Kottak, Cultural Anthropology, Tenth Edition
Chapter 1: What Is Anthropology?
FACES OF CULTURE : The Nature of Anthropology
Faces of Culture Film Synopsis:
The Nature of Anthropology provides an introduction to general topics in anthropology touching briefly on ethical issues that have risen from certain exploitative 19th century anthropological practices. This film is best used as a visual guide on the first day of class but portions of it also could be integrated throughout the lecture as you discuss each of the topics below.
Beginning with a clip of fieldwork by the McDougals, the question of globalization/westernization is raised by contrasting herders in Turkana, Kenya with Europeans and sedentary housing. The diversity of cultures is next shown through clips on rituals. Biological anthropology is introduced via adaptation (pp. 5-7 and 13-4), using the example of the Tasmanians and how they were studied as a human variation oddity. This brief history of an indigenous population driven to extinction introduces cultural imperialism and the ethics of studying human remains through the fate of Truganini, the last full-blooded Tasmanian. An exciting moment is a clip of Franz Boas’ 1914 ethnographic film featuring a Kwakiutl war ritual that exemplifies the value of cultural relativism. Another early anthropology ethnographic film clip is from Margaret Mead’s fieldwork in Samoa on how cultural environment influences behavior (pp. 20-2). An overview of how the two main divisions in anthropology, cultural and biological (pp. 10-1), attempt to both study world cultures and their peoples without ethnocentrism. Lastly, preservation of cultures threatened by westernization is seen via a sacred poll, taken from the Omaha by Alice Fletcher and housed at Harvard’s Peabody museum, as it is returned to its people.
Faces of Culture Film Guide:
What differences do you notice in the rituals at the start of the film?
What happens to the Tasmanians and why?
What happened to King Billy?
What is Truganini’s worst fear?
What did Mead discover in Samoa?
What happened to the sacred poll of the Omaha?
Kottak Text/ Faces of Culture Film Links:
Given Kottak’s discussion of human adaptability (pp. 5-7), what examples of cultural and biological diversity do you see in the first segment of this film?
Kottak discusses how culture shapes biology (pp. 8-9). Can you apply this concept to the Tasmanians and their colonial and post-colonial history?
Thinking About Anthropology Beyond the Film:
The film clip on snake-handling is provocative. What is your response to this? Why is this performed? Do you see any elements of danger (even if heavily masked or symbolic) in religious rituals with which you are more familiar?
What is your response to the period from 1803-1876 when the indigenous Tasmanian population was destroyed as a result of the establishment of Tasmania as a British penal colony consisting of rapists, arsonists, and murderers? Do sovereign states have rights over territories that have been historically occupied by indigenous populations that do not recognize state boundaries of territories? Can we resolve this conflict in perception of territories?
From an ecological perspective, should humans alter environments to the extent the British did by importing sheep to Tasmania, which then prospered and drove the indigenous populations from their traditional hunting grounds?
The final fate of Truganini, the last full-blooded Tasmanian, was to be displayed in a museum as an artifact of a vanished culture by the very people that drove that culture to extinction. Do humans have the right to study the remains of other humans and to what extent?
Do you agree with the statement: “all cultures are at risk?”
The film states that the task of many cultural anthropologists is to preserve vanishing cultures. Should vanishing cultures be preserved? Additionally, using the example of the sacred poll of the Omaha, has anthropology been guilty of stripping cultures of their meaning by removing artifacts from the context in which they were created?
Kottak, Cultural Anthropology, Tenth Edition
Chapter 12: Methods and Ethics in Cultural Anthropology
I. FACES OF CULTURE: How Cultures are Studied
Faces of Culture Film Synopsis:
How Cultures are Studied introduces ethnography (p. 324). This is particularly interesting in light of the recent AAA inquiry into Napoleon Chagnon’s ethics in fieldwork among the Yanomami. This film may be shown in its entirety, preferably after delivering a lecture discussing the techniques one would use in the field so that students have a point of reference, along with their assigned reading for the day, while viewing the film. Because the techniques that Chagnon uses in the film are not presented in the same order that Kottak presents them, it might be cumbersome to attempt to show a clip that is relevant to each particular subheading in Kottak. If you would like to integrate the film into the lecture, the best method is to organize your lecture on field techniques according to the synopsis below (rather than Kottak’s organization) so that you are able to stop the film at key points and discuss the techniques and them resume the film again after.
