ANTH 003H Final
What role/s do marriages in Yanomamo society tend to play
They use mostly arranged marriage and view it as a political process. Alliances. Marraige contiyes cause baby.They also use it to be competitive or show how "fierce" they are. The girl also has a lot of support since the husband has to do wife service (females parents ensuring thst dude is not abusive)
What is hegemony
systems that establish order, found in state level societies and our schools, stop signs
What part of the world do the Yanomamo live in? What kind of environment do they live in, and what kind of subsistence strategies do they rely on for food?
Along border of Venezuela and Brazil. Live in climate jungle, practice repricoity, everybody grows foods to feed family's = relatively equal= no leaders. Spread out villages= need a lot of land. They are Extensive Agriculturalists but they also hunter and gather.
How do the Dobe explain illness and misfortune? How do they deal with illness and misfortune? How doDobe healing and trance rituals differ from the Yanomamo?
Ancestors loving them and wanting it back. They are praying to their ancestors asking to keep the person for a little while longer
Four major types of political organization are bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states. What are the primary characteristics of each of these?
Bands: no leaders, persuasive, diffuses power, egalitarian, Tribes: headman/bigmen, persuasive and relatively diffuse power, egalitarian or ranked society. Chiefdoms: power of chief largely based on kinship, centralized persuasive power, one leader that's ascribed. States: centralized, coercive power reinforced by hegemony, large scale societies with intensive agriculture.
Can you describe the structure and nature of the Dobe kinship system? What, ultimately, does this very complex system of kinship do for the Dobe - what purpose does it serve
Bilteral descent and if someone has the same name as you, you are the same person with the same descent group. This gives them lots of support and a easy way to diffuse conflicts
What are the differences between class and caste societies?
Caste is ascribed status and no social mobility, individual cannot make change, and the society does not pretend everyone is equal. Class is achieved status, may be able to make change
What are the different forms of power anthropologists have identified in human society? Can you think of examples of these from the ethnographies we have read in class?
Coercive and Persuasive power. Coercive is forcing people to do what you want while persuasive is convincing them. Centralized and Diffused power. Centralized is when you give one person power while diffused power is Mutiple people. Diffused would be like the Dobe and the Centralized would be like North Korea. Persuasive would be like the Dobe getting to argue over every decision
What is the difference between colonialism and globalization? What is the difference between acculturation and assimilation
Colonialism: one cultural group extends direct political control over another group. Globalization is like a sound board or echo chamber, not direct physical presence or control, and is primarily economic. (YOU)Acculturation is conscious, involves agency, mix, borrow, or incorporate nontraditional cultural practices. (BEING) Assimilation is being done to them, forced
What have been some of the most significant external pressures that the Yanomamo have had to deal with recently, and how have these changed Yanomamo society?
Covid, goldminers invading their land(enviormental disruption), missionaries (increased level of violence due to shotguns, tries to make individual family units stay together), and national polices(no voice until recently), yanomamo not flexible in changing(not helping them)
What are the differences between Functionalism, Structural-Functionalism and Structuralism?
Differences are Functionalism looks at the individuals, Structural-Functionalism looks at the group, and Structuralism focuses on how we are all the same. Functionalism is most closely related to Bronslawe Malinowski and talks about how culture meets the needs of the individual yet thinks that everyone gets their needs met in the same way. Examples of this are studying one specific society like the Yanomoto and seeing how they meet individual needs. Structural- Functionalism is associated with A.R Radcliffe-Brown and describes culture as a group based phenomena in which anthropologists should look at the individual instead of the group when studying culture. Looking and how cultural behavior helps create structure within the group. Structuralism is most closely related with Claude Levi-Strauss and humans tend to break the world up in binary categories (dichotomy, right/wrong) and universe human tendency to reduce complex worlds to easier dichotomies. Superficial differences guise universal tendencies. He wants to understand that all humans are the same despite their differences and that they are just local responses to the local environment because we have the same evolutionary past and our the same species.
What kind of social and political structure do the Dobe Ju/'hoansi have? Why is egalitarianism so important to the Dobe? What are some of the mechanisms that the Dobe use to maintain egalitarianism in their society?
