This paper compares the research methodology used by anthropologists Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, who studied Kalahari Desert Bushmen, and Tim O'Meara, who studied Samoan planters.
Abstract This paper related that Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of "The Harmless People" (1989), and Tim O'Meara, author of "Samoan Planters: Tradition and Economic Development in Polynesia" (1990), used simple anthropological research methodology to study the influence of external forces like globalization and development on primitive civilizations, such as the Kalahari Desert Bushmen and the Samoan planters. The author points out that both anthropologists situated themselves in the community being studied. O'Meara mixed with the local Samoan farmers to learn how they behave and interact, whereas, Thomas relied only on her observations of the Bushmen. The paper relates that O'Meara's method, limited by his research question, focused on developmental stages rather than on how people evolved; on the other hand, Thomas concentrated on the outcome of her subjects' ways of living.
From the Paper "Taking each day at a time, he had been able to relate with the locals at a personal level. He encountered their personal life by mixing with the male members of society. For example, he learned why the male considered it illicit to meet with their sisters. The Samoan men were proud of their ability to deflower virgins but it was injurious to their family pride if their females were subjected to such conduct. O'Meara hence depended on mixing with the locals to learn how they behave and how they interact."
Abstract This paper presents a history of two major African groups in South Africa prior to the coming of the Europeans. They were referred to by the Dutch and Portuguese as ?Bushmen? and "Hottentots" or lumped together into a category called the Bantu.
This paper presents an overview of the African hunter-gatherers !Kung Bushmen, commenting on their physical and social environment, population and health, sex roles, childhood, family and marriage, kinship, and division of labor.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 7 sources, 1990, $ 47.95
From the Paper "There are few true hunter-gatherer societies living in the modern world. One of those societies, the !Kung-San Bushmen of Botswana and southern Africa, provide a unique and provocative look into societal evolution and the behavior of pre-agricultural and industrial societies. The life of the !Kung represents a way of life that was universal for Homo Sapiens until about 10,000 years ago, or with the advent of the agricultural revolution and all it entailed. With the !Kung, modern Anthropologists are able to glean "basic human social forms, language, and human nature.".
This paper will present an overview of the !Kung Bushmen, commenting on their physical and social environment, population and health, sex roles, childhood, family and marriage, kinship, and division of labor. One initial linguistic note: the Bushmen's oral language consists of a number of clicking sounds ... "
Abstract This paper examines "Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman", by Marjorie Shostak which is about an African people called the !Kung, or !Kung San, or Bushmen. They live in the Kalahari desert in southwestern Africa and the !Kung are hunter gatherers, also called foragers. It explains how this cross cultural comparison examines all we have in common with this way of life that is fading fast.
From the Paper "As a result of ignorance, most people living in the U.S. believe that our way of life is the only way of life. Consequentially, the different cultures of different societies are not truly appreciated for their complexity and beauty. An ethnography - an in-depth description of a culture based on firsthand experience - can change all that. Anyone who reads Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman, by Marjorie Shostak, an ethnography on the !Kung people, is bound to value this culture which is completely different from our own. They will also discover that although the culture is very foreign, many aspects of everyday human life resemble our own."
Abstract This paper examines a 1968 book by Clive Cowley, "Fabled Tribe: A Voyage to Discover the River Bushmen of the Okavango Swamps", which presents the racist and paternalistic attitudes that helped sustain South African apartheid. The reader can be swayed easily into thinking that this is scholarly source, the author suggests, because Cowley, who is not an academician but instead a South African journalist and a spokesperson for De Beers Diamond Company, uses a factual and descriptive approach rather than a more appropriate argumentative or personal tone. The paper explains, however, the many errors in Cowley's so called facts that are used to deride further the Khoisan or Bushman, thus infiltrating the minds of white South Africans with major biases.
From the Paper "From reading his background, the reader learns that he has no scientific expertise since he is a South African journalist and a spokesperson for De Beers Diamond Company. De Beers Diamond Company is notorious for engaging in unethical business practices (such as price fixing), exploiting South African land mines, and marginalizing the people who live there, especially the Khoisan. Hence, the fact that Cowley is a spokesman for such a seedy company possibly sheds light on his personal character and his disdain for the Khoisan."
Tags: paternalistic pseudo-scientific irresoluteness sensationalism, social darwinism
Abstract This paper presents an examination of globalization and how it impacts identity in Africa. The paper focus on the African Bushmen, and looks at group as well as individual identity issues as the Bushmen relate to the globalization process.
