This interesting anthropology-related news bite appeared at ESPN:
BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia’s top prosecutor is questioning why a shaman, or medicine man, was paid $2,000 to keep rain away from the closing ceremony of the Under-20 World Cup.
The attorney general’s office opened the investigation Tuesday after the comptroller’s office in Bogota questioned cost overruns of more than $1 million — the shaman’s charges included. The official cost of the August ceremony was $2.5 million.
Anthropologist Ana Marta de Pizarro helped organize the ceremony and says the shaman was justified.
She said: “Had it rained, the event would not have taken place. It didn’t rain on the ceremony, it was successful and I would use him again if I needed to.”
Pizarro said the shaman had been used at other outdoor events in the country.
The Under-20 World Cup was held for three weeks last year across Colombia, with Brazil winning the final.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press