Himalayan Tibets

Environment: 

                            

They are located in the Himalayan Mountains 470 km from Bhutan at an altitude of 4,000m. They experience some of the most extreme climates in the world. In the winter, which is most of the year, the temperatures are freezing cold. The average temperature is subzero. In the month July through August is the only time they experience warmer weather. However, most of its land is arid or a semi-desert. Only one percent of the land is arable with limited yields due to the dry cold climate. The average annual precipitation is about 381 mm (about 15 inches) and is significantly less in some areas. Tibet experiences bitterly cold weather and is lashed by harsh winds throughout the year. The average annual temperature is around 1.1 degrees Celsius. The Tibetan plateau is known as the third pole for having the largest concentration of glaciers outside the polar caps. These glaciers are the water source for one sixth of humanity. Scientists predict 80% of these glaciers will disappear within 30 years if current warming continues.

They live in a rural area and are isolated for resources on their own plateau in the Himalayan Mountains. However, they have been taken over by China and interact with all the surrounding countries. Tibetan people form the majority of the population, but Chinese immigrants now form a sizable group of the population. The mountains are treeless, with only grasses and shrubs growing. Tibetan people live in the valleys of the Indus and the Brahmaputra, where they are able to grow some crops. There are more than 230 species of wild animals including the wild Yak, the Tibetan Antelope, the wild donkey, the White-lip Deer, and the brown bear. It also includes more than 84 typical Qinghai species.

They live in several environmental stresses. They live in an area that is extremely cold, has high ultra-violet radiation, and is at a very high altitude. Also, only 1% of their land is usable for farming. While most of the rivers and water runoff from the glaciers support most of Asia. Most of their land is covered in glaciers. They are going through a huge environmental change. The tibetans and the glaciers in their land are most impacted by global warming. Every year the climate gets warmers and more glaciers disappear. This affects how they live and the rest of Asia. 

Adaptations:

              

Two physical adaptations of the Tibetans of the Himalayans are they have a blood- oxygen level that is 10% higher than normal levels. They accomplish a high blood-oxygen level by breathing more per minute. This leads to them having less of chance of getting hypoxia. In addition, Tibetans may have a second biological adaptation, which expands their blood vessels, allowing them to deliver oxygen throughout their bodies more effectively than sea-level people do. If they did not have these two physical adaptations of being able to breathe more and have high blood flow they would have a very low blood-level. 

Much of the population is nomadic due to the cold climate and terrain.The are nomadic because they have to be culturally because of the harsh environment. Tibetan nomadic pastoralism flourished because there was little encroachment into the nomadic areas by farmers trying to plow up the rangeland and plant crops. Another cultural adaptation is that they practice polyandry. It is most beneficial because there is so little farmland that the male families can not split up what small farm they already have to multiple sons. Another cultural adaptation is that the men have to travel down to lower villages to get supplies, such as vegetables and other necessary items because in the high altitude they cannot produce these goods. 

Language:

   

The language spoken in the Tibetan culture is Tibetan. Tibetan is written in a very conservative syllabary script based on the writing system of the ancient Sanskrit language of India. It was developed as a means of translating sacred Buddhist texts that were being brought into Tibet from India. The fact that the written language was developed to translate sacred Buddhist text shows everything about their culture. Religion is everywhere in their culture and influences everything. 

Gender Roles:

There are two gender roles in the Himalayan Tibet culture. There are male and female roles. 

Male: Tibetan men typically lead simple lives. For nomads, much of life consists of taking the yaks up and down the mountain to graze. Men are in charge of periodically going to the nearest town to buy supplies such as medicine, vegetables or clothes. They also are the spiritual leaders of the family. They are in charge of educating the family about Buddhism and leading the family in Buddhist scripture reading, praying and pilgrimages to holy places. Traditionally men are also responsible for making homemade clothes such as coats and boots.

Women: Tibetan women usually lead a more difficult life than Tibetan Men. Tibetan women are in charge of most of the household chores. Nomad women wake up early in the morning to collect yak dung to be dried, which is used for fuel for the fire. Women milk the yaks before the are taken up the mountains to graze. Women are also in charge of cooking the meals and taking care of the children.

