Digital Commons Network^™

Indigenous People, Development And Environmental Justice: Narratives Of The Dayak People Of Sarawak, Malaysia, Elizabeth Weinlein '17

EnviroLab Asia

Focusing on the indigenous people of Sarawak, this article explores the authors learned biases as well as the dispelling of myths through hands on experiences in Malaysia. Over the period of a couple days, it becomes apparent that the indigenous people in Sarawak are not victims of systems of oppression, but survivors who continue to fight for their land rights and livelihoods.

2017-2018, Csusb

Anthropology Department newsletter

No abstract provided.

We Call It Pulling A Thread: Deconstructing Femininity At The Molly Brown House Museum, Emily J. Starck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite making up around half of the global population, women are consistently underrepresented in museums. Where women's experiences are present in exhibitions and programming, they are often misrepresented within an entrenched heteronormative and patriarchal framework. Through this thesis, I show how Denver's Molly Brown House Museum works to upset traditional narratives through their dynamic interpretation of the life of their namesake, Margaret Tobin Brown. Using new museology, feminist anthropology, and performance theory, I analyze data from staff interviews and tour participant observation to explore how the museum deconstructs popular understandings of historical femininity. Through visitor surveys, I measure the extent …

Can You See Me? Ethnography Of Women's Experiences With Homelessness In Denver, Colorado, Taylor L. Morrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Following the economic crisis in 2008, the United States, and Denver in particular, saw a considerable rise in the number of people considered homeless. Despite an increase in the population, little anthropological research has been done to understand the experiences of street-embodied individuals and the services available to them. Through participant-observation, life-history interviews, and photovoice, I closely studied the lives of two women experiencing homelessness and used interpretive phenomenological analysis to analyze the data. Analyzed through Foucault's biopolitics, technologies of the self, and panopticism, as well as Goffman's presentation of the self, I make the case that the homeless experience …

Doing Good In Guatemala: Perceptions Of Voluntourism In San Juan Comalapa, Samantha Grace Hagan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploration of host community perceptions of volunteer tourism in the context of a small community in the highlands of Guatemala called San Juan Comalapa. Voluntourism acts as a bridge between development aid and traditional tourism and therefore voluntourism organizations should act as both roles in the community. In this research I found that voluntourism organizations, particularly one organization called Long Way Home, can lean more towards one role than another in the eyes of members of the host community. Based on these findings I recommend that these organizations embrace these dual roles and engage the community …

Interpreting American Indian Cultural Heritage: Visitor's Educational Experience At Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site, Kara Lynn Underwood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The following research and analysis explore the various methods in which American Indian heritage is interpreted at Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site in Colorado Springs, CO. Attention was given to the distinctive ways this space acts as an educational institution that displays and interprets Colorado's cultural heritage through object-centered learning and participatory education. The goal for this research was to discuss ahistorical biases that have existed in museums for centuries, while encouraging dialogue and discourse about the appropriate methods for interpreting American Indian cultural heritage. Through the presentation and examination of visitors' educational experiences using observations, questionnaires, and informal interviews …

Health-Seeking Behaviors In Rural West Ghana, Cathryn Lynn Perreira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is the result of an exploratory project that included a six-week period of fieldwork in the rural farming village of Humjibre in the Western Region of Ghana. It examines the health-seeking behaviors I witnessed in this village, and discusses the barriers and facilitators that control those behaviors. It is my intention to demonstrate that there are many factors that influence concepts of health that lead to health behaviors. To fully understand how an individual functions within a medical culture, all the social, cultural, political, historical, and economic factors must be considered. Extensive background research was conducted prior to …

An Xrf Compositional Analysis Of Opaque White Glass Beads From 17th-Century Mission Santa Catalina De Guale, Georgia, Elliot H. Blair

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Previous analyses of the elemental composition of white glass beads have shown that the opacifier used during glass manufacture is temporally diagnostic, with a transition from tin to antimony to arsenic to fluorine. To date, most researchers using this fact for chronological purposes have focused on British, Dutch, and French contact sites in the northeastern United States and Canada. Many of these studies have relied on expensive, and sometimes minimally destructive, techniques. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry is a widely available, non-destructive technique that can be used to identify glass opacifiers extremely rapidly and inexpensively. This technique was used to analyze 783 …

