Language Experiment

Part 1: 
My partner chose a subject that he knew I would want to talk about (making it harder for me not to talk!), which was movies. Although I was permitted to use anything but my voice it was still challenging to get my words, let alone sentences across to him. I had to not only think of a word that had an action that he would understand but how I would put that word in to action along with the rest of my sentence I was trying to communicate to him. The conversation lasted for 15 minutes, however, if I was able to use words it probably would have been no more then a 5-7 minute conversation that was just starting and had not gone too in depth yet. It was funny and entertaining in the beginning but soon got frustrating when simple actions were misunderstood, making us have to back track over a whole part of the conversation again and find which 'word' was not understood. I have done an activity similar to this but it was a partner and I back to back, I was giving him directions and he was drawing what I was saying (Opposite of this experiment) and it was fun at first but then got irritating when the person showed you their drawing and it was not even remotely close to what you had told them and when you thought you gave them the simplest directions! My partner also said it was frustrating and even before the 15 minutes were up he just told me to talk to him because he couldn't understand what action or hand motion meant what, which frustrated him immensely. However, we both thought that with at least once person being allowed to talk it was easier then if both of us had to just shrug and move around to talk to each other.

Part 2:
This was the hardest part of the experiment!! I am such an animated person when I talk; laughing, using my hands, and tons of facial movements and this was really hard to get the hang of. My partner would tell me I made a movement here and there and we would start over, which irritated me to no extent after awhile! I finally imagined that my whole body and head were in a brace and the only part of me that could move were my lips and this worked wonders! We decided to change the subject and talk about politics, which was easy. Things that we talked about that were academic, like politics, were easy to say without emotion or movement because it doesn't require emotion or movement to get that information across since it's just information. Once we realized that politics wasn't a challenged we changed to talking about animals, specifically cute adorable kittens...this was extremely hard to talk about with some type of facial movement at least! We realized that talking about something that had emotional feeling to it, even if it just had attachment to me, was not only awkward sounding but almost like I was talking about something completely different instead of the cute cuddly kittens around the world! My partner said this would only 'work' if you were trying to convey some simple information that had no emotional attachment to the words, phrase, or subject and I agree completely with him since I didn't feel the need to get all animated talking about facts and information. However, bringing emotion in to the picture, I had to constantly start over or hold myself back from smiling, frowning, or just making any type of face in particular.

This experiment was hard, thought provoking, and made me realize the actions I do when I talk and even don't talk to get a point across. As well, having a partner give you feedback on how it was from an outside perspective was also interesting because I thought it would just be hard for me and boring or laughable to him but we both ended up getting frustrated near the end of the experiment so we could finally talk with words and understand each other. There were several major misunderstandings that drastically changed the conversation and because I could not correct him right away on the spot, it would take several actions for him to realize what I was saying. As well, I realized how important, at least for me, it is to use changes in your tone, facial movements, and even hand movements to help get your point across or even make you sentence/conversation flow better.

Zulu & Andean Indians

Zulu

1. Environment: A majority of the Zulu like in KwaZulu-Natal, which is located on th
   e east coast of South Africa. Due to an abundant of sun, warm climate, humidity, and light rain the surrounding environment is a lush green. Summer falls between September and April with January being the hottest month of the year, even winters are mild, making all year either warm or hot (17 Celsius - 32 Celsius).


2. Physical Adaption: Although their environment is relatively easy to live in and does not cause them to adapt however, because they are from a subtropical area where the sun is always shining their skin is darker (solar radiation stress) compared to those who live where the sun seldom shines who are primarily white. As well, their appears thicker and coarser to that of a white individual due to where they live and how they live their life; doing everything by hand and not being 'properly' clothed to avoid such things.
3. Cultural Adaption: Apartheid is rampant in South Africa which makes it hard for Africans to compete in the job market since they do not qualify (because they cannot be trained properly). In overcoming this they stick to their own tribe and farm vegetables and corn, while the men heard the cattle and because the Zulu's do not try and interfere with the cities they avoid disputes and keep their homeostasis.
4. 
   
   
   Race: The Zulu's are African therefore "black" and dark-skinned African and are "Ethiopians" according to Blumenbach's race splits. Due to the Zulu having dark skin and being from Africa they are classified according to their race and where they are from, which lead to their skin color. Black and Ethiopian best describe the Zulu's because they are dark skinned and from Africa.

