Category: Anthropology

The Yanomami are one of the most celebrated groups ever studied by cultural anthropologists. This is partially attributable to the anthropologist most closely associated with them, Napolean Chagnon. His 1968 book Yanomamö: The Fierce People described a quite violent group where the most aggressive men won the most wives and had the most children. In 2000, his methods were challenged by another anthropologist, Patrick Tierney who, among other claims, suggested that Chagnon altered the society by distributing machetes to his research subjects.
Below are excepts from Tierney’s article, The Fierce Anthropologist, that was published in the New Yorker magazine in October, 2000. Also included are excerpts from anthropologist John Tooby’s rebuttal to Tierney’s claims. While reading the pieces, consider the questions below. You may also want to find other information on the Internet.
What is the basis of Tierney’s claim? In other words, what did Chagnon do wrong? Do you agree or disagree?
Did Chagnon act in an unethical manner? Why or why not? What about Tierney? Was he acting ethically by publishing his findings?
What would you do if you were in Chagnon’s shoes? Remember that he had to do something to pay back his informants. What items would you distribute to them? Could these items cause problems?
What does this controversy tell you about the nature of anthropological research?
Excerpts from Tierney’s Article
In November, 1964, Napoleon A. Chagnon, a twenty-six-year-old American anthropology graduate student, arrived in a small jungle village in Venezuela, to study one of the most remote tribes on earth–the Yanomami Indians. The reality that Chagnon encountered was, in many ways, stranger than anything previously imagined. In his book, Chagnon gave both a harrowing account of a prehistoric tribe and a sobering assessment of what life was like for people whom he later referred to as “our contemporary ancestors. What was most striking about them was, he wrote, “the importance of aggression in their culture.” The Yanomami, he concluded, lived in a “state of chronic warfare”.
At the time of Chagnon’s first expedition, most of the Yanomami were mountain dwellers. They did not have much in the way of metal tools or personal possessions. Chagnon arrived in Yanomami territory in an aluminum rowboat with an outboard motor. He was carrying axes and machetes to give to the villagers as payment for their cooperation. Chagnon wrote that the first recipients of his gifts, all of whom were male, immediately left the village for remote settlements, where the axes and machetes could be used for trade. The Yanomami’s need to wage war, he observed, encouraged the breeding of males-and this, in turn, led to more war. Among anthropologists, this conclusion contradicted the conventional wisdom that primitive warfare was the result of competition for hunting territories, cropland, or trade routes. In 1988, he published an article in Science in which he reported that the Yanomami men who murdered had twice as many wives and three times as many offspring as non-murderers had. He concluded that, among the Yanomami, the act of killing bestowed status.
Anthropologist Kenneth Good calls Chagnon “a hit-and-run anthropologist who comes into villages with armloads of machetes to purchase cooperation for his research. Unfortunately, he creates conflict and division wherever he goes.” Anthropologist Brian Ferguson noted that by Chagnon’s own account, he shuttled between enemy villages and cultivated “informants who might be considered ‘aberrant’ or ‘abnormal’ outcasts in their own society,” and who would give him tribal secrets in exchange for beads, cloth, fishhooks, and, above all, steel goods. To get the data he wanted, Chagnon, by his own account, began “‘bribing’ children when their elders were not around, or capitalizing on animosities between individuals.” Ferguson writes that Chagnon stirred up village rivalries by behaving like a regional big man and an “un-Yanomami…wild card on the political scene.”
Excerpts from John Tooby’s Response
Through 10 years of dogged sleuthing, it would seem, Tierney dragged a conspiracy of anthropological wrongdoing into the light. Last week, when finalists for this year’s National Book Awards were announced, Darkness in El Dorado was listed in the nonfiction category. There is only one problem: The book should have been in the fiction category. When examined against its own cited sources, the book is demonstrably, sometimes hilariously, false on scores of points that are central to its most sensational allegations. After looking into those sources, I found myself seriously wondering whether Tierney had perpetrated a hoax on the publishing world.
Chagnon was said to have been the main cause of the violence he saw among the Yanomamö and more generally to have twisted his scholarly portrayal of them to bolster his Hobbesian theories of human nature. Tierney claims that Chagnon, to support this view, exaggerates Yanomamö violence. He doesn’t mention the fact that the rates of violence Chagnon documents are not high compared with the rates found by anthropologists in other pre-state societies. Nor does he mention Chagnon’s view that, if anything, the Yanomamö’s rate of lethal violence is “much lower than that reported for other tribal groups.” Not only does Tierney generally ignore inconvenient data, citing only anthropologists who disagree with Chagnon. He also, time and again, has a way of magically turning anthropologists whose data support Chagnon into anthropologists who contradict him.
Tierney says that competition over the pots and machetes and other steel tools that Chagnon gave the Yanomamö sometimes led to war. This is logically possible. The Yanomamö certainly valued Chagnon’s gifts, since cutting the jungle back for their crops was much easier with machetes. But Tierney fails to mention that Chagnon’s contributions (made so that he would be allowed to collect data) were dwarfed by all the other sources of such items, such as the military, who hired Yanomamö laborers, and especially the vast mission system, which imports boatloads of machetes and other goods, and even has its own airline. While Tierney considers Chagnon’s distribution of steel tools an outrageous threat to peace, he amazingly gives a free pass to the introduction by others including some missionaries of hundreds of shotguns. These weapons are known to have been used by the Yanomamö in raiding from mission areas to the less well-armed villages where Chagnon worked.
Content of Messages
Does it matter what you say in your messages? The simple answer is “not really”. The goal of discussions is to get you to engage the course material with others. As long as you are contributing to the topic, I will not mark you down for posting something that is incorrect. One other practice that will lead to reduced scores is consistently using poor grammar. Remember that you are in college and should be communicating accordingly. For the discussions, you should feel free to discuss things in a fairly relaxed manner, but do make attempts to capitalize correctly, use punctuation, and to check spelling. A final note is that posts should be at least three sentences in length to be counted as followups.

