Blog Post 5

In the article titled Body Art published by New Your Times, author Michael D. Lemonick talks about how body art has been around for thousands of years and describes some types of body art and their meanings.

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“There is no known culture in which people do not paint, pierce, tattoo, reshape, or simply adorn their bodies” says anthropologist Enid Schildkrout of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.  We use our bodies for art because it is the nearest, most intimate canvas.  In two separate showcases, this phenomenon was celebrated.  One of them was an exhibit called Body Art: Marks of Identity, and the other was a book called African Ceremonies.  In the exhibit, they devoted over 4,000 years of body modification.  Based off of tradition, body art has been used to attract the opposite sex, boost self esteem, identify with age or gender group, and mark rights of passages, like puberty or marriage.  With Indigenous people, those personal adornments stay the same.  Teenagers use body art and piercings as a form of independence and freedom, or to fit in.  People in their 20s and 30s have latched unto to “neotribal” look that has borrowed from cultures of the South Pacific to the Amazon. It’s there way of saying that they don’t belong to the supermarket society.

I think that body art is amazing.  I love how people express themselves in so many different ways through body art.  I myself have tattoos and piercings because they are a way of expressing who I am as a person and what I love.  I don’t do it to fit in at all.  I do it because it means something to me that some people wouldn’t understand.  I plan on getting more tattoos when the time comes.

Blog Post 4

In this article, published by Cobblestone called “Destroying a Culture”, author Paulina Bigford-Duane describes how the government destroyed the Indian’s way of life and how it still impacts them

Indian Boarding Schools

For nearly 100 years, the U.S. government tried to create a policy for Native Americans that would work in the west.  More than 400 agreements were crafted between Natives from 1778-1871.  370 treaties were ratified by the U.S Senate, and another 50 treaties were negotiated that weren’t ratified.  By 1871, many Native groups were restricted to life on large reservations.  In 1887, Henry L. Dawes, Senator of Massachusetts, made a proposal to break up large reservation lands into smaller ones.  It further proposed government –funded boarding schools that the native children would go to that would teach them ways to live in “American Society”.  It forced the natives to adopt American Customs, language, and clothing.  The Dawes Act was passed on February 8, 1889 and claimed to protect native property rights.  By 1900, the 138 million acres they had dropped to 78 million.  Boarding schools were a different concern.  Because the Native children had no immunity to diseases, many of them died.  Their names were changed, they were given western style clothing, and food that was unfamiliar to them.  Since long hair was forbidden, they had to cut it off.  If the children spoke their language, they were beaten.  They also couldn’t practice native traditions or celebrations.  The Dawes Act only applied to certain groups at first, but that soon changed.  In exchange to renouncing their tribal connections, conforming to American society, and agreeing to obey U.S laws, they received property.  This policy extended into the 20^th century.  Then a report was released about Natives in the U.S called the Merian report by the Institute for Government research.  It described the inhumane conditions in boarding schools and the poor quality of life on reservations.  Soon after, the Great Depression created a severe economic downturn in the U.S.  For most of the 1930’s, it caused difficult living everywhere.  In June 1934, The Merian Report and The Great Depression resulted in the Indian Reorganization Act.  It granted the Natives the return to self government at tribal level and control of their assets.  Many tribes made their own constitutions.  “The act also created a government aid program so that native groups could receive money for land purchases and education”.  This act tried to address the worst elements of the Dawes Act and opened up the potential for discussion between the U.S government and the tribes.  It also laid the foundation for Native American rights recognition.  

Personally, I think that the Natives have always been treated unfairly.  They have been here for as long as the U.S has been here and they have never really been a problem.  It disgusts me how America thought it was okay to make the Natives change everything that they were accustomed to in their culture.  No one should ever be treated that way.

Blog Post 3

In the article “Borneo: reaping the fruits of ecotourism”, published by Unesco Courier, author Robert Basiuk describes how tourism has been a huge benefactor to their village and has made the people work together to preserve their ways of living.

Iban People of Borneo

 The Iban people depend on the forest and its resources to survive.  They use tourism to preserve the wealth of their country.  They also use the forest’s natural resources for the plants, animals, raw materials for food, and medicine.  Borneo is known to be one of the most bio-diverse rich areas.  They even created laws to protect the rainforest because it’s so important to the Iban people.  Since they changed to a cash economy, it has changed village’s needs.  Tourism has been going on there for 10-15 years.  For example, they have a remote area called Ulu Ai that’s preserved to promote a relationship between the forest and its people.  In 1986, the village was approached about making it a tourist attraction.  The project would give the community a reason to preserve the wildlife there and bring visitors to experience longhouse and up river lifestyle.  One of the biggest attractions is there big population of Orang-utans, which are a protected species and viewed as a commodity.  The village’s involvement in tourism has benefited other wildlife in other areas as well.  Because of the cash flow from tourism, stocks are stabilized.

I think their decision to include tourism was a wonderful idea.  They’re not only getting benefits from it, but other people are as well.  Not to mention the wealth that flows in from the tourism.  It has also brought the people closer together and has preserved their rainforest for their own needs .  It sounds like an awesome place to tour and I would love to travel there someday if I get the chance.

Blog Post 2

In this article, published by New York Times Upfront called “Haircuts or turbans: many young Sikhs are forgoing turbans and cutting their long hair—leaving spiritual leaders dismayed”, author Amelia Gustafson writes about how men are letting go of their turbans and cutting off their long hair in the Sikh culture.  Sikh men are choosing style over tradition and leaving their long hair and turbans behind.  Sikhism is rejecting the Hindu caste system and believing in one God.  In total, there are 23 million Sikhs worldwide, 18 million in India, and hundreds of thousands in the U.S. The Sikh religion is only at 2 percent out of all the religions in India.  Cutting their hair was forbidden for a long time, and the Sikh leaders would say “long hair is a symbol of Sikh pride”.   The turban makes them stand out and manages their long hair.  In the “turban pride” movement, about half of the Sikh men in India decline the turban whereas a few decades ago it was only at 10 percent.  In self defense, some abandoned the turban when the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi happened in 1984, which led to thousands of Sikhs getting massacred all around India.  A greater impact on this whole situation would be globalization.  People who do wear turbans are trying to reverse the ongoing trend.

I think that men should be allowed to express themselves however they want to.  I noticed a lot of other religions and cultures starting to pull away from traditions and going more towards modernization.  You still see people wearing turbans, but you also notice people  showing their hair and being more out their instead of keeping it traditional.  I find that to be interesting.