Maasai

The great rift valley is a fault in East Africa that is over 3600 miles wide ranging from southern Kenya to north central Tanzania. This rural area experiences about 500 to 800 mm of rainfall a year. It has various temperatures ranging from 80 to 100 degrees. The variance in temperature is due to different elevations of the area. It can be up to 1300 ft above seal level or 6000 ft below sea level. The area does not experience seasons, it has wet and dry periods. Has some of the finest wildlife parks in Africa. It is home to species such as the black rhino, the Columbus monkey, antelopes, giraffes,hippos and gazelles. It also harbors many different exotic plants for example: landscape consists of patches of evergreen forest separated by wide expanses of short grass forest has survived human encroachment, it includes economically valuable trees such as cedar. In this vast land lives the Massai people. Which has The Maasai population has been estimated to over 400,000. Cattle plays a central role in the life of the Maasai. Cattle represents food and power; the more cattle a Maasai has, the richer he is and therefore the more power and influence he will have within his tribe. However, Due to the dry seasons, there are restrictions of grazing lands which has reduced the Massai's reliance on cattle raising, and has forced some to engage in limited cultivation, growing maize for food, some vegetables, and barley for selling

Physical adaptation : Since Kenya is closer to the equator, they are exposed to a lot more sun. Being exposed more to the sun means Sunlight is the main source of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which can damage the genes in your skin cells. UV light is thought to be the major risk factor for most skin cancers. People who live in places with year-round, bright sunlight have a higher risk. For example, the risk of skin cancer is twice as high in Africa. The highest rate of skin cancer in the world is in places that are closer to the equator. Spending a lot of time outdoors without covering your skin and using sunscreen increases your risk, as well as why the maasai people are very dark in skin color. However another reason is that the sun makes the land dry, and difficult to farm and/ harvest crops. In which, this may dry up the water as well. During the time of drought the maasai people try to preserve the water, and if need be they stock up on water, meanwhile if they don’t have enough they sell and trade goods. Overall, this doesn’t stop them from living there traditional customary way of life. They may struggle hard, but the maasai people really are determined and strong willed people.

Cultural adaptation:

Kenyan government, along with some conservationist groups, have come close to eradicating the Maasai way of life. Traditional means of sustenance, medicine, water, and education have been labeled as inefficient by western influences and newly empowered Kenyan government. The Maasai people have found it hard to maintain their cultural traditions and their need to adapt to a changing social, political and economic background. Due to influence from other cultures (mostly western), the traditional Maasai way of life is increasingly threatened. Over the years, many projects have begun to help Maasai tribal leaders find ways to preserve their traditions while also balancing the education needs of their children for the modern world. The emerging forms of employment among the Maasai people include farming, business (selling of traditional medicine,running of restaurants/shops, buying and selling of minerals, selling milk and milk products by women, embroideries), and wage employment (as security guards/ watchmen, waiters, tourist guides), and others who are engaged in the public and private sectors. This again, has proven to be hard for the maasai people since they still want to keep there traditional ways of living, but with today day and age cant since the world today keeps evolving.

1. Language:

The Maasai, Masai or Maa language is a member of the East Niolitic branch of the Nilo-Saharan
language family spoken by about 900,000 people in southern Kenya. The term Maasai refers to "one
who speaks the Maa language".
Maasai is taught in schools some extent, though the languages of instruction are Swahili and English.



There is a Maasai dictionary, a Maasai translation of the Bible, and a few other publications, Some
unique traits the maasai langauge has 30 contrastive sounds, Maasai has advanced tongue root vowel
harmony. but generally the language is not used in writing very much.

2. Gender Roles: There are two specific genders in the maasai culture such as male:female, no other form of gender is accepted in this society.

 Identify general gender roles: What are the defining roles for the genders in your culture? Age and gender among the Maasai determined by social interactions, household duties, political power, and rituals. Men and women, as in any world society, have different rights and responsibilities. For women, there are only two groups: married and unmarried. For men, They herd small stock and calves then move up to cattle. responsible for protecting the village, serving as messengers for the elders, and going on raids to steal livestock from neighboring villages. 