For this assignment you will choose a character from Part II of Voyages. Look through the reading to find details about their life, and then answer the discussion questions from their point of view. Think about how he or she would answer each question. Write your answer using the first person. Characters to choose from: Seini, Eseta, Manu, Malia, Atu, Finau, Palu (Emma), Vei, Lio Jr.
Watch the Watch VL 7: Voyages and Transnationalism. Choose a character and use your character’s name as the first line of your post (like a title). (Hit reply to my thread). (There are 9 possible characters to choose from. Only 5 people can pick each character. So, make sure to read through the posts and pick a character who has fewer than 4 threads. Characters to choose from: Seini, Eseta, Manu, Malia, Atu, Finau, Palu (Emma), Vei, Lio Jr.

Answer the discussion questions from your character’s point of view. Use specific details from the book. You can use quotes, but put the events in your own words. (Write 150-250 words total).
Give a brief introduction of you, your family and your life. What is the most important experience you have had in your life and why?
Tell us about what your home looks like and what your home means to you. In this you could describe the significance of the design, rooms, decorations, how it was built, who lives there, where it is, etc. How does this home differ from the places where other people in your family (or village) live?
Do you feel Tongan, American, Tongan American or something else and why? Has this changed over time? How do you feel that migration has impacted your family, your life and culture?
How do you feel about being interviewed by Cathy Small and being part of her book? Do you feel that Cathy is part of your family, why or why not? What do you think is the value of participating in an anthropological study like this one? Were there any negative aspects of participating in her study? 
Ask a question to another character (either from your character’s perspective or from your etic anthropologist’s perspective)
Etic Analysis: Now take on the anthropologist’s role and talk about what is going on from an etic perspective. To do this find a quote or term from this week’s reading The Art of Being Human: Globalization that better helps you understand or illustrate what is going on with your character, this family, Tongan migration, etc. Include the quote and a couple sentences about why you chose that or how it relates to your character or the discussion. You could mention global, transnational forces, power, etc.

CLICK on http://granadacentre.co.uk
SELECT one film project from the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology current list or archive.
Imagine to be working on this production together with the Granada student filmmaker. Making use of examples, theories,
and ideas from this course and readings briefly discuss:
– What did you like or not like about the Granada student filmmaker’s film?
– Which anthropological concepts do you think the student is trying to convey?
– Which ethics issues would you suggest to be addressed or expanded in the film?
– Which ethic suggestions would you give the student to achieve these goals?
1. Develop a clearly discernible thesis; do not merely summarize the film synopsis.
2. Cite a minimum of 1-2 different concepts from the course;
3. Min. 5 pages (double space, including references) NO AI 

