had to give nothing of worth, of value--just some cheap popcorn, and of course, some of his time.

The whole popcorn, canal park idea was actually Heckman's. Shortly after he and McKee moved to Duluth from San Diego in Fall 1998, he saw a seagull snatch something from a boy's hand.  Heckman said he started wondering about how much more scared that boy might feel if he saw a group of seagulls attacking someone's body (that was covered by popcorn). A man from San Diego who covered himself in duct tape added inspiration, Heckman said. McKee liked the idea immensely, and began thinking of ways she could incorporate it into her senior project.

Obviously, McKee was dedicated--It took her 100 hours to sew the popcorn on the suit! In addition, she created a website that details the project, and she and Heckman are making a documentary. Sharon Kemp, an assistant professor of Sociology and Anthropology at UMD, and one of McKee's advisors commented on the beautiful visuals of the project and said that in her opinion, McKee should definitely "get an A+." As for Heckman, he finally got to test out his idea and said the experience furthered his love for seagulls. "I was just sitting there thinking, gosh, I love these wonderful birds--each of them have their own voice."

Check out McKee's website for more information.

Information regarding the Tibetan Sky-Burial was obtained from Pamela Logan's article, "Witness to a Tibetan Sky-Burial," which can be found on McKee's website.