Flying Woman’S Beaded Cheyenne Cradleboard And Associated Bead Card From Fort Keogh, Montana, William T. Billeck

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Glass bead sample cards were sent out in the 19th century by bead dealers and producers to illustrate their products and few are known that include small beads of drawn manufacture. One such card marked New York was acquired in 1882 by Captain Eli Lindesmith, a Catholic priest and Army chaplain at Fort Keogh, Montana. Lindesmith used the card to select seed beads for a cradleboard he commissioned that year from a Cheyenne woman named Flying Woman, the wife of Wolf Voice. This previously undescribed sample card is compared to other 19th-century cards displaying drawn beads in an attempt to …

Life After The Boat: Understanding The Needs Of Refugees Living In Second Reception Centers In Sicily, Russell Manzano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Migration to Italy has drastically increased, with thousands of refugees traveling by sea to Sicily every month. International refugee policy is largely managed through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and although it attempts to regulate refugee assistance, immigration policy within the European Union is complex and continuously fluctuating. Upon arrival in Sicily, authorities send refugees to first reception centers, and then transfer them to second reception centers operated by local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The implementation of Italian immigration policy varies among regions; resettlement agencies often transfer refugees among centers where they receive different economic assistance, thus creating further …

Using Community-Based Research To Improve Bsw Students’ Learning In Community Practice: Bringing The Macro Into Focus For Traditional And Distance Learners, Jessica Lee Lucero, Jen Evers, Jennifer Roark

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

This article describes community–university partnership building, course development/management, and evaluation outcomes related to an intensive community-based research project that was integrated in two sections of an undergraduate course on community practice. Pre- and posttest data were collected from 60 BSW students who were enrolled in community practice and who participated in a community-based research project with their state’s fair housing office. The evaluation outcomes focus on changes in professional interest in macro practice, students’ self-efficacy, and differences in students’ learning experiences, based on traditional bricks-and-mortar or distance learning contexts. Results show that students experience increases in self-efficacy related to community …

Wagons, Trains, Trucks, And Bottles: Transportation Networks And Commodity Access In Castroville, Texas, Kellam Throgmorton

Anthropology Student Scholarship

The premise of this paper is that changing modes of transportation significantly affected how residents of Castroville, Texas, acquired commodities, which in turn influenced how they expressed particular ethnic, regional, and class identities through consumption. Castroville residents lived (and continue to live) within a broader world system of commodity exchange. As we strive to understand how identities are reflected in and co-created through the objects we surround ourselves with, it is important to remember that economic relations that extend well beyond the local can structure a community’s access to commodities. Geographic space becomes a meaningful variable when we think about …

Fat Vegan Politics: A Survey Of Fat Vegan Activists’ Online Experiences With Social Movement Sizeism, Corey Lee Wrenn

Dietary Choice and Foods of Animal Origin Collection

The author examines the consequences of stigma strategies in vegan activism as it is experienced by fat vegan activists. The fat politics of veganism in online spaces is examined in data provided by a 2016 qualitative survey of fat-identified vegan activists. Results highlight the subjective experiences of fat vegans, illuminating the meaning of healthism, sizeism, and thin-privilege in vegan social justice spaces. Sizeism is a significant concern for fat vegan activists as respondents report only medium-level feelings of comfort and community, with one in four reporting having experienced fat discrimination in the movement. Most indicate that online vegan spaces feel …

Creating Knowledge, Volume 10, 2017

Creating Knowledge

Dear Students, Colleagues, Alumni and Friends, This may sound like an act of contrition, but it is not. When I meet administrators of other institutions of higher education, it is predictable that the first few minutes of interaction will be devoted to a vigorous display of institutional pride. In that context, my practice has been to let them deliver along traditional marketing lines including glossy brochures with abundant well-staged pictures of buildings, faculty, and diverse students. Once they are done, I kindly commend them and in return, I present to them our latest issue of Creating Knowledge. I know that …

Straits Talk, Char Miller

EnviroLab Asia

No abstract provided.

