Perceptions of Bushmen Culture Essay

"Children of the Forest" is a narrative written by Kevin Duffy. This book is a written testament of an anthropologist's everyday dealings with an African tribe by the name of the Mbuti Pygmies. My purpose in this paper is to inform the reader of Kevin Duffy's findings while in the Ituri rainforest. Kevin Duffy is one of the first and only scientists to have ever been in close contact with the Mbuti. If an Mbuti tribesman does not want to be found, they simply won't be. The forest in which the Mbuti reside in are simply too dense and dangerous for humans not familiar with the area to enter.

After reading “Second Thoughts of Colonial Historians and American Indians” by James H. Merrell, it is important to acknowledge the symbolicism of the language used by so many Colonial Historians as they recount significant instances throughout our Indigenous American History. In many comparisons, word selection used to describe the Native peoples, tend to simplify their existence as merely hunters and gatherers.

Adam Ashforth’s Madumo, a Man Bewitched presents a personal ethnographic account of witchcraft, religion, and culture among the Soweto people in South Africa. In the book, Ashforth recounts his adventures with his Sowetan friend, Madumo, who, after a series of misfortunes, believes he has been cursed by witchcraft and is in search of a cure. Madumo seeks the aid of both a traditional healer (inyanga) and the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), formed form the syncretism of African and evangelical beliefs. Madumo’s quest for healing presents the reader with an intimate glimpse into the psychological and sociological factors that influence religion in Soweto. From Ashforth’s account, us westerners can begin to understand the nature and causation of

Even though the Ibo are described as ‘primitive and savage’ by Mr. Smith, one of the missionary church leaders, the tribesmen evidently show their etiquette through their mannerisms. Proverbs, a form of Ibo mannerisms, are used quite frequently throughout this novel as ‘the art of conversation is regarded very highly [by the Ibo], and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.’ (Achebe. P.5:1986) The Ibo people are also not as violent and savage as many of the missionaries believed. This is shown when a villager from the Mbaino village kills a woman from the Ibo village, the Ibo village elders and those with titles, instead of initiating war against the neighbouring Mbaino, reach a peaceful agreement on the reparations from the Mbaino tribe.‘… [A]t the end it was decided to follow the normal course of action. An ultimatum was immediately dispatched to Mbaino asking them to choose between wars on the one hand, and on the other the offer of a young man and a virgin as compensation.” (P.8)

To begin, the differences between popular culture and indigenous culture can be seen through the evidence that the indigenous culture is content with the very few materials and items that they own. While in civilized cultures, people are constantly wanting more. When an item of the popular culture was introduced to the Bushmen people, they had to face the difficulties that many encounter in today’s modern societies. Instead, the simplicities of life that the indigenous held, came hand in hand with simple emotions and simple problems. This is why they were able to remain happy and at peace within their life. In phenomenology, people would give an object its meaning. The Coke glass, for example, within popular culture this would be seen as something to drink or to enjoy with a cheeseburger. Many from popular culture would not have made this connection to the glass bottle without knowing its exact meaning. Like the Bushmen people, they had not given what civilized people would consider the “correct” purpose

Very little is known about the early regions of Angola. "The original inhabitants of present-day Angola were hunters and gatherers. Their descendants, called Bushman by the Europeans, still inhabit portions of southern Africa" (Collelo

American archaeologist and anthropologist, Stephen Plog, wrote an account of the pre-Columbian natives of the Americans titled Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest. Plog’s purpose is to communicate the cultural and ritualistic lifestyles of the prehistoric natives of the southwest, which spans across the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada with some mention of trade with Mexico. The author has demonstrated an effective approach of an objective viewpoint on the lives of the prehistoric south westerners using sources from excursions from previous archaeologists such as, Paul S Martin and David R Wilcox among many others who excavated the vacant villages of the southwest.

“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 the film, the Bushmen society is considered to be the primitive while the people

Commonly referred to as Bushmen by the general public and thought of as being harsh wild people that live in the “unlivable” Kalahari Desert. The Ju /’hoansi tribe native to the southern African desert, located along the border of Namibia and Botswana, have been misunderstood and stereotyped for a long time. This is until a man by the name of Richard B. Lee came along and wrote an ethnography about the local systems of the Ju and completely changed how an outsider might view this rural tribe, along with being a fine example of proper long-term field research in social anthropology. This highly regarded book on the Ju /’hoansi is titled “The Dobe Ju /’hoansi.” Although Lee states in the

The author’s purpose in writing this article was not to show the “Nacirema” as an example of how extreme human behavior can become, but how an outside perspective can affect your perception of an alien culture. If one were to look at the “Nacirema’s” cultural behaviors regarding physical appearance and health without any insight or knowledge of the specific beliefs or values of that culture, they might seem bizarre and even incomprehensible. By showing behaviors and “rituals” performed by this unknown tribe, Miner allowed others to see that the way studies were representing distinctive cultures was narrowminded and defective. Without the proper comprehension of the basis of any society, huge cultural misunderstandings could occur. Of

“The Myth of Wild Africa” introduces one to the false, preconceived notion of Africa and Africa’s people that were around since the early 1900s. The book compares older, colonial methods of conservation that were coercive and based on the “myth”, and newer Afrocentric conservation efforts that are more objective and inclusive to the African people. The book emphasises that the inclusion of African people is what will make African conservation successful. In the past, Africa as considered an untouched paradise,

Since the beginning of the colonial process, Indigenous bodies have been seen as disposable. The dehumanization of the Indigenous body and the creation of the other, has allowed for the destruction of Indigenous Femininity. A system rooted in epistemic violence created by the colonial era. Continues to affect how Indigenous women are treated in modern societies. The demotion from “Indian Queen”, an exotic and powerful presence in colonial societies, to the “Dirty Squaw”, a figure depicted as lazy, and troublesome. Indigenous women have struggled to be seen as human people, rather than sexual object in the minds of the white settlers. A systematic dehumanization though through the process of epistemic violence. Which continues to affect how Indigenous women are treated today.

I am going to imagine that I am going to live in the Kalahari Desert to live a traditional semi-nomadic life with the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen. I am going to discuss the five items that I will take with me and the reason why I want to take these items. Then I will discuss how the semi-nomadic life style affects my sense of home my relationship with my environment and my attitude towards the people I am around and my material possessions.