Punctuated with Chagnon (p. 320-1) delivering a lecture to an anthropology class, the film highlights clips from his fieldwork in 1964 among the Yanomami in South America (located mostly in Brazil but also in Venezuela). The Yanomami are tribal hunters and gatherers who engage in small-scale cultivation to supplement their diet. Ethnographic tools such as participant observation (pp. 324-5), interviews (pp. 324-6), key cultural consultants (p. 328), cultural relativism (p. 329), kinship charts (p. 327), census taking, mapping, and frame substitution are highlighted. Chagnon’s comprehensive fieldwork resulted in data on social organization, mapping of living spaces, linguistics, ritual and religion, symbolism, warfare, and socio-economics.
Faces of Culture Film Guide:
The film begins with a scene of children playing an imaginary game. What is the game they are playing? Would American children play this game? Why or why not?
How does Chagnon conduct his census?
What cultural practice makes census taking difficult and resulted in him discarding one year’s worth of kinship organization charts?
What are the hekura?
How do the hekura exemplify cultural specific perceptions of illness that create a conflict between Chagnon and Dedeheiwa?
What are the two social rules that Chagnon indicates as determinants in the apportionment of living space?
What is fission-fusion and how does it occur according to Chagnon’s documentation of the phenomenon?
How does fission-fusion help maintain population levels?
Kottak Text/ Faces of Culture Film Links:
Kottak provides a list(p. 324) and detailed explanations of ethnographic field techniques
(pp. 325-9). What examples do you see of these, if any, in the Chagnon film? Do you see any data collected not discussed in Kottak?
Given Kottak’s narrative about the accusations brought forth against Chagnon for unethical behavior (pp. 320-2) and his discussion on ethics in ethnography (pp. 322-4), do you see any evidence of misuse of judgment in Chagnon’s field work methods?
Thinking About Anthropology Beyond the Film:
How does Chagnon gain the trust of the Yanomami in order to engage in the field technique of participant observation? Do you think this might be a difficult thing to do? What kind of preparation did he make to know what to do?
How does he present himself in the villages he travels to and what does he use to make friends and buy knowledge? How does he know this?
Why is Chagnon considered “not quite human” to the Yanomami and how does he try to become “human” as part of his ethnography in these communities?
FACES OF CULTURE II: Alejandro Mamani
Faces of Culture Film Synopsis:
Alejandro Mamani is a case study in psychological anthropology derived from ethnographic fieldwork in 1973 in Bolivia with the Aymara. This ethnography illustrates field techniques with a more narrow focus than How Cultures are Studied, also suggested for this chapter. In this film, we see that ethnographers did not noticed the subtleties through which Mamani’s status and power were revealed in the community until they started to study him more carefully in light of his spirit possession. Additionally, ethnographers are given the chance to observe certain events they might not have otherwise, such as the making of a will, indigenous views of western medicine, indigenous responses to prolonged spirit possession, and the indigenous concept of illness.
Fieldworkers became aware of an older man’s battle against spirit possession. He claims the possession occurred when returning from the cemetery after “Huanca’s” death. While the film does not establish the identity of this individual or the relationship to Alejandro, one can conclude he was very distraught as he says he was drinking and fell asleep on the side of the road. That night his sleep was interrupted by a spirit possessing him saying that three others had been devoured and he too would be devoured. He maintained that he would resist and investigate everything. Throughout the course of interviewing Alejandro and his family, fieldworkers become aware that he is regarded as a highly respected pillar of the community. He retained the central position of parade leader during the annual ceremony for the village saint and owned two plots of workable land. He believes the “gringo” has the answers for everything and asks the ethnographers to use their cameras to find his spirit. They offer aspirin and eventually, sleeping pills, hoping the effect will be uninterrupted rest. The effect is only temporary as the spirits now come to him during the day. As the film unfolds, he slips in and out of despair over his condition, sometimes threatening to go to the cliffs, perhaps a euphemism for suicide. Meanwhile, the pressure of supporting him and validating his sanity takes it toll on the extended family and they pressure him to make a will. He finally capitulates and makes his will, which results in a temporary abatement of his illness but ultimately results in a severe breakdown. The ethnographers learn that after their departure, Mamani did in fact go to the cliffs. As this is the ethnography of an individual, the interview schedule and cultural informant/key cultural informant techniques are highlighted. Additionally, the issue of ethics in terms of ethnographers interfering with Mamani’s illness is raised.
