A)
The excerpt by Radcliffe-Brown on moieties exemplifies the approach of the
British school of anthropology, and how many of the Indian tribes in America
shared similar cultural beliefs. The main ideology of the British school of
anthropology that is stressed in this piece is that many societies, although
separated, can share very similar customary values. It is the idea of the
British school of anthropology that because of these similarities, we can observe
what is universal across humankind.
One example of this is found amongst
the Haida of northwest America, who were divided into two groups, representing
the common moiety structure, that were named after an eagle and a raven. These
moieties are exogamous matrilineal moieties, which means that males of one side
can only marry females of the other side, and vise-versa. In their culture,
there is a legend about the eagle and the raven, giving them special symbolic
meaning and cultural prevalence. In the legend, the raven stole water from the
eagle and accidentally spilled it, creating the great lakes, which have nourished
the animal kingdom and mankind. Because of this, the eagle and the raven chose
to coincide, which is evident in the separate yet friendly split nature of the
Haida moieties.
Interestingly enough, according to
Radcliffe-Brown, in Eastern Australia, there are similar legends about the two
birds, although in these legends they are the eaglehawk and the crow. In these
legends, the crow stole water from the eagle, but made a mistake and ended up creating
rivers that would nurture the environment. It is also strongly believed that
many of the Australian tribes also shared the exogamous matrilineal structure
of the Haida. According to Radcliffe-Brown, "Once we begin looking for
parallels to the Eaglehawk-Crow division of Australia, we find many instances
of exogamous moieties, in some instance matrilineal, in others patrilineal, in
the rest of Australia, and frequently the divisions are named after or
represented by birds". Because of this, we can see that the way these
societies represent themselves with totems of birds create parallels across cultures
that support the message of the British school of anthropology.
These two societies and their
parallels strongly exemplify the approach of the British school of
anthropology, which is to find what is universal across humankind, and establish
that cultural customs and beliefs are not inherently sacred. The congruency
between the legends of the Haida and the Australian tribes showcase the British
anthropological idea that nothing is sacred, because neither of these legends
are unique or "special", but rather, it is the social consensus that
makes it so. Because these similarities are explored in the Radcliffe-Brown
piece, it clearly exemplifies the ideology of the British school of
anthropology by illustrating that there are ideas that are universal across cultures.
B) Bean has structured Mukat's
People in a way such that the information that is presented flows from
information that is unique to the Cahuilla (physical environment, plants) to
information that is more broad and expansive, potentially being shared across
other societies (ritual beliefs, world view). Because of this, I believe that
Bean's "systems approach" lends itself to the British school of
anthropology, by emphasizing how each aspect of society should be analyzed
separately, allowing for a greater focus on the societal elements, rather than
grouping them with the rest of the information about the society. The structure
of Mukat's People, and the division of the information presented stresses the
British idea of functionalism and how each part of the society makes up an
organic, "living" society.
The main socio-cultural institutions
created by the Cahuilla to adapt to their environment was the hereditary
passing of power in their society. "For example, intersib marriage
alliances set up long-range, reciprocal exchange patterns. Changing these
patterns would necessitate considerable readjustment whenever leadership
positions changed. By keeping leadership positions which articulated these exchange
arrangements in the same family, a leadership change would be less disruptive
to ecological equilibrium than if a leader could fortuitously come from any
family" (pg 117). This focus on trade and maintaining ecological balance
helped the Cahuilla properly adapt themselves to their diverse and unforgiving
environment.
The religious activities of the
Cahuilla are both rational and practical. The rituals of the Cahuilla
maintained balance and stimulated the economy, encouraging individuals to
provide foods and goods to support the ritual. "These same rituals distributed
foods and goods throughout the society at large because the surplus of one area
was exchanged for surplus of food or treasure goods held in another. This
process set up a banking procedure whereby treasure goods could be accumulated
for foodstuffs, and subsequently exchanged for food" (pg 158). The rituals
also acted as important servomechanisms for the whole ecosystem because the
hunts associated with them had the effect of culling herbivorous and omnivorous
game so as to maintain a viable balance in the ecosystem (pg 159). Because of
the advantages that the rituals of the Cahuilla bring to their economy, it is
impossible to ignore the many overwhelming positives of the ritual system. These
rituals created a surplus of foods and goods, balanced the ecological status of
the environment, and gave people a reason to strive to produce. Therefore, the
religious activities of the Cahuilla appear to be both rational and practical
in how they benefit their society.
In conclusion, the British school of
anthropology shaped the methods of Mukat's People by influencing how Bean
structured the information he collected during his research of the Cahuilla
people. The structure of Mukat's People, and the division of the information
presented stresses the British idea of functionalism and how each part of the
society makes up an organic, "living" society.
Take that google.
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