The gender roles are very strict, mostly for women. Their role is to listen and do as they are told. There is no crossover between the roles, but women in tibet have now begun to protest for their rights. There are many negative repercussions for the women fighting for more rights. They often receive punishments or have things taken away from them, such as education for their children. Again they are not supposed to complain about their punishments and are only supposed to accept them. The Buddhist Tibetans nuns have begun to have silent protests with their mouths covered. Many nuns have been killed for protesting.  The young learn from their family. They of the culture learn their appropriate gender roles from their fathers. The men are the educators of the society. They also obviously learn some of what their gender roles are supposed to be by observing their family mainly their mother and father. They see how their father acts or how their mother acts and how they interact with each other and society. I do not believe the protagonist would have been accepted. I think they would have dealt with her, but they would be too confused to know what to do with her or where to place her. 

Subsistence:

The traditional subsistence pattern of Tibet is agriculture and herding. Yes, they are transitioning. They are moving towards modernization and urbanization. The major staple food in Tibet is barley flour. Other major foods that eat are wheat flour, yak meat, and pork. Higher altitudes eat more meat than lower altitudes. They also eat a variety of vegetables, but this mostly applies to lower altitudes. It is rare for anyone to eat rice and only wealthy families can afford rice. They also consume dairy products such as milk and cheese. Diets at higher altitudes are much thinner than diets at lower altitudes. At higher altitudes, water cannot be used to cook so the diet consist of milk and high protein foods. The main staple is tsamba or yak meat at higher altitudes. Most of the food is year round but how the food is prepared can be seasonal. Yes, there is a division of labor. The men walk the yaks up and down the mountain, while the women milk the yaks and collect the dung of the yak, which is used to fuel the fire. Children can also walk the yaks.  Men also do the trading and farming. Women take care of the household and the children. 

The general nutritional health of Tibet is lacking because of the high altitude. There are very little areas to farm and produce food. Many Tibetans, especially children, are malnourished.  They are not dependent on any food items that are rare to find, except for possibly vegetables that are rare to find in the higher altitudes. Rice would also provide more to their nutritional diet, but it is rare and only the wealthy eat rice. 

Economics:

They do not produce any surplus food. They are an agriculture subsistence and can only produce enough for them to live on. It is hard to produce food in the Tibetan Himalayans. It is very arid and it is extremely cold for most of the year. There is no specialization of labor other then labor being separated between male and females. They do have redistribution of goods somewhat. In old Tibet, they used to practice the feudal system. The three dominant classes in Tibet received most of the profits, now this is changing and they are working hard to raise their GDP. At first, they only used the barter system, but now have recently moved away from the barter system. As they are becoming more modern and more urban, they now use currency. There currency is the yuan. 

Trade in handcraft items is what supports most of their economy.  They also trade salts, wools, and hides. China is also leading to the increase in urbanization because they have been trying to expand mining. Tibet has gold, silver, and salt mines. China is also trying to increase tourism and business.  There are benefits and negative effects to the increased trade and tourism. The increased trade leads to a better economy, but as Tibet becomes more and more urbanized by other societies they lose cultural traditions and the there could be negative effects on the environment. 

Marriage: 

                 

The most common form of marriage that is practiced is polyandry. When polyandry occurs, it is usually a women marrying two brothers from the same family. The elder brother has the decision of who to marry and all the children are considered his children. In some cases, polygyny will be practiced or in more urbanized areas monogamy will be practiced. Marriage partners are determined by the elder brother, but then discussed by the younger brothers. The younger brothers have a choice to leave and start their own family, but they will receive no property or to become a monk. Then the parents of the female will either accept or deny the family that is proposing marriage. Females are definitely are more valued than males. When proposed to the family of the groom has to send gifts multiple times to every family member. There is economic exchange mostly on the part of the groom. Males have to do most of the work.  They also have to hire a matchmaker. The bride’s family does, however, send a dowry to the groom’s family of a Bodhisattva. There are only restrictions when it comes to immediate family of blood relation. If a woman is widowed, it is encouraged to remarry with the younger brother she is already living with or another relative of her husbands’. The bride usually moves in with the groom and his family after the wedding. Homosexual relationships are not encouraged and it is not open in the Tibet culture. I would come to the conclusion that they are not accepted.

