Cultural Anthropology 2018

Anthropologists have studied humankind all over the world for hundreds of years. Even before the scientific studies of humankind began people were curious about other peoples around them. Travel is quite an educator. Anthropologists' fieldwork has been instrumental in helping us see ourselves from worldwide perspectives.

Dr. Linda Davis-Stephens, Instructor

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Enok Perez
Pre Olympic Games

I fine this event in my college Colby . One day My dad call me and tell me he have the confirmation for the pre Olympic game . The October 19 is the day I my dad have that call .The event is in Dominican Republic he have like 2,400 kid for that event. My Freshman year help me to make this nice and important opportunity to represent my country . The last year I have a really good year in baseball and I in the best college boy in Puerto Rico that year and now I can represent Puerto Rico is so wander full . Now I know nothing is impossible if you fight for what are you want .This event is very big and I could achieve so what I propose from time to time will be to be better every day since I have a great motivation to enter a big event like the one I am going to participate.

http://juegosnacionales2018.com/

Taylen H.

Speculative Migration
The most common stories told about migration to the Americas involve a group from Siberia- the Clovis people- crossing the frozen Bering Strait and following the coast down from Alaska. Aside from these, some fairly intriguing speculations have cropped up over the years. Especially interesting is the wealth of anthropological, archaeological, and historical evidence that the Americas were visited, or perhaps even inhabited by, people who were racially or culturally alien to the natives. Folklore and oral traditions from various Native American tribes point towards groups of unknown- although ostensibly European- origin. Legend alone doesn’t provide fact, but where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire.

It’s an established fact that vikings landed on the coast of North America, dubbing it ‘Vinland’. Like the European settlers who would follow them, the vikings credited the natives they encountered with supernatural abilities- controlling the weather, turning invisible, and the power of flight. Faced with the prospect of indefinite conflict with these natives, the vikings eventually routed. Since most of the story was passed down orally for two centuries before being written down, one can only imagine what details were lost in the process.

In addition, the Old World also seems to carry relics native the Americas, long before Columbus ‘discovered' it. Traces of tobacco and cocaine have been found in ancient Egyptian mummies, despite the fact that these plants are native only to the Americas. Graphic depictions of what appear to be corn are found in Hindu temples, but were carved in the twelfth century A.D. Sweet potatoes were known along the Pacific basin, despite sweet potatoes being solely indigenous to the Americas.

Also interesting are the Cherokee accounts of ‘moon-eyed people’: white, blue-eyed cannibals populating the lower Appalachian foothills long before the Cherokee settled in the area and drove them out. The Cherokee credited them with the building of various pre-Columbian ruins and speculated that these people fled west after suffering defeat.

More baseless speculations abound, including the idea that remnants of the Knights Templar eventually ended up settling in the Americas. The mysterious Tower of Newport- a preColumbian structure of unknown origin- is frequently attributed as Templar handiwork. We know that the surviving Templars, in their diaspora, spread across the continent of Europe and into Africa. This theory goes a bit further, speculating that they may have crossed the ocean to escape their persecutors. Such an act wouldn’t have been beyond the capabilities of the time, but all we have to support it are some inexplicable ruins, odd structures, and persistent rumors.

Speaking of rumors, various pre-Columbian stones inscribed with written languages, including ancient Hebrew, are purported to have been found across the Americas. Chief among these is the Los Lunas Stone, which bears Paleo-Hebrew script and was estimated to be between 500 and 2000 years old at the time of its discovery. Although it’s been derided as a hoax over the years, the stone has held up under scientific scrutiny.

The idea of such stones is essential to the Mormon theology, with a golden tablet inscribed with Egyptian writing being ‘discovered’ by the sect’s founder, Joseph Smith Jr. According to Smith, the tablet, and several more like it, were found in a burial mound near his home in rural New York. While this is to be taken with an entire shaker of salt, it goes to show the extent these myths and rumors have influenced American legend.

How and when any ancient culture could have crossed the ocean to the Americas is anyone’s wild guess- though it was certainly inside the realms of possibility. As Norwegian ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl proved several times, cross-oceanic travel would have been extremely feasible with the resources available to ancient people.

