Perspectives An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology The Development of Anthropological Ideas

PART INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY Katie Nelson , Hills Community College Lara , College PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL Learning Objectives Identify the four of anthropology and describe the kinds of research projects associated with each . Define culture and the six characteristics of culture . Describe how anthropology developed from early explorations of the world through the professionalization of the discipline in the century . Discuss ethnocentrism and the role it played in early attempts to understand other cultures . Explain how the perspectives of holism , cultural relativism , comparison , and fieldwork , as well as both scientific and humanistic tendencies make anthropology a unique discipline . Evaluate the ways in which anthropology can be used to address current social , political , and economic issues . The first time I ( Katie Nelson ) heard the word anthropology , I was seventeen years old and sitting at the kitchen table in my home in rural Minnesota . My mother was stirring a pot of chili on the stove . My dog was barking ( again ) at the squirrels outside . Her low bawl filtered through the screen door left open on the porch . It was the summer before I was to start college and I had a College course catalog spread out in front of me as I set about carefully selecting the courses that would make up my fall class schedule . When I applied to college , I had indicated in my application that I was interested in studying creative writing , poetry specifically . But I also had a passion for languages and people ing people , interacting with people and understanding people , especially those who were culturally from myself . I noticed a course in the catalog entitled Cultural I did not know exactly what I would learn , but the course description appealed to me and I signed up for it . Several weeks later , I knew what my major would anthropology ! Like Katie , I ( Lara ) started college with a curiosity about people but no clear major . In my second year , without knowing what anthropology was , I enrolled in an anthropology course called Controlling Throughout the semester , the professor encouraged us to question how social institutions ( like the government , schools , etc . affect the ways we think and act . This inquiry resonated with my upbringing my mother , who had immigrated to the United States in her twenties , often customs that were unfamiliar to her . At times , this was profoundly disappointing to me as a child . For example , she could not understand the joyous potential of filling up on candy at Halloween , a holiday not celebrated in her country . Yet , her outsider perspective inspired in me a healthy skepticism about things that others take to be As I took more anthropology courses , I became intrigued by diverse notions of normality found around the world . If you are reading this textbook for your first anthropology course , you are likely wondering , much like we did , what anthropology is all about . Perhaps the course description appealed to you in some way , but you had a hard time articulating what exactly drove you to enroll . With this book , you are in the right place !

WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY ?

Derived from Greek , the word means human and logy refers to the study Quite , anthropology is the study of humanity . It is the study of everything and anything that makes us human From cultures , to languages , to material remains and human evolution , anthropologists ine every dimension of humanity by asking compelling questions like How did we come to be human and who are our ancestors ?

Why do people look and act so differently throughout the world ?

What do we all have in common ?

How have we changed culturally and biologically over time ?

What factors diverse human beliefs and behaviors throughout the world ?

You may notice that these questions are very broad . Indeed , anthropology is an expansive field of study . It is comprised of four that in the United States include cultural anthropology , biological ( or physical ) anthropology , and linguistic anthropology . Together , the provide a picture of the human condition . Applied anthropology is another area of specialization within or between the anthropological . It aims to solve specific practical problems in oration with governmental , and community organizations as well as businesses and rations . It is important to note that in other parts of the world , anthropology is structured differently . For instance , in the United Kingdom and many European countries , the of cultural anthropology is referred to as social ( or ) anthropology . Archaeology , biological anthropology , and anthropology are frequently considered to be part of different disciplines . In some countries , like Mexico , anthropology tends to focus on the cultural and indigenous heritage of groups within the try rather than on comparative research . In Canada , some university anthropology departments mirror the British social anthropology model by combining sociology and anthropology . As noted above , in the United States and most commonly in Canada , anthropology is organized as a discipline . You will read more about the development of this approach in the Doing Fieldwork chapter ( chapter three ) WHAT IS CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY ?

The focus of this textbook is cultural anthropology , the largest of the in the United States as measured by the number of people who graduate with each Cultural anthropologists study the similarities and differences among living societies and cultural groups . Through immersive fieldwork , living and working with the people one is studying , cultural anthropologists suspend their own sense of what is normal in order to understand other peoples perspectives . Beyond describing another way of life , anthropologists ask broader questions about humankind Are human emotions versal or culturally specific ?

Does globalization make us all the same , or do people maintain cultural differences ?

For cultural anthropologists , no aspect of human life is outside their purview . They study art , religion , healing , natural disasters , and even pet cemeteries . While many anthropologists are at first intrigued by human diversity , they come to realize that people around the world share much in mon . Cultural anthropologists often study social groups that differ from their own , based on the view that fresh insights are generated by an outsider trying to understand the insider point of view . For example , beginning in the jean Briggs ( immersed herself in the life of people in the

PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL Canadian arctic territory of . She arrived knowing only a few words of their language , but ready to brave temperatures to learn about this remote , rarely studied group of people . In her most famous book , Never in Anger Portrait of an Eskimo Family ( 1970 ) she argued that anger and strong negative emotions are not expressed among families that live together in small amid harsh conditions for much of the year . In contrast to scholars who see anger as an innate emotion , Briggs research shows that all human emotions develop through culturally specific that foster some emotions and not others . While cultural anthropologists traditionally conduct fieldwork in faraway places , they are turning their gaze inward to observe their own societies or within them . For instance , in the 19805 , American anthropologist Philippe sought to understand why pockets of extreme poverty persist amid the wealth and overall high quality of life in the United States . To answer this question , he lived with Puerto Rican crack dealers in East Harlem , New York . He their experiences both historically in terms of their Puerto Rican roots and migration to the and in the present as they experienced social and institutional racism . Rather than blame the crack dealers for their poor choices or blame our society for perpetuating inequality , he argued that both individual choices and social structures can trap people in the overlapping worlds of drugs and poverty ( 2003 ) For more about , please see the interview with him in the learning resources , Anthropology in Our Moment in History . WHAT IS CULTURE ?

Cultural anthropologists study all aspects of culture , but what exactly is culture ?

