The, Social, And The World Of The Plaz Material Culture & The Construction Of Social Reality

In order to understand any culture, it is essential to acknowledge the importance of taking a holistic view. This approach, which gained recognition and validation in the twentieth century, stresses the importance of accounting for all of the components of a culture. The concept requires an understanding of each subsystem, which dictates certain aspects of the culture being studied. With this theory as basis for her approach, Myerhoff is faced with the difficult task of piecing together the many parts contributing to the formation of the culture at the Center, while simultaneously recognizing the distinctions between the acting subsystems. Sometimes it seems that realizing what leads to specific cultural constructs would be extremely difficult; this is especially the case with traits that have become so naturalized that only an outsider would recognize them as distinct and significant. That said, it is obvious that there are advantages to studying a completely exotic culture, as the majority of anthropologists do; however, Myerhoff chose to do her fieldwork in a culture that is centered

Caleb L. Fry and Lauren T. Rios Department of Anthropology Lake Tahoe Community College One College Drive South Lake Tahoe, California 96150 USA Faculty Advisor: Daryl G. Frazetti Abstract

With the signing of NAFTA in 1994, Mexico’s economy destabilized and shattered which caused increased dependence on foreign powers, like the USA, to invest in the economy. This put an emphasis on the globalization of the exchange of goods, services, and ideas. During my trip to Pilsen, I went to a bakery called “Xurro” and found that the whole place was a collection of products from Mexico, the USA, and other countries. They had not only traditional Mexican deserts like churros and Fresas con Crema, but also banana splits and Flaming hot Cheetos (a known American product very popular in Mexico). I also noticed they had an item on the menu called “Mocha Mezcla” which was Abuelita Mexican hot chocolate with a shot of expresso in it. These products are the physical representation of globalization through food; the mix and match of cultures introduces new combinations of goods to be sold and consumed. I observed that the menu was both in English and Spanish; the merging of two languages is indicative of the globalization of language as well as products. Also in the gift shop of the Art Museum, many products were made in China or other nations, although they were meant to represent Mexican heritage; this satisfies customer’s desire to be more “cultured” without being aware of the history and journey that the product has made. However, globalization is anything but a seamless process. Throughout the Museum, I perceived there were many images of American culture mixed with Mexican culture in a negative light. For example, there was a 3D sculpture of the famous Sun Maid Raisins, an American company, logo but the friendly girl on the box was replaced with a skeleton smiling with the words underneath, “SUN MAD Raisins: unnaturally grown with Insecticides, Miticides, Herbicides,

Indigenous literacies are used to communicate certain messages that are meaningful to the people in that individual community. These literacies are used to communicate stories, laws, maps, songs and dances to their own society. These forms of literacies are seen as being crucial to the cultural community as they are used to convey the social practices that should be handed down through the generations. Indigenous literacies may be interpreted in western cultures as art but they are actually narratives and recounts that Indigenous people generate. Indigenous literacies derive from different worldviews and connection to a range of components. They are then shaped and reiterated through knowledge systems that highlight knowing one’s stories of kinship. Indigenous Literacies are seen in forms such as on tress, bark, wood, sticks, rocks, carvings, in the soil and on bodies and

Miner’s article presents numerous anthropological concepts including culture, social behaviors, symbols, material culture and holism. While providing us with a synchronic view of an unexplored culture, Miner tackles the principle mindset that governs the “Nacirema’s” social customs and “rituals”, looks at key symbols and material possessions as the focus of the culture, and highlights the importance of studying a culture in its entirety to gain a full and accurate understanding.

Today we live in a globalized world, the world is interlinked on so many social, political, and economic levels that everyone’s culture has somewhat bled into each other’s. So it is extremely rare for anthropologist to find tribes like the Yanomami. “The Yanomami are a tribe of roughly twenty thousand Amazonian Indians living in 200 to 250 villages along the border between Venezuela and Brazil.” (Borofsky, R., & Albert, B. 2005). The Yanomami have been studied by anthropologist since the 1950’s and are said to be important to anthropologist because of the unique lifestyle they live mostly unpolluted by the western world (Tiffany,S., Adams, K., 2002). When people are as isolated as the Yanomami, it gives anthropologist an amazing opportunity to study the unique development of a society. A product of society is social construction, a social construct is basically a set of rules that a society establishes for themselves over time, the members of that society may follow those rules but the rules aren’t inherent. The world that we know and the most rules that we follow are socially constructed. One of the biggest social constructions is gender, gender is a social construct that can seep into every area of life, this paper will explore the Yanomamis childrearing, politics and religion through the lens of gender. While the Yanomami live very unique lives that we can and should learn so much from, today the Yanomamis way of life is under threat.

This approach can be subdivided into cultural and social aspects that were affected by disease and conquest, and linguistically as impacted by the Spanish inferior influence of conversion. In the field of archaeology, these changes could be seen in pottery styles and technology, which was attributed to the influence made by the Europeans. The abandonment of sites and shifts in settlement patterns were associated with depopulation, which resulted from contact and diseases. The theory that most historians and archaeologist accept is the ethnohistorical approach because it clearly shows the historical archaeology of Native Americans depopulation and must be studied as a form of cultural change. The Spanish affected the native’s socially by kidnapping

