Due to the unfortunate history of diminishing populations of the local Native Americans during the Historical period of the San Diego region, there is very little ethnographic information about the coastal Kumeyaay. Due to the lesser amount of early extraneous invasion of the mountain and desert regions, the Kumeyaay people of these two regions were better able to preserve their cultural traditions and therefore much more ethnographic information is available to this day. Consequently, this report best represents the ethnohistory of the preserved mountain and desert Kumeyaay, with very little specific ethnography of the coastal communities.…
MUS 335 Introduction to Ethnomusicology is a course that I am teaching for the first time in Fall 2016. It is designed to introduce students to the history of ethnomusicology, key theoretical models, application of basic theoretical concepts, design and implementation of simple fieldwork exercises, analysis of the data generated by these exercises, and recognition and articulation of ethical issues that apply to this method of study. Such an introductory course is typically handled in a seminar format in other institutions, and mine is no exception. Since the purpose of a seminar is to achieve a deeper understanding about the ideas and values in a text, students in a seminar class must study the text closely in advance, and they then would…
Jazz music has developed into a complex and extraordinary phenomenon since its advent in the early twentieth century. This unique and sociocultural music movement developed many variations, each bringing to light talented musicians characterized by a particular technique or style of play. The audiences for each individual style of music were constantly evolving with their respective cultures, finding themselves gradually integrating this more foreign form of music into their everyday lives. These musicians became highly popularized, gaining success and inspiration as the jazz movement progressed. Two particular styles include bop and cool jazz, each of which differ in their musicality and execution, progressing with the cultural spirits and musicians of the time. Although both bop and cool jazz originated separately, they have acquired certain reoccurring themes within their compositions indicating that prior artistic influence played a factor in their development.…
Specifically, Boas, in The Methods of Ethnology, argued against the various traditional evolutionary theories proposed by Morgan, Marx, Tylor and Spencer. Stating simply that these theories had a particular resilience, but lacked any sort of empirical evidence, Boas argued that the evolutionary theory was based on the counterfactual assumption that our culture was the most advanced and all others were merely following us (Boas, 134). After attacking the diffusionists by noting that their data was not competent enough, methodological difficulties, he responded to the view that historical particularism (Historical particularism argued that each society is a collective representation of its unique historical past. It showed that societies could reach the same level of cultural development through different paths) was atheoretical. How things are and how they come to exist can give only broad outlines of chronological events. Hence cultures are dynamic and in constant flux; every phenomenon is not only an effect, but also a cause. (Boas, 137) A point, taken to the extreme by Kroeber, but also put forth by Boas was that certain problems may be solved in only particular ways. Because humans are similar in their ``infrastructure'', they would tend to solve these problems in similar ways, leading towards the creation of similar traits. Hence, it is not about cultural achievement, but rather about particular conditions that exist at the moment when the new effect is obtained…
The Mexican culture is a very distinct culture. Over the break I was fortunate enough to visit Tijuana, Mexico and analyze the cultural differences represented at the border. The way that I traveled to Mexico was by walking across the border at the San Diego/Tijuana joint border location. In doing so I was able to actively participate and evaluate the cultural clashes and intensification in this border “society” environment.…
1. What role do values play in how the Drexler’s restaurant interfaces with its neighbors and…
They are everywhere. In this essay I will explain how the fast food industry has embedded itself into American society, how a cultural norm has emerged in southern California, and the radical new method that has developed in food preparation.…
As the High Line now is an iconic site in New York, there is a busy and nosy scene on it most of the time, day and evening. Different communities, visitors, business, and staff are engaging in various activities here.…
Anthropology proves to be satisfying and intellectually fulfilling to many in the field. However, there are also many challenges and bumps in the road along the way. Napolean A. Chagnon and Claire Sterk faced many of these challenges themselves. During his fieldwork with the Yanomamo, Chagnon faced many challenges interacting with the natives.…