Just Research, Ki’Amber Thompson '18

EnviroLab Asia

The trip to Malaysia Borneo was an eye-opening experience that reinforced the need for researchers to listen to the indigenous peoples and to integrate their knowledge and understanding of place into any scientific, political, or policy analyses designed to restore the impact of deforestation and dam projects in the region.

Up Close: An Interview, Madi Vorva '17

EnviroLab Asia

A long-time US activist against the deleterious impact of oil-palm deforestation in Southeast Asia learned a great deal about the indigenous peoples’ struggles there to gain control over their lives and livelihoods.

Mitochondrial-Dna Phylogenetic Information And The Reconstruction Of Human Population History: The South American Case, María Bárbara Postillone, S. Ivan Perez

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Objectives: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences are becoming increasingly important in the study of human population history. Here, we explore the differences in the amount of information of different mtDNA regions and their utility for the reconstruction of South American population history.

Material and methods: We analyzed six datasets comprising 259 mtDNA sequences from South America: Complete mtDNA, Coding, Control, hypervariable region I (HVRI), cytochrome b (cytb) plus Control, and cytb plus 12S plus 16S. The amount of information in each dataset was estimated employing several site-by-site and haplotype based statistics, distances among sequences, Neighbor-joining trees, distances among the estimated trees, …

Ambassador Dr. Cynthia Shepard Perry: A Sycamore Destined For Greatness, Crystal Mikell Reynolds

Student Diversity Histories

Ambassador Cynthia Shepard Perry is perhaps best known for her role as Ambassador to the African nations of Sierra Leone, and Burundi, and as Executive Director of the African Development Bank in Tunisia. This dynamic woman, born in Lost Creek, a suburb of Terre Haute, Indiana, was destined for greatness, according to her prophetic father, a veteran of WWI. He saw her birth date on November 11, Veteran’s Day, and her keen intellect as a sign that she was exceptional. Her father’s premonition about her would in fact come to fruition: in her thirty-year career as a United Nations and …

Juan Pablo Ortega Fermín, Ph.D.: El Quimico Krypton, Crystal Mikell Reynolds

Student Diversity Histories

Krypton is a chemical element that is colorless, odorless, and difficult to discover. Krypton takes its name from the Greek word for “hidden,” kryptos. Like the chemical, which is often hidden, Juan Ortega (the name he is commonly known as) is a name that is not well-known in the annals of the history of Indiana State University. Actually, very few people at the University have probably even heard of this hidden figure. Names like Bird and Baumgartner are much more recognizable. However, Ortega was a leader in his field and taught and mentored countless students in his native Venezuela, building …

Using Structure From Motion Mapping To Record And Analyze Details Of The Colossal Hats (Pukao) Of Monumental Statues On Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Sean W. Hixon, Carl P. Lipo, Terry L. Hunt, Christopher Lee

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

Structure from motion (SfM) mapping is a photogrammetric technique that offers a cost-effective means of creating three-dimensional (3-D) visual representations from overlapping digital photographs. The technique is now used more frequently to document the archaeological record. We demonstrate the utility of SfM by studying red scoria bodies known as pukao from Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile). We created 3-D images of 50 pukao that once adorned the massive statues (moai) of Rapa Nui and compare them to 13 additional pukao located in Puna Pau, the island’s red scoria pukao quarry. Through SfM, we demonstrate that the majority of these bodies …

A Comparative Study Of Culture And Cultural Heritage In Humanitarian Aid Efforts: Post-Earthquake Haiti And Post-Tsunami Aceh, Natalie K. Ruhe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how cultural knowledge, beliefs, and practices affected the humanitarian aid response to disasters in Haiti and Aceh Province, Indonesia. It examines the importance of local knowledge in post-disaster response situations and how aid workers' "expertise" interplays with local knowledge, decision-making structures, and leadership. I questioned how knowledge of cultural practices could contribute to a more effective humanitarian aid approach and identified housing, social institutions and local leadership, economic systems, religious belief and practice as primary focuses. Examples detail how cultural beliefs and practices - as well as cultural heritage - may be vehicles for social stability and …

