Asian People Observation Essay

James Nunez

Anthropology Asian People Exhibit

The American Museum of Natural History is an astonishing museum that contains various

exhibits portraying the aspects of anthropology. The museum has many collections that one may

explore and enhance their knowledge of culture. The exhibits are divided into different sections

throughout each floor. One can explore the society of Asian Peoples, the Pacific Peoples, the

North American Eastern Woodlands And Plains Peoples,South American Peoples, and the Mexico

and Central American Peoples. The ethnographic collection I chose to explore and study was the

Asian Peoples exhibit.

As one enters the exhibit, it displays a brief background of the evolution
of humans. As one

moves left of the hall, it showcases the earliest known Eurasians and then into the developing

civilizations. This segment of the exhibit uses the approach of time as one follows the path

beginning with their origin.

The first civilization that one comes to observe is the Koryak The Koryak live

in the frigid northeast part of Siberia during the Ice Age.
The exhibit has a display of the men

living through the static period. Through, the display, the men seemed to adapt to the cold

environment with wearing heavy fur and building a multipurpose roof. These roofs were to protect

the people from the falling snow. Also, it was said, that these roofs holding the snow would be

used as a reservoir for snow to be used for drinking. This showed that the Koryak could be

cunning and versatile adapting to harsh conditions. Also, the Koryak had some type of external

belief. They would sacrifice dogs as an offering to the spirits of the hunt. This showed that the

Koryak may have believed in an afterlife and that they had formed a type of traditional ritual.

The second civilization I came to observe was China. In comparison with the Koryak,

China was a more structured civilization. The exhibit portrayed the traditions, courtship customs,

and religious beliefs. The most intriguing part of the exhibit, was the marital tradition of China. The

display showed the bride placed in a compartment that is carried into the wedding ceremony. The

interesting part of the tradition is that the marriage is pre-determined. Also, that the bride
and groom see each other for the first time when the wedding takes place. This shows that this culture

made little or no room for any individualism, as one would have no say in any decisions in their

life.

Overall, I enjoyed the exhibit of the Asian Peoples. I thought all the information that was

displayed was detailed and unbiased. With this useful presented information, People with no prior

knowledge of the culture can pick up ideologies, beliefs, and traditions. Also, the displays were

detailed and gave one a vision of how that civilization may have lived. The direction of the

displays were easy to follow, and it allowed people to observe that civilization from their origin to

later developments. Above all, as one exits the exhibit, you could definitely leave with a sense and

understanding of each culture.