Egalitarian Soceity, diffused power/persuasive, and bands. They are hunter gathers, so they need that support to live. Insulting the meat
Three major types of social organization are egalitarian societies, rank societies, and stratified societies. What are the primary characteristics of each of these? Examples?
Egalitarian have equal access to wealth, power, and prestige and are the Sun (dobe). Seen mostly in hunter gather societies. Rank is everything is equal but social prestige and example is Yanomamo. Family is equal, identity is not, men better than women, shamans better than non-shamans, headman better than shamans. Stratified is layers to wealth, power, and social prestige example is our society. Organized by wealth, different classes, associated with intensive agriculture.
What are the emic and etic approaches in anthropology? Think of examples that illustrate both.
Emic perspective is the internal perspective of etic percentage is the outsiders perspective. Examples of these are the Yanomoto and the ETIC perspective being the anthropologist studying them while the Yanomoto themselves and their perspective being EMIC.
What is ethnography? What is ethnology?
Ethnography= study of one culture. Ethnology= study of two or more cultures
What role does food sharing play in Yanomamo culture, and what kinds of foods are shared? Are feasts among the Yanomamo purely about forming social alliances, or are they also a form of competition
Feasting is when the whole community comes together, and People (allies and his people) will give headman stuff and will redistribute it (redistribution) to publicly display that he has support which means both political and economic. Economically poorest in village because he gave all his food away but respected. They pretend that they do not know how to make things like snuff and poisoned arrows to create dependencies (balanced reciprocity) to create political alliances because you do not want to go to war with someone you exchange goods with
What is status in Yanomamo culture based on? What kind of political structure do they have
Gender, age, shamanism, or if you are a headman. They have a tribe political structure
What is the definition of language? What is the difference between Structural Linguistics and CulturalLinguistics? What is code-switching
Language is the system of arbitrary vocal symbols used to encode experiences of the world and to communicate with each other. Structural Linguistics focus more on the structure of the language and things like grammar, nouns, and adjectives. Cultural Linguistics focus on the performance of the language. Code switching is switching social registers and dialects based on whom and where you are speaking
What part of the world do the Dobe Ju/'hoansi live in? What kind of environment do they live in, and what kind of subsistence strategies do they rely on for food? How are Dobe subsistence strategies related to their social structure and their settlement patterns?
Live in Kalanari Desert in Botswana, Angola, and Namibia. Biodiverse, diet based on season, desert environment. Traditional foragers, cause of their need for support (name thing) and moves pretty consistently.
What are some of the roles (etic) that religion and magic fulfill in human societies? What are the different types of religious structures that anthropologists identify
Magic and religion effect multiple different things in society. For example, if a society only allows men to become sharmans and priests, it could mean that the society places more trust in men than women. Or if a society believes that when people die it's their ancestors taking them, it makes the society less vengeful when one of their people is killed. The different types of religious structures are Science, Humanism, Religion, and Magic. Science (Natural) limits what is possible, is based on direct observations, and everyone is able to do it. Humanism (Natural) is the idea that you have an active role, accepts you can understand the world through observation, and that you should use science to identify universal laws (like usings the UN). Religion (Supernatural) is the idea that supernatural forces are outside the human realm and that they are able to communicate with humans. Magic (Supernatural) is the idea that gives humans the power, no scientific way to prove it, and not everyone possesses it.
What role does food sharing play in Dobe culture? Why is food sharing so important to the Dobe?
Make sure everyone gets food and is fed. Food sharing is how they all stay alive and creates a sense of community
What are the various forms of marriage patterns found around the world? Understand and be able to define each type. What different roles does marriage play in different societies? What are some common marriage rules found in human societies, and role/s do these marriage rules play?
