Anthropology Commons^™

Final Orca Report, Amy Hurt

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I conducted my field study in the city of New Orleans for two months, 24 April -25 June 2008. During this time I lived in a small house in Mid-City, an apartment in Jefferson Parish, a hotel room on Decatur Street in the French Quarter, and a rent-by-the-day room just outside of the French Quarter on Pauger Street.

Kachinas Of The Southwest: Dances, Dolls, And Rain Elucidating The Kachina Cult, Jamie Bingham, Dr. Paul R. Stavast

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This past semester (Winter 2008), the Museum of Peoples and Cultures (MPC) researched and curated an exhibition on the Kachina Cult of the Pueblo and Hopi cultures. The Kachina Cult is centered around belief in a set of spiritual beings that bring blessings, gifts, and rain. Kachina literally means “spirit father” or “life father” and can be anything that exists in the natural world. One of the most common representation of kachinas is in the form of dolls. The exhibition features an impressive collection of ancient and modern kachina dolls in an effort to provide insight into the fairly elusive …

Recreating The Past Through The Use Of Modern Technology, Jennifer Harris, Dr. Cynthia Finlayson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Last year I set out on an adventure to research an ancient civilization, to gather photographic and textual research halfway across the globe. I traveled to Greece in order to research the ancient Minoans, a very advanced and interesting people who had a great influence on Greek culture.

Creating Citizens In The Modern Irish State: Primary Schools As Indicators Of Identity Ambiguitiy, Charlotte Williams, Dr. Julie Hartley-Moore

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In Europe, notions about national identity are being called into question as historical state-sponsored conceptions encounter new forces present in current affairs—including, relative economic prosperity, mass immigration, conflicting ideas about religion, and desired assimilation into a collective European identity. Ireland provides a case study largely reflective of these broader European issues, while simultaneously being distinct as the only free European state which was formerly under colonial control by another European power. Thus, in its post-colonial context, Ireland currently struggles to accommodate these competing forces—both old and new—to form a cogent national identity which the state can disseminate to its constituents. …

The Origin And Development Of The Pueblo Kachina Cult, Adrien Mooney, Dr. Glenna Nielsen-Grimm

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Pueblo people of the Southwestern United States have a unique set of beliefs centered on the practice of ceremonies dedicated to kachinas, intermediaries between the Pueblo people and their deities. The word kachina literally means “life-bringer,” and the kachina ceremonies are integral for the growth of crops in the Pueblo region, as the kachinas bring rain to the region when ceremonies are performed correctly. There are three different manifestations of the kachina: the spirit of the kachina, the kachina mask worn by a dancer in the ceremony that allows the dancer to act on behalf of the kachina, and …

A Time For Museums: A Study Of Supporters At The Museum Of Peoples And Cultures, Heidi Kartchner, Dr. Julie Hartley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During the months of May and June 2008 I conducted a research study at BYU’s Museum of Peoples and Cultures (MPC) in Provo, Utah. My intent was to research the MPC’s supporters, looking specifically at their leisure habits and patterns of cultural consumption and how that plays into their museum visiting habits.

Memory-Texts And The Interdiscursive Construction Of Identity Among The Khmer Diaspora, Brandon Bales, Dr. Janies Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Displaced people present a problem for ethnographic research in that they generally lack stable socio-cultural contexts on which researchers rely for making empirical observations. This study shows how people produce memory-texts as a way of recontextualizing themselves in new or unstable social situations and establishes memory-texts as the empirical material necessary to produce analysis on displaced people. The discursive production of memory-texts is an activity displaced people engage in to recontextualize and stabilize themselves in shifting or new environments. Memory-texts are composed of the interface between defining moments in people’s lives and recent experiences and cultural frameworks. As an interdiscursive …

Haitian Immigrants In Santiago, Dominican Republic, Jesse S. Morgan, Dr. John P. Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I was awarded an ORCA grant in order to carry out ethnographic research in the Dominican Republic (DR.). ORCA’s support made it possible for me to spend four months in Santiago, the second largest city, during winter semester. I had originally intended that my fieldwork would focus on the cultural theme of the tigre, or tiger (a charismatic showoff type in Dominican society). However, the reality warp between my elaborate Provobased scheming and the practicalities of living and doing ethnography in a large unfamiliar Caribbean city encouraged me to shift my focus and walk through open cultural doors instead of …

A Summary Of Research Done On Aboriginal Marriage Systems, Rachelle Holloway, Dr. David Crandall

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The results of receiving this grant was research conducted in Victoria, Australia concerning the marriage systems of Australian Aboriginals. The research was originally intended to be conducted in areas predominantly populated by less Westernized Aboriginals, but there were problems in obtaining this ideal.

