Week 4 Politics & Violence

1. The Yanomano tribe's fight and conflicts that end with killings usually begins over sexual issues, with someone trying to seduce another man's wife. There are many fights both within the village and between the villages. If there are killings within the village, the village fission and the principles of the two new groups begin to raid each other. In Western societies, if someone kills another person, revenge killing is not acceptable, and the suspect is apprehended by law enforcement, and is punished by the set law in the country. There are ways in certain states where revenge killing is acceptable, such as if someone breaks into your house, and tries to kill a family member, or even does kill a family member, you have the right to attack the suspect, to protect and defend your family at any cost.

2. If there are killings within the village, the village fission and the principles of the two new groups begin to raid each other, to gain revenge killing. Revenge killings can be caused by provoking a grieving person about a lost kin, no matter the cause of the lost. When someone is killed, the village will keep the ashes of the person, and give ashes out in small quantities for the women to consume on the eve of a revenge raid against the village that killed the person. The reasoning of the ashes being consumed is for the raiders to be filled with "anger verging on violence," and fill them with resolve.

3. If you obtain the status of unokais, you are seen as brave and strong, and not a coward, such as non-unokais. Non-unokais are seen as weak and cowards, become subject to frequent insult and ridicule, and their wives are targets of increased sexual attention from other men. Some advantages of being an unokais is that you are able to have more offsprings, as well as more wives, because you're seen as brave, strong, and powerful.

4.A). Political structure and revenge killing are related because the tribe gathers together to plan out and follow through with a revenge killing, when one of the members of the village are killed by another village or someone within their own village.

4.B). Revenge killings and social status are connected by how the men participate in the killings. If men participate in the killings, they're known as unokais, and if they don't participate in the killings because they're too scared, they are called non-unokais, and are constantly insulted and called cowards. Their wives are also affected, because they'll gain more sexual attention from the other men in the village.

4.C). Revenge and kinship are related because children of deceased relatives are more likely to revenge kill the man who killed his father or mother, making a connection from a dead relative to the person who did the killing.

4.D). Revenge killings are related to being an unokais, which relates to marriage and offspring. When you're an unokais, you have a higher chance of marrying more women, as well as having more kids, because the women see these men as powerful, as well as strong and brave. When you are a non-unokais, you still are able to marry and reproduce, but the numbers aren't as high as it is for the unokais. The unokais' overall average offspring rate is 4.91, and the highest number of offsprings is 524, while the non-unokais' overall average offspring rate is 1.59, and their highest number of offsprings is 193.

5. We need laws against things we shouldn't want to do, such as killing another person, because if lethal killings for revenge was apart of our culture, we would all be targets against each other, and live in constant fear. Having the laws that we have to stop killings won't completely stop people from committing manslaughter, but it will prevent it from happening on a constant basis. There will still be serial killers, or people that will get too fed up and commit the crime, but it ensures the population that there is help and safety out there to stop what shouldn't occur in the first place, and keep people's minds at rest from constant fear of revenge killings.

Week 3 Language

   I performed this experiment with the help of my significant other, who I conducted a conversation with for 15 minutes without the use of speaking, writing or ASL. This conversation was extremely difficult, and my girlfriend could hardly understand anything I was trying to communicate to her. One of the most significant complications to be noted from my partner was that she was trying to use ASL with me, as that is our way of communicating whenever we are in a quiet place where we cannot use spoken language. Being that we both understand ASL hand signals to a certain extent, it was very difficult to alter the hand movements that I would traditionally use with her in a way that she could comprehend, as a result of studying ASL and assigning hand movements with certain meaning. If we were to represent two cultures meeting for the first time, my lack of ability to use common hand signals and the expression of my voice, or even writing would likely prevent me from being able to effectively communicate a complex idea whatsoever. This puts my girlfriend, or in this experiment, the representation of a culture that has adopted a symbolic language with the overall advantage due to her lack of limitation when asking questions or trying to respond to my unclear attempt to communicate with her. An example of people in our culture who have difficulty using symbolic language are people who have disabilities involving motor skills like people with ALS or Parkinson's disease, both of which tend to affect and deteriorate not only people's brain function, but their motor skills and their way of effectively communicating. This would not only be difficult for someone who is attempting to communicate with this subject, as their ability to give a communicable explanation as to what they need or want can be very confusing and sometimes impossible to interpret, that is if they aren't given medical devices that can aid in this sort of matter. This would also be difficult for the person with the disability who is trying to communicate, as their lack of motor skills and effective communication would prevent them from getting what they want/need. 

