The Nuer Analysis

While reading both ethnographies “The Hadza: Hunter-Gather of Tanzania” and “From Mukogodo to Maasai” it is easy to spot out differences and similarities between both these simple, yet complex, societies. People tend to believe that indigenous populations are always very similar, as I once did, but I would say while reading these ethnographies I found more differences between these communities and cultures than I did similarities. For my essay I am going to compare both the Mukogodo’s culture and life before and after the transition to Maasai to the life and culture of that of the Hadza. I am going to focus specifically on the similarities and differences between labor and labor

In the book “The Dobe Ju/’hoansi”, the author Richard B. Lee, an anthropologist, provides a detailed look into the lives of the South African tribe known as the Dobe Ju/’hoansi. Lee did a great job capturing one of the only societies that live a way of life very similar to our ancestors. I believe each and every reader will take from this book that living this way was not easy and will be grateful for all that we are blessed from in our western societies. Throughout his time with one of the only foraging societies that still exist today Lee takes us on a journey through the Dobe Ju/’hoansi traditional way of life. With this rare lifestyle may question their way of life and its sustainability. When reflecting back on this great read we can grasp their impact on their environment and how globalization can impact the Dobe Ju/’hoansi way of life.

The Yurok tribe, although mostly assimilated in present times, has continued to thrive and protect their culture. The Yurok tribe has endured a sordid history. The tribe has suffered great atrocities at the hands of western culture. The Yurok went from being a thriving people, to being assimilated, almost to the point of ethnocide, (Kottak) and finally forced to live in a small area that was once a part of their vast ancestral land. The Yurok people have strived up until the present to keep their culture alive. In this essay I will be discussing what the Yurok tribe is like today, what problems they face politically and socially, and what the tribe is doing to combat these issues.

From the beginning of the story, ZZ Packer illustrates how racism is embedded in our society, and how it multiplies and is immortalized. Packer does this through the perspective and experiences of the 4th grade Brownie troops. It started with Arnetta, the leader of the group, who is no stranger racial prejudice. She describes the white girls of Troop 909 claiming they smell like “wet Chihuahuas” also “Back at school, anyone who is uncoordinated or dresses in a peculiar way is described as ‘Caucasian’ ”(3). Arnetta then went on to falsely claim one of the White girls called Daphne a “nigger”, then gathered her troops to meet Troop 909 in the bathroom to fight. The reason for Arnetta’s aggression when she was asked was that, her mother and herself

In the US today cattle are part of everyday culture. With more than 93 million cattle in the dairy and beef industry, and tens of thousands in the rodeo business, cattle are definitely a huge part. Lately, there has been many concerns with the bovine friends along with multiple misconceptions. Rodeos may look tough on animals, and todays society is not educated well enough on the beef and dairy industry. People don’t realize that these animals are happy, healthy, and very well cared for.

18.  What role did Central Asian and West African pastoralists play in their respective regions?

"Their (Natives) present condition, contrasted with what they once were, makes a most powerful appeal to our sympathies…By persuasion and force they have been made to retire from river to river and from mountain to mountain, until some of the tribes have become extinct and others have left but remnants to preserve for a while their once terrible names. Surrounded by the whites with their arts of civilization, which by destroying the resources of the savage doom him to

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.

The !Kung bushmen of the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa are one of the few bands of hunter-gatherers left in the world. They survive by foraging for their meals while traveling, never settling in one specific area. Hunting and gathering was the primary mode of survival until about ten thousand years ago. Anthropologists have made assumptions about the hunting and gathering lifestyle of current populations because it seems like a precarious method of living. Moreover, the Kalahari area where the !Kung live in was perceived to be baron because it is a desert. However, a study done over a period of years beginning in 1960 led by Richard Lee disproved the common misconception of the life of these foragers, proving that they were not

Conflicts within the Tribes

I would like to address topic A, regarding the placement of subsistence strategies into four discrete categories: hunting and gathering (foraging), horticulture, pastoralism, and agriculture. While this quick categorization of human subsistence behavior has benefits to introduce these concepts, it falsely assumes that each behavior exists independently and ignores their location on a continuum, often blending from one strategy into the next. In this essay I will introduce each subsistence strategy, show examples of it and finally show ways that even among groups of people who would seem to fit the archetype of each behavior they often adopt strategies of others in a sort of mixing and matching process, especially in times of duress.

Ancient Nubia emerged in Northern Nubia in about 3500 B.C., according to the Ancient Near East

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

This idea of humans disregarding the feelings of animals for human selfishness through the use of animals for food is also a main point Walker makes. She discusses how we do not consider the impact that the methods of production have on the animals. Most humans want to be ignorant on how the animals they eat are killed. She explains this idea of the “contented cows” that we see on our milk containers. We choose to be ignorant so we don’t have to own up to all of the bad things we do as a race. Indians are envied for their land and are therefore slaughtered then called animals or savages to make up for our wrong doings. By reminding us of our ignorance in the past she shows us that we have been wrong before and continue to be wrong when it concerns the rights of animals. She ends the piece by claiming that she was “eating misery”, which again shows the emotions that animals have that are so nonchalantly

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.