We all watch films, and documentaries. Generally, we learn some things from them, but can we be sure what we learned is true, and objective? If the films compare and analyze the context (religion, language, etc.) well, we call these kinds of films as ‘ethnographic’ films. A simple question can be appeared in our minds: which films are the ethnographic films? We will try to find an answer to this question with discussing the intentions, the wholeness and the ethics of ethnographic film-making.…
Deep within the Ouachita Mountains of southwest Arkansas lies a summer camp like no other. Every summer thousands of kids return to the best experience of their lives, Camp Ozark. One of the many adventures at camp is tribal competition. In tribal competition, the campers are assigned a tribe which they keep throughout their lives. These tribes are the Caddo and the Osage. The Caddo and the Osage meet every year at camp to settle who is the better tribe by playing games throughout the week, and then determining the winner with one ultimate relay race at the end of each session. The campers learn valuable life lessons while they are participating in tribal competition. These lessons are based on the three flames of tribal competition. The first flame of tribal competition is MAXIMUM EFFORT. The second flame of tribal competition is MAXIMUM ENTHUSIASM. The third flame of tribal competition is TRUE SPORTSMANSHIP. For example, one of the relays is the handball relay. You start by dribbling a handball through some cones then throw it through a into a square about the size of a strike zone in baseball. If you get it first try then the next guy goes. When you are finished with that event you go to the next ,then so on. The race starts with the youngest girls and ends with the oldest boys alternating back and forth between a girls team and a boys team. I was on the oldest team and had the duty to finish the race.…
Native Americans live in their own world and own community, owning casinos, private housing and just recently an amusement park in the makings. With approximately 2.1 million Native Americans in the United States, 566 nationally recognized and 10 separate cultures, we make up roughly 0.6 percent of the American population today. The 10 different cultures are the Arctic, the Subarctic, the Northeast, the Southeast, the Plains, the Southwest, the Great basin, California, the Northwest Coast and the Plateau. Although, there are different cultures that separate us, one aspect that binds us together is beliefs. Native Americans are deeply rooted from their past; therefore, they believe everything is sacred, from big to small. From the White Feather Navajo Medicine Man, he said “Native American isn’t blood; it is what is in the heart.…
Religion and Race at one point went hand in hand. In 1609 John Smyth founded the first black church. Historically Black Churches we founded for Blacks as a safe haven. It was to support blacks and to encourage them to hold on, and to keep hope, that they would one day make through slavery. Since then it has evolved into many other things. There are no more color barriers. In today’s world, you will often see other nationalities in church together. .…
Buddhism is a religion that focuses more on the individual and the actions of that individual, which was prevalent to me when I made my way into Portland and set foot in a Buddhist temple. The man I met within the walls of this temple was far from my stereotypical thoughts of Buddhist monks. The man I met looked like your plain old, average Joe, American man. Before I delve into the depths of my visit to this inspiring place, I need to sum up the Buddhist religion and why I chose to study this particular group of people.…
When I began my first ethnographic research project, I wasn’t an ethnographer. I was a teacher and a student, living in the city, pondering questions about education and social mobility, poverty and work. I had enrolled in a doctoral program and taken classes in research methods, but I became an ethnographer by doing the things that ethnographers do. I learned how to ask questions by asking, and how to watch, listen, and to document the moments of everyday practice by watching, listening, and recording. My experience was what ethnographic evaluator David Fetterman (1989, p. 26) described when he wrote, “Ethnography is what ethnographers actually do in the field. Textbooks …together with lectures – can initiate the newcomer to the field and refresh the experienced ethnographer, but actual fieldwork experience has no substitute.” During this entire ethnographic research effort however, I felt as though I was groping in the dark, making decisions with the discomforting tentativeness of most first time ethnographers. Uncertainty was my own repetitive refrain. Over and over I asked myself questions like, is this an appropriate site to do research? Should I be spending more time there instead of here? Should I be observing more, or observing less? How can I make myself more visible? How can I make myself invisible? Months passed before I came to understand that uncertainty was a fundamental part of the ethnographic method. Much more time passed before I began to feel even slightly comfortable fumbling with the unfamiliar.…