When we ( the authors ) first ask students in our introductory cultural anthropology courses what culture means to them , our students typically say that culture is food , clothing , religion , language , traditions , art , music , and so forth . Indeed , culture includes many of these observable characteristics , but culture is also thing deeper . Culture is a powerful defining characteristic of human groups that shapes our , behaviors , and relationships . One reason that culture is difficult to define is that it encompasses all the intangible qualities that make people who they are . Culture is the air we breathe it sustains and comprises us , yet we largely take it for granted . We are not always consciously aware of our own culture . Furthermore , cultural anthropologists themselves do not always agree on what culture is . In defining culture , some anthropologists emphasize material life and objects ( tools , clothing , and technologies ) others emphasize culture as a system of intangible beliefs and still others focus on practices or customs of daily life . We propose a broad definition of Culture is a set of beliefs , practices , and symbols that are learned arid shared . Together , they form an , integrated whole that people together and shapes their worldview and . To say that a group of people shares a culture does not mean all individuals think or act in identical ways . One beliefs and practices can vary within a culture depending on age , gender , social status , and other characteristics . Yet , members of a culture share many things in common . While we are not born with a particular culture , we are born with the capacity to learn any culture . Through the process of , we learn to become members of our group both directly , through instruction from our parents and peers , and indirectly by observing and imitating those around us .

Culture constantly changes in response to both internal and external factors . Some parts of culture change more quickly than others . For instance , in dominant American culture , technology changes rapidly while deep seated values such as individualism , freedom , and change very little over time . Yet , inevitably , when one part of culture changes , so do other parts . This is because nearly all parts of a culture are integrated and interrelated . As powerful as culture is , humans are not necessarily bound by culture they have the capacity to conform to it or not and even transform it . In the definition above , belief refers not just to what we believe to be right or wrong , true or false . Belief also refers to all the mental aspects of culture including values , norms , philosophies , worldview , knowledge , and so forth . Practices refers to behaviors and actions that may be motivated by belief or performed without as part of everyday routines . Much like art and language , culture is also symbolic . A symbol is something that stands for something else , often without a natural connection . Individuals create , interpret , and share the meanings of within their group or the larger society . For example , in society everyone recognizes a red octagonal sign as signifying In other cases , groups within American society interpret the same symbol in different ways . Take the Confederate Some people see it as a symbol of pride in a heritage . Many others see it as a symbol of the long legacy of slavery , segregation , and racial sion . Thus , displaying the Confederate could have positive or , more often , negative connotations . Cultural symbols powerfully convey either shared or meanings across space and time . This definition of culture shared , learned beliefs , practices , and symbols allows us to understand that people everywhere are thinkers and actors shaped by their social . As we will see out this book , these are incredibly diverse , comprising the human cultural diversity that drew many of us to become anthropologists in the first place . While culture is central to making us human , we are still biological beings with natural needs and urges that we share with other animals hunger , thirst , sex , elimination , etc . Human culture uniquely channels these urges in particular ways and cultural practices can then impact our biology , growth , and development . Humans are one of the most dynamic species on Earth . Our ability to change both and biologically has enabled us to persist for millions of years and to thrive in diverse . Characteristics of Culture Culture is a set of beliefs , practices , and symbols that are learned and shared . Together , they form an , integrated whole that binds groups of people together and shapes their worldview and . Additionally Humans are born with the capacity to learn the culture of any social group . We learn culture both directly and indirectly . Culture changes in response to both internal and external factors . Humans are not bound by culture they have the capacity to conform to it or not , and sometimes change it . Culture is symbolic individuals create and share the meanings of symbols within their group or society . The degree to which humans rely on culture distinguishes us from other animals and shaped our evolution . Human culture and biology are interrelated Our biology , growth , and development are impacted by culture . A BRIEF HISTORY OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL THINKING

PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Imagine you are living several thousand years ago . Maybe you are a wife and mother of three dren . Maybe you are a young man eager to start your own family . Maybe you are a prominent religious leader , or maybe you are a respected healer . Your family has , for as long as people can remember , lived the way you do . You learned to act , eat , hunt , talk , pray , and live the way you do from your parents , your extended family , and your small community . Suddenly , you encounter a new group of people who have a different way of living , speak strangely , and eat in an unusual manner . They have a different way of addressing the supernatural and caring for their sick . What do you make of these differences ?

These are the questions that have faced people for tens of thousands of years as human groups have moved around and settled in different parts of the world . One of the first examples of someone who attempted to study and document cultural differences is Zhang Qian ( 164 113 ) Born in the second century in , China , Zhang was a military officer who was assigned by Emperor Wu of Han to travel through Central Asia , going as far as what is today . He spent more than years traveling and recording his observations of the peoples and cultures of Asia ( Wood 2004 ) The Emperor used this information to establish new relationships and cultural connections with China neighbors to the West . Zhang discovered many of the trade routes used in the Silk Road and introduced several new cultural ideas , including Buddhism , into Chinese culture . Another early traveler of note was Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn , known most widely as Ibn , Ibn was an ( Moroccan Muslim scholar . ing the fourteenth century , he traveled for a period of nearly thirty years , covering almost the whole of the Islamic world , including . Figure Statue Qian . parts Of Europe , India , and China . Upon Zhang China as an Important and of the road return to the Kingdom of Morocco , he documented the customs , Deb , Lander and traditions of the people he encountered in a book called wa ( A Gift to those who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Traveling ) a book commonly known as Al , which means travels in Arabic ( 2003 ix ) This book became part of a genre of Arabic literature that included descriptions of the people and places visited along with commentary about the cultures encountered . Some scholars consider Al to be among the first examples of early

