Marquesan Culture

When Europeans encountered the Native Americans, the encounter was fraught with difficulties for both sides, for the Native Americans more so than the Europeans. Europeans conquered the Native Americans, forced them into labor, and spread diseases which the Native Americans had no resistance to. In addition to this the Europeans considered themselves superior to the Native Americans. Despite this, the Europeans and Native Americans, both had things the other wanted and so they often engaged in trade with each other. However, the Native Americans thought that, despite not having the luxuries the Europeans had, they were better off than the Europeans. This sentiment is exemplified in “Your People Live Only Upon Cod” by French priest Chrestian LeClerq who was traveling with the Micmac Indians. It is a documented response by an unknown Micmac leader to European, particularly French, claims of superiority. In analyzing this document, we will find that the cultures of the French and the Micmac were vastly different. We will also discover what the Micmac and the French thought of each other.

One such tradition is not socializing with neighbors but only talking to her sisters or other family members. Both of my great-grandparents came from a large family and so the Sunday was always considered family day. It was nothing to see a yard off of kids playing or see the men playing a game of horseshoes as the women would set out the dinner. However, it was the winter time that holds the most memories for my mother. It was then that the families would all gather at the family pond and go ice skating and the men would build a big fire and everyone would stand around and drink hot chocolate. One such tradition in the winter time was right after the first snow fall of the season. We would take a big mixing bowl and go out and fill that bowl as full as we could. Then she would go in and make a big bowl of snow ice cream (Food in Every County). One bright sunny day, our family was going to Lake Pomme De Terre for a family picnic. Like Shteyngart, I was all set for some grilled hamburgers or hot dogs or even some fried chicken. However, that was not meant to be. Like Shteyngart, is aw food being set out that was I saw food that was familiar to my great-grandmother’s culture. Instead of grilling hamburgers, she set out chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans and for dessert a shoofly pie, sugar cookies, and schnitz pie, which is made with dried apples (Food in Every County). My mother laughed when she saw my face because later my

American culture encompasses customs or traditions in the United States. Customs or traditions include, but would not be limited to, values, language, religion, or how we communicate. The population in the United States is over 325 million, (United States Census Bureau, (n.d.) and is built on immigration. In comparison to other countries, the United States is considered cultural, as most nations unite, and later mix, their culture into American culture.

As the holiday season is coming nearer each day, I found it appropriate to look further into the traditional Thanksgiving topic. I can only describe what my family does, my Puerto Rican and Caucasian family. As far as I can say, we are not necessarily traditional with our celebration of Thanksgiving. So I figured why not use this assignment as a way to further look into the holiday and how it is celebrated across America, this can mean anything from families celebrating it in their homes, to the retail shops of the country selling holiday/seasonal items to go along with the tradition. I would like to examine the traditions of thanksgiving.

The culture of Haiti is a various mix of African and European elements due to the French colonization of Saint Dominguez. I chose to research this culture for two reason one reason being that I have a friend who is Haitian and I never understood why she did what she did, or even her mother. The second reason is because many people in Haiti is associated with voodoo, and that’s something I personally wouldn’t get to involved with due to my religious views. Throughout this essay we will see in detail the differences in culture from ours to theirs. We will learn about their primary language, religion, their different values and beliefs and last but not least their social practices. While reading on Haiti I started to appreciate their culture more due to the fact that know.

Music, art, dance, and writing have always been rich within the history of the Métis people. Their creativity still lives on today with the help of many Métis art communities. The Métis have a fiddle musical tradition, but cover every genre from country to jazz. Some record CDs to preserve and teach about the musical heritage while others perform in dance groups sharing the culture and fashion live. Music and dance are important parts of Métis culture, especially with the fiddle. The fiddle was the most common instrument used in the community events. Other instrument used are the concertina, harmonica, hand drum, mouth harp, and finger instruments (bones and spoons). The French and Scots first introduced the fiddle, and they traded the fiddle

Plant domestication leads to a major difference in society because it permits the members of that society to reproduce, form permanent societies, and create a bureaucratic society ( also gives the ability to tax). For example, “ by collecting huge quantities of wild cereals in a short time when the seeds were ripe,and storing them for use as food through the rest of the year, some hunting-gathering people of the Fertile Crescent had already settled down in permanent villages even before they began to cultivate plants.) ( pg 131)

