Mikulakan Culture

Ambition For Understanding One source once stated, “Children begin to develop a sense of identity as individuals and as members of groups from their earliest interactions with others” (Trumbull and Pacheco 9). This quote displays the importance of developing a strong sense of cultural identity, structure, and association from a very young age. Being a part of something bigger than one’s self gives meaning to life, conceives a favorable lifestyle, and influences significant life decisions. In order to understand one’s cultural identity, he or she needs to understand what the term means.

Yupik or Yupiq are part of Alaska Native indigenous people. It represents both the name of the clan and name the language. Yupik communities occupy the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area and the coastline of Western Alaska. Yupik speaking communities were semi-nomadic and they depended heavily on hunting and fishing for food. They built seasonal camps and leave with extended families. They had gender based roles and houses in which men and older boys lived in qasqiq, men’s house and women and children lived in ena. Traditionally, Yupik people believed in divine healing power of the shamans. Shaman’s roles were to heal, search for animal’s spirit for the hunters and ask for survival necessities (Alaska Native Heritage Center). They also believed that no one ever truly dies, but that their soul is reborn in another generation. In the 19th century, missionaries came to the Yupik region and caused and impact that is still in effect today

Each individual is created to live their life uniquely. Each person has their own beliefs and opinions. They shape how one perceives others and how one affects others whether it be personally,locally, or globally.

A major part of one’s identity involves a system of morals and beliefs which are too influenced though one’s culture and experiences in life. The

The Mien have many names. We have been called (Yao) “Barbarians” by the Chinese, “minyua-Choua” by the Hmong, the hill-tribe people by the National Geographic’s investigators, & countless other names I cannot digest on this paper. The culture is based off of a patriarchal view, and consists of spiritual awareness, and are led by Shamans who have an archaic ritualistic view of death, marriage, birth, and when someone gets sick. They are also hunters and gatherers and are farmers. Some forty years ago, the Mien were a self-sufficient body of people who lived in the mountains of Laos and Thailand. They were thriving in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. In retrospect, my people lived like

These authors influence readers to search for an unknown answer concerning an individual creation along with underlining features that make each individual unique. Again the authors provide you with the key to unraveling the true identity with cultural background information that would have remained untold if never asked. My effects of this book are very deep feelings of relief that can’t be explained no other way by soul searching. This book included

As a human race, in most circumstances we all go through similar stages of development. What most also be taken into account when assessing development is our ranging variations of individualism. Our individual development is subject to a never ending list on influences. Some influences we are born with and some are due to our own life experiences. Our personality comes from all that we are; we feel; we do, either on a conscious or subconscious level.

From the start of mankind, humans have been evolving in the way they think, in the way they speak and in the way they believe. The canonical literature created by some of the celebrated writers in the United States shows a shifting evolution in regards to conformity slowly progressing into individuality.

In 1976, an archaeology class was digging up remains on land owned by the University of California when they excavated two skeletons (termed the “La Jolla remains”) that are almost 10,000 years old, which made them some of the oldest known human remains in North America. NAGPRA was passed in 1990, and the University of California gave the Kumeyaay nation – consisting of thirteen federally-recognized Native American tribes – legal custody of the human remains. In 2006, the Kumeyaay Cultural Repatriation Committee claimed the remains. In 2007, the Native American Heritage Commission, which is the organization that identifies and catalogs Native American artifacts, stated that the Kumeyaay Cultural Repatriation Committee as the likely descendants

In addition, they too have been growing and learning in their own environment with different family members’ influences.  Each of our own influences, in turn, influences others.  From there, we again take in and learn what we can so we can make our own decisions on how to define our “selves”.  Later, society influences our thoughts on who we are as people and our relation to the world as a whole.  There is a constant norm that people try to assimilate to or diverge from.  Society presents its own ideas of who we should be as people, and it is then our own job to take that information and do what we will with it to make our own definition for ourselves of who we are.

In most case, identity is shaped by culture. Since culture is a set of ideals life practices, routines and attitudes set up by a certain community hence culture plays a major role in shaping the identity of an individual. An individual’s character and attributes can be because of their background. This is due to the set up that one has grown up (Dumas 19). People tend to learn more about their culture, and as they grow up it becomes part of them. They embrace the culture’s beliefs and tend to do things following the set routines. The aspect of following the set routine and beliefs play a significant part in shaping the identity of an individual.

Today more than ever, individuals and societies are built as an integration of different cultures and carry different characteristics that construct their unique identity.

Most well known civilizations are fairly young in their life spans. The United Kingdom, France, Italy; all these cultures as they are known today have only existed for approximately 400 years. The Māori, an indigenous culture of New Zealand, have existed for a millennia. Specialized in nautical exploits, the Māori thrived off of the island 's bountiful seas and developed a unique, rich identity as a people. Yet rather than being regarded as a national treasure, most of New Zealand 's citizens and the rest of the world treat the aboriginal population as a novelty. Most top search results for “Māori Culture” are for attractions, guided tours, and similar spectacles. This culture, which has persisted for nearly a thousand years, is gradually withering into little more than a side show attraction. Rather than scholarly journals, articles, and history text, is instead an encroaching investment of the Māori as capital, and how businesses may benefit from them (Rigby, Mueller, & Baker, 2011, 121). This plight of exoticism is not exclusive to the Maori; aboriginal and indigenous societies all over the world are forced into a unique cultural adaption in order to survive in Western capitalist climates. Companies assume a guise of social interest, but “there is one and only one social responsibility of business - to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game” (Rigby, Mueller, & Baker, 2011, 118).

The Mursi people of Ethiopia are a traditional group of individuals that have been isolated by the Omo Valley in Southern Ethiopia near the Sudan. They make up a decent sized population of about 10,000 which is approximately the same as taking the entire population of Pella, Iowa. According to mursi.org, the Mursi are amongst one of three tribes in Africa who still perform lip plating body modification. It interested me that the women of the tribe have this responsibility because of the information we read in class about women not having the power to make decisions. I think this is a form of power to be able to do this task. This is done with pottery or wooden disks/plates. The process is done to girls by their mothers or another woman in

Cultural identity is a part of the psychological self-concept that expresses an individual or group’s worldview and perceived cultural affiliations. The first step in finding a societal fit is to establish a cultural identity; this can be on an individual level and group level. Who am I? And where do I belong? These questions start to form in the human mind from an early age; it drives humans to explore their worldviews and how and where they fit in the world. Rosenfeld (1971) argued it is a deep-seated primal process that has ensured our continual survival. By finding others that think and act similarly we are offered some protection (Erickson, as cited in Carducci 2015). Erickson (as cited in Carducci, 2015) and Maslow (as cited in Mcleod 2007) argued that the need to belong is a basic building block of human development. Whatever the reason, the consensus is that humans have an intrinsic need to find a like-minded cultural group to belong to; this chosen affiliation is their cultural identity. A person may identify with more than one cultural