 How strictly defined are these roles? Are there strict delineations of these gender roles or can there be crossover, with one gender being permitted to perform the roles of the opposite gender? Younger uncircumcised men endure hunger, physical hardships, and continual ridicule and hazing from their family. They have to be circumcise. Circumcision represents a transformation from a weak boy to a warrior. As they grew older, men attained more and more responsibility. Once the men become senior elders, the level of village duties and decisions go down. once a warrior, they need to accumulate wealth in order to with hold there women. As for the women, they as well have to get circumsied but are allowed to cry. Once this is done, the women are allowed to start a family. And expand there sexuality with only the elders.

 Are there negative repercussions (social/financial/physical) for one gender performing the roles of another?

If a man was to do any of the women work then the tribe ridicules him. He then looses his status in his tribe.

 How do the young of this culture learn their appropriate gender roles? Describe the process of how the culture’s gender roles are passed on from generation to generation.

The Maasai- young women helped their mothers with household chores and caring for the younger children in preparing for whats ahead. As for the younger men they get to do what they want until they are ready to be circumcised and be initiated into becoming a warrior.

 Discuss the relationship between biology and gender roles. In the massai culture the men are viewed

as the stronger and more powerful sex. Hence, their roles as warriors and elders for guidance. The men

are allowed to have multiple wives, and the women are then beaten forty strokes and fined nine cows for

adultery. Women are only as powerful as the massai man she marries. Hence, roles such as building the

house along with other chores such as tending to the children and cleaning up after the men. Going into adulthood, massai males are allowed to act as they wish while females are to trained to be obedient.

From what I read in the article in “blessed cursed” I feel as though what had happened to her in her own culture, would happen to her in the maasai culture, reason being, is they are very religious people and the maasai would take it as a negative aspect. As they have struggled so would have them if they were an maasai.

1. Subsistence: Maasai have grown dependent on food produced in other areas such as maize meal (unga wa mahindi), rice, potatoes, cabbage (known to the Maasai as goat leaves), etc. The Maasai who live near crop farmers have engaged in cultivation as their primary mode of subsistence. Kenya selling, not just goats and cows, but also beads, cell phones, chacoal, grain among other items. Most of these are seasonal items. As for the massai gender roles, For example: Age-younger males have the most work and younger females work with the older women, sex-males are warriors, elders, women do chores such as building the house, cleaning, milking the cows, making clothes and beading for the husband and children, and tending to the children. social class-elder men have the most power and do the least amount of physical labor. Married women have the most work and are beaten for disobedience. As for the Younger males when they are uncircumcised males are starved .

2. Economic systems: The Maasai economy is increasingly dependent on the market economy. Livestock products are sold to other groups in Kenya for the purchase of beads, clothing and grains. Cows and goats are also sold for uniform and school fees for children. More recently, the Maasai have grown dependent on food produced in other areas such as maize meal (unga wa mahindi), rice, potatoes, cabbage (known to the Maasai as goat leaves), etc. The Maasai who live near crop farmers have engaged in cultivation as their primary mode of subsistence. In these areas, plot sizes are generally not large enough to accommodate herds of animals; thus the Maasai are forced to farm. Our people traditionally frown upon this. Maasai believe that utilizing the land for crop farming is a crime against nature. Once you cultivate the land, it is no longer suitable for grazing. The concept of private ownership was, until recently, a foreign concept to the Maasai. As far as labor is concerned, the massai people specialize in cattle herding, bead making, and trading of milk. She can sell milk to buy other items for her household; like maize, potatoes, and beans. The money from the sale of milk is kept by her, while the money from the sale of livestock is kept by her husband. As a type of currency, massai people use cattle. However the negative effects on there culture, sometimes they might not produce enough in order to trade.