“At about the same time people were developing crops, they learned the certain herbivories and birds could be followed, corralled, and killed at a sustainable rate” (Wright 43). Sheep and goats were among the first domesticates in the Middle East, followed by early forms of llamas and Alpacas in Peru. Then cattle began to be milked and donkeys and horses were tamed, but since “the Americas were less well-endowed with domesticable animals than the Old World” (Wright 44), they were compensated with a wide variety of plants. Animal domestication can be looked at as a good thing for humans, but harmful for the

My mother and father have war stories of their own. While they never fought in an actual war, they fought poverty and communism in their homeland of Guyana. Growing up, my sister and I attentively listened to bedtime stories of persecution and inequality as tears rolled down my parents’ eyes. My seven-year-old self could only help but cry each time my parents silently whispered: “we came to America, but never lost sight of who we were.” Even though my parents sought to leave Guyana’s violence and corruption, they packed a suitcase flowing with culture. My Guyanese heritage has never disappeared as my parents cook potato roti and play Guyanese Sosa music every Sunday morning. However, globalization with its unprecedented acceleration in the

Food plays a great role in our social lives. One of the universal symbols of generosity and hospitality is food. For this reason, food is found at nearly all social gathering. Food can also be used as a symbol of celebration. In America, most people celebrate their birthday by enjoying and sharing a birthday cake with friends and family. The birthday cake is a part of the birthday celebration; it is seemingly required for the nature of the social event. Food is also the cause of many social gatherings. For example, it is common for people in America to have potlucks where every guest brings a dish to share with all who attend. People go to potlucks for food and socialization. In addition, holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas also

A strong cultural tradition that we continue to celebrate in the United States is Eid. It is a Muslim occasion, which happens twice a year. This tradition is important to me because it is part of who I am and my religion. During the Eid, we get to meet with our family members, wear new clothes, travel, eat and pray to God. It is a time were every Muslim comes together to celebrate with their family. We still celebrate this festival twice a year, but it is much different in the US.

Local culture in Near East and Mesoamerica each domesticated their own unique sets of plants and animals, and they did so by pathways quite different from each other’s. Agriculture domestication of plants and animals developed around 10,000 BC. It also had undergone significant developments since the time of the earliest cultivation. The transition of hunter gatherer to agriculture societies indicates an antecedent period of intensification and increasing in agriculture communities. In the past centuries, agriculture has developed throughout the world and has been characterized by enhanced productivity, the replacement of human labor by synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and selective breeding and mechanization. The fertile crescent in Near East part were sites of earliest planned snowing and harvesting of plants. During the agricultural period by Near East part wheat, barley was famous for domesticated plants and sheep, goats, cattle and pigs were important domesticated animals, on the other side in Mesoamerica maize, beans, squash was famous as their domesticated plants and dogs were famous for domesticated animals. The parallel emergence of food production in these two different nations highlights the importance of civilization.

Human societies settled and developed agriculture in the Agricultural Revolution. Which was the start of domestication which created a mutual benefit and dependence for humans, animals, and plants. Domesticated plants and animals could no longer survive in the wild due to human action and protection to reproduce successfully. Likewise, humans now relied on domesticated plants and animals. Humans also increased the cultivation of various plants, as well as the breeding of particular animals. Due to the increase of food, the population also increased. Causing an extensive growth of exploitation of the environment; which increased human domination and settlement throughout the Earth. Not only did the humans use domestication to settle and develop

When I sat down to eat my meal I realized that much of my meal comes from sources that revolve heavily around raising livestock. At least three of the components of my meal comes from the bovine industry; these being beef, cheese, and butter. Pasta, bread, and potatoes were the other main parts of my meal. These other parts of my meal come from the agricultural production of mainly wheat. Wheat is the main ingredient that goes into making breads and pastas for consumption and is grown as the 2nd most produced grain behind corn. Potatoes are the last part of my meal and are produced in the northwestern part of the country. Both grains and potatoes are very important to feeding the country in terms of both humans and animals.

While holidays have often been criticized as ploys to push consumerism on to the public, they have also been widely recognized as a reason for families to come together and interact with one another. These annual interactions often repeated certain behaviors, thus they serve as guidelines for how the family should operate during future holidays. To gain a better understanding on the connection between family identity and family rituals, I decided to interview my father on his Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve traditions. During my interview with my father I observed that the holiday rituals present within his family have contributed largely to the way he perceives his family identity. Through this paper I will be using content from the interview regarding traditions for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, as well as other academic material to analyze how holiday traditions contribute to my father’s perception of his family identity.