Answer the questions in the document as you go through each video (turn on closed captioning if useful). Write in complete sentences and in your own words, and give enough information to fully answer the questions asked.
Each of the questions has a video which must be used to answer. Please only use the documents that are in the instructions section, nothing from outside. The questions you must answer are in the file.
1. Dr. Meave Leakey: “Piecing Together Human Ancestors” https://youtu.be/ZsvRi59–IQ
2. Dr. Louise Leakey: “Digging for Humanity’s Origins” https://youtu.be/V-TGxJI4JwA
3. Dr. Zeresenay Alemseged: “Finding the Origins of Humanity” https://youtu.be/JVbl-IaklIo
4. Dr. Lee Berger: “Discovering Homo naledi: Journey to find a Human Ancestor”
Dr. Berger has discovered and described TWO new hominin species in South Africa in the past ~20 years, which is really incredible. In the Part 1 video, he describes how he discovered hundreds of cave sites and the moment his 9-year-old son found a fossil skull of the previously unknown Australopithecus sediba hominin. In Parts 2 and 3, Dr. Berger describes the incredible fossil site at Dinaledi Cave, the challenges of that research location, and the bizarre physical characteristics of new species Homo naledi.
Watch Part 1 as an introduction: https://youtu.be/36_LNsN9W3s
Part 2: https://youtu.be/Z04rDGM7pk8
Part 3: https://youtu.be/RqyI_0H6uHM
5. Imagine you are a professor teaching Anthropology 101, and you have to create a homework assignment for your wonderful and brilliant students. Pick one of the articles or videos in the list below, and write THREE questions based on the information in that resource, and give the correct answers as well. Include the name of the video or article you looked at.
Article & video options for part #5: 
A Journey to the Oldest Cave Paintings in the World
Age of ‘Hobbit’ species revised
Ancient DNA plots centuries of genetic changes that have shaped modern man
Ancient Human Fossil Could Be New Primitive Species
Controversy and Excitement Swirl around New Human Species

Homework Questions
Suppose that you were a graduate student at a university and for your research, you were going to do an ethnography of surfers in Malibu, California. In order to prepare for your extensive study, you first decided to do a week-long study of them. What would you do? Explain how you would spend your week with the surfers, including a description of the kind of information you would like to learn from them initially. What kind of methodology would you use? Would you use structured or unstructured interviews?
As you learned in this module, language is a reflection of culture. There is a tendency for a large number of words to develop around areas of culture that are important to members of the society. For example, there are lots of ways of referring to beer (suds, brew, cold one, etc). Choose an area of American society (that was not discussed in the textbook or lecture) that shows a similar pattern. You should select an area where there are lots of ways of saying the same thing (like “beer” for a type of alcohol made from barley). (a) Name some of the terms involved in that area and (b) explain why that element of culture is important (e.g., because alcohol consumption is important in our society as a means to relax and socialize) and why so many terms are required (e.g., one might grab some brews with one’s friends, but would ask a boss out for an IPA – a type of beer – in order to show sophistication).
Do the Anthropological Thought Exercises found in the Module 3 Study Guide. Use the movements described in the online lectures for your answers (unilineal evolution, historical particularism, functionalism, structural functionalism, updated evolutionary approaches, idealism, and materialism). Do not include the prompts in your answer. I already know what they are.
Homework Instructions
You must follow these guidelines when submitting homework. In addition, please review the homework guidelines.
Turn your work in on time. Late assignments will be accepted, but will be marked down for every day late.
Do not include the questions with your answers. If you do, I will initially assign you 0 points until you send me a message saying you understand this requirement.
Submit all three answers at the same time.
Paste your answers into the submission box. Do not attach separate files.
Rely only on the class material (lectures and textbook), unless otherwise specified. Using any outside information will result in 0 points for any question where outside material is used.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Do not submit work that others have turned in. This will result in 0 points for the entire assignment.
Homework Instructions
Your efforts should correspond to the fact that you are turning in college-level work. Homework questions are designed to be challenging since this is the only part of the class that forces students to apply the material from the lectures and textbook. Students cannot wait until the last minute and expect high scores. Providing information that is only marginally related to the question topic will not be worth many points. Sometimes, answers can be found right in the course materials and all you need to do is demonstrate that you understood the material. In other instances, you will have to apply what you learned to novel situations.
Homework answers must be in sentence format. You should proofread your submission since points can be lost for poor grammar. The length of your answer will vary, depending upon the type of question being asked. Sometimes a single sentence will suffice for part of a question, while in others a few paragraphs are required. Make sure you specifically answer the questions being asked and that you answer each question that is being asked. Adding extra information that is not really related to the question will not yield additional points.
Using outside information is not necessary, unless otherwise specified, and is actually discouraged. You should rely on the information from the class lectures and/or the textbook. If you have trouble, then email me and I can point you in the right direction.
Feedback is not automatically given for final submissions of homework. If you would like to know how you did and why you received the number of points assigned, simply contact me and I will leave feedback.

