Monday, October 26, 2015

Zoe Roberts 3rd Period: Nothing Simple About Hunter-Gatherer Societies by Sindya N. Bhanoo

Summary: In the Journal of Physical Transactions B an article discussed the fact that there is truly nothing simple about hunter gatherer societies. Anthropologist Paul Hooper, who studied Jenu Kuruba and Tsimane men and women, stated that contrary to popular belief the division of labor and skill of hunter gatherers is great. Hooper discussed the reason women in hunter gatherer societies never learn how to collect honey or hunt because this has nothing to do with the raising of children. When your life is mostly caring for children you are not given the time to go out and learn new skills. Most skills in hunter gatherer communities are extremely specified often specialized in relation to what is being hunted or gathered.

Analysis: Conquistadors and American explorers tended to look down upon Native Americans, especially those that existed in hunter gatherer societies. It adds a whole other level to our snap judgement on societies came across during colonial times. I think very few explorers actually took the time to learn and invest in societies of that time. They jumped straight to teaching them what they believed to me right. If this had not been done during the discovery and colonization of America we would have learned a lot more a lot faster.

Source http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/science/nothing-simple-about-hunter-gatherer-societies.html?ref=world&_r=0

1 comment:

  1. Very interesting stuff. The Europeans always thought they were so much better than everyone else, but their lives were just different from the lives the Native Americans led. Nora Bracy 5th

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