Kinship: 

             

The Tibetans use the patrilineal inheritance pattern. Family names are carried by the male. This makes sense because the women move into the homes of their husbands. This shows that the males are the most important. They do not ignore other lines, but they are less emphasized. 

The eldest brother possesses the most authority within the family. All the children officially belong to him and he is the only one officially married to his wife. The property is passed on via descent lines. The inheritance and descent patterns match. It passes from male to male.

Social Organization:

  

The culture is stratified and is not generally egalitarian. Economics is what defines the social levels. There were the high nobility, religious officials, political officials, household owners, landless peasants, and then the slaves. Economics and land owning defined which socially class you were in and it is generally passed through inheritance. There is not much change in your status. This was under the feudal system. Democratic reform has individualized farms, but there has not been much change in social classes.

Political Organization:

While Tibet used to be under the rule of the feudal system, today the are presently and strictly governed by the Chinese government. The Tibetans have no choice in how political power is determined. The Chinese government has several of its committees set up in Tibet and it also has it’s military occupied in Tibet. The Tibetans resent the Chinese government and its rule of Tibet. The Chinese government’s control is slowly being lost. Before the Chinese government, the Dali Lama was both the religious and political leader of Tibet. For awhile, there was a transition phase where the Dali Lama and the government had parallel rule. The political power is given to people through the People’s Republic of China. It is given through the government and not the people. 

The Chinese government have forced their laws upon the Tibetans, but they also have their own cultural and moral laws. The moral laws are from their Buddhist religion. Punishments used to be very harsh and inhumane, especially in very early Tibetan culture. Punishments are becoming more judicial and the punishments less severe, such as using fines and imprisonment. 

The Role of Violence 

The Tibetans are very non-violent people because of their buddhist beliefs. They practice non-violent protests. The violence comes in with the outside forces such as the Chinese government. As the violence against the protesters becomes worse, the violence within the protests are becoming worse. Tibetan monks and nuns are now choosing to burn themselves alive in protest. This is how violence is entering into the culture.

Religion 

            

They practice Tibetan Buddhism. It is a branch of Buddhism and combines Yoga along with tantric practices. It focuses on the deity of Buddha. They focus on his teachings. They also respect the Dali Lama. Bodhisattvas are also worshiped. They are god-like and wrathful deities that have been taken from earlier religions. No, their religion does not have an origin story because it is a combination of already established practices.  Most of their practices focus on mediation on themselves and focusing on emotions and passions. One practice that is unique to Tibetan Buddhism is the Lamas. The Lamas are given a status and role as a teacher which is specifically related to this type of Buddhism. Their rituals are very noisy with a lot of music and are visually striking. They also have many unique initiating rituals. The religion and practices are very important to the culture. They combine both their religion with their political systems and it is part of their everyday life. Their religion is an essential to their culture, but I think they could function without it. Their everyday chores are not affected by their religion.

Art

         

All of their art in any form has the purpose of emphasizing or being used in their religion. That is the main purpose of their art. They paint and make sculptures of the things they worship in their religion. It is used to respect and worship their religion. They do performance art and music to add to their religious rituals. Their rituals are very noisy and visually striking. The music and the art is there to accomplish that rituals are beautiful. Religion is everything to them and is in every aspect of their culture. They also use art for magic talismans and other things that are used in rituals. 

Conclusion: Cultural Changes

The Tibetans have definitely been affected by other cultures. They mostly have been affected by China, but also India because many Tibetans have fled from Chinese occupied Tibet into India. The negative impacts is that Tibet has lost a lot of tradition and they are being forced to have Chinese government and laws. The positive impact is that Tibet is becoming more modernized and the economy is improving. I think the culture is both healthy and thriving and also in danger of losing its cultural identity. It is improving economically and in the life quality for the individual, but they are in danger of losing their cultural traditions and identity. The modernization is both positive and negative. If the Tibetans can keep their traditions and cultural values, while modernizing, it would be the perfect balance. They play a huge role in the modern role, but mostly environmentally. Their environment affects most of Asia and the whole world. As they are becoming modernized, they are having more influence on their bordering countries, such as India and China.