Later , from the through , during the Age of Discovery , Europeans began to explore the world , and then colonize it . Europeans exploited natural resources and human labor in other parts of the world , exerting social and political control over the people they encountered . New trade routes along with the slave trade fueled a growing European empire while forever disrupting previously independent in the Old World . European belief that one own culture is better than used to justify the subjugation of societies on the alleged basis that these groups were socially A and even biologically inferior . Indeed , the emerging anthropological Muhammad In Egypt from . Jules book de la of this time were ethnocentric and often supported colonial pro . le ( As European empires expanded new ways of understanding the world , and its people arose . Beginning in the eighteenth century in Europe , the Age of the Enlightenment was a social and philosophical movement that privileged science , rationality , and experience , while critiquing religious authority . This crucial period of intellectual development planted the seeds for many academic disciplines , including anthropology . It gave ordinary people the capacity to learn the truth through observation and experience anyone could ask questions and use rational thought to discover things about the natural and social world . For example , geologist Sir Charles ( observed layers of rock and argued that the earth surface must have changed gradually over long periods of time . He disputed the Young Earth theory , which was at the time and used Biblical information to date the earth as only years old , Charles Darwin ( a naturalist and biologist , observed similarities between fossils and living specimens , leading him to argue that all life is descended from a common ancestor . Locke ( contemplated the origins of society itself , proposing that people historically had lived in relative isolation until they agreed to form a society in which the government would protect their personal ' We years before he The of . These radical ideas about the earth , evolution , and society early social scientists into the nineteenth century . Philosopher and anthropologist Herbert Spencer ( inspired by scientific principles , used biological evolution as a model to understand social evolution . just as biological life evolved from simple to complex multicellular organisms , he postulated that societies evolve to become larger and more complex . Anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan ( argued that all societies progress through the same stages of development . Societies were classified into these stages based on their family ture , technologies , and methods for acquiring food . savage societies , ones that used stone tools and foraged for food , were said to be stalled in their social , mental , and even moral development . Ethnocentric ideas like Morgan were challenged by anthropologists in the early twentieth century in both Europe and the United States . During World War I , a Polish anthropologist , became stranded on the Islands located north of Australia and New Guinea . While there , he started to develop fieldwork the method of , research that cultural anthropologists use today . By living with and observing the Islanders , he realized that their culture was not savage , but was to fulfill the needs of the people . He developed a theory to explain human cultural diversity each culture functions to

AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY the specific biological and psychological needs of its people . While this theory has been critiqued as biological reductionism , it was an early attempt to view other cultures in more ways . Around the same time in the United States , Franz Boas ( widely regarded as the founder of American anthropology , developed relativism , the view that while cultures differ , they are not better or worse than one another . In his critique of ethnocentric views , Boas insisted that physical and behavioral differences among racial and ethnic groups in the United States were shaped by environmental and social conditions , not biology . In fact , he argued that culture and biology are distinct realms of experience human behaviors are socially learned , contextual , and , not innate . Further , Boas worked to transform anthropology into a and empirical academic discipline that integrated the four of cultural anthropology , linguistic anthropology , archaeology , and biological anthropology . THE ( OTHER ) OF ANTHROPOLOGY ANTHROPOLOGY and . by Katie Nelson Biological Anthropology Biological anthropology is the study of human origins , evolution , and variation . Some biological anthropologists focus on our closest living relatives , monkeys and apes . They examine the biological and behavioral similarities and differences between nonhuman primates and human primates ( us ! For example , Jane has devoted her life to studying wild chimpanzees ( 1996 ) When she began her research in in the , challenged widely held assumptions about the inherent differences between humans and apes . At the time , it was assumed that monkeys and apes lacked the social and emotional traits that made human beings such exceptional creatures . However , discovered that , like humans , chimpanzees also make tools , socialize their young , have intense

emotional lives , and form strong bonds . Her work highlights the value of research in natural settings that can help us understand the complex lives of nonhuman primates . Other biological anthropologists focus on extinct human species , asking questions like What did our ancestors look like ?

What did they eat ?

When did they start to speak ?

How did they adapt to new environments ?

In 2013 , a team of women scientists excavated a trove of fossilized bones in the Chamber of the Rising Star Cave tem in South Africa . The bones turned out to belong to a previously unknown species that was later named Homo . With over specimens from at least fifteen individuals , the site is the largest collection of a single species found in Africa ( Berger , 2015 ) Researchers are still working to determine how the bones were left in the deep , hard to access cave and whether or not they were deliberately placed there . They also want Figure Chimpanzees are the nonhuman primate that are most closely related to humans . We shared a common ancestor with Chimpanzees around million years ago . to know what Homo ate , if this species made and used tools , and how they are related to other Homo species . Biological anthropologists who study ancient human relatives are called ' The field of paleoanthropology changes rapidly as fossil discoveries and refined dating offer new clues into our past . Figure . Human skin color ranges from dark brown to light pink Other biological anthropologists focus on humans in the present including their genetic and phenotypic ( observable ) variation . For instance , Nina has conducted research on human skin tone , asking why dark skin pigmentation is prevalent in places , like Central Africa , where there is high ultraviolet ( UV ) radiation from light , while light skin pigmentation is prevalent in places , like Nordic countries , where there is low UV radiation . She explains this pattern in terms of the interplay between skin pigmentation , UV ation , folic acid , and vitamin In brief , too much UV radiation can break down folic acid , which is essential to DNA and cell production . Dark skin helps block UV , thereby protecting the body folic acid reserves in . Light skin evolved as humans migrated out of Africa to texts , where dark skin would block too much UV radiation , compromising the body ability to absorb vitamin from the sun . Vitamin is essential to calcium absorption and a healthy skeleton . research shows that the spectrum of skin pigmentation we see today evolved to balance UV exposure with the body need for vitamin and folic acid 2012 ) Archaeology

12 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Archaeologists focus on the material past the tools , food , pottery , art , shelters , seeds , and other objects left behind by people . Prehistoric archaeologists recover and analyze these materials to the of past societies that lacked writing . They ask specific questions like How did people in a particular area live ?

What did they eat ?

Why did their societies to change over time ?

They also ask general questions about humankind When and why did humans first develop agriculture ?

How did cities first develop ?

How did prehistoric people interact with their neighbors ?