Faces of Culture Film Guide:
Do we see evidence of Mamani’s spirit possession in the film?
Why does Mamani “go to the cliffs”?
What evidence do you see of Mamani’s relatives supporting him and/or not supporting him?
What type of subsistence do the Aymara practice?
What kind of family groups do you see among the Aymara?
What are the influences of westernization on the Aymara?
Kottak Text/ Faces of Culture Film Links:
Kottak provides a list(p. 324) followed by lengthy explanations of ethnographic field techniques (pp. 325-9). What examples do you see of these, if any, in the Mamani film? Do you see any data collected not discussed in Kottak?
Given Kottak’s discussion on ethics in ethnography (pp. 322-4), do you see any ethical issues in this film in the interactions between the ethnographers and Mamani?
Thinking About Anthropology Beyond the Film:
From what you have learned of the Aymara and Mamani’s community, is Alejo’s spirit possession cultural meaningful in terms of the Aymara community? Do you think it is meaningful to him as an individual from what you have seen of him?
Do you find spirit possession cultural meaningful in your cultural context? Are there people within our culture who find spirit possession cultural meaningful or who are spirit-possessed?
Do you think that Mamani is, as the ethnographers suggest, making use of cultural devices to withdraw from his community and keep his life’s work intact in the process?
Do you think Mamani is insane?
What are the differences between illness and disease?
Kottak, Cultural Anthropology, Tenth Edition
Chapter 13: Culture
FACES OF CULTURE I: The Nature of Culture
Faces of Culture Film Synopsis:
The Nature of Culture explores notions of ethnocentrism, enculturation, and the shared, learned, symbolic, and integrated aspects of culture. If you would like to lecture exclusively on the shared, learned, symbolic and integrated aspects of culture, the film could be shown from the point where the ceremonies are introduced, by-passing the manioc cultivation/processing clip that explores enculturation, and showing the two ceremonies as separate clips as each illustrates different aspects of the definition. Or, the film could be shown in two segments, beginning with enculturation followed by a pause where the definition of culture is introduced and discussed and then visually supported by the second portion of the film. The last portion of the film could be excluded as it brings up issues (cultural change and globalization) that are not addressed by Kottak until later chapters. Alternatively, introducing these concepts early will help them grasp the holistic nature of anthropology
The use of the poisonous plant manioc, also called yucca and cassava, is an example of enculturation (p. 345) in Brazilian indigenous tribal populations. Enculturation in this situation teaches each new generation that manioc is a viable food source, that it is poisonous, and that there are ways of removing the cyanide during preparation; thus, enabling its use as a dietary staple. The shared, learned, and symbolic (pp. 345-9) aspects of culture are explored through two rituals: an annual ceremony for the dead and a right of passage into adulthood. Next, the integrated aspect of culture (p. 350) is shown via the cattle-herding Boran of Africa. They exist in a symbiotic relationship with their herds that likewise influences their language, ritual, and symbols. Interactions between the Boran and government tax officials demonstrate particularity (p.356) through the example of the Boran, who cannot understand the concept of taxation. Issues of culture conflict and change emerge because traditional Boran have no use for government assistance of any sort, especially education, while the youth show a keen interest in receiving a western education. This conflict highlights issues related to national/international culture, culture change, and globalization (pp. 352, 359). Lastly, technology and how culture is rapidly evolving in the wake of innovation is explored with a theoretical underpinning of ethical and responsible research development.
Faces of Culture Film Guide:
What cultural differences do you see between the British and the indigenous tribe at the beginning of the film?
What is so unusual about the use of manioc as food?
What are the symbols of the ceremony for the dead?
What are the symbols of the rite of passage into adulthood?