It seems America’s place in the world has always been as a center of cross-cultural interaction, long before recorded history. Whether by land-bridge or by primitive boat, people have been coming and going from the Americas since time immemorial.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/heyerdahl-sails-papyrus-boat]

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2608

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-vikings-a-memorable-visit-to-america-98090935/

Uses of Animals Across Cultures

Kacie Miller

April 29, 2018
AN177-Cultural Anthropology
Dr. Linda Davis-Stephens

Having grown up on a working cattle ranch, my life has always involved animals and given me a passion for agriculture. When this class asked me to investigate an aspect of other cultures, how they relate to animals was an obvious choice for me. I am fascinated by how differently other cultures function in this area and the reasons why they might do so. I hope that this paper demonstrates those differences in an interesting way. I will first give a short American agriculturalist background so that readers can see the viewpoint I started from. Then I will move into four other cultures and the role animals play in their lifestyles.
I know that all of us humans can sometimes get so wrapped up in our day to day activities that we sometimes forget that there are other ways to do things. My hope is to remind readers not only people around the world do things differently, but also that those different ways of doing things have reasons behind them and may not seem as crazy after you understand why. Looking at the people we share the planet with as crazy leads to strife, while seeing them as reasonable can open doors to harmony.
Animals come in a multitude of shapes and sizes. Some of them are domesticated while others run wild. They live in trees and fields and ponds and rivers and oceans and the list goes on and on. One factor that often determines how a culture uses animals is the environment around them because that determines what animals can live there. Environment also determines whether or not animal agriculture is possible. Agriculture is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the science, art, or practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock and in varying degrees the preparation and marketing of the resulting products.” For the purpose of this paper, we will be focusing on the “raising livestock” portion of that definition. In some places there is plenty of places to graze livestock and they will thrive. In other parts of the globe, it is simply not practical. Whether or not a group of people raises domestic animals may also depend on how long they stay in one place and how easy the animals are to transport. There are also religious beliefs and certain traditions that play a role in uses of animals. There are many factors that influence a culture’s relationship to animals and each culture is at least a little different but here are a few.
America:
The first culture I will be describing is my own; American. In America we use certain types of animals for food and other types for companionship. This is mostly based on animals that produce meat most easily however some of these distinctions are more based on the fact that people of this country enjoy keeping particular species as pets and simply do not want them to be eaten. Cats, dogs and horses are examples of animals that are commonly eaten in other parts of the world but are kept as pets in American society. These are what we call companion animals. People often develop close friendships with these animals. Dogs and cats will often live in the house with people and sometimes have their own beds, or even rooms. Companion animals have often been used therapeutically to help humans with emotional or physical problems. Animal agriculture is what we call the production of “livestock” for food; both for meat and products made from animals (i.e. milk and cheese). Animals that are grouped in to the livestock heading include (but are not limitied to) cattle, buffalo, sheep, swine, chickens, turkeys and goats. As the American population grows in both size and financial success, more land is being used to house people which means there is less room for animals to graze. Land that is used for agriculture (all agriculture, not just animals) in America is down to 40%. Because most of these same people still want to eat meat, producers have had to figure out how to more efficiently meet the needs of the populace. Recent numbers show that one person working in the agricultural field feeds as many as 96 people. Most farms in America are small and family owned but they usually don’t have a huge amount of production. The majority of American livestock live on large farms owned by companies. These farms only make up 9% of the farms but produce 51% of the animals. The main uses for animals in America are food and companionship.
India:
Now let’s talk about animals in India. While 70% of Americans are Christian, Indians are 84% Hindu. This actually has great bearing on the life of animals in the country. Most Hindus are vegetarian so there is much less need for livestock to be raised for meat. Those that are not vegetarian will eat lamb or chicken but will not eat cattle. It is Hindu belief that cattle contain reincarnated human souls. Because of this belief held by the majority of the country’s population, it is illegal to slaughter cattle in India. It is not, however, illegal to slaughter and eat other animals or to use cattle for other purposes. In addition to being the home of 15% of the world’s cattle population (about 220 million; the most in a single country), India also boasts millions of buffalo, sheep, goats, donkeys, camels, horses and chickens. Although they do not eat cattle, they do slaughter buffalo for meat. Like America, most farms in India are small family farms. Many Indian families have a few cows that they milk and sell to people who don’t have cows. This provides employment for many people, especially women, who would not otherwise be able to work. It also provides secondary income for people who are able to have other jobs. The uses of Indian livestock do not end there though. Steers (castrated male cattle) are often used as draft animals. This means that since the farmers do not always have access to tractors, they use the steers to pull their carts and plows to aid in growing crops and transportation. Yet another use they have found for livestock is to collect the dung. It is then used as fuel and crop fertilizer.
Tribes of the Amazon:
Another very different culture is that found deep in the Amazon rainforest. It is hard to find reliable information on the tribal people that live in the rainforest because they mostly keep themselves isolated. This is mostly due to much of their population being wiped out by slavery during the rubber boom and by being hunted so that big ranches could be created. There are large portions of the rainforest that have been deforested and turned into ranches to run cattle on. These ranches are owned and run by people who are part of typical Brazilian society. The culture that I want to focus on in that area is not those ranchers, but the tribal people who live deeper in the trees. The tribes who live in the rainforest vary greatly in size with some as big as 300 members but the majority live in smaller groups and travel constantly. Since they are always on the move, there is not much opportunity to be raising livestock for their protein requirements. As such, these people have developed phenomenal hunting and fishing skills. Helicopters flying over the rainforest have captured pictures of the tribal people who seem to go nowhere without a bow and arrow. Besides hunting with bows and arrows, they are also very accurate with blowguns. They are always ready to hunt for a meal or defend themselves from other people or dangerous animals. Judging by the bones left behind at their previous campsites, these tribes not only consume many fish and animals that they hunt out of the trees, but they also consume a large amount of turtles. Though they may have favorites, the tribal people do not seem to discriminate between which animals of the rainforest they will eat.
One tribe that has more available information than most is the Awa tribe. This is because they do have some limited contact with the outside world. Because of this contact, they have acquired clubs and shotguns that they now use for hunting also. This tribe does not farm or even build fires so they are entirely dependent on what they can hunt and gather for food. The main protein source for this tribe is the howler monkey but they also hunt agouti, tapir, peccary and deer. Besides food, they use animals for decoration as is apparent by the toucan feathers they wear. They bring animals in closer to hunt them by doing very accurate imitations of the birds and monkeys. There is a belief in this tribe that the animals are brothers and sisters of the people. The angry part of a human that allows a person to kill an animal is unfit for heaven when that person dies. Because of this, that part stays on earth floating around like an angry ghost and causes sickness, misfortune and death.
Tribes of the Artic:
From on of the warmest parts of the world, we now travel to some of the coldest. Other tribal peoples I investigated are the tribes of the Artic. There are many tribes in the Artic and many ways that they use animals. Some Artic tribes are dependent on herding, others on hunting or fishing. Though many tribal people now live in modern towns instead of in camps and they do associate with outsiders some, they still support themselves with the same age-old pursuits. The Artic climate is not conducive to growing any type of crops so all needs must be met by using animals or other natural resources. This culture is particularly entwined with animals and the reasons behind most of their actions revolve around the animals that are their livelihood. The herders are herding domesticated reindeer. A notable tribe that does this is the Eveny of the Northeast Siberian mountains. They can even ride and rope the reindeer similar to our uses of cattle and horses in the American west. The reindeer eat mostly lichen which does not grow back quickly so the people herding them must keep them moving to new food sources. In the summer months, when the sun does not set, the herders must protect the newborn reindeer from wild wolves.
Tribes that are not herders can be fishermen. These tribes tend to have more established homes because they do not need to move about for their food source. There are many species of fish that either live or migrate through the Artic Ocean including salmon, char, trout, pike, smelt, herring and cod. During the warmer months the people catch fish both to eat and to smoke. The smoked fish is then stored to be eaten in the colder winter months when much of the coast is frozen and many fish have migrated elsewhere.