The method that archaeologists use to answer their questions is careful digging and removing of dirt and stones to uncover remains while recording their context . ological research spans millions of years from human origins to the present . For example , British archaeologist Kathleen ( was one of few female archaeologists in the . She famously studied the city structures and ies of Jericho , an ancient city dating back to the Early Bronze Age ( years before the present ) located in what is today the West Bank . Based on her findings , she argued that Jericho is the oldest city in the world and has been continuously ped pied by different groups for over years ( 1979 ) Historical archaeologists study recent societies using material remains to complement the written record . The Garbage Project , which began in the , is an example of a historic archaeological based in Tucson , Arizona . It involves excavating a contemporary landfill as if it were a conventional archaeology site . Archaeologists have found discrepancies between what people say they throw out and what is actually in their trash . In fact , many landfills hold large amounts of paper products and debris ( and Murphy 1992 ) This finding has practical implications for creating sustainable waste disposal practices . In 1991 , while working on an office building in New York City , construction workers came across human skeletons buried just 30 feet below the city streets . Archaeologists were called in to investigate . Upon further excavation , they discovered a burial ground , containing skeletons of free and enslaved Africans who helped build the city during the colonial era . The African Burial Ground , which dates dating from 1630 to 1795 , contains a trove of information about how free and enslaved Africans lived and died . The site is now a national monument where people can learn about the history of slavery in the Linguistic Anthropology Language is a defining trait of human beings . While other animals have communication systems , only humans have complex , symbolic of them ! Human language makes it possible to teach and learn , to plan and think abstractly , to coordinate our efforts , and even to contemplate our own demise . Linguistic anthropologists ask questions like How did language first emerge ?

How has it evolved and diversified over time ?

How has language helped us succeed as a species ?

How can language convey one social identity ?

How does language our views of the world ?

If you speak two or 13 more languages , you may have experienced how language affects you . For example , in English , we say I love But Spanish speakers use different amo , te , te quiero , and so convey different kinds of love romantic love , platonic love , maternal love , etc . The Spanish language arguably expresses more nuanced views of love than the English language . One intriguing line of linguistic anthropological research focuses on the relationship between language , thought , and culture . It may seem intuitive that our thoughts come first after all , we like to say Think before you However , according to the Hypothesis ( also known as linguistic relativity ) the language you speak allows you to think about some things and not others . When Benjamin ( studied the Hopi language , he found not just differences , but grammatical differences between Hopi and English . He wrote that Hopi has no tenses to convey the passage of time . Rather , the Hopi language indicates whether or not something has argued that English grammatical tenses ( past , present , future ) inspire a linear sense of time , while Hopi language , with its lack of tenses , inspires a cyclical experience of time ( 1956 ) Some critics , like linguist , refute theory , arguing that Hopi do have linguistic terms for time and that a linear sense of time is natural and perhaps universal . At the same time , recognized that English and Hopi tenses differ , albeit in ways less pronounced than proposed ( 1983 ) Other linguistic anthropologists track the emergence and diversification of languages , while others focus on language use in today social . Still others explore how language is crucial to children learn their culture and social identity through language and nonverbal forms of ( and 2012 ) Figure From the moment they are born , learn through language and nonverbal forms of Applied Anthropology Sometimes considered a fifth , applied anthropology involves the application of theories , methods , and findings to solve practical problems . Applied anthropologists are employed outside of academic settings , in both the public and private sectors , including business or consulting firms , advertising companies , city government , law enforcement , the medical field , governmental organizations , and even the military . Applied anthropologists span the . An applied archaeologist might work in cultural resource management to assess a potentially significant archaeological site unearthed during a construction . An applied cultural anthropologist could work at a technology company that seeks to understand the interface in order to design better tools . Medical anthropology is an example of both an applied and theoretical area of study that draws on all four to understand the interrelationship of health , illness , and culture . Rather than assume that disease resides only within the individual body , medical anthropologists explore the , social , and cultural conditions that impact the experience of illness . For example , in some cultures , people believe illness is caused by an imbalance within the community . Therefore , a nal response , such as a healing ceremony , is necessary to restore both the health of the person and the

14 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY group . This approach differs from the one used in mainstream healthcare , whereby people go to a doctor to find the biological cause of an illness and then take medicine to restore the individual body . Trained as both a physician and medical , Paul Farmer demonstrates the applied potential of anthropology . During his college years in North Carolina , Farmer interest in the Haitian migrants working on nearby farms inspired him to visit Haiti . There , he was struck by the poor living conditions and lack of health care facilities . Later , as a physician , he would return to Haiti to treat individuals suffering from diseases like sis and cholera that were rarely seen in the United States . As an anthropologist , he would the experiences of his Haitian patients in tion to the historical , social , and political forces that impact Haiti , the poorest country in the , gU , Fa , Han , Hemisphere ( Farmer 2006 ) Today , he not only writes academic books about human suffering , he also takes action . Through the work of Partners in Health , a nonprofit organization that he , he has helped open health clinics in many countries and trained local staff to administer care . In this way , he applies his medical and anthropological training to improve peoples lives . ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES Anthropologists across the use unique perspectives to conduct their research . These make anthropology distinct from related disciplines like history , sociology , and psychology that ask similar questions about the past , societies , and human nature . The key anthropological are holism , relativism , comparison , and fieldwork . There are also both scientific and tendencies within the discipline that , at times , with one another . Holism

Anthropologists are interested in the whole of humanity , in how various aspects of life interact . One can not fully ate what it means to be human by studying a single aspect of our complex histories , languages , bodies , or societies . By using a holistic approach , anthropologists ask how different aspects of human life one another . For example , a cultural anthropologist studying the meaning of marriage in a small village in India might consider local gender norms , existing family networks , laws regarding marriage , religious rules , and economic factors . A biological anthropologist studying keys in South America might consider the species physical adaptations , foraging patterns , ecological conditions , and interactions with humans in order to answer questions about their social behaviors . By understanding how nonhuman mates behave , we discover more about ourselves ( after all , humans are primates ) By using a holistic approach , Figure . By using a holistic approach , anthropologists learn reveal the complexity of biological , social , or cultural ' fy , phenomena . Anthropology itself is a holistic discipline , comprised in the United States ( and in some other nations ) of four major cultural anthropology , biological anthropology , linguistic anthropology , and archaeology . While anthropologists often specialize in one , their specific research contribute to a broader understanding of the human condition , which is made up of culture , language , biological and social adaptations , as well as human origins and evolution . Cultural Relativism ( versus Ethnocentrism ) The guiding philosophy of modern anthropology is cultural idea that we should seek to understand another person beliefs and behaviors from the perspective of their culture rather than our own . Anthropologists do not judge other cultures based on their values nor do they view other ways of doing things as inferior . Instead , anthropologists seek to understand people beliefs within the tem they have for explaining things . The opposite of cultural relativism is ethnocentrism , the tendency to view one own culture as the most important and correct and as a measuring stick by which to evaluate all other cultures that are largely seen as inferior and morally suspect . As it turns out , many people are ethnocentric to some degree ethnocentrism is a common human experience . Why do we respond the way we do ?