Bibliography 

http://www.himalaya2000.com/himalayan-pilgrimage/tibet/index.html

http://www.stupa.org/heritage/geographicimportance%20.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21030426

http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/002357.html

http://www.crystalinks.com/highelevations.html

www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/...tib.../abstract.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/10131/tibet.html

http://www.4panda.com/special/botany/911.htm

http://www.case.edu/affil/tibet/documents/TheWorldofTibetanNomadsSept14.pdf

www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/language.htm

http://kekexili.typepad.com/life_on_the_tibetan_plate/2008/02/tibetan-women.html

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2011-05/23/content_12557680_2.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15164115

library.thinkquest.org/26470/foodndrink.htm

http://public.wsu.edu/~rquinlan/polyandry.htm

www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0861545.html

http://english.chinatibetnews.com/news/Society/2008-04/21/content_105748.htm

http://www.kalachakra.org/articles/marriage.shtml

http://www.tibettrip.com/features/marriage-customs.htm

http://www.everyculture.com/Russia-Eurasia-China/Tibetans-Kinship.html

http://zt.tibet.cn/tibetzt/question_e/2/012.htm

http://www.savetibet.org/resource-center/all-about-tibet/the-political-system-tibet-today

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/02/why-violence-in-tibet-is-getting-worse/253627/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/subdivisions/tibetan_1.shtml

Week 7: The Culture of Art

1. I think the cave artists were trying to say many things with the cave paintings. I think they could have been trying to say practical things such as writing down information or a story. I also think they were trying to display beauty and while they might have been trying to say other things, I think they were doing art for the sake of art. The saw beauty or spiritualness in animals and so they drew the animals to show the beauty they saw. Underneath all of arts messages, there is a beauty to it and the purpose of capturing something beautiful.
2. I think the majority of paintings were animals because they were not egotistical as a culture. They  maybe saw more beauty in animals then they did in themselves. I think they saw something spiritual, magical, or mysterious in the animals. They saw something that they admired or were curious about is what I think. They is also the possibility that to be able to hunt the animal they needed to know the animal better, so they drew what they knew about the animal. It did say that when humans were drawn, they were simplistic and shown in hunting parties. 
3. The paintings tell us that they were hunters. They saw value in the paintings because it took hard work to paint them especially in some areas. It could have been a form of communication or written history. They were most likely a spiritual culture and they were smart. They used lamps, portable light sources, developed pigments, and used scaffolds to create these paintings. 
4. They encountered several difficulties. They needed light because the caves went deep and were not supplied by natural light. Some areas were too high and they needed scaffolds to reach the areas. The developing of the paint to paint the drawings. The rock formation was also a difficulty. Some areas of the rock were formed so that it was hard to paint on it or so that it was hard to engrave on it.
5. As the website discusses, they do have a seasonal pattern that is consistent in all of the paintings. The cave artists could also be trying to give their people something beautiful to look at or trying to tell a story. They could have also been trying to show something spiritual or magical. I think it is combination of all three reasons and there could also be other other reasons we have not discovered or  may never discover. 

2. I think all of the functions of art in early humans still exist today. They are still present in our art forms even if more functions have been added to modern art. Art is still used for story telling, recording of history, spiritual or magical purposes, and the capturing of beauty. Art still exist and is still being made that performs at least one of these functions. Every art form you can think of, dance, paintings, music, literature, all have been used for all of these functions. The Lascaux caves could have been used as a calendar or to copy information down. Modern art also has this is all art forms like poems and paintings. It could have been used for spiritual or magical purposes. This is even more common in modern art, think of poems or music. It could have also been for beauty. This is in every form of modern art, think of dance, literature, and paintings. 


3. 

1. This image displays two of my favorite art forms. This image is a painting by Degas. Degas is an impressionist and a realist painter. I love the art form of painting and impressionism and realism are my favorite types of paintings. The second art form is the form of dance called ballet. Degas has many paintings centered on ballerinas. Dance is another type of art form I love and ballet is my favorite type of dance. Paintings are trying to communicate a message. Degas is trying to communicate beauty and realism. Often his paintings try to show the loneliness, such as in this painting. Ballet has the function of displaying beauty as perfection and storytelling. Every ballet is a story through dance and not words.
   