Discussion Prompts:
Can you piece together from the readings and earlier material, the reasons, economics and politics behind all this movement, addressing the role and legacy of colonialism?
Douglass discusses the “spheres of influence” that colonialism creates. It’s important to remember, though, that influence runs both ways. Consider some of the ‘give and take’ involved in colonialism.
What role did colonial expansion play in the shaping of Europe?
Reminders: 
Please note that these prompts are not the last word on what you could discuss, nor do you have to ‘answer’ all of them. These prompts are suggestions, although I do consult them when making up quiz questions. What else from the readings and film sparks your interest or do you think worthy of discussion? The only requirement is that you stay generally on topic.
Do reference and cite the week’s material, as well as cite any outside material you draw from. I do not require a specific reference style; most of you are probably most familiar with the APA
350 initial post. 150 reponse. 

Discussion Prompts: 
One of the things I’d like you to think about (and discuss) this week is the way that the creation of ‘invented traditions’ and the attempted articulation of a shared ‘European identity’ in the EU may or may not jibe with the immigrant experience, as well as the efforts of former Eastern block and new states to ‘create’ an identifying history for themselves as they seek to articulate what it means to be Czech or Slovak or Ukrainian, etc.
What tools does the EU use to create group cohesion? Many of these are mentioned in the readings, but I also encourage you to look at the  European Union (https://european-union.europa.eu/index_en), where many of these symbolical devices are quite explicitly described.
Looking through news items, what can you say about the impact of the Eurozone crisis on European unity and identity? Will it survive?
Again using current events – Ukraine, Scotland, Brexit – reflect upon the potential for ‘unity building’ to actually feed into conflict and continued resurgences of nationalism. There, too, ‘invented traditions’ play a part, do they not?
Reminders: 
Please note that these prompts are not the last word on what you could discuss, nor do you have to ‘answer’ all of them. These prompts are suggestions, although I do consult them when making up quiz questions. What else from the readings and film sparks your interest or do you think worthy of discussion? The only requirement is that you stay generally on topic.
Do reference and cite the week’s material, as well as cite any outside material you draw from. I do not require a specific reference style; most of you are probably most familiar with the APA.  
350 intial post. 150 reponse. 

The case this week reflects the state of American law as it pertains to the treatment of new immigrants today.
Particularly, the policing of new immigrants and their rights in the United States .

Pick a topic for your final paper. Your paper should focus on ONE of the following themes as it relates to the construction of the self (subjectivity): Migration – how do experiences of migration influence how people define themselves?
Religion – how do religious and spiritual practices impact people’s sense of the self, and how are they shaped by social processes? Embodiment – how does the way you think about your body affect your experience of social violence, illness, or healing?
Environment – how do the ways that people define themselves ecologically or relationally impact their experiences of selfhood? Discipline/technology – how do everyday state practices of discipline and surveillance affect people’s constructions of the self?
Propose a different theme to me that interests you!
Research this topic through the available scholarly literature. (Textbooks,newspapers, magazines, encyclopedias, and most websites are NOT scholarly works). Find 5-7 sources that discuss the historical and political context of your topic, as well as the details of your topic. You can use non-English scholarly sources if you like. Your final paper will have two parts: (1) A historical section that connects your topic to colonialism, imperialism, or capitalism. You should reference at least 1 reading from class in this section (2-3 pages). (2) An anthropological section that describes your topic and makes a scholarly argument about how selfhood is being defined, practiced, embodied, shaped, etc. within your topic (4-5 pages). Since you only have 6-8 pages to work with, you should focus on one particular practice by a specific community. For example:
How do queer immigrants use art to negotiate their relationship to a sense of “home”? How does the everyday act of prayer shape how Muslim immigrants relate to “American” space? How do Portuguese-speaking African migrants define what it means to be Black through mutual aid to support each other?
How do Palestinians create anticolonial definitions of nationhood through foraging for wild edible plants like za’atar?
How does the everyday policing of MTA turnstiles and fare evasion affect how people in Jackson Heights experience belonging/exclusion in NYC?
How does [everyday practice] shape how [community] relates to [theme/topic of interest]? TO SUBMIT FOR PART I:
Submit:
A short paragraph explaining your topic
A list of 5-7 sources on your topic – see this guide on finding sources
Notes on 2-3 of your sources (~2 pages)

The instructions are in the document. I have also uploaded both books I have used for the class to help.