Why do we behave the way we do ?

Why do we believe what we believe ?

Most people find these kinds of difficult to answer . Often the answer is simply because that is how it is People typically believe that their ways of thinking and acting are normal but , at a more extreme level , some believe their ways are better than others . Ethnocentrism is not a useful perspective in in which people from different cultural grounds come into close contact with one another , as is the case in many cities and communities throughout the world . People increasingly find that they must adopt culturally relativistic perspectives in governing communities and as a guide for their interactions with members of the community . For anthropologists , cultural relativism is especially important . We must set aside our innate ethnocentric

PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY views in order to allow cultural relativism to guide our inquiries and interactions such that we can learn from others . Comparison Anthropologists of all the use comparison to learn what humans have in common , how we differ , and how we change . Anthropologists ask questions like How do chimpanzees differ from humans ?

How do different languages adapt to new technologies ?

How do countries respond differently to immigration ?

In cultural anthropology , we compare ideas , morals , practices , and systems within or between cultures . We might compare the roles of men and women in different societies , or contrast how different religious groups within a given society . Like other disciplines that use approaches , such as sociology or psychology , anthropologists make comparisons between ple in a given society . Unlike these other disciplines , anthropologists also compare across societies , and humans and other primates . In essence , anthropological comparisons span societies , time , place , and species . It is through comparison that we learn more about the range of possible responses to varying and problems . Fieldwork Anthropologists conduct their research in the field with the species , civilization , or groups of people they are studying . In cultural anthropology , our fieldwork is referred to as ethnography , which is both the process and result of cultural anthropological research . The Greek term refers to people , and graphy refers to writing . The ethnographic process involves the research method of observation fieldwork you participate in peoples lives , while observing them and taking field notes that , along with interviews and surveys , constitute the research data . This research is inductive based on observations , the anthropologist asks increasingly specific questions about the group or about the human condition more broadly . Oftentimes , informants actively participate in the research process , helping the anthropologist ask better questions and understand different perspectives . The word ethnography also refers to the end result of our fieldwork . Cultural anthropologists do not write novels , rather they write , descriptive accounts of culture that weave detailed observations with theory . After all , anthropologists are social scientists . While we study a particular culture to learn more about it and to answer specific research questions , we are also exploring fundamental questions about human society , behavior , or experiences . In the course of conducting fieldwork with human subjects , anthropologists invariably encounter ethical dilemmas Who might be harmed by conducting or publishing this research ?

What are the costs and benefits of identifying individuals involved in this study ?

How should one resolve competing interests of the funding agency and the community ?

To address these questions , Figure Author Nelson conducting ethnographic among undocumented college students Photo by Luke .

anthropologists are obligated to follow a professional code of ethics that guide us through ethical in our Scientific Humanistic Approaches As you may have noticed from the above discussion of the anthropological , are not unified in what they study or how they conduct research . Some , like biological anthropology and archaeology , use a deductive , scientific approach . Through hypothesis testing , they collect and analyze material data ( bones , tools , seeds , etc . to answer questions about human origins and evolution . Other , like cultural anthropology and linguistic , use humanistic or inductive approaches to their collection and analysis of nonmaterial data , like observations of everyday life or language in use . At times , tension has arisen between the scientific and the humanistic ones . For example , in 2010 some cultural anthropologists critiqued the American Anthropological Association mission statement , which stated that the disciplines goal was to advance anthropology as the science that ies humankind in all its These scholars wanted to replace the word science with public They argued that some anthropologists do not use the scientific method of inquiry instead , they rely more on narratives and interpretations of meaning . After much debate , the word ence remains in the mission statement and , throughout the United States , anthropology is categorized as a social science . WHY IS ANTHROPOLOGY IMPORTANT ?

As we hope you have learned thus far , anthropology is an exciting and multifaceted field of study . Because of its breadth , students who study anthropology go on to work in a wide variety of careers in medicine , museums , field archaeology , historical preservation , education , international business , filmmaking , management , foreign service , law , and many more . Beyond preparing students for a particular career , anthropology helps people develop essential skills that are transferable to many career choices and life paths . Studying anthropology fosters broad knowledge of other cultures , skills in observation and analysis , critical thinking , clear communication , and applied . encourages us to extend our perspectives beyond familiar social to view things from the perspectives of others . As one former cultural anthropology student observed , I believe an course has one basic goal to eliminate ethnocentrism . A lot of issues we have today ( racism , xenophobia , etc . stem from the toxic idea that people are other We must put that idea aside and learn to value different This anthropological perspective is an essential skill for nearly any career in globalized world . Some students decide to major in anthropology and even pursue advanced academic degrees in order to become professional anthropologists . We asked three cultural anthropologists Anthony Harrison , Bob Myers , and Lynn to describe what drew them to the discipline and to explain how they use anthropological perspectives in their varied research projects . From the study of race in the United States , to health experiences on the island of , to hunger and gender in the Philippines , these anthropologists all demonstrate the endless potential of the discipline .

PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Anthony Harrison , Cultural Anthropologist , Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University I like to tell a story about how , on the last day of my first year at the University of Massachusetts , while sitting alone in my dorm room waiting to be picked up , I decided to ure out what my major would be . So , I opened the course then it was a physical started going through it alphabetically . On days when I am feeling particularly playful , I say that after getting through the A , I knew Anthropology was for me . In truth , I also considered Zoology . I was initially drawn to anthropology because of its traditional focus on exoticness and difference . I was born in , West Africa , where my American father had spent several years working with local artisans at the National Cultural Centre in . My family moved to the United States when I was still a baby and I had witnessed my mother struggle with adapting to certain aspects of life in America . Studying anthropology , then , gave me a reason to learn more about the unusual artwork that filled my childhood home and to connect with a faraway side of my family that I hardly knew anything about . Looking through that course catalogue , I didnt really know what anthropology was but resolved to by taking several classes the following year . As I in these level classes on cultural anthropology and archeology , a class called Culture through Film , and another on Egalitarian Societies envisioned a possible future as an anthropologist working in rural West Africa on topics like symbolic art and folklore . I never imagined I would earn a researching the mostly , largely , independent scene in the San Francisco Bay Area . Through my anthropological training , I have made a career exploring how race our of popular music . I have written several pieces on racial identity and hip notably my 2009 book , Hip Hop Underground The Integrity and Ethics of Racial Identification . I have also explored how race impacts people senses of belonging in various social instance , African American participation in downhill skiing or the experiences of underrepresented students at historically white colleges and universities . In all these efforts , my attention is primarily on understanding the , nuances , and significance of race . I use these other , recreation , and higher avenues through which to explore race multiple meanings and unequal consequences . Figure 13 Anthony Harrison , Photo by Jim Stroup .

