The Semai Culture
THE SEMAI CULTURE
HONI TAYLOR
ANT 101 (ADL1219E)
CHRISTOPHER DEERE
JUNE 10, 2012
THE SEMAI CULTURE The world is filled with all different types of people. Different races, beliefs, characters and moral standards. We are all apart of a big melting pot, all bringing something new to the pot learning how to co exists with something that’s not the normal for us. For this reason I am taking the time to explore a culture outside of my own, the Semai culture. The Semai is a very unique group of people; the most interesting thing about them is there belief in non-violence. Along this journey into the minds of the Semai people we will explore the cultures primary mode of substance and how it effect there everyday living. I will analyze and evaluate the impact that the primary mode of subsistence as it pertains to economic organization and gender relation. Then we will discuss the cultures views on kinship. We will also touch the subject of there beliefs and values, and there thoughts against violence. Concluding with a compare and contrast of how I live in my culture today vs. how the Semai cultures are currently living. As we begin, I remind you to keep and open mind that not every thing that is normal and common to us is normal and common to all cultures. The Semai culture found mostly in the densely forested central mountains of Malay Peninsula, in Malaysia, Southeast Asia. They are some time called the cousin group of the Btsisi’. The Semai people are traditionally known as foraging, horticulturalist, some one who practices horticulture is a nonmechanized, nonintensive form of plant cultivation performed nonrepetitively on a plot of land; in contrast, agriculture is intensive cultivation using irrigation, fertilizers, and possibly plows repetitively on a plot of land (Nowak, B., & Laird, P. (2010). The Semai people gain their substance through hunting, trapping, and fishing and some swidden. (Fabbro, 1978, pg. 69) they also use
HONI TAYLOR
ANT 101 (ADL1219E)
CHRISTOPHER DEERE
JUNE 10, 2012
THE SEMAI CULTURE The world is filled with all different types of people. Different races, beliefs, characters and moral standards. We are all apart of a big melting pot, all bringing something new to the pot learning how to co exists with something that’s not the normal for us. For this reason I am taking the time to explore a culture outside of my own, the Semai culture. The Semai is a very unique group of people; the most interesting thing about them is there belief in non-violence. Along this journey into the minds of the Semai people we will explore the cultures primary mode of substance and how it effect there everyday living. I will analyze and evaluate the impact that the primary mode of subsistence as it pertains to economic organization and gender relation. Then we will discuss the cultures views on kinship. We will also touch the subject of there beliefs and values, and there thoughts against violence. Concluding with a compare and contrast of how I live in my culture today vs. how the Semai cultures are currently living. As we begin, I remind you to keep and open mind that not every thing that is normal and common to us is normal and common to all cultures. The Semai culture found mostly in the densely forested central mountains of Malay Peninsula, in Malaysia, Southeast Asia. They are some time called the cousin group of the Btsisi’. The Semai people are traditionally known as foraging, horticulturalist, some one who practices horticulture is a nonmechanized, nonintensive form of plant cultivation performed nonrepetitively on a plot of land; in contrast, agriculture is intensive cultivation using irrigation, fertilizers, and possibly plows repetitively on a plot of land (Nowak, B., & Laird, P. (2010). The Semai people gain their substance through hunting, trapping, and fishing and some swidden. (Fabbro, 1978, pg. 69) they also use
References: Fabbro, D. (1978). Peaceful Societies: An Introduction. Journal of Peace Research. Vol. 15, pgs. 67-83. from Sage Publications LTD. Nowak, B., & Laird, P. (2010). Cultural anthropology. San Diego, Bridgepoint Education, Inc. https://content.ashford.edu Peaceful Socities.org. (n.d.). Peaceful Societies: Alternatives to Violence and War. Retrieved August 29, 2011, from http://www.peacefulsocieties.org/Society/Semai.html Robarchek, C. & Robarchek, C. (1998). Reciprocities and Realities: World Views, Peacefulness and Violence among Semai and Waorani. Aggressive Behavior. Vol. 24, pgs. 123-133. from EBSCO Host. Sorensen, M. (2007). Competing Discourses of Aggression and Peacefulness. Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice. Vol. 19, pgs. 603-609.from EBSCO Host