Kung Life: An Ethnography by Majorie Shostak

Modern day Chinatown is a vibrant and bustling community full of bright colors and Chinese characters adorning buildings as far as the eye can see. Chinese elders roam around the narrow and unkempt streets while children frolic around from store to store with wide smiles, riffling through toy stores as store owners look on. Mothers scurry from store to store searching for the most tender meats to buy for the night's dinner or for the next day's lunch. Tourists from nearby downtown drift into the heart of Chinatown with large and expensive cameras, posing for pictures with Lion head statues and continue on, buying cheap Chinatown goods along the way. Everywhere there are signs of the Chinese immigrant's sweat, labor, and collective efforts

Ethnographic research is the scientific description of specific human cultures, foreign to the ethnographer. Each ethnographer has his or her own way of conducting research and all of these different ideas can be transmitted and understood in a number of different ways. Because there is no one set idea of how an ethnographer should go about his or her research, conflicts arise. In Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco, Paul Rabinow uses a story like process to discuss his experiences during his research in Morocco. This makes it easier for the reader to understand his ideas then just having a technical book about the many different aspects of Moroccan life that he may have discovered. In Writing Culture: the Poetics and Politics of

Ethnography used by Katherine, in my opinion, resulted in bias assumptions and culture shock but, mostly to all traditions and lifestyles the Malian people who recognize as normal living. Furthermore, Dettwyler had a theory of knowledge as a typical American would have on nutrition, making her bias. Her researched consisted of her own standards, as she would in America, by evaluating the Malian people and their traditions. However, she maintains cultural relativism throughout her research and personal experience, but her emotions and morals get the best of her in certain scenarios. Also, Dettwyler adapted well to Malian’s native tongue, that helped her main research questions to be answered. Not only did it help with ethnography research, but also basic words for greeting and it broaden a vocabulary list for her research.

The book, The Dobe Ju/'hoansi is a great example of an ethnography. It is a very detailed description of every aspect of the San people's life. From the environment they inhabit to the food they eat, the book goes into great detail on how these people survive. More importantly, the book describes their personal relationships with each other and other band level societies, marriage and sexuality topics, and how they solve disputes. Personally, I feel the attention directed towards their interpersonal relationships, was the key in understanding these Ju/'hoansi's way of life. Some of the most important topics mentioned in the ethnography are the foraging for a living, their marriage and sexuality, and conflicts, politics, and exchange.

James P. Spradley (1979) described the insider approach to understanding culture as "a quiet revolution" among the social sciences (p. iii). Cultural anthropologists, however, have long emphasized the importance of the ethnographic method, an approach to understanding a different culture through participation, observation, the use of key informants, and interviews. Cultural anthropologists have employed the ethnographic method in an attempt to surmount several formidable cultural questions: How can one understand another's culture? How can culture be qualitatively and quantitatively assessed? What aspects of a culture make it unique and which connect it to other cultures? If

The girls puberty ceremonial is a huge tradition that transforms the young girls into mature Apache women. They do this ceremony because it has been the way their ancestors ritually accepted girls change into women in their society. The anthropologist main role is to observe and record what is going on. She practices participant-observation because she lives among them

Have you ever faced a life changing experience that not only affected you, but also the society around you? Life changing experiences are turning points where someone's life changes “direction.” Some people who have been in major life changing experiences are, Melba Beals who wrote Warriors don’t cry, Jackie Robinson who wrote, I Never Had it Made and Feng Ru starring in the article “Father of Chinese Aviation” by Rebecca Maskel. Melba Pattillo Beals, Jackie Robinson and Feng Ru all faced life changing experiences that not only impacted their lives, but also their countries.

Foraging for wild plants and hunting wild animals is the most ancient of human subsistence patterns. Prior to 10,000 years ago, all people lived in this way. Hunting and gathering continues to be the subsistence pattern of some societies around the world including the !Kung. The !Kung population is located in the Kalahari Desert, in isolated parts of Botswana, Angola, and Namibia. The !Kung live in a harsh environment with temperatures during the winter frequently below freezing, but during the summer well above 100F. The !Kung, like most hunter-gatherer societies, have a division of labor based mainly on gender and age.

There is a division between males and females from puberty and into life. This division is most highly expressed in labor. As is typical for many societies, men hunted, fished, went to war, while females collected plants and took care of children. The subarctic people are a hunter-gatherer society. Women in this society are inferior to men. They were not treated well and often beaten by their husbands (Sutton, 87).

Anderson starts out the book by introducing the reader to her interest in African culture,and relates how she sent essays to an anthropological board so she could go to Africa to do her graduate study. She soon realised that she would be unable to do so because

The Wu Tang clan is a nine-member hip-hop group that formed in 1992. Since 1992 the group has gone on to find success as a group and as solo artist. The Wu Tang Clan is easily one of the most influential hip-hop groups of all time. The group has taken aspects from every area such as kung fu to religion and blended them into a unique brand of music that is many times imitated but never duplicated.

Anthropology, as a discipline in the field of human sciences, is based on certain ethical principles to guide its practitioners through their research. This creates a stable framework on which to start any research project. Avoiding deviation, however, can be complicated. Anthropologists have a responsibility to their field,

Life and death are experienced throughout the country, which occurs every day around the world. We all experience dealing with death or life rather it 's pertaining to a family member, friend, associate or even a co-worker. Life and death effect the population rates amongst the globe. People views, practices, and feelings differ from different religions and cultures. Each culture is unique and obtains different beliefs and rituals.

Toot! Toot! A train came to a halt in Anhui, China, and a small Chinese women stepped off, instantly smelling the aroma of dirty, polluted air. She lived in a part of town where only one child per family was allowed, so, dropping off her newly born baby to be left abandoned was the only option she had. As she hopped back onto the train to head back home, the baby was left stranded, wailing and crying. It was early, the sun was rising. A group of Asian men were strolling by when they stopped because they heard the baby’s bawling noises. They took her up and brought her into care before dropping her off at a local orphanage.

Chinese families are highly misunderstood and stereotyped in the United States. It is important to understand a different culture before one makes the assumptions produced by these stereotypes. In order to find a better understanding about Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans, one must do research on that countries heritage, traditions, and other customs before submerging one-self into a Chinese families home. I chose to experience and observe a Chinese family who was kind enough to let me be a guest in their home to share dinner.