14 Harrison as a member of the Forest ( the hop group he founded ) Photo courtesy of . Where a fascination with the exotic initially brought me to anthropology , it is the disciplines ability to shed light on what many of us see as normal , common , and that has kept me with it through three degrees ( bachelor , masters , and ) and a career as a college sor . I am currently the Gloria Smith Professor of Studies at Virginia school that , oddly enough , does not have an anthropology program . Being an anthropologist at a major university that doesnt have an anthropology program , I believe , gives me a unique perspective on the disciplines key virtues . One of the most important things that anthropology does is create a basis for questioning granted notions of progress . Does the Fusion Five Razor , with its five blades , really offer a ter shave than the Quattro ?

I can not say for sure , but as ve witnessed the move from razors , to Mach , to today ( there is even a company offering the worlds first and only razor with seven precision aligned blades ) there appears to be a presumption that more , in this case , is better . I admit that the example is somewhat crude . Expanding out to the latest model automobile or smartphone , people seem to have a seldom questioned belief in the notion that newer technologies ultimately improve our lives . Anthropology places such ideas within the broader context of human , or what anthropologists call culture . What are the most crucial elements of human biological and social existence ?

What additional developments have brought the greatest levels of collective satisfaction , effective organization , and sustainability ?

20 AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Anthropology has taught me to view the temporary American lifestyle that I grew up ing was normal through the wider frame of humanity long history . How does our tive change upon learning that for the vast ity of human say as much as nine percent of lived a foraging lifestyle ( commonly referred to as hunting and ing ) Although I am not calling for a mass return to foraging , when we consider the significant worldwide issues that humans face things as global warming , the threat of nuclear war , accelerating ethnic conflicts , and a world Harrison hosting an underground hip hop radio show . Photo by . Am , tion that has grown from one billion to nearly eight billion over the past two hundred are left with difficult questions about whether years of agriculture and a couple hundred years of industrialization have been in humanity best interests . All of this is to say that offers one of the most biting critiques of modernity , which challenges us to slow down and think about whether the new technologies we are constantly being presented with make sense . Similarly , the anthropological concept of ethnocentrism is incredibly useful when paired with different examples of how people define family , recognize leadership , decide what is and is not edible , and the like . To offer just one example , many of my students are surprised to learn that among my ( matrilineal ) family in , I have a distinctly different relationship with cousins who are children of my mothers brother as compared with cousins who are children of her sister . Using my own anthropological biography as an illustration , I want to stress that the discipline does not showcase diverse human to further those who live differently from us . In , anthropology showcases cultural variation to illustrate the possibilities and potential for human life , and to demonstrate that the way of doing things we know best is neither normal nor necessarily right . It is just one way among a multitude of others . Everybody does it but we all do it different this is culture . Bob Myers , Cultural Anthropologist , Alfred University

My undergraduate experience significantly shaped my attitudes about education in general and anthropology in particular . At in North Carolina I completed a German major , minored in Biology and took many courses in English Literature . I also spent one year ing abroad at in , Germany , and saved some me time for ing and traveling around Europe . This led me to pursue graduate work in anthropology despite the fact that I had taken only one anthropology course in College While in graduate School at the Figure Bob Myers residents , a small of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , I became community Canada . Resolute the second northernmost permanent Canada , located the of , far above Caribbean ' and migration and the Photo courtesy of Bob Myers . spent almost two years doing doctoral fieldwork and research on the island of . After finishing my , I had a in tics in Chapel Hill before I took my first job at College where I taught for several Observations of an impoverished health system in and family health experiences with dysentery during fieldwork led me toward medical anthropology and public health and so I completed a . degree at the Harvard School of Public Health before receiving a Fellowship to go to University in southern . There , a coup and other circumstances turned my into a adventure . I probably learned more anthropology in than in all of graduate school , including examples of the power of a traditional kingdom and the ways large families enable members to manage in distressing economic conditions . Then I went back to the and taught for two years at Long Island University before moving to rural Alfred University in western New York , where I now work . Alfred is a diverse university with a world class engineering program , a nationally ranked program , small business , school psychology , and liberal arts and sciences programs , and no anthropology other than what I ve been teaching for 32 years . To offset the absence of other anthropologists , colleagues in religious studies and I created a major called Comparative Cultures and later , with colleagues in modern languages , environmental studies , and political science , a Global Studies major , a perfect setting for anthropology . Anthropology is the broadest , most fundamental of academic subjects and should be at the core of a modern undergraduate education . I convinced that an anthropology major is not necessary for our discipline to play a significant role in students understanding of the messy , amazingly diverse , connected world after graduation . An anthropological perspective is . To me , an anthropological perspective combines a comparative ( holistic view with a sense of history and social structure , and asks functional questions like what effect does that have ?

How does that work ?

How is this connected to that ?