Shakers - South Union, Kentucky - Slaughtering Of Animals (Sc 1113), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1113. Document comprising the timeline of hog and cattle slaughtering by members of the Shaker Society at South Union, Logan County, Kentucky from 1 December 1814 to 16 December 1891, compiled from Shaker journals and other original sources. Entries often indicate the number of animals butchered, their weight, and the purpose of the butchering.

Interview With Dan Lee And Alice Lee (Fa 1098), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcript of interview by Brent Bjorkman with Dan Lee and Alice Lee about their experiences as park rangers at Mammoth Cave National Park. In 2013, Kentucky Folklife Program Director Brent Bjorkman received the Archie Green Fellowship from the Library of Congress to look more intimately at the life stories of the working men and women employed by Mammoth Cave National Park. Part of Folklife Archives Project 1098 titled "Rangerlore: The Occupational Folklife of Parks."

Interview With Bob Cetera (Fa 1098), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Oral Histories

Transcript of interview by Brent Bjorkman with Bob Cetera about his experiences as a park ranger at Mammoth Cave National Park. In 2013, Kentucky Folklife Program Director Brent Bjorkman received the Archie Green Fellowship from the Library of Congress to look more intimately at the life stories of the working men and women employed by Mammoth Cave National Park. Part of Folklife Archives Project 1098 titled "Rangerlore: The Occupational Folklife of Parks."

Cultural Preservation And Modern Development In The Amazon, Eric W. Linton

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the summer of 2009 indigenous groups in the Peruvian Amazon headed a major grassroots movement against the national government in an effort to protect their lands and lifestyles. The protests brought due international attention to issues of human rights and land ownership that had previously been a local matter. Several months previous to the movement a colleague and I ventured to the Putumayo region of the Peruvian Amazon in an effort to understand the issues being faced by the people of those regions. Specifically, we aimed to understand the importance of self determined rights as a means to preserve …

Mobility Patterns As Seen Through Lithic Technologies, Aaron Fergusson, Dr. Joel C. Janetski

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During BYU’s 1995 field school many artifacts were brought back to BYU for analysis, including the important data set of toolstone artifacts and debris. At Fish Lake the sites excavated date from the Archaic (F7 area), Fremont (Mickeys Place), and Late Prehistoric (F14 area) time periods, each representing a different way of life. The Archaic and the Late Prehistoric time periods in the Great Basin are defined as representing a hunter/gatherer way of life. These were highly mobile, or residentially mobile groups and occupied a series of residential camps seasonally. The Fremont period 1 represents a horticultural way of life. …

The Ethnophysiologocial Janus: Changing Perceptions Of Illness And Curing In The Guatemalan Mayan Highlands, Steven Shem Rode, Dr. John P. Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Ethnomedical literature rarely addresses the problem of how illness is recognized and understood among Nahualenos in southwest Guatemala. In that area of the world, mother/infant mortality rates remain high, and local perceptions of illness continue to bewilder western biomedical caregivers. This study investigates data collected from doctor-patient communication, linguistics, and traditional medicine to explain how ethnophysiological understandings of illness exemplify effective and ineffective teaching methods about bacteriology and prevention within the liminal Nahualeno society.

Odocoileus Hemionus Mortality Profiles And The Cultural Predatory Adaptations At Aspen Shelter, Utah, James T. Anderson, Dr. Joel C. Janetskik

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Mortality profiles (ages at death) constructed from the faunal analysis of archaeological sites offer unique insights into specific cultural predatory patterns and lifeways of the sites former inhabitants. The products of prey age selection or mortality profiles allow archaeologists to understand strategies of hunting, land use, and “habitual techniques of procurement” . A mortality profile of 4 mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) was created from the thousands of identified bones excavated at Aspen Shelter, Utah in an attempt to understand such cultural adaptations.