1. Marriage: The maasai culture would be considered polynamorous. The massai do not participate and paracticing in cousin marriage, they practice exogamy. Marriages are arranged by the elders, without consulting the mothers or the girls being handed off. If they were to say no, they would be beaten. Women are married off young often 20 to 30 years younger than their husbands. The bride price is cattle. Males are viewed as more valuable than females in the massai culture. Women are viewed as property, much like the cattle and are left nothing to inherit. A women is usually sold to a man from a different homestead who she does not know. This is called exogamy for although she is raised in a community where she may have relationships with other young men, when she is to marry it is to someone she does not know, from outside her homestead. it is considered taboo to look back towards her old home after a girl is married and on her way to her new one. In fact, to ward off bad omens it is common for the women of the groom's family to insult her as she walks. Certain types of same-sex activity were tolerated in tribal tradition, but only as childish behaviors unworthy of an initiate. In tribes where initiation involves long periods of separation from female contact along with powerful emphasis on male group bonding (Maasai), situational homosexuality is not uncommon. When limited to mutual self-pleasuring, it is regarded as merely unmanly. Oral or anal intercourse can, however, result in expulsion from the age set, severe beatings, and disgrace. One finds some nonpenetrative homosexual behavior among Maasai askaris (guards) who have migrated to Nairobi or the coast. There are no homosexual gender roles, it has been tabooed to the point that subcultural social norms have never developed .

2. Kinship:

Patrilineal kinship, the descent is traced through the male line to establish group membership, when the

maasai parents die, the daughters don’t inherit nething. Property is only left to the son's, and the

daughters do not inherit anything. When they are married off they are sent to live with another tribe and

cutting off the linkage of there own. The maasai emphasizes the importance of the male linage, and

ignores the female linage. Elder males exhibit most authority in the maasai culture. Some examples of there

unique naming patterns are :

daughters=intoyie

ilayiok, or uncircumcised boys

illmuran, or warriors

ilpayioni, or junior elders

a girl (en-kerai) into a woman (en-tito)

A Maasai homestead (manyatta

Nditos (uncircumcised girls)

1. Social Organization:

For maasai people, the tribal society is stratified. The reason it is not is because women do not have a

voice in decisions making it is generally made by the elders, and they are the ones that hand out tasks by

the tribe. Gender and age define social levels in the Masaa tribe. Also, the amount of cattle is an indicator

of status. A masaai male becomes a changes his status as he ages, obtains more wives and cattle.

2. Political Structure

Masculinity was defined by different stages of life, including that of boy, warrior, elder and ancient

elder. The most exalted stage of Maasai manhood was the warrior stage though the elders held more

power emanating from the patriarchal structure of power relations.

the amount of cattle a masaai male has tells his social status. The more cattle he has, the more powerful he is viewed by his tribe.Maasai men gained social status through being herdsmen with the size of herds having much subsistence and social value, thereby denoting wealth and status. As far as power being transferred, for being in the maasai tribe it would depend on your status. The elders determine the laws of the Masaai. Punishment is delivered in the form of beatings. For example, A circumcised woman was forbidden from having sex with anyone but the elders. Both the woman and warrior would be beaten severely if an elder caught the transgression.

The Role of Violence

If a women commits adultery, she then gets Beats her 40 strokes and fines her 9 cattle. She will still go

back to her lover. Very common. If a woman does not, she is ridiculed by the other women. Another

example would be that Circumcisions for both sexes. They have to endure the pain for males and the

women are allowed to cry.

1. Religion: Provide the following information on your culture’s religion.

The Maasai god is called Enkai. Enkai is seen as male and female at the same time. In the Maasai religion, Enkai is believed to manifest in many forms, including in mountains, colours and the moon. A religious leader of the Maasai is called a Laibon. They are believed to descend from Enkai and therefore have religious authority. They are believed to have the power to heal and to give prophesies. A Laibon isn’t a political leader but he does have the right to declare wars. This religion would be considered monotheistic.

c. Does their religion have an origin story of how their culture/people came to be? Summarize the story.

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The Maa speaking peoples of East Africa believe that at the beginning sky and earth were one, and the Maasai did not have any cattle. God (Enkai) then let cattle descend from the sky along a bark rope (or leather strap or firestick), and the Maasai received all cattle that currently exists in the world. The Dorobo (Ildorobo people), a group of hunters and gatherers, did not receive any cattle, and therefore proceeded to cut the rope, producing a separation between heaven and earth, and stopping the flow of cattle from God. From that belief, it follows that there is a direct link between God and cattle, and that all cattle in the world belong to the Maasai.