An anthropological perspective also draws from many other disciplines to examine patterns , and , of course , requires one to engage with people by talking to them ( something that become harder than ever for many students ) All this contributes to the theme I stress that everything is culturally constructed . Everything ! I tell students during the first week of classes that one of my goals is to convince them that much of what they ve learned about many familiar topics ( race , sex and gender , kinship , marriage , languages , religion , evolution , social media , and ) is biased , or incomplete . Using an anthropological perspective , there no issue which can not be better understood . Every Friday I encourage my students to Have an anthropological weekend and ask them on Monday to describe how this happened . Students examples range from describing

22 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL with international students , exploring the cultural and economic history of tea and coffee , to seeing an evangelical church service in a new light . This encourages students to appreciate that happens all around them and isn something that can only be studied in a faraway society . Another goal I have in my teaching is to illustrate that an anthropological view is useful for better coping with the world around us especially in our , society where ethnic diversity and immigration are politically charged and change is happening at a pace never before . I stress themes of storytelling and interpretation throughout the semester . To this end , in my introductory cultural anthropology course , we view and critically discuss at length several famous films ( of the North , parts ofA Family , The , and sometimes the Last , among ers ) but also Michael Anthropological Introduction to YouTube . One of the most effective Writing exercises I give students allows them to examine an essential part of their lives , their cell phones . The assignment Tell me the story of your relationship with your cell phone has resulted in some of the best papers I have ever received . Students have described how their personal relationships evolved as their phone types changed how social media connections reduced isolation by enabling them to find minded friends one described a journey exploring gender , another how the new technology expanded his artistic creativity . I use Twitter , and Facebook in different ways including Daniel Miller Whig We Post studies to show that anthropology isn just about the past or the exotic . To illustrate how thoroughly we are globalized , my students do an exercise called The Global Closet in which they go through everything in ( or near ) their closet , reading tags to see where the item was made . Most are prised at the origins of what they wear . Yes , anthropology helps to see the familiar in a new light . I oftentimes use work in my classes to anchor our discipline in liberal tion . At the beginning of each course we read environmental historian William Only . Goals of a Liberal Education ( he has a great discussable able to talk to anyone , read widely , think critically , problem the end ) because anthropology is about breadth and making connections ( with others , and seeing patterns ) We listen to and discuss the late writer David Foster Wallace This is Water commencement address emphasizing empathy and awareness because fosters these qualities as well . Lots of what we do in class stays with students beyond graduation . For all of these reasons , studying anthropology is the most broadly useful of undergraduate disciplines . Lynn Cultural Anthropologist , Colorado State University Living in societies throughout the world , and conducting research with people in diverse cultures , were dreams that began to emerge for me when I was an undergraduate student studying anthropology at the University of Massachusetts , in the early . After graduating from college , I served as a Peace Corps volunteer where I worked in primary health care in an upland community in Province of the Philippines . Following my Peace Corps experience , I entered graduate school in the Anthropology Department at the University of California , Berkeley and became a cultural gist in the , specializing in medical anthropology .

Figure 17 Lynn ( second from left ) Celebrating Tet , the Lunar New , a family In their home village In rural , northern Vietnam . Photo courtesy of Lynn While I was a graduate student , I returned to the community in which I lived in Province to conduct research for my dissertation which focused on malnutrition , particularly among women and children . I studied ways that hunger experienced by people is by gender , ethnic , and class inequality , global and local health and development programs , religious proselytization , political violence , and the state . I lived in for almost four years . I resided in a wooden hut with a thatched roof in a small village for much of my stay there , as well as another more modern home , made of iron . I also periodically lived with a family in the center of a mountain town . I participated in the rich daily lives of farmers , hospital personnel , government employees , ers , students , and other groups of people . I conducted interviews and surveys and also shared daily and ritual experiences with people to learn about inadequate access to nutritious food , and social sources of this kind of health problem . Participant observation research allows anthropologists to obtain a special kind of knowledge that is rarely acquired through other , more limited research . This type of research takes a great amount of time and effort but produces a uniquely deep and contextual type of knowledge . I published an ethnography about my research in , titled Struggling with Development The Politics of Hunger and Gender in the Philippines . by my study of gender power relations surrounding hunger and malnutrition in the Philippines , and also by the political violence I witnessed by the Philippine government and the New People Army , I took up a new research project that focuses on gender violence . I am exploring the impacts of this violence on the health and of women and the intersecting global and local sociocultural forces that give meaning to and perpetuate gender violence in Vietnam . To address these issues , I am researching the abuse of women by their husbands , and in some cases their as well , in northern Vietnam . I also explore the ways in which abused women , and other Vietnamese professionals and government workers , contest this gender violence in Vietnamese . In Vietnam , I have had the opportunity to live with a family in a commune in , and in nearby provinces . I learned about the deep pain and suffering experienced by abused women , as well as the numerous ways many of these women and their fellow community members have worked to put an end to the violence . Marital sexual violence is an important but understudied form of domestic violence in societies throughout the world , including in Vietnam .

24 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY In recent decades , anthropologists have been on the significance and relevance of anthropological research . This has included anthropologists who are working in each of anthropology four . Some have called for greater efforts to share our anthropological findings with the public in order to try to solve significant historical , social , cal , and environmental problems . Examples of these problems include the impacts of climate change on the health and welfare of diverse throughout the globe and social structural . Figure Family members gathered at their home in Province , the reasons for problems ! as Well as cul Philippines Photo Lynn . meanings people give to them , such as nutrition , and illnesses related to increasing weights of people in societies globally . I hope my research on wife abuse will contribute to the emergence of a deeper understanding of the social and cultural sources of gender violence in order to end this violence , and greater awareness of its scope and its effects on women . Through their research , anthropologists contribute unique and important forms of knowledge and information to diverse groups , including local communities , nations , and global social movements , such as feminist , racial , indigenous , environmental , and other social movements . Cultural research is unique because it often involves analysis of the intersection of global social , ical and economic forces and the everyday experiences of members of a cultural group . The fieldwork and participant observation research methods provide cultural anthropologists the opportunity to live with a group of people for several months or years . They learn about the complexities of peoples lives intimately , including their social relationships , their bodily and emotional experiences , and the institutional forces their lives . Applying the results of our ethnographic research and making our research accessible to our students and the public can make the research of anthropologists useful toward alleviating the problems people face in our society , and in countries globally . The particular way that cultural anthropologists do their research is important to our results . Through my research experiences I have participated in the rich daily lives of farmers , hospital personnel , government employees , shopkeepers , students , and other groups of people . ducted interviews and surveys and also shared daily and ritual experiences with people to learn about inadequate access to nutritious food , and social structural sources of this kind of health problem . observation research allows anthropologists to obtain a special kind of knowledge that is rarely acquired through other , more limited research methods . This type of research takes a great amount of time and effort , but produces a uniquely deep and contextual type of knowledge . Ethnographic research can help us to understand the extent of a global problem such as gender violence , the everyday of those facing abuse , and the struggles and accomplishments of people actively working to improve their societies . Discussion Questions

25 i . This chapter emphasizes how broad the discipline of anthropology is and how many different kinds of research questions in the four pursue . What do you think are the strengths or unique opportunities of being such a broad What are some challenges or difficulties that could develop in a discipline that studies so many different things ?

