ANT 101 Week 5 Final Paper

Every culture has their own way of life, their own religious beliefs, their own marriage beliefs, their own values and feelings on life and the options it has to offer. Each culture has their own way to run things within their own government, and own way to keep their economy up to their standards. Also each culture and society have their own primary mode of subsistence that makes them unique. Among the Navajo culture their primary mode of subsistence are pastoralists.   Pastoralists have an impact on different aspects with in the culture.   The aspects that I will be discussing will be the Navajo’s beliefs and values, economic organization, gender relations and sickness and healing.

Different societies exist throughout the world and within these societies each society develops culture that works best for them. Within these cultures they pass all their acquired knowledge and traditions down from generation to generation. Nevertheless, each culture has their own way of life, own marriage beliefs, their own values and feelings on life and religious beliefs. Cultures tend to have their own way to run their government, and ways to keep their economy up to their standards. Most importantly in cultural anthropology it is imperative to value culture relativism. This is the view in which no culture is superior to other

Compounding this lack of care, Haitians also lack clean drinking water and proper sanitation systems. Less than half the population has access to clean drinking water, a rate that is only surpassed by civil war-torn African nations. Even worse, half the population of Haiti can be categorized as “food insecure,” and this malnutrition has created a generation where half of all Haitian children are undersized (IFRC, 2010). In addition, this poor sanitation and hygiene, coupled with inadequate nutrition, have contributed to exceptionally high levels of individuals with chronic, yet often at best ill-treated, conditions.

What residents face on remote islands involving medical care is extremely different than what our health care looks like. For every island the nearest hospital is at least a ferry ride away, and sometimes that means a month away. So how do remote location such as the islands of Penobscot Bay deal with these problems they face? Medical care on islands is something that differs completely depending on which island.

Cuba In the recent years, Cuba has emerged as a world-class powerhouse of medicine in spite of having limited amount of resources, while the United States consumes over 10 to 20 times of what is essential for a beneficial and affordable healthcare system. Therefore, Cuba has been successful in achieving infant mortality rate lesser than that of the US, especially less than 50 percent of US Blacks. The existing debate over US healthcare system is not relevant to representing a path for poorer countries, such as Cuba, as over 30 percent of the country’s spending is an overhead by various private insurance companies. Such over budget includes a huge amount of over-treatment, which makes the poor sick by rejecting them treatment, creating illness and exposing them to contagious diseases through excess hospitalization and research based on disease rather than prevention.

Art and Religion are utilized by Haitian culture for healing and survive in the Caribbean communities (Davis, Paravisini-Gebert, & Fernandez Olmos, 2004). “Healing Cultures is more self-consciously pan-Caribbean in scope, sensitive not only to the region's historical intersections, but also taking into account the ways in which cultures rely on each other and are reinterpreted across borders” (Davis et al., 2004, p. 1). The term “Healing Arts” is used to explain the cures utilized by Haitian culture for healing of illness that are physical, psychological and even spiritual (Davis et al., 2004). For instance the use vodou practices. Haitian vodou functions in the following way: “offers a cultural construction of illness, provides elements

“Primary health care and public health care services are managed through four geographic divisions” (Roberts, G., Irava, W., Tuiketei, T., Nadakuitavuk, R., Otealag, S., Singh, S., ... Chang, O, 2011). The mission statement of the MOH is “providing high quality health care delivery service by a caring and committed workforce. And working with strategic partners through good governance, appropriate technology and appropriate risk management, facilitating a focus on patient safety and best health status for the citizens of Fiji” (Guiding Principles, 2014). Even though, medical facilities and sub-divisional hospitals have been implemented, the citizens of Fiji are still having problems with being able to access healthcare and other services. According to Neil Sharma, “inadequate pharmaceutical supplies and manpower shortages have resulted in inadequate peripheral care. Limited financial resources and lack of health planning are contributing to deteriorating primary health care delivery” (Sharma, 2011). Other missionary groups such as The Mission of Natuvu Creek are providing, medical, dental, and vision services to the poorer communities in Vanua Levu. Their mission is to “serve the rural people of Fiji through the provision of world-class medical/dental care, education, job training and counseling in healthful living and spiritual growth” (The Mission at Natuvu Creek, 2012). Most Fijians still consider treated aliments either via Westernized Modern medicine or holistic

“Primary health care and public health care services are managed through four geographic divisions” (Roberts, G., Irava, W., Tuiketei, T., Nadakuitavuk, R., Otealag, S., Singh, S., ... Chang, O, 2011). The mission statement of the MOH is “providing high quality health care delivery service by a caring and committed workforce. And working with strategic partners through good governance, appropriate technology and appropriate risk management, facilitating a focus on patient safety and best health status for the citizens of Fiji” (Guiding Principles, 2014). Even though, medical facilities and sub-divisional hospitals have been implemented, the citizens of Fiji are still having problems with being able to access healthcare and other services. According to Neil Sharma, “inadequate pharmaceutical supplies and manpower shortages have resulted in inadequate peripheral care. Limited financial resources and lack of health planning are contributing to deteriorating primary health care delivery” (Sharma, 2011). Other missionary groups such as The Mission of Natuvu Creek are providing, medical, dental, and vision services to the poorer communities in Vanua Levu. Their mission is to “serve the rural people of Fiji through the provision of world-class medical/dental care, education, job training and counseling in healthful living and spiritual growth” (The Mission at Natuvu Creek, 2012). Most Fijians still consider treated aliments either via Westernized Modern medicine or holistic

