Geertz Study Guide

Culture is what is unique to human beings because of our capacity to conceptualize the world and to communicate those conceptions symbolically. [34]

Culture is the invisible bond which ties people together. People in a culture might share a religion or language and often have similar attitudes, behaviors, or beliefs. Cultures have been spread around, developed, and changed over time. The art, literature, language, and religion of a community represent its culture. Our cultural values and beliefs manifest themselves through our lifestyle. Our moral values represent our culture. The importance of culture lies in its close association with the ways of thinking and living. Our culture gives us an identity, and helps build our character. The cultural values shared across our community or social group, give us a sense of belonging towards society. Our culture unites us and gives us a sense of security. The importance of culture cannot be stressed enough, as it is something that lies within us, around us, and is an integral part of our being. It defines the way we treat others and

Biological or non-biological connections between families in all societies are what form kinships. Whether one has been raised in a biological family or non-biological family, kinship means one is still oriented to the family they have. In a story where two babies were born in the same hospital, they were switched at birth. These two women grew up in non-biological families; nonetheless consider their non-biological family a family as if they were biological kinships. There are many disagreements whether non-biological kinships are actually real families. However, no one tends to dispute any concerns of biological kinships, even though both are of the same classification. While biological kinships are just as important as non-biological and social kinships, there should to be an understanding of why both are equal to one another.

Anthropologists have always had their discrepancies with the word culture and its background significance. There have been numerous definitions that have filtered through the field, yet not one that everyone can accept or agree with. Franz Boas, an anthropologist in the early 20th Century, and his students, had a difficult time figuring out the objective of what culture is. Culture is about learning and shared ideas about behaviour. Although Boas and his students had a slightly different idea in mind. They ultimately reached a conclusion, a definition of culture in their view that is a contradiction in terms. Boas sates that, “ culture was expressed through the medium of language but was not reducible to it;

There are various aspects that make up a culture in today’s world, ranging from necessities needed for survival, social groups, and the unique traditions they value within the specific culture. That’s why we all are able to conclude that culture is the fluid set of traditions, customs, beliefs, values, and practices developed over time by a specific group or community.

What truly makes a culture is the meaning created out of their experiences or constructs, their own concept of reality through the use of shared cultural symbols. All cultures have their own ceremony or myths where to a stranger it seems unbelievable or odd. A culture's unique combination of cultural symbols and their meanings creates meaning for the individual, which in turn prompts that individual to react in culturally specific ways to symbolic behavior and communication. These beliefs are what a makes

Some families have a tradition in passing down names from generation to generation. Some religions don't allow babies to be named after living family members.

A meaning of a word can differ from person to person, depending on his or her culture and upbringing. Culture in a general sense is patterns, behaviors, beliefs, values, customs and life ways that have been passed on from person to person, generation to generation, within a family and group of people. This group of people with the same thoughts about products of human work will also share implicit or explicit patterns of their world view and decision making. There are

An example of these rules can be seen through the Ju/'hoansi people. In Richard B. Lee's The Dobe Ju/'hoansi (2013) he describes some of the rules of marriage. " In addition to obvious incest taboos against marrying a father, brother, son, uncle or nephew, a girl may not marry a first or second cousin. Additionally, she may not marry a boy with her father's name or her brother's name, and a boy in turn may not marry someone with his mother or sister's name"(p. 86). For the Ju/'hoansi, it's not only important to avoid incest with obvious relatives, they go so far as to ban the marriages between people with the same names as relatives of the opposite sex.

Culture identifies who we are, what we know, what we don’t know, and what we want to be. Culture shapes the way people interact, and understand the world around them. It establishes answers to basic problems, and it provides guidance for our everyday lives.

Moiety is an important factor within kinship and it creates rules for the people to follow. Those who share the same Moiety are considered brothers and sisters in indigenous law no matter how long the connection goes from the individual therefore, it is forbidden to wed someone from their moiety, this leads to the requirement of marrying a different moiety and the children that may result from marriage inherit either their fathers or their mother

Matrilineal in nature, the “crests and inheritance are passed down through the mother” (Talhtan Central Government, n.d.). Chiefdoms were inherited; however, a direct matrilineal descendant could be passed over for a person with higher prestige as “status was based on personal character and skills; wealth was a sign of competence” (Albright, 1984, p. 12). Intermarriage was only allowed between the two clans (Tahltan Tribe, 2013). Today, marriage is occurring within between members of the same clan and, while frowned upon by Tahltan elders, is no longer a social taboo (Lawley,

In the past where it was traditional that women take their husbands name, it was a sign of transferring property,

The San also do not allow for their people to marry any kin who is a second cousin or closer. A man also cannot marry a woman who has the same name as his parents. This causes more affinal (marriage) marriages and thus expands access to resources. If a San cannot marry from within his family, or cannot marry a woman with the same last name as his parents, he is limited to marrying a person outside of his own family. (Nowak, B., Laird, P, 2010b, pg. 3.7) By doing this, especially in times of scarcity he is ensuring himself that he has a lot of resources in time of need. I think that this is crucial for survival and actually really smart of the San. This impacts the San greatly in times of need.

Perhaps the most obvious example of kin selection is observed in familial relationships. Members of the family typically have a greater degree of care for each other in comparison to those unrelated. This love, or in this case, this concern for those related can be explained using the