Cultural anthropologists focus on the way beliefs , practices , and symbols bind groups of people together and shape their worldview and . Thinking about your own culture , what is an example of a belief , practice , or symbol that would be interesting to study ?

What do you think could be learned by studying the example you have selected ?

Discuss the definition of culture proposed in this chapter How is it similar or different from other ideas about culture that you have encountered in other classes or in everyday life ?

In this chapter , Anthony Harrison , Bob Myers , and Lynn describe how they first became interested in anthropology and how they have used their training in anthropology to conduct research in different parts of the world . Which of the research projects they described seemed the most interesting to you ?

How do you think the fieldwork they described leads to that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to learn ?

GLOSSARY Cultural relativism the idea that we should seek to understand another person beliefs and behaviors from the perspective of their own culture and not our own . Deductive reasoning from the general to the specific the inverse of inductive reasoning . Deductive research is more common in the natural sciences than in anthropology . In a deductive approach , the researcher creates a hypothesis and then designs a study to prove or disprove the hypothesis . The results of deductive research can be generalizable to other settings . the process of learning the characteristics and expectations of a culture or group . Ethnocentrism the tendency to View one own culture as most important and correct and as the stick by which to measure all other cultures . Ethnography the study of the everyday practices and lives of a people . Humans ( Homo sapiens ) and their close relatives and immediate ancestors . Inductive a type of reasoning that uses specific information to draw general conclusions . In an tive approach , the researcher seeks to collect evidence without trying to definitively prove or disprove a hypothesis . The researcher usually first spends time in the field to become familiar with the people before identifying a hypothesis or research question . Inductive research usually is not generalizable to other settings . Paleoanthropologist biological anthropologists who study ancient human relatives . a type of observation in which the anthropologist observes while ing in the same activities in which her informants are engaged .

26 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY ABOUT THE AUTHORS Katie Nelson is an instructor of anthropology at Hills Community . Her research focuses on migration , identity , belonging , and citizenship ( in human history and in the contemporary United States , Mexico , and Morocco . She received her . in anthropology and Latin American studies from College , her . in anthropology from the University of , Santa Barbara , an . in education and instructional technology from the University of Saint Thomas , and her from ( de en Social for Research and Higher Education in Social Anthropology ) based in , Mexico . Katie views teaching and learning as central to her practice as an anthropologist and as mutually forcing elements of her professional life . She is the former chair of the Teaching Anthropology Interest Group ( of the General Anthropology Division of the American Anthropological tion and currently serves as the online content editor for the Teaching and Learning Anthropology . She has contributed to several open access textbook projects , both as an author and an editor , and views the of quality learning materials as an important piece of the equity and inclusion puzzle in higher education . 10 Lara is an instructor of anthropology at College , where she teaches cultural and biological anthropology courses . She received her . in anthropology and ish from the University of California at Berkeley and both her . and in comparative human development from the University of Chicago , where she specialized in cultural and medical . Her research has focused on social identities and disparities in the context of reproduction and medicine in both Mexico and the Lara concern about the social inequality has guided her research projects , teaching practices , and involvement in open access projects like this textbook . In an effort to make college more accessible to all students , she serves as of College Open Educational Resources ( OER ) and Zero Textbook Cost ( initiatives .

BIBLIOGRAPHY Berger , Lee , Hawks , john , de , Darryl . Churchill , Steven , Peter , Lucas , Tracy , Heather , and Scott Williams . 2015 . Homo , A New Species of the Genus Homo from the Chamber , South . doi . Philippe . In Search of Respect Selling Crack in El Barrio . Cambridge Cambridge University Press , 2003 . Briggs , Jean . Never in Anger Portrait of an Eskimo Family . Cambridge President and Fellows of Harvard College , 1970 . Farmer , Paul . AIDS and Accusation Haiti and the Geography of Blame . Berkeley University of California Press , 2006 . Jane . My Life with the Chimpanzees . New York Aladdin Paperbacks , 1996 . Harrison , Anthony . Hip Hop Underground The Integrity and Ethics of Racial Identification . Temple University Press , 2009 . Nina . Living Color The Biological and Social Meaning of Skin Color . Berkeley University of Press , 2012 . Kathleen . Excavations at Volume II Tombs Excavated in , London British School of Archaeology , 1965 . Lynn . Struggling with Development The Politics of Hunger and Gender in the Philippines . der Press , 1998 . Hopi Time A Linguistic Analysis of the Temporal Concepts in the Hopi Language . Trends in Linguistics . Studies and . 20 . New York Mouton Publishers , 1983 . Tim , ed . The Travels of Ibn . London Picador , 2003 . and Bambi . 2012 . The Theory of Language In The Handbook of Language Socialization edited by Alessandro , and Bambi , MA , 2012 . William and Cullen Murphy . Rubbish The Archaeology of Garbage . New York , 1992 . Benjamin Lee . Language , Thought , and Reality Selected writings of Benjamin Lee . Edited by . Carroll . Cambridge Press , 1956 . Wood , Frances . The Silk Road Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia . Berkeley University of California Press , 2004 . Notes . Some of this chapter is adapted from the introduction to Explorations An Open Invitation to Biological See ?

See chapter two , The Culture Concept , for a history of the culture concept in anthropology . Arabic scholar ) in discussion with Katie Nelson , December , See the American Anthropological Association Code of Ethics . See American Anthropological Association Statement of Purpose

28 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY . This quote is taken from a survey of students in an Introduction to Cultural Anthropology course at the munity College of Baltimore County , 2018 . The statue I standing next to in the photograph remembers the awful story of the High Arctic in the early , a textbook case of the ways Canada has abused Native peoples . from ( formerly Port Harrison ) in northern and Pond Inlet on Island were forced to move to Resolute and Fiord in the territory that is now called . The government promises of good conditions were deceptive and the struggled with a lack of shelter and food resources . Following the public hearings in 1996 , the were awarded a Can 10 million settlement . For more information see Melanie The Long Exile A Tale Betrayal and Survival in the High Arctic . New York , 2007 . See and