Life Histories In Kizimkazi Dimbani, Zabzibar, Stephen B. Backman, Dr. David P. Crandall, Dr. Gary Burgess

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Kizimkazi Dimbani is a village of just over 1500 people on the southern end of the island of Zanzibar, which is about 50 miles off of the coast of Tanzania. In the fall of 1998 I went to Zanzibar with a group of seven BYU students under the International Study Programs Office in the Kennedy Center. The group performed a variety of research projects including topics focusing on health, conservation biology, village economics, education, and anthropology. My project was based on a study of the relationship between the kinship and political systems of the village. Through our research we were …

Regress In South African Education After Apartheid, Brett Peterson, Dr. John Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In South Africa, despite positive changes in school structure and potential educational attainment, revolutionary changes to South African society interact with the current state of South African education to produce a negative educational effect.

Museum Of Peoples And Cultures: Acknowledging History, Carlee Reed, Dr. Paul Stavast

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As of 2009, the Museum of Peoples and Cultures (MPC) has been an active institution of BYU campus for over fifty years. Throughout that time it has developed educational programs, volunteer opportunities, and given a unique experience to students in and out of the Anthropology program. The MPC’s directors have kept the institution open through diligence, and acknowledging the importance of practical experience to BYU’s students.

The Gunpowder Behind Ghana’S Cocoa Boom: Examining How International Market Pressure And British Colonial Policies Created Ghana’S Cocoa Market, Chase Arnold, Sheila Bibb

Journal of Undergraduate Research

At the turn of the 20th century, British imperialism renewed with remarkable vigor. The British Empire was expanded, its borders defined, and greater effort was invested into making each of its distant lands more profitable for Crown and country. A remarkable, yet often overlooked, portion of this colonial narrative belongs to the Republic of Ghana in West Africa, which was then known as the British Gold Coast. For several centuries following the first European encounters, the Gold Coast was primarily tied into the Atlantic slave trade, serving as a lucrative market where Africans could be both bought and sold for …

Saving The Maya Civilization – Ancient And Living, Landon John Hansen, Dr. Donald Forsyth

Journal of Undergraduate Research

One of the most significant finds of Mayan archaeology in recent years has been the elaborate stucco frieze discovered in the Central Acropolis of the ancient Mayan city, El Mirador. The frieze is significant not only because of its remarkable preservation and beautiful artistic representations, but also because of its age. The frieze, which is proposed to be depicting a scene from the Popul Vuh, predates all other known sources of the Popul Vuh mythology by more than a millennium. In fact, much speculation has been done in the past regarding the level of Spanish influence in the Popul Vuh …

Colour And Odour Drive Fruit Selection And Seed Dispersal By Mouse Lemurs, Kim Valenta, Ryan J. Burke, Sarah A. Styler, Derek A. Jackson, Amanda D. Melin, Shawn M. Lehman

Dartmouth Scholarship

Animals and fruiting plants are involved in a complex set of interactions, with animals relying on fruiting trees as food resources, and fruiting trees relying on animals for seed dispersal. This interdependence shapes fruit signals such as colour and odour, to increase fruit detectability, and animal sensory systems, such as colour vision and olfaction to facilitate food identification and selection. Despite the ecological and evolutionary importance of plant-animal interactions for shaping animal sensory adaptations and plant characteristics, the details of the relationship are poorly understood. Here we examine the role of fruit chromaticity, luminance and odour on seed dispersal by …

Modern-Day Conceptions Of Marriage In Visakhapatnam, India: “Bridging The Gap” Between Globalized Young Women And Their Parents, Courtney Petersen, Dr. Charles W. Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The city of Visakhapatnam hugs the shoreline of the Bay of Bengal on the East coast of Andhra Pradesh, India. Once a small collection of fishing villages, this city is now a bustling metropolis housing businesses, universities, travelers, students, and families from both metropolitan and rural backgrounds. As with most growing cities in India, Visakhapatnam is bombarded with outside influences from the western world in the form of media, global businesses, and travel as it develops as a city. This advancement in technology and interaction with global society benefits the people in Visakhapatnam by introducing them to opportunities that will …

