Oasis Belonging: A Comparative Study

Families assembled in spring to angle, in early winter to chase, and in the mid year they isolated to develop singular planting fields. Young men were educated in the method for the forested areas, where a man's aptitude at chasing and capacity to get by under all conditions were imperative to his family's prosperity. Ladies were prepared from their most punctual years to work perseveringly in the fields and around the family wetu, a round or oval house that was intended to be effortlessly disassembled and moved in only a couple of hours. They likewise figured out how to accumulate and handle normal foods grown from the ground, other create from the living space, and their harvests. The creation of sustenance among the Wampanoag was like that of numerous Native American social orders. Nourishment propensities were partitioned along gendered lines. Men and ladies had particular undertakings. Local ladies assumed a dynamic part in a hefty portion of the phases of nourishment creation. Since the Wampanoag depended fundamentally on products gathered from this sort of work, ladies had vital socio-political, financial, and profound parts in their groups. Wampanoag men were for the most part in charge of chasing and angling, while ladies dealt with cultivating and the social event of wild organic products, nuts, berries, shellfish, and so on. Ladies were in charge of up to seventy-five percent of all sustenance

9. “Benin lost their faith in gods, their art deteriorated, and human sacrifice became more common.” (page 330)

Historical studies indicate that the New Guinea was one of the hottest countries, insect infested, and occupied by aggressive people. The Imbonggu community is one of the integral parts of the community. William E. Wormsley drew a special insight into the lives of these people after spending several years with them. In his fascinating book, the author uses an incisive, yet articulate, voice to describe the culture, social structure as well as bride wealth, religion, and magic among these people (Wormsley, 1993). During that period, New Guinea was specially known as a man-eating zone. The local people were reputed as cannibals, nasty and aggressive people. Therefore, as the anthropologist of his time, Wormsley was destined to critically analyze the group on their view of the white man. A study that released results that still struck the world with shock (Wormsley, 1993).

One way pastoral nomads lived a different lifestyle than transhumant herders was through agriculture. First, agriculture was a big part of the nomad’s lifestyle. The earliest sign of agriculture is in Southwest Asia and was their main form of survival which included planting crops and domesticating animals. Agriculture gave people a regular food supply, and eventually was able to produce surpluses of food (pg.7). Thus, surpluses of food allowed for large populations and for labor specialization. Large populations and labor specialization led to social classes which ranked from highest to lowest was: elites (kings, religious leaders), commoners (craftsmen/farmers), and slaves. As wealth and social standings grew, so did the gender gaps. Women were thought of as being the first to begin the systematic care of plants, while men began to capture animals and domesticating them (pg.7). Transhumant herders lived a much different lifestyle than those of the nomads.

While reading about Mali in Hungry People, I noticed that the people all looked so happy – and healthy! I found it odd, considering their limited diet, consisting of mostly grains, very little meat, and a few vegetables, along with drinking only well water. I guess it is possible to survive, and in their case, thrive, on such a limited diet. In Alaska, where the Eskimos eat a mainly whale blubber, they also do fine. The addition of so many chemicals, preservatives and unknown additives to our food would explain the difference in health when comparing the regions. I did notice their life expectancy is 44/46 years of age, and although they did not mention the reason for a shorter life span than we know, I assume it is from lack of nutritious foods. The concept of plural marriages is not a new one to us, but I respect the fact that the men are limited to four wives, and only if they can support them all, and agree to treat his wives well. The women mentioned that other village co-wives that fought amongst themselves were a result of the men not treating them equally. I recently watched episodes of Sister Wives on Netflix- and while I neither agree nor disagree with their marriage choice, they are fine with it. In one episode, the third wife was giving birth to their child, and he scooted out the door to make out with his fiancé’, his soon-to-be fourth wife. That was a little weird to imagine.

In the Ibo culture, when a woman was to be married, the family of her suitor would come and inspect her to be sure she was beautiful and ripe enough to be a part of their family. A woman did not have any value other than her beauty and her abilities to cook and bear children. In a conversation between Okonkwo and his friend Obierika, they spoke of two other villages where their ''customs are all upside down'' and ''titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives'' (73).

