Cultural Encounter Report

I walked into the Oak Court Mall from the second level entrance to observe the young people of today. As I entered the mall, my first thought was that watching young people surely could not generate an entire three to five page report. You see, I have never taken an interest in watching people that I did not have any direct contact with. I took the escalator down to the first level and I ordered some Chinese food and a lemonade drink. I found an empty table and proceeded to let the observation begin.

each Federal agency and each museum which has possession or control over holdings or collections of Native American human remains and associated funerary objects shall compile an inventory of such items and, to the extent possible based on information possessed by such museum or Federal agency, identify the geographical and cultural affiliation of such item (Native 1990).

In this Ethnographic paper, I will be interviewing and discussing the differences between my culture and that of another. My culture consists of two-parts, one being Puerto Rican and the other being Caucasian. I will be interviewing my best friend’s mother Cristina Carlesso Dager, who is from Venezuela. South American culture consists of many influences due to the arrival of the Europeans; Europeans cultures brought a mix of Spanish, Portuguese, and French creating what we know today as Latin America. This paper will highlight key topics discussed in class like kinship, political and social organization, food, clothing, religion, etc. From this interview, I want to gain a new-found knowledge of what is like to be from a different culture then my own. I will interview Mrs. Dager with no bias and will cover every subject to my capability. I am interested in discovering the differences between our cultures, so that I can be aware of this diverse world that I live in.

As I explored the James T. Bialac Native American Art Collection at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, I came across two paintings that really stood out to me because of their relevance to what we have been learning in class. In muted tones of blue and yellow, Harry Oosahwee’s (Cherokee) One Fall Morning depicts a Cherokee family in a barren rural landscape; animals and plants dot the landscape, and a small wooden house sits on the far right of the painting accompanied by a father, mother, and child to the left.

As a unit in social studies I would investigate the culture of the Native Americans. Native Americans have a wide range of art because of the many tribes that make up the Native American culture. Their art ranges from paintings, jewelry making, sculptures, pottery, masks, drums, totem poles, beadwork etc. I find Native American culture interesting. I am Native American myself and I enjoy learning and finding new things about my culture. The history of the Native Americans is expressed most times through their art. Their culture is tied with nature and spirits. They believed in respecting the land and the abundance of gifts it offered (Native American

In class we discussed about the Indians that lived in the Plains. The characteristics of the Plains is a flat area with not much going on. In the Plains exhibit we saw different utensils and items they used for hunting, gathering, building and for fighting. Some of the items that we saw were the breast plate and Headdress of the Indians. The breast plate was combined with traditional materials and those gained by trade. This is an example of how Indians took parts of animals and combined it with other things to make useful items. The headdress was wore by Native Americans who

An amazing college level course that could be offered to first-year students in the Global Scholars program would be a cultural exploration course. Not only would it be a physical exploration course, but also a mental exploration course. Students would begin the course by sharing where they want to travel and their reasons for doing so. The most popular places would be chosen by the amount of interest. Afterwards, some classes would be spent exploring the history and culture of those specific places. Students could perform skits, make costumes of traditional clothing of the area, construct unique pieces, or do other creative things to show their understanding of the areas and their personal thoughts on them. After presenting their creations,

Today, interest in studying and collecting Native American art is steadily rising. In response to the demand for knowledge about the subject, a new website, native-american-art.org, has risen to the forefront for providing facts and resources for anybody interested in expanding their knowledge

Each seemed to be missing the true value and essence of the pieces. No real significance seems to be brought with presenting the pieces to the public, failing to show their link and value to the Native peoples who made and used them.10 In regards to the art of the Native American culture, in 1910 one art museum in Brooklyn presented Native American cultures as serious art. It was the start of a different way to look at and present objects of diverse cultures. The only issues were that in the museum, the curator, Stuart Culin, selected one tribe to represent an entire region of North America. Objects in the museum were organized based on their function and used very descriptive labels, photographs, small-scale models, among others means to attempt to portray the environment

As mentioned above, the most shocking thing I noticed was the community, or the way they socialized with and accepted themselves and each other. I think

The roots and customs of Native American tribes run deep. A feeling of respect and tradition is in the air. Every little detail has meaning and a certain level of pride and of importance to each individual taking part in the ceremony. According to Access

Native cultures have been studied and depicted in many forms since the 1500s. Vast amounts of information throughout the years have been formulated to represent the unique and individual native cultures around the world. Most of the information collected about native cultures was represented in various ways, from paintings, sculptures, wood carvings, and eventually in museums. Unfortunately, most of the material displayed in these art forms was inaccurate, either through presenting false or dramatized information. From the beginning, these cultures were thought of as the past, non-evolving, prehistoric peoples. Though they certainly still existed, as they do today, they were not used for their knowledge and opinions in representing their

I can return with a wealth of information, but I can also return with pictures, art, music, books, toys, games, and artifacts to incorporate in classroom instruction. Using artifacts in the classroom will support students experience with culture, expand their knowledge,

Assuming that the visiting cultural anthropologist can speak English (and knows the appropriate distance and volume for standard conversation), and has at least a high school education and, some basics like clothes, toothbrush, soap, shampoo and, having a driver’s license would be even better, or some solution for transportation such as buses or have friends or family to drive the cultural anthropologist around or be part a tourist group that provides transportation and maybe a hotel, if the cultural anthropologist has friend or family in the US I would see about if they can help with housing. If you cannot find any housing, then you should use the money that you have brought over and exchanged to reserve a room at a hotel

In an effort to experience a cultural and community experience that is outside my “normal” culture and encourages interaction among people with whom I might not normally interact, I attended The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment: The Lamrim Chenmo teachings at the Chenrezig Tibetan Buddhist Center located in Middletown, Connecticut on July 8, 2014.