An Observation Of Public Behavior Among Ecuadorian Orphans, Emily Miller, Dr. Charles Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Identity within a social structure is easily analyzed when found in a culturally traditional setting. However, when physical and mental handicaps, parental figure transience, and varying levels of familial contact become factors the social structure and the roles within that structure are not as easily defined. Research for this study was performed at an Ecuadorian orphanage where many of the children have mental and physical handicaps and where the adults they interact with change quite frequently. Based on this study, it can be concluded that a child’s role within this society and the type of interactions that child has with …

Medical Pluralism And Women’S Health: Ayurveda And Allopathy In A Changing Andhra Pradesh, Rachel Owen, Dr. John Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My research took place in Andhra Pradesh, South India, in Vishakhapatnam, or Visag, for short. I studied the interaction between Allopathy (Allopathy is one of the terms used to describe western medicine, or biomedicine) and Ayurveda(Ayurveda is the traditional Hindu medicine system used in India for over 2000 years). I was originally interested in how this interaction affected midwives and pregnant mothers in the small fishing village on the edge of the city. As with most ethnographic, qualitative research, my focus changed during the first few weeks as challenges presented themselves and I had to adapt based on the resources …

We Are Widows, We Are Women: On The Oral Histories Of Low-Caste Indian Widows And How They Maintain A Sense Of Self In The Face Of Social Role Change, Suzanne Powell, Dr. Charles W. Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As a student of anthropology, my ORCA grant enabled me to work on analyzing and writing up my results from a field study trip I took during the Fall 2009 semester to Visakhapatnam, India. My study focused on collecting oral histories of Hindu windows living in a fishing village just outside of the city limits. While there, I focused on understanding their lives previous to and after widowhood, what being a widow meant in that society, and how they felt about and reacted to the changes that came into their lives with the deaths of their husbands.

"Music Is The Voice Of A Culture": Cajun And Creole Musicians Speak About The Power Of Music To Preserve, Represent, And Celebrate South Louisiana's French Heritage, Moriah Istre

Student Theses and Dissertations

Cajun and Creole music, also known as French music, represents a vital part of South Louisiana's culture. The music I heard growing up instilled a strong sense of pride and belonging for me in connecting to my heritage, and the music grounds other Creoles and Cajuns in this common heritage as well. My passion for the music prompted me to examine the role that French music plays in preserving and transmitting Louisiana's Cajun and Creole cultures. I began my research by interviewing several of South Louisiana's musicians best qualified to speak about the subject. Each emphasized three main themes that …

Project-Based Section 8 Housing Participants' Perception Of Cultural And Structural Factors To Explain Barriers To Economic Self-Sufficiency, Yolanda Javette Clark

Dissertations

The Project-Based Section 8 program began as temporary housing of the last resort for people who experience temporary setbacks. However, due to participants' inability to become economically self-sufficient, the anti-poverty program has become permanent housing from which few families have been able to escape. Recent studies related to escaping poverty and becoming economically self-sufficient suggest cultural and structural factors are equally important and collectively impact upward economic mobility.

Similarly, the purpose of this study was to determine if Project-Based Section 8 housing participants' characteristics, described as cultural and structural barriers to economic self-sufficiency, interrelate and collectively predict ability to escape …

24-Archaeological Investigations: Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum Site, Stephen A. Damm, Louann Wurst, Department Of Anthropology

Archaeological Reports

This report documents an archaeological investigation conducted on the property of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum (LHBM) in South Haven, Van Buren County, MI, which was given the site number 20VA78. The homestead is the birthplace and childhood home of Dr. Liberty Hyde Bailey, Jr. (1858-1954), a naturalist, farmer, and Professor of Horticulture at Cornell University who gained prominence as a pioneer of the progressive farming movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In the spring of 2012, John Stempien, then Director of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum, contacted Dr. LouAnn Wurst of Western Michigan University to request …

The Stress Revolution: An Examination Of Acculturative Stress And An Emerging Modern Human Stress Response, Jeffrey Nicklas

Social Sciences

In a world that is so fast pace and always changing, the human biological systems have need to adapt just as swiftly. WIth the dependence on culture that humans all share has led to the building of societies with complex rules, ideals, and accepted roles and ways of life. In these complex societies, great cities and governments have arisen but so too have unnoticed changes to human biology. One of these changes is with environmental stressors and the effects it has on the nervous system. The human body, in these modern times, still responds to perceived stressors with the release …