Anthropology Commons^™

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 Politics Of Fertility: Population And Pronatalism In Ladakh, Jennifer Aengst

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In India’s northwestern region of Ladakh, the linkage between reproduction, politics, and fertility is both complicated and contested, evident in increasing population discourses and the re-emergence of a Buddhist pronatalist movement. This paper examines the impacts of population discourses and pronatalism on women’s reproductive decision-making, as well as on the delivery of healthcare throughout Ladakh. Population discourses currently circulating produce two reproductive subjects—the “hyper-fertile Muslim woman” and the “vulnerable Buddhist”—both of which have been central in revitalizing Buddhist pronatalism. Data collected through a hospital-based survey and interviews shows that fertility behavior is shaped by religious interpretations, political mobilization, and pressure …

The Material Culture Of Migrant Life At The U.S./México Border, Consuelo Helen Cano Crow

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Material culture is the aggregate of physical objects or artifacts used by or discarded by a past culture or society. Contemporary unauthorized migration at the U.S./México border has left thousands of pounds of migrant goods in what are referred to by United States Border Patrol as "lay-up sites". Since the late 1990's, undocumented migrants attempting to cross the Sonoran Desert of Arizona have been exposed to a distinctive set of material culture. This rapidly-evolving material culture is specific to the phenomenon of border-crossing, and it reflects and shapes the experience of migrants attempting the crossing. Migrants Stations, also known as …

Protecting And Promoting Traditional Knowledge: A Tool For Economic Development In The Pacific, Douveri Mavaru Henao

Pacific Studies

With dwindling natural resource receipts for pacific government coffers, developing alternative revenue sources and economic activities is paramount. One sector that may provide sustainable revenue flows, a high participation rate of Pacific Islanders, and stable market demand is the utilization of the traditional knowledge (TK) sector. Significant challenges remain in establishing a stable and predictable policy and legal framework in which operators can confidently commercialize TK products. However, as will be seen in this paper, governments in the Pacific have taken the bold step to do this, which proves that there are opportunities beyond fish, rocks, and timber in Oceana.

Challenges Of Copyright Laws For Education In A Fiji University, Shareeni Kala, Ruwani Somaratne

Pacific Studies

Globalization poses new questions regarding the relation between copyright law and education. In an Information Communication Technology (lCT) environment, a key issue is how education can best benefit from the educational resources available while still observing laws such as copyright. Changing trends and the digitalization of resources has added new challenges in the area of education, especially in the Pacific Island Countries. The use of Internet search, online database, and electronic resources has grown with the advancement of these technologies. This paper illustrates some of the challenges that exist in smaller nations such as Fiji, by reporting on some empirical …

Regulation Of Access To Genetic Resources And Associated Traditional Knowledge: Approaches And Challenges In The South Pacific, Yuri Suzuki

Pacific Studies

Regulatory frameworks regarding access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge (TK) with access and fair and equitable benefit sharing (ABS) are of international significance because of their social, economic, and cultural implications for local communities in general and the South Pacific countries in particular. This has led to development of an international regime specifically addressing ABS and to regional and national initiatives in countries including Vanuatu. The main aim of this paper is to examine the current position of regulatory frameworks that address the issue of access to genetic resources and associated TK in Vanuatu. This paper will highlight …

Beliefs In Action: Ideologies, Motivations, And Capital Among English As A Second Language Learners, Damon Lasiter

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Language learning motivations among immigrants are tied - via language ideologies - to socio-economic position, social networks, and problems encountered by the language learners in their everyday lives. Research into immigrants' reasons for language learning has often overlooked these factors (see Klassen & Burnaby, 1993, and Norton, 1995), but I offer in this thesis that the above factors are foundations for many immigrants' language ideologies - beliefs that people have about language. These language ideologies are, in turn, the foundations upon which one's motivations to learn a language are based. Using a Bourdieuvian paradigm, where inequitable positions of power exist …

The Developmental Ramifications Of Vanuatu's Intellectual Property Commitments On Joining The World Trade Organization, Miranda Forsyth

Pacific Studies

After over a decade of protracted negotiations, Vanuatu joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2012. Intellectual property provisions formed part of Vanuatu 's accession package, and included some Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs) Plus provisions. This paper will look at the potential effects that these new undertakings will have on two key areas of development, namely, health and education. It argues that the new intellectual property framework is likely to have detrimental effects on access to both medicines and other medical technology and also educational materials, which is at odds with the developmental aspirations of membership. …

"The New Economy": Utilizing Creative, Cultural, And Innovative Industries For Sustainable Socioeconomic Development In Fiji, Salvin Nand

Pacific Studies

Today, creative, cultural, and innovative industries are becoming important differentiators and drivers of competitiveness and economic development in many regions of the world. Creative industry has many characteristics, including being knowledge intensive and of high economic value. These characteristics determine that the development of creative industry not only directly promotes economic growth but also drives upgrades of other industries, thereby promoting economic growth indirectly as well as directly. The Pacific region has long been projected as a pristine paradise with vast cultural, natural, and biological resources that have unique opportuities for sustainable economic development in Pacific Island countries. Pacific Island …