2. There is a culture around every art form and there are subcultures in that culture. There is an art culture that is filled with artists, art enthusiast, museum curators, gallery owners, art collectors, and others. I would say they all behave more sophisticated and there are different dress between the different members of the culture. Mostly, the dress more sophisticated. Within that culture, there are subcultures surrounding different types of art. For example, abstract, impressionism, and surrealism. Ballet also has its own culture filled with ballerinas, artistic directors, choreographers, and people who go and see ballets on a regular schedule. They also behave sophisticated. The ballerinas want perfection. On stage, there is a certain type of costume the ballerinas wear and you dress formally when attending ballets. 
3. The art form does not have any detrimental affects. Art can please, shock, or repulse you and that is what it is supposed to do. It is supposed to give you a perspective on something and provoke thoughts. It is also to capture a moment in time and to capture beauty. Although all art forms may not appear beautiful, I think in all of their own ways each art form is beautiful. It has a certain magical element to it. It benefits society because it makes you think and gives you different perspectives. It opens your eyes to history and to new things. 

Week 6: Violence and Politics

1. If someone kills someone else in our society, they are suspected, arrested, and then put on trial by a jury to prove that they are guilty. This is much different from the way that the Yanomamo handle killings and consequences. In the Yanomamo culture, revenge is practiced. If it happens within the group, the two groups divide and begin raiding each other, where more killing occurs. When someone in our society kills someone, the society does not allow a family member of that person to begin raiding the killer's house or to go kill him. However, the two cultures can be seen as similar in some cases, where it is seen as acceptable to go after someone that is going to hurt you or your family. The most recent case that I can think of where this occurred is where the father found out a man was sexually assulating his five-year-old and attacked him. The man did not mean to kill him, but accidentally did. This is a case where a man killed another man in first degree murder by beating him to death and he was found not guilty. This is because it is acceptable in our society to do whatever you need to to protect your family and yourself.

2. The Yanomamo's revenge is called blood revenge. After someone is killed and there was a kinship obligation attached to the person killed, raids begin taking place. There is a raiding party in which 10-20 men participate. Some turn back because the village is too far away for other reasons, but what usually happens is that there are drop puts along the way that make excuses for why they cannot fight. Most are just frightened. If they drop out every time or almost every time, the man is labeled as a coward. The night before the raid they burn an effigy of the person they most want to kill. The next day at dawn when the raid occurs they usually kill the first person they see and then begin shooting arrows and then quickly retreat. If someone kills someone or shoots someone with an arrow, they can have the ceremony of unokaimou performed. These can continue back and forth. Men also have the option of declining to go if the village being raided has close kinship living there.

3. If you obtain the unokais status, you thought of as stronger and braver. The more unokais you obtain the fiercer and strong you look. This also gives you economic and reproductive benefits. Women are taken forcibly and also more attracted to men who are unokais. Unokais also are able to protect their family and dependents by deterring violence.  Unokais are very valued in their communities. The benefit of being a non-unokais is you have fewer mortal risks

4. Political structure, social status/social organization, kinship, marriage and reproduction, and behaviors are all interconnected and all influence each other. The political structure is set up that the head of the village is the male that is the leader of the largest descent group. Social status is set up that unokais are valued and you are thought to be a coward if you do not seek revenge or raid other villages with your raiding party. All headmen are unokais. They value strength and aggressives not timidness and cowardice. It seems like everyone is related to everyone. The kinship is very close, where in their lifetime the will know at least one relative that has died violently, if not more. People from other villages can also be closely related to people in other villages. The close kinship does not only extend to people within the same village. Marriage also adds the close kinship by acquiring more family through marriage. Many men, especially the headmen, have more than one wife and have on average around a dozen wives within their lifetime. This leads to a huge number of children in which they are all related. The behavior that is promoted is that men are aggressive, brave, and courageous. The way this is practiced is that it is encouraged to take revenge. It is normal to raid another village for a good reason, such as someone killing your family member. It is shameful to be a coward and not to take revenge into your hands. Men will forcibly take your wives, if you are thought to be a coward because they no nothing will be done. All of these elements go into making revenge killings acceptable and encouraged. All these elements: political structure, kinship, and marriage, fuel the fire, so to speak. They continue the cycle of killing and raiding for revenge of family members and other reasons.