In addition to herding and fishing, another occupation of the Artic tribes is hunting. Unlike the Amazon tribes, the Artic tribes have contact with the outside world so they hunt with guns and have modern tools for using the parts of the animals that they need. There are many animals in the artic that can be hunted including wild caribou, polar bears, wolves, elk, seasonal birds and small mammals on land. There are also seals, whales, otters, walruses and sea lions in the ocean. A tribe that is particularly adept at hunting seals is the Inuit. These animals are hunted for meat and their skins. The meat is what the people of the Artic eat but the skins have many uses. Some of these include clothing, bedding, waterproof coverings for canoes and tents that some tribes live in during the summer months.
One other thing that animals are used for in the artic is transportation. I already mentioned that the herders ride their reindeer. Another animal used for transportation is dogs. These dogs are specifically bred to be strong and adapted to the extreme cold. Dogs are strapped in teams to the front of sleds to pull them over the icy terrain. Not only is this how the tribal people can quickly traverse the area but also sometimes they have businesses taking tourists out for a dogsled ride. Dogsled teams are also used in search and rescue missions and racing. When dogs are pulling dogsleds, they usually wear fabric booties to protect their feet. It is in the interest of the musher (driver/owner) to take very good care of the team so that they will continue to be able to pull the sled.
Tibet:
The last culture-livestock relationship I would like to discuss is Tibetan. The environment in Tibet is unique to that part of the world and hosts a rather fragile ecosystem. With 78% of the population involved in farming or herding (due to very limited cropland), everyone must pay close attention to how their actions effect sustainability. These farmers and herders have several uses for animals in their day to day lives. Most of the herd animals are sheep, goats and yaks that are moved from place to place by nomadic herders. The herders decide where to move the livestock based on the seasons and grass growth.
Other animals prevalent in the area include cows, horses and occasionally pigs. The pigs are used for meat. Horses are used for packing or carrying things from place to place. Cattle, goats and sheep are all milked. The milk obtained is often made into butter or cheese to eat in the seasons when the animals are not milking, particularly the winter. In addition to their milk, sheep are valued for their wool and particular goats are raised for their cashmere coats as well. Another use for sheep especially is using some of their internal organs. For instance: the intestines are used to package sausage and the stomach can be sewn and used to store butter. For most of their field work, Tibetans use an animal called dzo. This is a cross between a cow and a yak. Tibetans don’t eat very much fish but stick to eating the livestock they raise. Another interesting thing that many herders believe is that by releasing some of their flock when it is too big for them to manage, they might gain good points for their next life.
We have examined 5 different cultures and the ways that they relate to animals. At the outset some customs may seem strange to an outsider, but once they are examined a little more closely, the reasoning behind the actions becomes apparent. Though very different, each of the cultures displays an awareness of the climate and environment around them as well as the needs of their community. When traveling to a new land it is important to see the established way of doing things and learn why before trying to make changes. This definitely applies when you are trying to set up animal agriculture in a new place, but even if you are not it is still good advice. It would also be a good idea to study both the relationships to animals as well as other customs before traveling to a new country so as not to be offensive through ignorance.

sports this one
Preston Shazri
This is my digital story and it would not let me put any voice audio. So I wrote it out. I loved playing sports in high school. My favorite is of course baseball. I used to go out every day and hit off my Dereck Jeter hitting machine. My brother and I wanted to be like him. My role model was Ivan Rodriguez because he was a catcher just like me. I used to watch videos of him in games to be just like him. I put so much time in and deserved a varsity spot as a freshman. I played on varsity all 4 years and my junior year was the only year we won districts. Now on to basketball. My freshman and sophomore year I was on junior varsity. My sophomore year was my best year i had a great game. 38 points and 18 rebounds. My junior and senior year I was on varsity. My senior year will always be a year I will never forget. We made it to the Breslin center and lost to Grand Rapids Convenient Christian. I will always miss basketball but I have more important things now since I study and play college baseball at Delta College.

page revision: 64, last edited: 13 Dec 2018 19:14

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