The Dynamics Of Community Museums And Their Communities: Museo De Las Americas' Spanish Happy Hour Fostering Social Inclusion For The Latino And Denver Metro Area Communities, Maritza Hernandez-Bravo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many museums are now aspiring to collaborate and engage with Latino communities and the community as a whole. Due to Museo de las Americas status as a community museum, I predicted that I would find a collaborative effort already occurring between the institution and their community, which can aid in creating a sense of social inclusion by being committed to including diverse voices by having clarity of purpose that makes sense both within the context of the community and the institution itself. I used staff, volunteer and visitor interviews and observations of the program to evaluate the degree of collaboration …

Aztec Human Sacrifice As Entertainment? The Physio-Psycho-Social Rewards Of Aztec Sacrificial Celebrations, Linda Jane Hansen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human sacrifice in the sixteenth-century Aztec Empire, as recorded by Spanish chroniclers, was conducted on a large scale and was usually the climactic ritual act culminating elaborate multi-day festivals. Scholars have advanced a wide range of theories explaining the underlying motivations and purposes of these abundant and regulated ritual massacres. Recent scholarship on human sacrifice in ancient Mexico has observed far more complexity, nuance, and fluidity in the nature of these rituals than earlier mono-causal explanations. Several recent examinations have concentrated their analysis on the use of sacred space, architecture, movement, and embodiment in these festivals. As an extension of …

Partnerships 5: Living History Partnerships At Fort St. Joseph, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

The living history community is a bridge between scholars and the public. Re-enactors and craftsmen bring history to life for the public through events sponsored by the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project , demonstrating 18th-century lifeways and animating archaeological discoveries.

Partnerships 6: Partnering With The Pokagan Band Of Potawatomi, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Western Michigan University anthropology students and citizens of the Pokagon Band have begun to identify areas of shared interest that can be pursued in building a relationship to create more inclusive histories in the St. Joseph River valley

Partnerships 4: Anthropology And Education In The Niles Community, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Western Michigan University (WMU) anthropology students have begun working with the Niles school system to identify potential opportunities for collaboration with the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project.

Folsom Mammoth Hunters? The Terminal Pleistocene Assemblage From Owl Cave (10bv30), Wasden Site, Idaho, L. Suzann Henrikson, David A. Byers, Robert M. Yohe, Matthew M. Decarlo, Gene L. Titmus

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The 1960s and 1970s excavations at Owl Cave (10BV30) recovered mammoth bone and Folsom-like points from the same strata, suggesting evidence for a post-Clovis mammoth kill. However, a synthesis of the excavation data was never published, and the locality has since been purged from the roster of sites with human / extinct megafauna associations. Here, we present data on bone from the oldest stratum, review provenience data, conduct a bone-surface modification study, and present the results of a protein-residue analysis. Our study fails to make the case for mammoth hunting by Folsom peoples. Although two of the fragments tested positive …

Speech Equality: A Gendered Analysis Of Children’S Television Shows, Rikki N. Bergen

Anthropology Presentations

Childhood is an exciting time and kids are just learning who they are and who they are expected to be. The role television plays in their understanding of gender, racial, cultural, economic and social identity cannot be denied and it is therefore important for scholars to examine the types of ideas that are being presented. The gendered attitudes portrayed both explicitly and implicitly in children’s television shows can have a negative effect on childhood development and a child’s perceptions of self and the world around them.

Universal Design For Belonging: Living And Working With Diverse Personal Names, Karen E. Pennesi

Anthropology Publications

There is great diversity in the names and naming practices of Canada’s population due to the multiple languages and cultures from which names and name-givers originate. While this diversity means that everyone encounters unfamiliar names, institutional agents who work with the public are continually challenged when attempting to determine a name’s correct pronunciation, spelling, structure and gender. Drawing from over a hundred interviews in London (Ontario) and Montréal (Québec), as well as other published accounts, I outline strategies used by institutional agents to manage name diversity within the constraints of their work tasks. I explain how concern with saving face …