Although cultures socialize people to not want to kill and to see it as socially unacceptable, people are still going to do it because of human nature. Laws are necessary because without laws people would kill take what they want or need. They would also kill to avenge and protect their family, just as the Yanomamo do. Human nature is selfish. Human nature also wants security. I think you can also see this in the Yanomamo. They value unokais and they value strength, aggressiveness, and being fierce. This can be seen that they value this because it provides the community with security. For example, the one Yanomamo village where 8 out of the 11 unokais who had unokaised more than 10 times lived. The village was seen as fierce and their chances of being attacked probably greatly deceased. It may also be seen in the women that are more attracted to a unokais man than a non-unokais, they know a unokais can protect them better from violent attacks.

Kinship chart

Week 5: Kinship

1. My relationship to my subject was she was my mother. She was born in South Philadelphia. She is half Italian and half Irish and grew up in the neighborhoods of South Philadelphia and the neighborhoods of the suburbs just outside of Philadelphia. Her whole life she has been somewhere in the middle class around lower and middle middle class. She grew up in a conservative, catholic family in the 1960s-1970s. 


2.  How I interviewed my subject, my mother, was to describe the basic goal of the interview and then to do question and answer. I was not comfortable throughout the entire interview process. For most of the interview I was uncomfortable and I also my mother was uncomfortable. This definitely did affect the thoroughness of the interview. It affected the thoroughness of the interview on both sides. There were some questions that I could tell my mother wanted to give as short an answer as possible because she did not want me to know some information because I'm her daughter. This in return or emphasized the fact that I did not want to ask some questions because I knew that she might not want to answer them or she might flat out not want me to ask them in the first place. I think interviewing someone that you were not related to or even someone you did not know at all would be much better. Even interviewing someone not so closely related to you such as an aunt, uncle, or cousin would be preferred, but the further you remove yourself the easier the interview would be. It is hard as an anthropologist to remove personal bias or your relationship with the subject, but I also think it is even hard for the subject to do the same. My mother could not remove the thought that she was being interviewed by her daughter, even though I asked her to not think of me as her daughter but someone she did not know who was interviewing her. 


3.  I do not think there is an emphasis on maternal or paternal lines, but there is definitely a difference in the attitude toward the older and younger individuals. When asked about closeness with older generations such as her grandparents, the attitude changed and she stated she was not close with them. The attitude held toward the older generations was much more formal. My mother also added the comment that the generation was different back then and you really did not have much of a relationship with your grandparents. She said you were not close with your grandparents even though you saw them every week. The closer to her generation and the younger generation was informal and the attitude changed. She was very close with her parents and one of her siblings. She is also close with her daughter. The attitude toward the younger generations while informal, there was still an attitude that certain things should not be discussed with younger generations especially your daughter. There was a trend of larger families, but there is now a trend of smaller families with mother and all mother's siblings having 1-2 children. The largest family is her eldest brother with 3 children. My mother mentioned that her mother's parents and her father's parents did not get along well and that her mother's parents never really liked my mother's father because one side of the family was Irish and the other side was Italian. Other than that there were no differences that affected social interactions. 


4. I know relatives on my mother's side very well. On my father's side I know the names of some of the relatives. The only relative I know a lot about is my great grandfather on my father's paternal side. I do not socialize equally with them. I have a certain degree of closeness with almost all of the relatives on my mother's side, but I have never met any of the members on my father's side. I am not exactly sure why this is, but from what I can infer there was a disagreement and the relatives on my father's side chose to no longer be involved in his life.  In my personal family of my mother and father, my mother and father have almost equal influence in decisions, but I would say my father has a little more influence in most decisions. I do not know about other family households of my family members. The family members who marry into the family are definitely treated equally with members who were born into the family. They are treated like there is no difference. I am not really sure if there are different attitudes towards family members based upon gender. Most of the time I would say no there are not different attitudes. Through this exercise the main thing I have learned that there is an attitude toward younger generations and that they should only be told so much because it is not proper to tell them certain things. I can now see this through the way my mother approached the interview and how I do not know about my father's side of the family. There are also other things that support this idea that are not evident to me. I can also see how it has been passed down generationally because my mother was very formal with her grandparents and sometimes even her parents. 