Also frequently misunderstood in the West is the concept and practice of sacrifice, which often accompanies communal prayers and important social occasions, and is in fact an integral part of the ceremonies. In its most basic form, sacrifice involves a person or people giving something that is valuable to them (such as food or animals) to God, in the hope that God repays the attention paid Him by blessing the people in whatever form requested, for example by bringing rain to end a drought, or calling off a flood, or quelling disease, or simply blessing a newly married couple or their child - whatever the people have a need of at the time.

2. Art

a. Artwork:

The Maasai art is dominated with bead work. The bead work is slightly different from section to section.

The collection of artwork includes a full Maasai bridal costume, elders’ traditional objects, and a warrior's outfit. The specific art pieces includes jewelry, a shield, a warrior’s spear, ceremonial headdress, ceremonial clothing made of leather, tribal game board, among many other art pieces. These are not the usual Maasai artworks found in curio shops or in commercial art galleries. They are authentic pieces found only in Maasailand.

b. Music:

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Maasai music traditionally consists of rhythms provided by a chorus of vocalists singing harmonies while a song leader, or olaranyani, sings the melody. Women chant lullabies, humming songs, and songs praising their sons. Nambas, the call-and-response pattern, repetition of nonsense phrases, monophonic melodies repeated phrases following each verse being sung on a descending scale, and singers responding to their own verses are characteristic of singing by females.When many Maasai women gather together, they sing and dance among themselves.

100. Performance: The Masai dance that is repeatedly seen in African documentaries is usually called the "jumping dance". This particular dance is performed by the men of the village, who leap into the air to show their strength and stamina as tribal warriors.

Conclusion: Cultural Change

Impact of the world outside your culture: Today it seems as though that we are trying to industrialize Africa all together. But, they are trying there hardest to keep it very traditional, and preserve there customs. The maasai people are definitive endangered of loosing there culture identy. We also today, set tours to go through and see how they live, since there culture is so different then ours. But at least it creates jobs and revenue to go back into there country. Although it has also created active charitable projects to fund the country to help them get on track, for example cleaner water, and schools. The plus side is that they can decrease the amount of people that are sick as well as getting more people better educated. ALthough a lot of the maasai people want where they live to stay very traditional, as well as there customs, it seems to really mean a lot to them.

Works Cited

Code, African. "Beja." PEOPLE OF AFRICA. Unknown, 2001. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://www.africanholocaust.net/peopleofafrica.htm>.

Finke, Jens. "Maasai Introduction - Traditional Music & Cultures of Kenya." Maasai Introduction - Traditional Music & Cultures of Kenya. Traditional Music and Culture of Kenya, 2000. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/tribes/maasai/>.

Kate. "The Maasai: East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania)." The Maasai: East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania). About.com, 2012. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://goafrica.about.com/library/bl.maasai.htm>.

"Kenya Tribes." - The Cultures and Lifestyles of the Tribes of Kenya. Kenyas Information, 2012. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://www.kenya-information-guide.com/kenya-tribes.html>.

"Kitumusote." History of the Maasai. 2006. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://www.kitumusote.org/history>.

"Maasai Age-sets - Traditional Music & Cultures of Kenya." Maasai Age-sets - Traditional Music & Cultures of Kenya. 2003. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/tribes/maasai/agesets.htm>.

"Maasai Culture | Ceremonies and Rituals." Maasai Culture | Ceremonies and Rituals. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://www.maasai-association.org/ceremonies.html>.

"Maasai Primary School | Kenya." Maasai Primary School | Kenya. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://www.maasai-association.org/primary-school.html>.

"The Masai: Maintaining Culture." The Masai: Maintaining Culture. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/cultures/masai.htm>.

Tribes, African -. "African Tribes." African Tribes. African Tribes.org, 2008. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://www.african-tribes.org/index.html>.f

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Williams. "Maasai American Organization - Dedicated to the Promotion of Education and Community Health." Maasai American Organization - Dedicated to the Promotion of Education and Community Health. Web Weavers. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://www.maasaiamerican.org/people.htm>.