Outline:
Summary
Introduction
Historically
Globalization
Putting It All Together
Conclusion
From the Paper " In drawing a visual one can compare it to a phenomena commonly referred to as peer pressure in the world. It has long since been known that if one chooses to associate with a certain type of people it does not take long for that individual to begin to accept the mindset of the group. It does not take long for that person to begin excusing behaviors that may be questionable. In fact, there is a syndrome called the Stockholm Syndrome in which victims of kidnap and violence eventually begin to identify with their captors and become sympathetic to their cause. "
Abstract This paper compares and contrasts two studies by anthropologist Elizabeth Marshall Thomas author of "The Harmless People" (1989, Vintage Books/Division of Random House Inc., New York) and Tim O'Meara author of "Samoan Planters: Tradition and Economic Development in Polynesia" (1990, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.) in terms of how they conducted their research.
From the Paper "Anthropological study no doubt is complex and it is even more complex when one want to study how external forces like globalization and development influence primitive civilizations. The emergence of a new nation takes a long time to detect and only one who is fluent in the local culture can sense a difference. Two anthropologists Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of "The Harmless People" [1989] and Tim O'Meara author of "Samoan Planters: Tradition and Economic Development in Polynesia" (1990) have attempted to do the most difficult task of depicting the cultures under their study in print. Thomas, proud studier of the Kalahari Desert Bushmen, based her study on their cultures, tradition and how they came about to accepting globalization and development prevalent in other parts of Africa. Similarly, O?Meara took to the task of investigating the people of Samoa, a state independent since 1901. "
From the Paper "The Ju/'hoansi are bushmen of the Kalahari Desert who live in the area of northwestern Botswana near the border of Namibia. This location is important because the Kalahari and its relative isolation provide an environment that nourishes a significant foraging culture and isolates it from heavy penetration and influence by the outside world. This paper will examine how the Ju/'hoansi Bushmen's lives are influenced by their environment and how it affects their subsistence, political organization, mobility, and shelter.
In contrast to the conceptions of a Western industrialized culture as the pinnacle of human success, the Ju/'hoansi present a picture of steady work, steady leisure, and adequate diet (Lee iv). The traditional Ju/'hoansi need to work only a few hours a day to maintain a caloric level that enables them to live.."
Abstract This paper compares and contrasts the rituals and lifestyles of the Gwi, Kung and Hazda ,the oldest inhabitants of southern Africa where they have rapidly adapted to the environment by learning to gather or hunt for food mainly because of others taking their land and water. It examines how their lifestyles are changing to adapt to modern society and how currently the Gwi are fighting for their land, the Hazda refuse to speak up for their rights and the Kung have adjusted by making the needed changes to live like a modern man.
From the Paper "The Hazda continue to live as hunters-gatherers while their traditional waterhole is being taken over by others. One researcher reported that they were told that the Hazda could make money by leading tours, but they state all that they want it to be able to remain on their land and gather food as they have always done. They do not want to change. The research member refused to pay for the visit with the Hazda because the pay did not go to the tribe members. They can only go to the water hole at certain times of the day. The Hazda people are not like the Gwi in that they will not fight for their land."
Abstract This paper examines the Kalahari bushmen known as the Kung with regard to Gordon's work, explaining how the community has been left behind, amid modernization in Namibia and Botswana. Main argument pertains to how we see indigenous cultures, whether they should be 'preserved' or helped to adapt to modernity in ways that the people might benefit.
Abstract This paper, written by a native of Angola, describes the violent, strife-ridden, and tumultuous past of Angola and the impact this has had on the country's present affairs and conditions. The paper describes the early history of Angola before Portuguese rule, its culture, beliefs, and practices. It then looks at how Portugal, upon assuming leadership of the country, destroyed the culture, traditions, and peoples of Angola, and how this rule, while ended, still affects Angola today.
From the Paper "It pains me to talk about our situation here in Angola. During my entire young life, I have seen nothing but internal strife. Although Portugal is now out of our country, there is still unrest. I truly believe that things would have been much different if the Portuguese (and other Western countries) had not taken over and plundered our country. Portugal treated our people of Angola with contempt and indifference for five centuries of colonization. From as early as the 1400s to the 20th century, the Africans under the Portuguese rule only knew of slavery, hunger and bloodshed."
Abstract The paper explores, from an archeological perspective, how a hunter-gatherer society might nourish themselves in a desert. The paper focuses on the traditional lifestyle of the San people who live in the Kalahari desert. The paper describes how the San people have survived on a limited diet of animals and plants that is lacking in nutritional variation.
Outline:
Bushmen of the Kalahari
History of the San
Traditional San Culture
Analyzing Diets from an Archeological Perspective
Conducting An Assessment of the Primitive Diet
From the Paper "Archeologists spend much time conjecturing about how a certain group of people survived in a particular area. Often, the only clues they have are in the artifacts, or if they are lucky, an intact body. However, it is easy to forget that we have a valuable resource in our search for the hunter-gatherer "secrets" of how to survive in an inhospitable climate. The San, otherwise known as the Basarwa people, live in the Kalahari desert. The Kalahari is a vast desert that stretches over South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia. The San are often referred to as the "Bushmen" of the Kalahari."
