Culture Of The Maasai Tribe Of Kenya And Tanzania

Most common cultures have rituals, celebrations, or traditional ceremonies to acknowledge the coming of age of boys and/or girls. The Hispanic culture have a traditional “Quinceañera” for young teenage girls turning age 15 to recognize her coming of age as a woman. Jews have “Bar Mitzvah” for men or “Bat Mitzvah” for women to celebrate coming of age. Although in some cultures, celebrating coming age is nothing less than actually celebrating; but in other cultures, such as Aborigine culture, rather than having a huge celebration, young teenage boys, age thirteen, are enduring an essential evaluation. In this stage of their life, their elders test them to see if they are “man” enough to survive by themselves.

Maasai have a relatively complex culture and traditions. In fact, for many years they were

Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.

The Makah tribe is a native American tribe who lived in Olympic Peninsula in Washington State for centuries. Makah people tended to descend their culture to one another and ran on their traditions through generations. Makah tribe practiced whale hunting in the past as one of their historical traditions when they were given permission after Treaty of Neah. The Makah harvested whale for provisions and countries-exporting values. But most people think it 's demoralizing to kill a pure, innocent mammal like whale. As an outsider, we can’t go to conclusion and say their tradition is inhumane and needs to be stopped. If we put ourselves in their shoes, we could probably learn the truth behind the whaling process and decipher all the

Culture is the characteristics of a group of people defined by language, cuisine, religion social habits music and art. There are many different types of culture including western culture, eastern culture, African culture and many more. Culture is influenced by the groups of people that make up the country (Zimmermann, 2012). The term culture was first used by an English Anthropologist named Edward B. Tyler. It was first mentioned in 1871 in his book named ‘Primitive Culture’. He stated that culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. Since then culture is the main focus of anthropology.

“Remotely Global: Village Modernity in West Africa” by Charles Piot is a book based on the lives of the people of the remote village called Kabre located in Northern Togo. The author discusses the “vernacular modernity” of the people of Kabre village that has been influenced by a long tradition of encounters with outsiders that included the colonialists. The author provides an in-depth analysis with ethnographic details about the Kabre people as the author discusses a wide range of their culture and history that included houses and the structure of homestead, gender ideology, ritual like initiations, exchange system, and social relations (Piot 178).

Settled in Kenya and Tanzania, the Maasai enjoy a simple life with an abundance of culture. With roots in pastoralism, the Maasai live an intriguing life with traditions unlike any in the world. Language, marriage, societal statuses, the economy, religion, and health are fundamental in appreciating all that the Maasai have to offer. The warriors of the savannas’ red clothing signify power, and with that comes a powerful amount of knowledge that is still being learned.

While reading both ethnographies “The Hadza: Hunter-Gather of Tanzania” and “From Mukogodo to Maasai” it is easy to spot out differences and similarities between both these simple, yet complex, societies. People tend to believe that indigenous populations are always very similar, as I once did, but I would say while reading these ethnographies I found more differences between these communities and cultures than I did similarities. For my essay I am going to compare both the Mukogodo’s culture and life before and after the transition to Maasai to the life and culture of that of the Hadza. I am going to focus specifically on the similarities and differences between labor and labor

Across several different cultures, there are different ways in which people of a community recognize the emergence of a young girl into womanhood. In the United States the most common is the famous Sweet Sixteen which as in the name states: relates to being sixteen years old, getting a car, and having some sort of celebration to commemorate the birthday. Among others include the Quinceanera which is usually equated with Mexico and Bat Mitzvahs which is a Jewish girl’s rite of passage. Another rite of passage, called Kinaalda, is a puberty ceremony that holds the same importance and significance among the Navajo tribe as their creation story. Unlike American society, during the people’s lifetime there is not a time between child and adult. In the Navajo culture it seems that it is more plausible to say that the time between being a child and adult or as stated by Leighton and Kluckhohn (1947), “physical maturity and social maturity are more nearly coincidental.” Meaning unlike the American culture where the gap between childhood and adulthood is filled with an adolescence, and in the Navajo tribe this gap is not prolonged and instead this transition is commemorated by a four-night ceremony. This process begins at the Navajo girl’s first menstruation and is a way to announce to the whole community that she has become a woman. In earlier marriage customs, a year or so after the ceremony the girl would be considered ready for marriage; as a result, some felt that “a girl’s

I believe that the Makah Indians should be granted the wavier to continue to hunt whales. Particularly, since the U.S Government signed the Neah Bay Treaty in 1855 with the Makah people, stating that it was OK for the Makah Indians to continue to hunt for fish, seals, whales, in exchange for 500 acre of their ancestral land. I feel it is only fair for the U.S government to keep their word and continue to let them hunt. In addition, the Gray Whale population has risen tremendously since 1926 and hunting 5 whales per year will not cause anymore damage. It is also very apparent that the Makah people care about the whales and don't view them as just an animal to kill because they volunteered to momentarily end their whale hunting in order to save the species when the whale species nearly went extinct. In conclusion, no part of the whale is wasted, the Makah people find uses for all parts of the whale.

The desert-rich country of Mauritania has a complicated history. They have been controlled by various countries throughout their history. The country was originally inhabited by Black Africans; they date back to the Stone Age. They were quickly inhabited by Sanhaja Berbers who were Caucasoid people from North Africa. This society is dated back as far as the 3rd and 4th century. Therefore, most native people from Mauritania are of Berber descent.

The Maasai are a pastoralist tribe living in Kenya and Northern Tanzania. Much of their land falls within the Great Rift Valley. The main source of their livelihood remains livestock, consisting of cattle, sheep, and goats. Traditionally, Maasai do not feed on game meat as this is associated with the hunters-gathers (Dorobo people). They have relied on their livestock, mainly cows, for most of their nutritional needs. Milk, meat, and blood constitute the basic components of the Maasai diet.

Before the transition to follow the Maasai culture, the Mukogodos were foragers whose diet consisted of only proteins

Americans value independence and self reliance.Most American parents are authoritative parents, which means they give their kids flexible rules. They give them freedom to play whatever sports they like or whatever musical instruments they want to play. Americans praise their kids when they do something good. Physical interactions such as hugging and kissing between the parents and the children is normal. On the other hand, Kisii(Gusii) people in Western Kenya have a traditional socialization. They have many strict rules of politeness between men and women, between generations, and between different kinds of relatives. In families, the mothers are responsible for caring and raising the children, while the fathers take little part of it. Kisii

The general study of humans and their ways of life is called Anthropology. Anthropology have four classic subdivisions: Cultural (or socio-cultural) Anthropology, Archaeology, Linguistics Anthropology and Biological (or physical) Anthropology. He or she who typically had some training in each of these four classic subdivisions in fact, have connected them to one another within a large field anthropology study. Moreover, he or she can use the theoretical knowledge and findings of anthropology to solve real-world problems surrounding human beings or human customs. Anthropologist has an idea that the beliefs and practices of a culture should be understood within the context that particular culture’s background, history and current events surrounding it called Cultural relativism. The main objective of this final research paper is examining my own culture from etic (i.e. outsider’s) perspective and another culture from emic (i.e. insider’s) perspective to clearly show my personal understanding of cultural relativism. Specifically, I will examine the rites of passage in African American girls/women lived reality and effects of the intersectional race, class and gender oppression in America coupled with discussing Japanese different rituals comparison to American outlook into death and the afterlife. All in all, rites of passage are done differently and makes a difference in its own society.