It is stated on the site we read “There are some 6,000 representations of animals at Lascaux. Images of horses are by far the most numerous, followed by equal numbers of stags and aurochs, and then by ibexes and bison. The few representations of carnivores, such as bears and felines, are found in the furthest corners of the cave – a characteristic shared with other sites. Carnivores keep a very low profile in the real world, and this is also true in the cave. Sanctuaries in which a human figure appears more than once are rare indeed, and Lascaux is no exception. It contains one single image of a anthropomorphic figure, in the Shaft Scene. More frequently, the graphic rendering of the human figure is limited to one anatomical segment: negative or positive hand images and representations of the female – and much less often, the male – sex. Human images can also take on a cryptic aspect, with the substitution of animal parts for human ones, including horns, antlers, hooves, bird heads, and so on.
There are two types of signs. The first are simple shapes (dots, lines, streaks, etc.) and the second are more elaborate signs that are only found at a few sites (branching signs, quadrangular or pentagonal shapes, and so on)”. So they paint these paintings as a story line. And with time we see how the drawings progress and tell such different stories. They used the stone, minerals, and they built things like holders in such to hold the paint and used long sticks so that they can get the paint on a tool in order to make the drawing on the rock, it is stated in the text. Over the years they went to these caves for shelter and really made it a hone and they did what they can and what they had to do in order to survive they used all these materials to tell story and pace there knowledge that they had on to further generations. The two dominant forms of expression in Palaeolithic parietal art, drawing and engraving, occupy an important place in cave and shelter iconography. Nevertheless, there is another technique, which is seen far less often in these contexts, which took on monumental proportions at Lascaux. It is painting, a pictorial form that is only found in France at Font-DE-Gaume and in a few isolated spots in caves in the Pyrenees, notably in Porter. What is most captivating is the simplicity of the techniques and the material means used, given the excellence of the works. A few flints, some blocks of pigment, grinding stones, a few brushes and swabs, and stencils cut from hides – although most often the human hand was used for this purpose. This is the sum total of the materials and tools needed for the graphic construction of the sanctuary. Research carried out in Ariège in the Niaux cave has revealed that the pigments were generally mixed with talc to economies on the rarer colorants. In the region of Lascaux, pigment was in abundant supply and needed no additive, with the exception of water that was used as a binder. The dating of the parietal figures in the Chauvinist-Pont-d’Arc cave shows that engraving and drawing were perfectly mastered as of 30,000 years BCE. Spray painting, modeling and sculpture appeared somewhat later in an underground context, as far as we currently know.” I really think that its complex for them to know what to make and how to make things in order for them to make these paintings , how to paint and to put it all together such a long time ago, I wonder if they knew that it would last on there for so long, that we can study it now today? Its really cool and actually unbelievable that its still there in great condition for us to see. Palaeolithic artists were faced with the difficulty of representing three-dimensional space. The rendering of relief supposes that the artist has an exact idea of the procedures that will allow him or her to recreate the illusion of depth.
The creation of depth is done on several different levels. We find it in the smallest anatomical details, in the grasp of the subject as a whole, and also in the distribution, within the same surface, of different animal subjects that are part of a panel's composition Meaning that it was such a rare space and it was a rock wall so it was hard to make the painting stick and get the painting on there. Again this is fascinating that they were able to do this, it makes u wonder the inelegance that they had. Over all this time, its look to have studied this and see how far they have come along, especially in this day and age.

Over the years how we have studied or heard from or even seen is that art was there with people in various forms not just as in paintings throughout time as it has gone by. For example: We see it in beads fabric...etc, we see it all over throughout all different times. And it seems to advance with time, so even if people struggled the time before, there was knowledge left behind so that they were able to advance. And we see this even within the caves, how they started out in the paintings and evolved withing time throughout the cave. But not only in the drawing but the tools that they used to, we as well see this in today art. Theirs so much that one can do and explore.