In The Qawa Incident in 1968 and Other Cases of “Spirit Possession”: Religious Syncretism in Fiji article, Parke describes the 1968 case of Spirit Possession in Fiji, where many religious and ethnic communities, such as Hindu, Muslim, and Fijian, resided together. The essay discusses the religious syncretism in Fiji, mentioning how groups outside of Fijian religion still believe in Fijian spirits, as shown with the 1968 incident. Parke goes into detail on the incident, in which a pool sacred to the Fijians is bulldozed for a playground and students soon becoming ill, hyperventilating with twitching arms and legs. It is believed by the Fijians, and other religious communities in the area, that the students who became ill shortly after the bulldozing of the sacred pool had been possessed by the angry spirits who resided in the pool, offended that the pool had been disrespected. The inflicted girls went under various treatments, the first being by western doctors who believed the incident to be mass hysteria. The students also privately attended a Muslim healer said to have Fijian powers, but neither treatment was completely successful. Finally, the students participated in public Fijian ceremonies of

People in the Australian outback and people in urban Australian cities receive medical care very differently. Those in urban areas are more likely to be healed than those in the outback (Lui, Sutton, Vincent, Oei, Bajuk, Abdel-Latif). Urban people can get to hospitals faster, and there are more nurses and doctors in urban Australia. The people living in the outback do have something that those in urban areas don't, bush medicine. The people in the outback know how to use plants to make medicines, like creams to be rubbed on the body, and medicines to be inhaled or drunk (Kamenev). To help people in the outback get emergency care, the Royal Flying Doctor (RFD) has medical chests in the rural areas (“Royal”). These chests store basic

Folk medicine remains relevant as it is consistent with the religious beliefs of the Igbo and is accessible (Chukwuemeka). For instance, Folk medicine healers and Dibia live nearby, providing ease of access, charge affordable rates and hold corresponding beliefs (Chukwuemeka). Additionally, these shared beliefs stand as the predominant reason Igbo remain loyal to folk medicine. The mutual understanding that disease results from angered gods or demonic attacks provides further dedication to folk medicine (Okonkwo). Moreover, since healers are viewed capable as communicating with the spirit world and casting out spirits, they gain the trust and following of the Igbo community.

“Health is not valued till sickness comes” (Fuller). Healthcare in the Virgin Islands has been declining for the past couple years now. Patients complaining since they’re waiting long hours to see one doctor that’s attending to many other patients. Some patients decided to use home remedies such as herbs and bush tea before they look to professional help. The three major points in the lack of healthcare in the Virgin Islands are medical insurance, health issues, and lack of staff.

Medicine men or priests represented healers due to the fact that they were believed to have special relationships to the supernatural realm. Exorcisms, spells, and divination were common practices to cure those infected by disease, or “evil spirits”. Modern vocabulary still reflects these beliefs through phrases such as being “attacked” by an illness, or to “fight off” infections. The beliefs of the supernatural controlling the health of individuals was unanimous all throughout the ancient world and confirmed by medical writings from Egypt, China, India, and Mesopotamia.

In polynesia, the dominant pre-columbian religion was animism–the belief that all things have some sort of spiritual power. In Polynesia, this power was called mana (Encyclopedia Britannica). Polynesians believed that this spiritual power, this mana, could be negated by human actions. As a result of this, many tapu (brought into English as taboo) were set up in order to prevent humans from upsetting the natural order of the world. As with their neighbors in Mesoamerica, the polynesians believed in a form of human sacrifice to right the unbalance in the mana of a person or a thing. This was especially clear when someone walked over the shadow of a chief or a noble. It was thought that this would damage the mana of the person and only the death of the offender would correct this unbalance. Like most cultures, the Polynesians had many gods which would personify some part of nature and who would be deeply

In terms of Traditional African Healing there are two central types of Traditional African healers, the diviner (sangoma), and the herbalist (inyanga) (Edwards, 2011). Divine Healers refer to the central activity of divining the cause of a person’s misfortune or suffering. The divine healer or sangoma will work through ancestral influences and intimate relationships with the ill to identify the cause and treatment (Edwards, 2011). In relation with sangomas, izinyanga’s mainly use herbal medicines used in a ritual and symbolic context (Edwards, 2011). Traditional doctors practice psychology however their main orientation is herbal and pharmacological. A skilled inyanga will seek the guidance of an ancestral spirit before embarking to find and collect muti (Benning,