“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).

In an agrarian society such as the one found in Things Fall Apart, life centers around the planting and harvesting of food, as that will dictate the level of comfort the society can expect in the next year. To the present day, the Igbo people of Nigeria hold a yam festival every year at the end of the rainy season, “a

In his work, The Nuer, E. E. Evans-Pritchard presents findings from his field research among the Nuer people of the Sudan in Africa. From the onset, it is clear that cows are regarded as being of extreme importance in Nuer society. The Nuer are a pastoral society, highly dependent upon their environment. The only labor in which the Nuer delight, Evans-Pritchard suggests, is the care of cows. Most social activities revolve around cattle, and he urges any research of the Nuer be focused on how cows relate to society. Names of individuals are often derived from cows, such as one's favorite cow, or the cow he or she happens to milk. The games children play are primarily cow-themed,

Both practices pertain to the recognition and potential role that male tribe members are able to assume. Each show value that is seen in becoming a protector of the women or even the village itself. As the crowd held up Okafo and recited their chant, they included the line “Okafo will wrestle for our village.” (Achebe 53) The chant and especially this line support that wrestling is performed for the purpose of finding a strong, male figure to deem as a protector. This is true for the practice of polygamy as well. If an individual is unable to protect or care for his women, Achebe wrote “he was not really a man. He was like the man in the song who had ten and one wives and not enough soup for his foo-foo.” (Achebe 53) The quote means that it is meaningless to have multiple wives if the husband does not care for and protect them all. This shows that the value of having many wives is not to have several objects in one’s home , but it is a symbol of a man’s ability to be a provider and protector. Both ceremonial wrestling and polygamy are both important symbols that represent the theme of

Even the crops were gendered (Okhamafe 127). Coco-yams, beans, and cassava were “women’s crops” (Achebe 23). Yam, the “king of crops”, was “a man’s crop” (Achebe 23). In Umofia, all that is desirable and admired is associated with manliness. Anything that is demeaning or scornful is considered to be womanly.

Yam, the king of crops, was a man’s crop” (Achebe, 1994, p.22-23). This proves that there are gender roles in every aspect of the Igbo culture including the growing of crops. It is a man job to do the yams because yams are the main food staple of the Igbo culture. In this culture is a man’s job to provide for the family. The yams also show masculinity because it shows they're not afraid of hard work. Even if Igbo faction are sophisticated in male/ female jobs and partnership others may argue that Igbo faction are

In this unit’s text, we learned about modernization of society and how agriculture permitted nomadic hunt-and-gather groups to become stabilized and centralized in one location. The text and supporting video clips introduced both positive and negative anthropological effects of the rise of agriculture. Three positive outcomes include stabilization, improved nutrition, and food surplus. For each of these positive instances, there is an alternate and negative impact as well: habitat destruction, feast and famine cycles, and health concerns. This essay will briefly expound on each positive outcome and its counterpart, and will relate the sustainable agrarian achievements of the people of the Gamo Highlands to these effects.

Differences in agricultural roles for men and women perpetuate gender roles in households. Ghana is mostly rural, with over 70 percent of the rural population working in agriculture (Ghana Demographic and Health Survey 2014). Gender division of labor shows up in the differences in the crops men and women plant; access to land, labor, and technology; and marketing practices. According to Dako Gyeke and Owusu (2013), Ghanaian society uses stereotypical processes such as proverbs to explain the roles of men and women and reinforce gender differences in agricultural practices. The restrictions on women’s roles adversely affect agricultural productivity and ultimately rural

The tradition Gbandi social order is fundamentally based on polygyny and prior to the influence of western culture, most man aimed for attained control over several wives, large house hold with many wife and children established the social foundation for man to assume the prestigious status of big house hold and economic basis for controlling substantial productive operation. With these assets, man establishes himself as important member or leader in the community.