http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/starryindex.html

The sky keeps the viewer's eyes moving about the painting, following the curves and creating a visual dot to dot with the stars. This movement keeps the onlooker involved in the painting while the other factors take hold. We are not sure of the religious inspiration is true, yet it is known that the piece is not the only Starry Sky painting that Van Gogh ever created. Gogh was quite proud of a piece he had painted earlier in Arles in 1888 that depicted stars reflecting in the Rhone River. Like Starry Sky this previous piece shares many of the qualities that have made Starry Sky such a popular painting. We see that he really devoted such time and dedication to this piece of art work, it has such mixtures of different qaulties that we see. Its such a great piece I love it. With all its different colors, I especially love the stars and the movement of the picture that he really captures so well. This was introduced to me at such a young age, I cant ever forget it I think the website said it the best Never the less these three paintings have astounded millions of people and remain three of the best works ever to flow from Van Gogh's paint brush. Each Day hundreds of people crowd around the original paintings located in various art museums to offer their own personal interpretation as to the meaning of the pieces. Although we may never know how Vincent himself truly felt about these paintings, mankind still embraces their greatness.

Over all we see that paintings and other art forms have really evolved today, especially now since we are such a techno logic society. I love the old school art were artist really put there feel, heart and soul into the paintings. You see there dedication and such passion that they have had to put into the art. Its so neat.

One of the main differences between the Yanomamo and Western cultures in regard to killing involves there idea of revenge.Where they got it from and how they take it into effect with in there culture. The idea of taking the life of the person who killed a family member in the United States or other western culture is deffinitley looked upon as bad but it varies all over Although as far as the untied states we know its not good , Here in the united states killing is illegal, in the Yanomamo culture it can raise a person's status. If a member of their kinship group is killed, it is up to them to take the life of the person who did the killing. Western cultures are dependent on laws, courts, judges and juries to punish the the person who did the crime. If a westerner killed their kin's killer, they too would be processed through the justice system.

In the text we read that “If a dispute occurs within a village it is typically handled with yelling, aggressive body language, slapping, fighting with clubs, axes and machetes. It sometimes escalates to utilizing the use of a bow and arrow. If a death occurs the village will divide and raiding between the two groups in the name of "revenge" will commence. These fights typically begin with an argument over an issue with a woman.For example jealousy...etc The raiding party's women will consume some of the ashes of the deceased and the men will go off to the other group. The target is the perpetrator of the death, but any other member will suffice. They will often kill the first person they come across and then run back to their village, but may kill more if opportunity arises”.

The benefits of being a Unokais are multiple. The first is that they have complete rank or respect within their village and culture. This can help them attain wives and make there family bigger. A man could choose to experiance in a revenge killing for the fact that ones culture greatness is that ideal. In Chagnon's study men killed only once.Because aggression or power is valued in Yanomamo culture, it might be understand that there were not any benefits to being a non-Unokais, a man who has not killed during a invasion. One of the benefits though is the stopping of the revenge-killing cycle. Since it is highly possible that one is related to a member of another village or community, this could escalate the on going if his kin is killed

As far as

Political Structure: Revenge killings help to maintain the political structure of the culture. It unites the village in a common cause against a shared enemy. It does become more complex when the invasions involve villages that have a shared kinship with some of the them. There may be divided tribes, and that may cause an individual to not participate in the raid. If this occurs too frequently, the political structure of the village could get weakened.
Social Status & Organization: When a person in the village is killed, usually a kin member, the head leader of the structure of the group will be negatively impacted since they have lost a member of their family. If the dispute began within the village and then crossed over, the group now has fewer members to participate in the invasion of the village. Those who act in the revenge killings will then gain status which can make them to a higher position in the village.
Kinship: Since outside villages usually alot contain family, both close and far away people use, revenge killings can negatively impact the family relationships. Aggreement within the village can also be ddetermined when one doesntcommunicate in a invasion in a village that has close kin of his. Ones status may go down within the village because of his refusal to participate.
Marriage & Reproduction: Revenge killings can determain a man's status to the point where he is seen as great marriage material. The Yanomamo practice polygyny, so he may procure multiple wives which will increase the amount of children that he fathers. Having multiple wives and children will also increase his standing in the village.