Language Week 3 Assignment

When performing the experiment, I found it very difficult to communicate. It took several minutes to communicate idea or sometimes they did not understand what I was trying to communicate at all. I felt like I was playing charades. My partner at first became frustrated with trying to figure out what I was saying. After the first 5-10 minutes, it became a little easier than when we first began because of  hand signs or body language I would repeat and he learned to associate those signs with words or that certain idea. The way he asked me questions or responded back to me made it simpler for me to respond and for him to understand. If there was something that could be answered with a yes or no with body language or something that could be answered with a simple idea, he formed it that way so it was easier to communicate. If we were two different cultures who could not understand each other, one could speak and the other could not, I think it would be easier for the non-speaking culture to express more complicated ideas because the non-speaking culture could still describe and communicate things to the speaking culture through hand signs. For example, the non-speaking culture could communicate a bird by making a bird with their hands, but if the speaking culture just said the word "bird" the non-speaking culture would not understand because that is not their language. I believe the speaking culture would still have a superior attitude toward the culture that does not speak. They would see the non-speaking culture as primitive or basic because they speak with their hands or use other things to communicate instead of with their voice. If however, like in the experiment, both cultures understood the spoken language, but only one could communicate it, the speaking culture would have the advantage over the non-speaking language. This true with people who are deaf and cannot speak very well or with people who are mute. They are a non-speaking culture within a speaking culture. They can communicate through sign language, but the majority of speaking people do not know or understand sign language.

I believe the second part of the experiment was harder. I do not think I was able to last for the full 15 minutes. I kept trying to raise my hands and move them around to emphasize what I was saying. I start to change the tone of my voice, but would stop myself. I did not have as much problems with moving my head, but one or two times I tried to move my head. I went longer than 15 minutes only to make up for the times where I did raise or lower my tone of voice or moved my hands. I kept having to correct myself. Near the end it became easier not to have the urge to make hand, facial, head, or tone of voice movements. After the experiment when I discussed with my partner, he said that the hardest part was he couldn't tell when I was being funny, serious, sarcastic, or passionate about what I was saying. There were no signs in the face or the tone of voice to indicate to him what exactly I was trying to say. This experiment shows that it is helpful to have both "signs" and the spoken language, especially in the culture we are in we need both to communicate effectively.  There are some people who cannot read body language such as people with the Asperger's syndrome. They cannot interpret body language or tone of voice. The adaptative ability is that you can communicate effectively with people around you. You know how to respond to something. If someone insults you, but they use a joking tone of voice, you know not to take it seriously because they are playing around. If someone insults with a serious tone of voice and body language indicating the same thing, you know to take offense and leave or respond back angrily. I do not think I can come up with an enviromental condition where it would benefit you to not use body language. Possibly a place where it is extremely hot or cold and you do not want to waste energy that you can use to survive by using extra things to communicate where it is not extremely necessary to use body language or hand signals.

Yes, I do believe part one would have been easier, if you were allowed to use written language. I think it would be easier because then you would have been able to communicate complex ideas. I think it would be especially easier for people that live in this culture where the written language is becoming more prominent. There is less face to face interaction. There is email, social networks, and text messaging. In these forms of communication, which are being used more and more, there is no hand signals or head movements and there is no tone of voice. We are learning to interpret the tone in written language, but it is still hard to interpret if someone is being sarcastic, for example. Many cultures use it and develop it. We are a culture that is developing it right now through the devices I just listed. It gives an advantage because ideas can now spread extremely fast and we can communicate to people a world away through the written language. The written language has made everything globalized from business, entertainment, media, etc. Everyone can communicate with everyone else in the world easily just through email or social networking site. Now looking at written language specifically it changed everything. The written language is also how we know things from thousands of years ago because it was written down somewhere.

Cultural Descriptions: Body Ritual of Nacirema Part A

Believers: The Nacirema are believers because they believe in magic and supernatural. All there rites are magical rites. They use magical charm and pay for magical rites to be performed on them. They believe that without the use of these magical elements and rites. They will no longer be alive or, for example, they believe that if the mouth rite is not performed “their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them.” They believe all these things because they have been told to believe it and they have faith because they are believers.

