Next of Kin
What Chimpanzees Have Taught Me About Who
We Are
by Roger Fouts with Stephen Tukel Mills
a book review by Julie Richer, Cyberteens Publisher
Next of Kin is the story of Washoe, one of the most famous
chimpanzees in the world. It is also the story of the people and
chimps who became her friends and family. Washoe was taken from
her home in the African jungle to the US to be part of the American
space program. Soon afterward, she was adopted by Professors Allen
and Beatrix Gardner of the University of Nevada at Reno. The Gardners
wanted to determine if chimpanzees could learn to understand human
language. Prior to the Gardners' research project, other researchers
had attempted to "cross-foster" chimps--in other words, to raise
a baby chimp the same way you would raise a human child. These earlier
researchers had hoped that by treating a chimp like a human child,
the chimp might learn to talk. However, they overlooked some crucial
differences between chimpanzee and human anatomy--for example, a
chimpanzee's tongue is thinner and its larynx is higher than in
humans. These differences, coupled with the fact that chimpanzees
are normally quiet animals, made it unlikely that chimpanzees would
talk. So rather than trying to teach a chimpanzee to speak, the
Gardners decided to see if a chimpanzee could learn American Sign
Language (ASL).
Roger Fouts was a first-year Ph.D. student in the experimental
psychology program at University of Nevada when he first met Washoe.
Knowing that Roger badly needed a job in order to pay the high out-of-state
tuition, the psychology department chairman suggested that he apply
for a job with the Gardners. Roger was eager to impress Professor
Gardner, not just because he needed the job, but also because teaching
language to a chimpanzee was far more interesting to him than the
prospect of running rats through mazes. However, Allen Gardner was
skeptical of Roger's credentials as a researcher, and when the interview
was over, Roger was sure that he had blown it. Perhaps as a consolation
for not getting the job, Dr. Gardner asked if Roger would like to
see Washoe. Roger readily accepted the invitation, and as soon as
he approached the fenced in "nursery school" where Washoe was playing,
Washoe sprinted toward the fence, vaulted over it, and leaped into
Roger's arms to give him a big hug. She then climbed into Dr. Gardner's
arms and gave him a hug too. Dr. Gardner sensed immediately that
Washoe liked Roger, and so Roger became Washoe's new caretaker.
This began a long, eventful relationship that changed the course
of Roger's life.
In the early part of the book, Roger describes what it was like
to care for a chimp as you would a toddler. He fed Washoe, diapered
her, played with her dolls with her, and gave her piggy-back rides,
all the while using ASL to communicate with her. Washoe was a mischievouq
youngster. One day she managed to get into the cleaning supply cupboard
and drink a bottle of Mr. Clean. While Roger, panic-stricken, searched
the label for antidotes, Washoe opened the refrigerator, pulled
out all the yogurt containers, and downed yogurt after yogurt. Other
than a remarkable case of diarrhea later that day, the Mr. Clean
incident left her unscathed. Later in his career, when Roger met
other chimpanzees, he realized that a lot of what he assumed was
the typical mischievousness of chimps was simply Washoe's personality.
He found that no two chimps were alike; some were even-tempered,
others were shy and solitary, and others were desperate for approval.
Four years after he first qtarted working with Washoe, Roger learned
that the Gardners had privately decided to end the research project
and find a new home for Washoe. They arranged for Washoe to be moved
to the Institute for Primate Studies in Oklahoma and instructed
Roger to go with her. Here's how Roger described it:
Mind you, Allen Gardner never asked me, "Roger will you
go?" He didn't suggest that I visit Oklahoma or meet William Lemmon.
It was clear that Washoe's needs came first, and that I was going
with her; she wasn't going with me. Gardner had negotiated
the deal, given the order, and like a good soldier, I obeyed.
The book is filled with fascinating examples of how Washoe and
other chimps used sign language to communicate. The chimps did not
just use individual signs to indicate an item. Rather, they formed
sentences. For example, one day when Roger was smoking and Washoe
wanted to try his cigarette, she signed: "GIVE ME SMOKE, SMOKE WASHOE,
HURRY GIVE SMOKE." Finally Roger signed: "ASK POLITELY."
In reply, Washoe signed, "PLEASE GIVE ME THAT HOT SMOKE." Of course,
just as he would with a human child, Roger said no.
The type of mistakes Washoe made when her signing abilities were
tested gave further insight into how well she understood language.
For example, she would sometimes mistake COMB for BRUSH or NUT for
BERRIES, or DOG for COW, but never COMB for COW. Sometimes if Washoe
didn't know the sign for something, she would combine signs to form
a new word. For instance when she first tasted watermelon, she signed
"CANDY FRUIT."