. In our society today we dont need to gain any status and kill someone; like we had read in this article. Although, ther are some people today that have taken it to that level and killed to impress, but who really thinks of that as a higher power and wants a person because of such doing. Today the reason why we need laws as such is becausE such doing is out of the normal. Its not right. We think that its like insane , well atleast I do. I mean is a person mental right in the head for them to go and do such a thing, I mean we are not raised in such manners. I know in other cultures its good and shown as a higher pwer and better marriage material but that is the way of their living and all that they know. For me I would want an educated person that makes money and is mature and funny I mean I can keep going but theres no need to this is not a dating blog lol. But its just really hard to say because the times and the whole situatioon is just really different. In there society it is okay to get back at one another, like an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth, and to a certain degree tis good to even have that here but it really depends on what that other person did.

First picture is telling who is everyone, the second picture is my kinship chart.

 Yes my parents do talk to there siblings. My mother only has one sister, they weren’t really close up until recently and my dad has many siblings but because of a family fight he only talks to one sibling and his mother since his father passed away. My mothers parents have passed away, she only talks to her sister, Geri. As for my father, he talks to his mother and his sisters, he no longer talks to his brother. They all were close at one point in time but at this day in age, we currently are 3500 miles away so its rather hard to b close but we all try to talk on the phone as much as possible.

2.

 My mom is very social she talks to all her children and likes to keep them updated as well as be informed on whats going on. Its hard, but everyone lives there own life but m manages to talk to them in some part of the week. She really enjoys hearing about her grand kids and there accomplishments. My aunt unfortunately has cancer so my mother tries to talk to her as much as possible since they aren't currently in the same state. We use to all video chat, but now its called skyping. My mother has her own life, she works a part time job and then helps her own kids out as well as her husband. My dad talks to his mother and his oldest sister every day or at least try to. He works all different hours so he causally calls them when he gets the chance. During the holidays just the imidate family usually do things, meaning its my brother and I and my child with my parents. Since everyone else is married and has there own family events to go to. They all usually plan something way in advance to do. We all aren’t really that close but we try to be as much as possible since everyone has a lot going on for themselves. And especially since we all don’t live near each other.

 My parents would ask there kids.. definitive depending on the situation. If it was something else they would ask a family friend. Both of my parents are really prideful so it would take a lot from them to really ask someone for anything when they need help.

 My mother only talks to her sister , since bother her parents are no longer living. And my dad only talks to his mother and oldest sister, he doesn’t communicate with other members of his family since there was a huge personal fight that had went on.

 Yes both my parents don’t really talk to a lot of there family members. So there is definitive a lot that they don’t know, not only names, but how old they are or what they do. We even there kids don’t associate with them since it just seems to carry that long and far. Its quite sad if you ask me. On another had the ones they do talk to they know mostly a lot about. And remember a lot of things as well. I would presume its because they talk to them more often then others.

 Is the subject’s family located in a relatively central area or are they spread out geographically? Have family members migrated during his or her lifetime to another country? What were the reasons for this? How did this affect the family as a whole? OR if the family has tended to stay in the same place geographically, why have they chosen to do so? Most of my parents family is located on the east coast, more in new york. My sister and brother whom are married live out here yes but they live over an hour away so its close but far at the same time. My parents have told me that both of our grandparents have migrated from Italy to the states. To get a better life. My dads parents opened up a butcher shop. Them migrating here, to the states especially new york is where we all have been for years, and have lived most of our lives. They said that we have some people may live in Florida but its not people that we talk to.

1. The person that I have chosen to interview was both my parents. Both of my parents are white. My mother and my father. They were born in Brooklyn new york, they are both in there sixties and have been married since they were fifteen. They are catholic, and really Italian. My mom is German and Irish. The best way that I usually describe them to people is if they ever watched the Osborne on TV. There's always something going on here. And my parents cant hear so we talk really loud too. Its quite comical at times. But sometimes it can be very overwhelming as well.

2. What I thought that was best for me is that I just talked while we were eating dinner and dessert nothing out of the ordinary so that it wasn’t anything unusual and then I just jotted all the information down. Although they wanted to know why and it was hard at times to go through everyone, so we try to make the best of it. Yes it was sorta weird at times just cause I know that there is a lot of people that we don’t talk to so its weird to bring them up. But as for if it was someone that I wasn’t related to I think it might be weirder because you really don’t want to cross any lines but you don’t know so you have to ask so your like hesitant. So I guess they both have its ups and downs. Overall its was quite interesting.