Andean Indians

1. Environment: In central and north South America the weather is noted to be extremely unpredictable; from rain to shine to snow to thunder storms within the same several hours is not uncommon. However, Central America has a set dry and wet seasons with a narrow temperature spectrum, with a large spectrum between rainfall anywhere from 0-12 inches in a month (June and October for rain). The Andean regions (Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia) experience nothing but rain and heat with the average temperature being 90-95 F in the day and 68 F at night. Both areas make it hard to establish and maintain homeostasis.
   
   
2. Physical Adaption: Like the Zulu's the Andean's have a da
   rker complexion from the sun from solar radiation stress although they are not as dark as the Zulu they are still darker than their neighbors in North America. As well, because the they live on the Andes their lungs can accommodate more air; their lungs naturally grow larger than someone who was born at or below sea level because they have less oxygen due to being at a higher altitude. Their lungs may be so big that their ribs are larger to accommodate the larger lungs and make the people look large chested.
   
   
3. Cultural Adaptions: Due to being in the mountains the Andean's keep sheep and made wool and textiles were used to create purse like objects to hold items as well as for decorative reasons. With more cloth available then elements they made things instead of relying on the environment like trees to create everyday objects.They also build their homes out of stones rather than plant materials with the lack of vegetation, living in the hills, and needing constant protection from the heat and the rain.
4. Race: According to Blumenbach's race splits the Andean Indians would be placed in the "Malay" category because they are indigenous people in South America. Due to the fact that they are not white and live isolated in the mountains they fit in to this category.
   

Adaption vs. Race:

Speaking of adaptions is a lot easier and more logical, for me, to describe a group of people due to the fact that their race does not describe anything about who they are, what they do, and where they live. Although these tribes races do meet those standards, with immigration you can have all kinds of skin colors living where they do not "naturally" fit. While, adaptions enable you to see how the environment challenges and forces people to change in order to maintain homeostasis. I think that knowing peoples adaptions enables you to understand where that group lives and how they live while race just states what they color they are and where their ancestors lived. Adaption is a lot more useful to anthropologists because it has the ability to explain more than race has the capacity to explain.

Sources:

• http://www.southafrica.com/kwazulu-natal/climate/
• http://www.gateway-africa.com/tribe/zulu_tribe.html
• http://www.adventure-life.com/travel_details/weather_links.php
• http://www.highaltitudelife.com/physical.htm

Nacirema

A.

