Native Cultures Outline Lecture I

Elements of Culture The Cultural Ecological Paradigm –“Culture is Man’s extrasomatic means of adaptation” – White 1951 –Culture is shared, learned, & integrated –Culture is influenced by environment

Subsistence Strategies Hunting and Gathering (Foraging) –Relies on natural plants and animals in environment –Small group size (20-50) –Low population density (1/50 sq miles to 5/1 sq mile) –Politically simple Bands or tribes, almost always egalitarian –High mobility, usually seasonal Housing tipis, wigwams, wickiups Low amounts of wealth Baskets, bladders, skins (parfleches) –Lack of food storage –May be technologically simple or surprisingly complex

Subsistence Strategies Pastoralism –Relies on domesticated animals and sometimes crops –Medium group size (up to several hundred) –Low to medium population density –Politically more complex Tribes or Chiefdoms, but generally egalitarian –High mobility, often seasonal Housing like yurts or tipis, but can be semi-permanent Higher amounts of wealth due to draft animals Products from animal parts common –Lack of food storage “on the hoof” –May be technologically simple or surprisingly complex) –Not seen in North America Ducks, Turkeys, Dogs, Cavies, Llamas only domesticates

Subsistence Strategies Horticulture –Relies on simple cultigens, usually local in origin –Medium group size (several hundred people) –Medium to high population density (50/1sq mile & up) –Politically and socially complex Tribes and Chiefdoms, but generally egalitarian High kin importance –Sedentary Housing Longhouses, Pueblos, Daub and Wattle Higher amounts of wealth and status goods Pottery, farming and processing tools –Pottery, baskets, or boxes for food storage –Often technologically complex in arts and subsistence items

Subsistence Strategies Agriculture –Relies on more developed, often imported, cultigens –High group size (hundreds to thousands of people) –High population density (500/1sq mile & up) –Politically and socially complex Chiefdoms and States, always stratified High kin importance and non-kin rulership –Sedentary Housing Longhouses, Pueblos, Daub and Wattle, Earth Lodges Higher amounts of wealth and status goods Pottery, farming and processing tools –Pottery, baskets, or boxes for food storage –Often technologically complex in arts and subsistence items Monumental Architecture, Sciences, Writing, Public Works

Religious Beliefs What is Religion? –A set of rituals, rationalized by myth, that mobilizes supernatural powers Ritual – Patterns of behavior and timing with religious purpose Myth – Sacred narrative with supernatural actors Occurred long ago Tells how things came to be

More on Religion Functionalist Explanations –Psychological –Social –Cognitive Types of Religious Belief –Animism (supernatural spirits) –Animatism (Impersonal force) –Magic (pseudoscience) –Witchcraft (accidental? influence of Force)

Religious Practitioners Shamans Priests Medicine Men Sorcerers

Religious Rituals Rites of Passage –Puberty Ceremonies – Vision Quests Rites of Intensification –Funerals –Weddings Revitalization Movements –Ghost Dance and Wovoka –Longhouse Religion and Handsome Lake