3. Overall they would have to say that we do see that some of the family members are close and others aren’t (meaning that in the immigrate family we try our best but anything outside of that they think we have all just felt with not talking to each oher since its been so long), we are aware that everything takes time. But also that sometimes some people cant really get over things so one just has to move on. Everyone has different socialization levels since we all grew up differently as well as live in all different places now. they don’t see a pattern in any maternal or maternal patterns but they do see something of a lineage, which they do see that our family has come together from Italy and still strongly acts like Italians.

4. Conclude your post from your own perspective. (20 pt)

 I know my mothers sister very well but not my dads family very well. As far as my siblings it varies with there schedule.

 Do you socialize equally with them? Why or why not? I do talk to my moms sister, and my dads sister but hats it. I don’t talk to anyone else since its just been that way for years. We really don’t really talk.

 I am not really sure if any family members have made an influence on any of the decisions the reason being is because my parents have gone off and been on there own since they were young. They have really done everything independently, if anything family members have asked them and needed them for anything.

 Yes the family that has been married in is something that we don’t take well to, reason being there not what we are use to. Dont take well to how we are. As for the ones that have been born into the family, its just different we accept them since there blood and we cherish them like its really weird. Although we all have really different lifestyles we really try to make the best of it.

 There is really no different attitudes based upon gender. Not at all.

 What insights have you learned about your family through this exercise? That I have a really big family, and wish that we really did talk to the rest of the family, I really definitive miss the old times when we all got along and use to hang out. Because I now have a child, but since that doesn’t happen I just hope that some day it does cause it would be nice for everyone to just forget the past with whatever has happened with out parents and just live life to the fullest.

The way SOme PEopLE live

hunter gathers

1. Identify the benefits of both subsistence patterns.  For Food foraging : they move as needed with hin a certain regin. They are competetive,they are in a small group, they regulate there population size.they divide up the labor by gendor. They all share food with one another. They porportion there food. And they are very terriotrial. As far as agriculture its food being produced. That uses more techniloquical such as tools and irrigation, fertilization. Crop cultivation is generaly substantial, meaning that you can use it for multiple things not just for eating. Such as that for trading and for medicine so it goes a long way.

2. Identify the costs (or disadvantages) of both subsistence patterns. (10 pts) it seems as though for gathers they trade and are in one civilization so they work together and share and trade for which what they need within there community. As far as argiculture, they are a higher technilocial so its seems as though you get more meaning not only trade for money or other things but its good for eatting and making medicine. So it goes along way. And the more advance that we become into more recources in order to make money, although there are takes and wages because you have people doing all the work so they want the best way to make more for the cheapest labor, were as to in a society they split up the needed labor.

3. Which subsistence pattern provides a healthier diet? Explain. I guess it really depends on hwo you look at things, from my point of view it depends. I guess they both have there own ways in order to be a healthy diet. (5 pts)

4. Discuss why you think some human populations made the transition into agriculture? The reason that I believe that some human population have made the transition to argiculture is because of the money and or because we are so highly advance. Meaning that we want to make the most of what we have in the least chpeast way possible. Today we have some people that still grow and gather there food, very seldum people will hunt but there are some people that do, depending on where you live cause I believe it may be illegal in some areas, but other then that its just easier for people to buy it meanig food then to go and really do all the work. So I guess we have become lazier in a sense today

Part 2: Economics and Trade:

1.  A prestige econmy. Creation of a surplus for the express purpose of gaining prestige through a publi display of wealth .

2.  well you can trade for money or trade for other things such that of food or other things. Meaning that you are giong to socialy interact with another person and ask for something in return so you go somewhere to barter. You can meet different people and interact with them , make friends and learn different things.

3.  well I mena maybe u get shorted or you dont get what you want, you can meet smone that out does you ro even someone that really might like. This is how I interpit it.

4.  withing the time that we hae come along, we have really advanced in technical things. Which made it I guess easier for a person to produce what they need in order to obtain the certain things they want. It seems as thought with that we have a lot of different commidites that come from this