Anthropological Study: Indians in North America - Culture, Sub-Fields, & Social Org. - Pro, Study notes of American literature

Download Anthropological Study: Indians in North America - Culture, Sub-Fields, & Social Org. - Pro and more Study notes American literature in PDF only on Docsity! Indians in North America 8/26/09 Anthropology- the study of humanity; biological/physical as well as cultural Culture- integrated systems of beliefs, traditions, and customs that govern or influence a person’s behavior; culture is learned, shared by members of a group, and based on the ability to think in terms of symbols (symbols mean different things in different cultures) - common sense does not work cross-culturally Sub-Fields of Anthropology: 1. Biological (or Physical) 2. Linguistic 3. Cultural (or Social) 4. Archeology Anthropological Perspective (Important Aspects of Modern Day Anthro):  Cultural Relativism- idea that all cultures have their own “internal logic” and that when anthropologists study cultures they are not comparing them negatively to one another or ranking them based on  Participant Observation- how anthropologists carry out their research; pertains specifically to cultural anthropologists who immerse themselves within a group then write about the group from an anthropological perspective (allows the observer to create a “mini-encyclopedia” about the groups world views on a variety of topics, generally the observer lives with the group for one or two years (called ethnography) Ex. religious groups, corporate observation,  Holistic- even though anthropologists may focus on certain aspects of culture, all aspects of culture are interrelated, so it is impossible to study one specific area without gaining knowledge of all other areas related to that one by the individual culture being studied  Comparative- anthropology IS a comparative discipline, so cultures are studied based on how they differ from one another Salvage Ethnography- studying a culture while immersed within it with a special focus on recording as much as possible before the culture dies off Culture Area- “geographic region whose inhabitants are similar enough culturally to be distinguished from inhabitants of adjacent regions”; way to generalize and categorize different areas of culture Ex. Indian Culture Areas- arctic, subarctic, northwest coast, plateau, California, great basin, southwest, plains, northeast, southeast Cultural Area Problems: 1. Arbitrary- areas vary depending on what criteria are used to determine culture areas Indians in North America 8/26/09 2. Static- refers to a specific time in history; the bulk of the data is about the state of things when someone studied a particular group, not before and not after 3. Boundaries- diffuse; individuals married across boundaries, etc. so the actual boundaries themselves change and fluctuate Native American Identity: 1. Biological- whether or not a person is actually biologically (genetically) Native American; some groups have a minimum requirement to be part of their tribe/band, such as a certain percentage 2. Administrative- tribes have other requirements; this is biological to some extent 3. Mystical- “wannabe tribe;” very small percentage of Native American blood, but identifies themselves as such; romantic, fictional, or spiritual views; particularly common among hippies in the ‘60’s 4. “Urban Indians”- people who do not fit a stereotype for the normalcy of being Native American Name Terminology- 1. Indian - from Indios (from the days of Columbus and the mistaken idea of where they had landed) - taken on racist implications since 1970s; rejected because it is not the correct term, so it’s something that “doesn’t fit” 2. Native American 3. Indigenous American, Amerind, Aboriginal 4. Native Alaskan - Eskimo*: Yup’ik, Inupiaq (U-pik), Aluutiq - Indian: Athapaskans (Athabascans), Tlingit/Haid - Athapaskan speakers=Dene, meaning “we the people” or “the real people” 5. Canada- First Nations - Eskimo/Inuit (Eskimo has racist connotations though) *Eskimo means “eaters of raw meat;” it became a derogatory term Native North American Demographics (estimates) Late 1400s (prior to European contact): 8-18 million; 100 million in all the New World 1900: 375,000 2000: 2.5 million in U.S.  First Nations (Canadian Indian) Demographics - 2001- 975,000 in Canada - 4.4% of Canadians have Native ancestry - 608 First Nations- 52 distinct cultural groups; 50 languages  Federal Recognized Groups in the U.S. - 562 recognized, 230 in Alaska - 150 groups (130,000 people) currently unrecognized but are petitioning for recognition (had not previously had any understanding with the government politically) - 278 Reservations- most federal, some state