 Dedicated: The Nacirema are definitely dedicated to their beliefs and their rituals. They follow the rituals exactly and do rituals daily and they have other special rituals during the year. The Nacirema also endure a lot of pain and torture for these rituals, but they are happy and willing to go through the pain because they believe in it. As the article says, the rituals which are supposed to heal the sick, many times the ritual does not heal the sick person, but sometimes even kills them. This shows even more how dedicated the Nacirema people are to their beliefs and rituals. They have no proof that their rituals work at all, but they are loyal and unquestioning to them.

Formal: The Nacirema people are very formal in their rituals. They perform it an exact way and it has to be performed that way. Gifts have to be given in order for the specialists to give you charms or to perform rituals. As the article says, no matter how sick a person is they will not be treated until payment is received. This demonstrates that the Nacirema treat the rituals more formally.

Private: The Nacirema people are private with their bodies and with their rituals. As the article states, a wife might never see her husband perform excretory acts. They never show their bodies except in the temple, where they are striped naked and they go into psychological shock from being naked in front of other people. They also never talk about intercourse, woman dress to disguise their pregnancy, and it is very private when delivering they baby that friends and family are not present. Not only are they private with their bodies and the natural things about the body, the Nacirema are also private about the rituals. The rituals are never discussed except when explaining them to the children during their period of initiation. The daily rituals are also performed separately by each family member, who is alone in the family shrine.

Barbaric: Finally, the last word I chose to describe the rituals and culture of the Nacirema is barbaric. They are not necessarily barbaric, but to more highly developed cultures they appear so. Of course to the Nacirema they do not think themselves barbaric, but think they are doing everyday normal rituals that must be done to live. To more highly developed cultures, they are barbaric because in there rituals are torturous. They are violated and put through great pain in these rituals and they do not even have proof that they work. They also believe in magical powers and the supernatural. Believing in magic, to more developed culture like ones based of science and factual evidence seems ridiculous and barbaric.

1. As an American, how do you feel about your choice of descriptive words in Part A? (If you are from another country, you can still comment on your choices based upon your first hand experience with American culture but include the fact that you are from another culture.)

            I feel that most of my descriptive word choices partially describe Americans. None of my word choices describe every American. Most of my words describe the minority in the American culture, not the majority. Barbaric is the word that least describes American culture. Most Americans have a life far from barbaric and do not behave barbarically. I would say that the descriptive word private out of all the other words I chose best describes American culture. We are private and only share information about us with family and friends. We stay for the majority to ourselves. I believe that the words believers and dedicated does describe America. We are believers in freedom and democracy. We believe and feel passionately about many topics. So the word does apply to the American culture, but in the same way.

2. Do any of your choices exhibit ethnocentrism on your part? In other words, do any of your descriptive words reveal a judgment of the Nacerima rooted in your own cultural bias? Are any of your words free of bias? Identify the words you feel are biased and unbiased and explain your reasoning.

            Looking back now, my choices definitely exhibit ethnocentrism. The are all biased and reveal that in my word choices I am judging them. The words that may not show bias is dedicated and formal. I was not judging them on that word, but admiring them for their dedication to their beliefs. The other words are all biased, especially, barbaric. Although I did not mean it as harshly as it sounds, I was still judging them in what I saw as their barbaric rituals. Believers is also a biased word. The word is not biased in itself, but in the way I meant it. I used it as though they are somewhat simple minded to believe in magic or that charms and rituals can heal someone.

3. For any of the words that are biased, can you provide alternate words that are free of bias but communicate the same explanatory information and intent of your original word?

            I cannot think of any words that are free from bias to replace the words barbaric, private, and believers that will communicate the same intent. I can think of alternate words, but none that are free from bias.

4. From this experience, reflect on the importance of avoiding ethnocentric judgments when describing other cultures. Why is it important to describe another culture in a manner as free from personal cultural bias as possible? Do you think it is possible to completely avoid personal cultural bias as a Cultural Anthropologist?

            It is important to avoid ethnocentric because who are you to say that your culture is better than their culture. Their methods and beliefs in their culture are completely justified to them. It is relative to cultures what the right way to live and believe is. I do not believe that is completely possible to avoid personal cultural bias as a Cultural Anthropologist because they grew up in a culture believing and seeing things a certain way. It is hard to avoid comparisons between their culture and your culture, but a Cultural Anthropologist’s goal must be to avoid ethnocentrism and to look at things as objectively as possible.