   Unfortunately I was not able to last for 15 whole minutes during this experiment, if I'm being honest this might of lasted around 20 seconds straight after attempting the experiment for around 30 minutes. The most important thing to note about the lack of facial expression during a conversation is that not only is it really strange and disturbing, but really hilarious. Something I learned while I was taking my ASL class is that one of the most important things to do when you are signing to someone is raise or lower the eyebrows, or change the width of the mouth, as this is something we naturally adopt when speaking a language and using emphasis. When we are describing something awful, we usually don't smile, but instead we scrunch our eyebrows and make a face that is recognizable of that of one who is experiencing disgust. Additionally, speaking monotone makes you sound like a robot, but even Siri, the IPhone assistant uses a change in tone when speaking. This is something that we probably don't think about very often, as it is sort of default when we are using our spoken language, however, when I was learning ASL, sometimes it was hard to remember to use the correct facial expressions. With that being said, my girlfriend reacted by laughing hysterically at me, and even when she attempted to prevent her laughter, she continued and had to leave the room so that she could regain her confidence in giving the experiment another try. Physical embellishments are extremely vital when trying to effectively communicate. All words carry emotion, that is why I mentioned that it's not common, and often unnerving if someone explains something awful while smiling. According to my research, people with autism often have a difficult time comprehending body language. I know this from experience, because I have had friends with autism who misinterpreted some of the things I said, whether it was sarcasm, or even something as simple as a compliment or a hand gesture, to be something that they weren't intended to be. I cannot think of an environment where reading body language wouldn't benefit you, because whether you are simply trying to speak to someone, or do your job, or ask for directions from a stranger, the interpretation of body language is more than necessary. 

   I believe that the first experiment would've been immensely easier if I could write, or draw common symbols sort of like Pictionary, the game where people guess what you are drawing. This form of communication would also serve as a universal form of communication because it is strictly symbolic, obviously not in regards to people who lack sight, but across cultures and different languages. Written language benefits cultures who adopt it because they can make record of current events, as well as communicate with people when they aren't physically present. In terms of communication across different languages, we could convert written language into symbols that they recognize to help them understand us. The impact that written language has had on globalization is limitless, because we can connect to foreign cultures with the help of anthropologists and help spread things like religion, philosophy, science and even music, art and reading. Overall, communication is beautiful and wonderful and we are lucky to be able to express ourselves in so many different ways. 

Week 2 Environmental Adaptations

        Homeostasis is the optimal set of conditions that a human and their internals can function under such as breathing, heart rate, and oxygenation of blood and tissue.
        Physical adaptations involves physical adaptations that have been changed over a long period of time and have shaped the animal or human’s body to fit in different changing conditions.
        Cultural adaptations are humans and their societies having to overcome changes to their natural and social environment by modifying their culture. 

        To start off, the Zulu tribe of Africa are located in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, known to the tribe as the Zulu Kingdom. The geography of this part of Africa consists of hills, mountains, and a high plateau area. The area has a subtropical climate, that remains warm all year except in some parts of the land. During the summers,  the weather is typically hot with occasional rain fall, and during the winters, the conditions are warm, dry, and sunny. During the winters though, the higher elevations of the Drakensberg receive freezing temperatures and snow. The Zulu tribe have adapted the physical adaptation of darkly pigmentation in their skin, caused by the subtropical conditions they live in, as well as the coast, due to the UV rays bouncing off of the ocean. This dark pigmentation helps keep homeostasis by protecting the skin from UV rays, as well as keep water balance. The Zulu tribe has also adapted cultural adaptations, such as the clothing they wear. Because of the subtropical climate, single women tend to wear short skirts made of either grass, or beads, while women who are married or taken will cover their chests. The men of the tribe wear nothing but an animal skin apron, and sometimes wear cow tails around their biceps or calf’s. The race I would use to describe the Zulu tribe would be black or African American, because that is the typical race associated with people and cultures from Africa. I believe using the physical and cultural adaptations are more efficient and explanatory than just using race, and I believe a cultural anthropologist would use these adaptations to describe, rather than their race.

The Zulu tribe’s darkly pigmented skin:  

Zulu women wearing traditional clothing:

 

-“Zulu.” Http://Www.krugerpark.co.za, www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_zulu.ht

-Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “KwaZulu-Natal.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 19 Apr. 2017, www.britannica.com/place/KwaZulu-Natal.