1. Body: I chose this word because it plays a huge part in the Nacirema's traditions and values. They believe "that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease". As well, being a part of the body, the mouth is sacred to them; "The Nacirema have an almost pathological horror of and fascination with the mouth...They also believe that a strong relationship exists between oral and moral characteristics". Their mouths are so important to them that they have a "mouth-rite" ("...the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures."), as well as "holy mouth men", who preforms torturous like 'healing' by "...open(ing) the client's mouth and, using the above mentioned tools, enlarges any holes which decay may have created in the teeth. Magical materials are put into these holes. If there are no naturally occurring holes in the teeth, large sections of one or more teeth are gouged out so that the supernatural substance can be applied". I believe picking 'body' describes the Nacirema because it is the center of their beliefs are a culture.
2. Shrine: I chose the word shrine because it is a way for them to physically see and touch their beliefs. Shrines are extremely important to the rich as they are to the poor, so much so that "...the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses". The shrines are "walled with stone" in the homes of the rich and "Poorer families imitate the rich by applying pottery plaques to their shrine walls". The rituals and traditions associated with the shrine are kept secret and "...are normally only discussed with children..." "The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into the wall. In this chest are kept the many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he could live". Most of these charms and potions are bought from the medicine man, who is the most powerful. These charms are not thrown away after they fulfill their job, however, over time many of the charms and potions true purpose has been forgotten and to be safe they stop using them for fear of abusing the magic. "Beneath the charm-box is a small font. Each day every member of the family, in succession, enters the shrine room, bows his head before the charm-box, mingles different sorts of holy water in the font, and proceeds with a brief rite of ablution". I chose the word shrine because it is the only physical way the Nacirema may participate in their beliefs since most things are done by the "holy-mouth men", the "listeners", or just by the medicine or herbalist man.
3. Faith: I chose faith because the Nacirema go through grueling and painful circumstances because of their faith in their beliefs. " The fact that these temple ceremonies may not cure, and may even kill the neophyte, in no way decreases the people's faith inthe medicine men". Some examples include; the mouth-rite "Were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them.", the holy-mouth men "These practitioners have an impressive set of paraphernalia, consisting of a variety of augers, awls, probes, and prods. The use of these objects in the exorcism of the evils of the mouth involves almost unbelievable ritual torture of the client.", and the temples "The latipso ceremonies are so harsh that it is phenomenal that a fair proportion of the really sick natives who enter the temple ever recover. Small children whose indoctrination is still incomplete have been known to resist attempts to take them to the temple because 'that is where you go to die.'" The Nacirema go through hell for their beliefs and will gladly face death to be cured of their "illnesses" of their "ugly" body. Someone new just coming into these traditions, such as the children, will be extremely turned off and confused and to why anyone would do such things but with time and generations these "horrific" scenes become normal, tradition, and a way of life and faith grows stronger and stronger. Those with strong faith have been going through these rituals for many years, while those with weak faith are brand new to them.
4. Magic: I chose magic because the Nacirema rely heavily on it to cure and rid themselves of their illnesses. Going back to the shrine and the charm box, which "In this chest are kept the many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he could live". The people believe that certain herbs and 'potions' are indeed their cure for whatever they are in need simply because the "medicine man", "holy-mouth man", or "listener" tell them it is. They put all their faith into these people and rely on their 'magic' to cure and rid them of evils. They put these people in charge and call them "magical practitioners" and because they have the most magic or able to control the most magic, they are put in charge to direct and help the 'average' person who is not capable of this advanced magical skills that they have obtained. I believe magic is a word describing the Nacirema because the people they depend on all have something to do with magic, and they put all their faith into these people because they are magical.
5. Gift: I chose gift to represent the 'magical' people of the Nacirema because many of them will only help or offer advice if a gift is given to them and not because they know they need to help. For example, "The most powerful of these are the medicine men, whose assistance must be rewarded with substantial gifts", who does not give the clients the potions but write in a "secret language only (understood) by the medicine men and by the herbalists who, for another gift, provide the required charm". Another example is in the latipso temples where "No matter how ill the supplicant or how grave the emergency, the guardians of many temples will not admit a client if he cannot give a rich gift to the custodian. Even after one has gained and survived the ceremonies, the guardians will not permit the neophyte to leave until he makes still another gift". I believe the word gift is appropriate for the "magical practitioners" rather than the everyday Nacirema because, although they are the only people who can 'cure' their clients illness they instead choose to exploit their clients in a time of need and require a gift for their life saving services.

B.

1. As an American I believe the words I picked were unbiased and had nothing to do with where I am from or my past. I tried to pick the words that described the Nacirema the most instead of the most interesting, new, or surprising to me. I tried to not think of my past or where I am from to influence my decisions of the words I picked.
2. Again, I don't believe the words or what I said were of an ethnocentric perspective. I tried to think of it as, if I had to tell someone who had no one who or about the Nacirema and their customs, which five words would describe them the best? I tried to come from an unbiased point of view and simply state the most descriptive parts of the Nacirema. I believe I am unbiased because I used many quotes from the article and left out personal opinion and thoughts and simply stated who these people were and why they do what they do. I also did not put an input on whether what they are doing is right or wrong; I just stated the facts and left out the opinions.
3. No biased words from my point of view.
4. I believe it is extremely important to avoid culture bias (any bias) when describing people and their culture because you have no right to disapprove or even approve a culture you have never been a part of (especially, just read an article about). The observer and reporter must leave their opinions, past, and background behind in order to get a true view of the culture they are observing. For example, one someone asks an opinion of a book they are reading from someone who already read the book and that person tells them how terrible the book was for reasons x, y, z; most likely you will look for x, y, z instead of coming from a blank slate perspective and missing a lot of information. Especially in the world of anthropology where it is about understanding and not judging, we must always check our mindset and make sure the information we are picking up and gathering applies directly to the people instead of pertaining to you.