The question remains how to get past the natural biases one may have when interpreting cultures different from one’s own. While it is crucial to approach any study of another culture with an objective and critical view, one is able to further avoid bias by practicing how to interpret the meaning that is carried within the behaviours and symbols rooted in that society . (CA, 25) If we could understand the meaning behind our own symbols, we can then “take the abilities that have enabled us to dwell in our own culture and use them to understand the cultures of others” (CA, 26) Perhaps this idea could be understood by comparing it to Clifford Geertz’s analysis of the Balinese cockfight. When examining the Balinese cockfight, Geertz describes what appears to be a rather meaningless, barbaric activity, until he discovers how much the activity actually means to the Balinese, as it acts as a symbol of status, achievement, and masculinity. (CA, 27) These symbols only become familiar to us when we compare it to a phenomenon in our own culture that share similar meanings, such as a hockey game. By objectifying the practices of both our culture and another’s, the other culture’s behaviours become more familiar to us, thus limiting our cultural bias. (CA, 37) When examining the cock fight in the same context of a hockey game, the cock fight suddenly does not appear as bizarre or exotic. This is also true when comparing the Nacerima and North American culture. Whether or not we are brushing our teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste, or “inserting a small bundle of hog hairs along with certain magical powers”, we are less instinctive to criticize the activity when we understand that both cultures simply view dental hygiene as something of value and importance. Thus the different behaviours are functional and logical in the context of each

Despite the different time period there are still things that stay the same, whether it’s technology, education, or culture bits and pieces of history are still here in the modern world. Like, in the Medicine Bag, even though the tradition was generations old it was still passed down to the males in the family. Or in the video Apache Girl’s Rite of Passage, the ritual was centuries old and yet it was still used today in the reservation as the transformation from adolescence to adulthood. Inca’s ritual had evolved over time based on something that had changed. In this essay, all the similarities and differences will be identified in all three rites of passage. This essay also includes the advantages and disadvantages of text versus video.

When entering a grocery store, most people don’t take the time to stop and observe their surroundings, for their soul purpose at that instant is to purchase what very food they may need for that day or maybe even for that week. However, through all the haste of wanting to go in and out of grocery stores as fast as one can, most are unaware of the very culture that they too are now apart of, the interactions, both verbal and through people’s body language that they are experiencing, how people look and dress, even what is considered appropriate behavior although not specifically written down. Culture is all around us, and we all contribute to it, whether it is through our norms, values, symbols, or mental maps of reality (Guest 2014, 38-43). That is why through this assignment, I took the time to observe the culture experienced in the American grocery store Stater Brothers, the ethnical Filipino grocery store Seafood City, while also taking the time to reflect on my own personal views of what I thought was “normal” through my experience working in Northgate Gonzalez Market, a Mexican grocery store for three years.

Today we live in a globalized world, the world is interlinked on so many social, political, and economic levels that everyone’s culture has somewhat bled into each other’s. So it is extremely rare for anthropologist to find tribes like the Yanomami. “The Yanomami are a tribe of roughly twenty thousand Amazonian Indians living in 200 to 250 villages along the border between Venezuela and Brazil.” (Borofsky, R., & Albert, B. 2005). The Yanomami have been studied by anthropologist since the 1950’s and are said to be important to anthropologist because of the unique lifestyle they live mostly unpolluted by the western world (Tiffany,S., Adams, K., 2002). When people are as isolated as the Yanomami, it gives anthropologist an amazing opportunity to study the unique development of a society. A product of society is social construction, a social construct is an invented idea that is created according to specific criteria that is established within a social system, the world that we know and the most rules that we follow are socially constructed. One of the biggest social constructions is gender, gender is a social construct that can seep into every area of life the gendered practices of the Yanomami are across most areas of their life, from childrearing to politics and religion the Yanomami live very unique lives that we can and should learn so much from, however, today the Yanomamis way of life is under threat.

Examining the ideas and beliefs within ones own cultural context is central to the study of Anthropology. Issues of Race and Ethnicity dominate the academic discourses of various disciplines including the field of Anthropology. Race and Ethnicity are controversial terms that are defined and used by people in many different ways. This essay shall explore the ways in which Anthropologists make a distinction between race and ethnicity and how these distinctions serve as frames for cross-cultural comparison and analysis. It is important to accurately define these coined terms before one is able to make accurate comparisons and distinctions between them, and their relation to the concept of

Overall, the cultural significance of the drum is something that has remained strong and resilient despite the history of colonization, as it is taught to represent traditional values and to bring enjoyment to the community. The drum is a living being that is used for both social and ceremonial purposes, representing the heartbeat of all living beings. Throughout the process of making and playing the drum, men and women have different jobs, which are linked to traditional Haudenosaunee gender roles. Through the discourse surrounding the drum a vein of discussion is opened on the topic of resurgence. This discussion links to the importance of women’s role as the carriers of culture; it can be said that the use of the drum has increased due

He especially focuses on the juxtaposition of diaspora against concepts of the “nation-state” and on the flip side, against ideas of “indigenous” people. He feels that “the term diaspora is a signifier, not simply of transnationality and movement, but of political struggles to define the local, as distinctive community, in historical contexts of displacement". His examination of the use of diasporic language in the context of “tribal” and indigenous people is especially interesting, since as he is clear to point out, “tribal cultures are not diasporas; their sense of rootedness in the land is precisely what diasporic peoples have lost”, however when the discussion is about indigenous peoples who have been displaced, which is often the case, much of this language and framework used to discuss diasporas is readily

Boas’ reliance on empirical data to formulate theories underscores Kuhn’s central idea that paradigms are only changed through examination of new data. As data on cultures preceding Boas was slim at best, it is not hard to see how Boas could acquire data contrary to the existing viewpoint. This data collection itself was a new theory, the new invention required. Kuhnian thought states that preparadigmatic schools emphasize the collection of the facts, as Boas was emphasizing. Crisis within the paradigm is witnessed by the competition between the schools of thought. Emerging from this crisis is Boasian anthropology, with its reliance on empirical data as the basis for study. This data collection is subdivided into the four subfields Boas saw as a requirement for this new field. The four-field approach emerges as the dominant force in anthropology. With this approach the community changes its view of the field, and produces new methods and goals. These methods and goals have been used as a professional consensus in anthropology since the Boasian transformation.