The Andean Indians live among south Central America, to north South America. The Andean Indians live in a tropical climate  with dense forest, that’s marked with precipitation rather than temperature. The lowlands of the area are mostly hot, but range in temperature throughout the mountain range and islands. Certain areas contain heavy rainfall that support the forest, while other areas have little to no rainfall, supporting nothing but little grass. The area in in very high elevation ranging close to 23,000 feet, making it exceptionally hard to breath. A physical adaptation the Andean Indians had to evolve to are being able to breath and work in high altitudes, due to the elevation. The Andean Indians have enlarged lungs, allowing them to breath in the dense air, and allowing their heart to breath faster and their lungs to expand larger. A cultural adaptation the Andean Indians have acquired is creating an agricultural system in which they can grow food and crops. This can be especially hard due to the high elevation which stunts plants growth. They found out how to freeze dry meat and fish to preserve over  the cold winter months. I would describe the group as Indians because of the name Andean Indians, which leads me to believe that they’re Indians, or South Americans, rather than any other race. I believe describing the adaptations has a higher significance and in depth view of this culture rather than just using race to describe them. 

This is the physical adaptation of the enlarged lungs, but the lungs aren’t ones from an Andean Indian:

This is a picture of Andean Indians freeze drying crops to preserve:

Heath, Dwight B. “Central American and Northern Andean Indian.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Dia Britannica, Inc., 12 Mar. 2010, www.britannica.com/topic/Central-American-Indian.

Week 1 Assignment Part A

Holy-

I chose this word because the Nacirema tribe washes their mouth out for ritual purposes to "improve their moral fibers," because they have a fascination with mouths, and believe it has supernatural influences on relationships. The tribe also believes there is a strong relationship between "oral and moral characteristics," and feel if it weren't for the rituals of the mouth, their teeth would fall out, their gums would bleed, and their jaws would shrink.

Sadistic-

I chose this word because of the rituals the medicine men and the holy-mouth-men preform on the tribe man. First, tribe men see a holy man once a year to get their teeth prodded at, which is intended to rid of the evil sadistic powers by jabbing an awl into an exposed nerve, and pouring holistic medicine into the hole. If no decaying hole is in the teeth, these holy men will rip out teeth to preform the operation.

Torturous-

I chose this word because the rituals for the women of the tribe are very torturous. The women's rights are performed four times every lunar month, with the holy-man. When they aren't seeing the holy-man, the women, as part of the ceremony, bake their heads in small ovens for about an hour, which has been called sadistic and evil. 

Miserable-

The tribes people suffer miserable torture from the holy-man and medicine-men from them sticking magic wands into their mouths, forcing the people to eat substances, which are supposed to cure them. The medicine men come to their clients sometimes and jab magically treated needles into their flesh, when in the long run, don't cure them, and sometimes kill them.

Magical-

I chose this word because the "listener," or the witch-doctor has the power to exorcise the evils that haunt the tribes minds out of their bodies. The witch doctor lacks rituals, and instead listens to the tribe people's problems, starting from when they were young and rids of the evil.

Part:B
As an American I feel that these words stuck out the most, because I grew up with other Americans in the twenty-first century with the gift of freedom of religion and freedom of choice, and when I compare these qualities to that of this tribe, I can not help but feel like they're lacking in this sense. According to the text, the women in the tribe are subjected to certain rituals that in the context of American culture would be considered sexual harassment and torture. I feel my answer does show ethnocentrism due to the fact that my predispositions come solely from the environment I was raised in, thus altering my perception of this foreign culture. The opposite of an ethnocentric attitude would be a culturally relative attitude, meaning that a person's beliefs, values and practices are understood based off of that person's culture rather than judged by the criteria of another. I believe the word torturous could be considered biased, because it is my view of what the holy-man and the medicine-man were doing to their own tribe's people, and my perspective on how they were conducting their beliefs. Another word I could use that wouldn't be biased would be Ritualistic, describing how they performed activities that were in tune with their individual belief system, such as: bake women's heads, and jab into jaw nerves. It is important to describe other cultures without personal bias, because we are describing them to inform, not give opinion, because they could view our own cultures and beliefs in a totally opposite way than we do, and vice versa. It is also important not to offend other culture's beliefs because it is their way of living that they choose, and it is not our place to tell them what's right and what's wrong due to the fact that there is no one definition of morale. I believe it is possible for a Cultural Anthropologist to be able to describe another culture without including personal bias, and putting their own two cents in, because it's supposed to remain informational, instead of opinionated.