The History of the Ifugao People and their Rice Terraces
The Ifugao People Week 2 Environment I’ve chosen to research the Ifugao people, a group living in the mountains of northern Luzon, Philippines, in the Cordillera region, with elevations ranging from 2,600 ft to 4,900 ft. Their location is within a tropical rainforest, and the community chose this area due to its traditional rice fields. Recently, researchers have seen threatening environmental changes that cause challenges like “slash-and-burn”, deforestation, and most of all, climate change. Climate Adaptions Their climate is known to be a tropical rainforest with two types of seasons: a dry period from November to May, and a wet period from June to October. The hottest/driest periods are predicted between March to May, reaching about 28.3°C on average, while the rainfalls are predicted between June to August, reaching about 25.5°C on average. While they have two types of seasons, the Ifugao people also go through 4 types of climate changes depending on the rainfall weather. One ...
Part A submission recorded and scored. I will offer more feedback after your Part B submission.
ReplyDeleteI also found the Nacirema population to be primitive and wrote to that in my post. Your other views on the the culture are interesting as well, especially the view of their social status. Through reading the original article this did not stand out to me, however, it is interesting to see that the different elements in the shrines are what dictate one's status in the culture. Reading about the charms was also interesting, I wonder if the shrine rooms ever got overfilled with charms that the individuals forgot their purposes for.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to include this information for all students and then provide more personalized feedback after that.
ReplyDeleteSo the purpose of this assignment is to put students into the position of feeling what it is like to have an outsider describe and perhaps judge their own culture. But it is also to grasp the dangers of using one person's description of a culture to learn about it.
With regard to your word choices, when you were asked to evaluate (in part B) any bias indicated by your words, two issues should have come to mind:
1. Do your words imply *judgement* of the behaviors describe?
2. Do your words *accurately* describe those actual behaviors.
The first issue is the easier of the two. You probably came into this course expecting to explore the matter of ethnocentrism and cultural anthropologists avoiding their own bias.
The second one is possibly something you didn't consider but is just as important. When you describe a culture, you not only want to be unbiased, but you want to accurately communicate a behavior to others.
So let's start here by exploring what it is Miner is actually describing in this article:
1. Self-care and hygiene at home.
2. Dental care by a professional dentist.
3. Visits to a hospital and medical professional.
There are a few other things that Miner references, but let's start with these three.
So in addition to the issue of bias/judgement, do your word choices *accurately* describe these practices? Can a person reading your words better understand these practices?
Let's work through your Part B responses:
DeleteI'll start by listing your word choices:
Environmental
Religious
Poor/Rich
Primitive
Value (this is technically a noun, not an adjective)
1. "When I was choosing the words, I chose based on what I understood from Miner's article"
Very good insight. While it was still important for you to avoid bias, you were basing your choices upon an *intentionally* biased report from Miner. No surprise that your own word choices would reflect that bias. What does that say about the wisdom of trying to understand another culture based upon the description of one or only a couple of anthropologists, particularly those viewing the culture as an "outsider"?
2. "I don't think my words are free of bias either"
"Bias" isn't just about a negative connotation. Bias can be positive, too. The biggest issue with regard to bias is that it creates a false narrative of something producing *inaccuracy* in the communication. So do your word choices *accurately* reflect the behaviors Miner is actually describing?
For example, are these health-based practices "religious" in nature? Or are they based in medicine and science? Are they "primitive" in nature? (FYI, "primitive" is a taboo word in anthropology that carries with it mountains of bias. We avoid it like the plague.) "Poor/rich" are oppositional in nature and I'm not sure how they describe brushing teeth, going to the dentist and visiting a hospital for medical care? I'm still not sure I understand how "environmental" applies here and how it relates to their "economic pursuits"?
3. "all the words I chose are plain and simple."
Again, that doesn't rule out bias. :-) "Primitive" is plainly clear, but still full of bias.
I sympathize with the difficulty in locating unbiased, descriptive words. That said recognize that the difficulty in choosing alternate words may not lie with the words themselves but the process of describing this culture in the first place. Part of what I want you to understand here is that you chose these words based upon a biased narrative...Horace Minor's narrative was designed to be a biased outsider's view of this culture, so nearly all words you choose are going to perpetuate that bias. It might be better to recognize that this attempt to define a culture with individual words isn't possible in the first place. It is a futile and biased practice and doesn't reflect what anthropologists are trying to do in their jobs. As an anthropologist, your job is to not describe from an outsider's perspective but to understand a culture.. and that means starting to see it as insiders do.
4. Good insight here but some push-back:
" it shows respect towards that culture"
Okay, but for anthropologists, beyond the issue of respect is the need to *understand* a culture. Can we understand it if our descriptions are biased?
"I don't think it's impossible to completely avoid personal cultural bias"
Anthropologists are human. We are innately flawed. We can do our best to avoid bias but it is impossible to avoid it completely.
While Anthropologists can strive to avoid bias and practice this skill, I suggest it is just as important to be aware that our biases are deeply ingrained in our psyche and are likely impossible to avoid completely. Better to be aware of this and be receptive to those who point it out when it happens. This is one of the reasons anthropologists collaborate with others... so that they can watch out for each other's bias seeping into their work.
I really liked how you connected the Nacirema’s rituals to the values and religious aspects of their culture your explanation of the shrine and charm rituals helped me understand that better. One thing you could consider adding is a bit more detail about how the article is actually a satire of American culture. That context might help clarify why Miner describes things in such a dramatic way and also ties into your reflection about bias and word choice. Overall, great job analyzing the article thoughtfully!
ReplyDelete