Marraige: A social relationship between two individuals which creates an alliance between two or more descent groups. Marriage-by-choice and arranged marriage are the two common marriage patterns. Marriage-by-choice is defined as spouse choosing spouse. Arranged marriage is spouse not choosing spouse. Marriage can be closely mirrored by society, for example, arranged marriages are usually in societies that view marriage as not only a romantic connection but also an alliance between two families. In western societies, since they most often marry by choice, they tend to isolate the family cause sometimes the spouse's family does not support each other. People who have arranged marriages usually have the support of both sides of the families since the spouse's families approved of each other. Certain rules most societies have are not marrying people they view kin, this prevents inbreeding. Exogmaous and Ednogomas is...exo is marrying someone same and usually gives more support endo is marrying someone different from you
What kind of social and kinship structures do the Yanomamo have?
The Yanamamo are extensive agriculturalists. They live in a unilineal society, paternal. This means that men are viewed as more important than women and has effects like women not being able to be shamans. Yanamomo girls are used for creating alliances and NOT continuing descent. Also, women are seen as illegitimate cause they can not continue the bloodline but that means small villages have more eligible marriage partners.
What is participant-observation? Why does participant-observation involve maintaining a delicate balance between participating and observing?
Participate-observation is when an anthropologist lives among who they are studying and participating in cultural practices. This can sometimes lead to the anthropologist not focusing on all the other parts at play and instead focusing on their own or not documenting enough of the practice. Some ethical dilemmas an anthropologist can face is being asked to participate in a tradition or practice that they view as wrong such as having to sacrifice someone or kill a living thing. another issue that usually occurs is sometimes informants lie or overplayed things to get some thing the anthropologist is offering for their information.
Why is kinship not always a matter of biological relatedness? What function does kinship play withinhuman societies
People can be obligated to help others through marriage or a ritual naming that person responsible (ex. godparents). Kin can be biologically related. This is known as Consanguineal Kin but it does not have to be individuals can be transformed into kin through official pathways (church, court etc) these are known as fictive kin. Some examples of fictive kin include: Godparents, Adoptive parents, and In-laws. Kinship gives people a social group that are obligated to help them and is a fundamental organizer of all human societies.
What are the main differences between priests and shamans?
Priests=full time usually in agricultural extensive society. Shaman= part time usually in herder or hunter gather society because they do not have the luxury to just focus on one thing
What are rites of passage, and what do anthropologists mean when they use the term "liminal period"
Rites of passages signals a individual/group transforming from a stage of life or identity. Examples of this are weddings, graduations, and birthdays. The liminal period basically means stuck in limbo. This gives people time to prepare and experience while they do not have to abide by all the rules. The Liminal period could be college, being 16-17, or being enganged,
What is the reflexive approach to anthropology? What is this approach based on?
The reflective approach to anthropology describes when anthropologists want to make sure that they are putting all of the information out including their own personal biases, multiple informants and other anthropological opinions, and a personal biography. This approach is a response to the typical white man ethnography that has personal biases and only includes male perspectives.
What does it mean to say that race, ethnicity and gender are culturally-constructed concepts? What role/sdo these concepts play in society (along with kinship, social status, etc.)?
They are all fluid and can change overtime. Society choses which ones are legitimate. they organize people
How are Dobe marriages different from Yanomamo marriages
They get thrown together in a hut, the women usually fights back, and easier for women to get out of it
Why did Richard Lee choose to study the Dobe Ju/'hoansi group specifically? What are the primary research questions he wanted to answer? Is he the only anthropologist working in the area? How is this different from the anthropological fieldwork done with the Yanomamo
They were closest to our ancestors. Not the only anthropologist working there, and people have studied the San before he is not the first unlike Chagnon. Primary research q's were
What are the primary forms of descent systems found around the world? Understand and be able to define each type (you should be able to talk about two different types of descent systems). What are the advantages and disadvantages of these different descent systems?
Two type of descent groups are Bilateral and Unilineal. Bilateral is recognizing both paternal and maternal. Unlike, Unilineal which only represents one side, either maternal OR paternal. Advantages of Bilateral is lots of people (so more support). Advantages of Unilineal is it allows families to inter marry. Disadvantages of Bilateral is because there are too many people they can all ask for support. Disadvantages of unilineal is that the bloodline can end, it puts one gender above the other, and less support.