One of the most touching incidents occurred when Washoe gave birth
to a baby chimp who died soon afterward of a respiratory infection.
Washoe became very depressed and refused to eat. Roger had seen
other chimps waste away and die of grief, and he was worried for
Washoe's life. He managed to locate Loulis, a baby chimp who had
been born in a research lab. Loulis's own mother had been subjected
to brain experimentation and was unable to care for her son, so
Roger brought Loulis to Oklahoma to become Washoe's foster son.
When he came to Washoe's cage, he signed "I HAVE BABY FOR YOU."
Washoe excitedly began signing "BABY, MY BABY, BABY, BABY!" However
when she saw that Roger had brought her a different baby, not her
own, her excitement was gone. That first night, the baby refused
to come to her and slept alone on a bench. The next day, however:
Washoe woke up, stood up on two feet, and vigorously signed to
Loulis with a loud slapping sound: COME BABY. Loulis was jolted
awake and he jumped straight into Washoe's arms Engulfed in this
large and hairy pillow, Loulis fell back asleep.
From then on, Washoe cared for Loulis as her own child. Roger and
the other researchers wanted to learn whether Washoe would teach
her baby sign language, so they enfored a rule of speaking only
English and not using sign language when Loulis was present, except
for seven specific signs. After eight weeks with Washoe, Loulis
regluarly signed both to humans and to other chimps. Interestingly,
he did not learn any of the seven signs that the humans had used
around him. Rather, he used signs like FOOD, CHAIR, and SIT that
Washoe had used with him.
Later in the book, Roger recounts how one of his volunteers, Kat
Beach told him that at first she was amazed that a chimpanzee could
use human language, but after she got to know Washoe, she was amazed
not that Washoe could communicate, but instead by what Washoe
communicated. When Kat was pregnant, Washoe doted over Kat's belly,
asking about BABY. Unfortunately, Kat had a miscarriage, and when
she came back after several days, she decided to explain to Washoe
what had happened, knowing that Washoe had gone through the experience
of losing a baby too.
MY BABY DIED, Kat signed to her. Washoe looked down to the ground.
Then she looked into Kat's eyes and signed CRY, touching her cheek
just below her eye. That single word, CRY, Kat later said, told
her more about Washoe than all of her longer, more grammatically
perfect sentences. When Kat had to leave that day, Washoe wouldn't
let her go. PLEASE PERSON HUG, she signed.
Next of Kin gets its title from that fact that we share
98.4% of our DNA with chimpanzees. Chimpanzees are more closely
related to humans than they are to gorillas or orangutans. They
are as closely related to us as they are to bonobos, a second species
of chimp sometimes called pygmy chimpanzees. Evolutionarily speaking,
chimpanzees are our cousins; we share a common ancestor. As Roger
Fouts recounts his experiences visiting various research facilities
throughout the country, it becomes clear why he wrote this book.
Yes, the stories of Washoe growing up are entertaining, and Dr.
Fouts' accounts of how Washoe and the other chimps he studied learned
to communicate are fascinating. However, most importantly, Dr. Fouts
wants us to know how appallingly chimpanzees and other research
animals are treated. Next of Kin is a wake-up call for anyone
who cares about animals. In the last pages of his book, he writes:
I have often wondered what it would be like to wake up one day,
as Washoe did, and discover that you are ot the superior being
you thought you were. How ould my great-grandfather have reacted,
for example, if he had learned that he was part black? Would he
have acknowledged his true self and embraced his newfound kin--his
own slaves? Or would he have oppressed them all the more out of
self-hatred and fear he might be found out? What would you or
I do if confronted by such a dilemma?
That will never happen to me, you are probably saying.
But it already has. When Charles Darwin told us that we are related
to apes we all woke up to a terrible nightmare: They are us.
and in the hundred years since, we have wiped out millions of
chimpanzees in a fury born of denial, arrogance, and self-interest.
This fratricide is almost complete. And if we do not halt it now,
then we will wake up one day soon only to discover that we'e destroyed
the living link to our own evolutionary past.
Next time you are in a bookstore, either of the bricks-and-mortar
type or online, pick up a copy of Next of Kin. You won't
regret it.
For more information, visit the Chimpanzee
& Human Communication Institute site. To join the nonprofit
Friends of Washoe organization and receive regular updates about
her and her family, please send a donation to:
Friends of Washoe
Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
Central Washington University
400 East Eighth Avenue
Ellensburg, WA 98926-7573
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