Chapter 6: The Politics of Culture Flashcards
Define:
activism
An action in pursuit of a political or social goal.
Define:
essentialism
The belief that a group of people possess a set of inherent characteristics often used in discussions related to race, gender, class, and sexuality.
Define:
noble savage
The notion that “there are simple people, living in an Edenic landscape and gentle climate, whose powers of reason and ability to live in harmony with nature ensure relief from the evils of civilization” (Satterfield 2002:100).
Define:
oral traditions
“The means by which knowledge is reproduced, preserved, and conveyed from generation to generation. Oral traditions form the foundation of Aboriginal societies, connecting speaker and listener in communal experience and uniting past and present in memory” (Hulan & Eigenbrod 2008:7).
Define:
potlatch
A form of ceremonial gift-giving marking notable occasions such as a marriage, inheriting an important title, or erecting a totem pole.
- The etiquette of the potlatch—who sits where, who receives what and in what order—is quite elaborate and determined by the rank of the participants and the history of past exchanges.
Define:
revitalization movement
An organized effort by members of a society or group to construct a more satisfying culture (Wallace 1956:265).
Define:
savage beast
A construct that portrays Aboriginal peoples as living in a constant state of violence, disorganization, and chaos.
Define:
treaty
An agreement made under law; in the context of Aboriginal land, it is a contract between an Aboriginal people and another governing body.
How do Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict define culture?
Ruth Benedict declared that it’s not race or common blood that binds people together; “what really binds men together is the culture—the ideas and the standards they have in common”—different ideas and standards, and therefore different cultures each with its “unique values.”
Franz Boas said that “the culture of any tribe can be fully explained only when we take into consideration its inner growth.” Thus “culture” itself—which even Boaz himself called “a vague term”—took shape as a distinct object, something good to “think with.” This view allowed culture to be something people speak about in general terms, something people can preserve and defend.
Explain why Sproat encouraged the Canadian government to ban the potlatch.
Sporat came to think that the potlatch had undergone a kind of inflationary process that led to “thriftiness inconsistent with all progress.” He thought that the native people wouldn’t be able to develop industrially if they were so obsessed with this kind of ritual. He encouraged the Canadian government to put a stop to it, and the potlatch was banned in 1884.
- This measure was a radical attempt to undermine an important social institution in order to set the natives on the path to assimilation—to redirect their local economies form communal redistribution to individual accumulation.
- The potlatch went underground, and native people went to jail for practicing it. The ban was ended only in 1951.
Outline the history of controversy surrounding the Whaler’s Shrine.
The Whaler’s Shrines belonged to high-ranking individuals with a hereditary connection to whaling. They were houses of purification and prayer, in which the ancestors, whose skulls were kept in the shrine, were prayed to for their assistance in the hunt. Boas purchased the shrine for the American Museum. In more recent years, the American Museum has agreed to return it to the Muchalaht Band if they have a proper place to display it. However, the community itself is divided over whether the shrine should return, and if it does, whether it should be open for public viewing or returned to its original status as a sacred place open only to its owners. Some people say that period in history is over and they’re moving forward, but others say that the power of the community can only be returned if the shrine is.
- In Boas’s time, by means fair and foul, native artifacts from everywhere made it into the world’s museums and private collections, abetted by a craze for “primitive art.” But in all fairness to ethnographic collectors like Boas, they were being motivated by an idea that native cultures were dying out and needed to be preserved.
- Many indigenous peoples are now keen to defend what they still possess, reclaim what was once theirs, preserve their languages, and revive their artistic traditions (cf. revitalization movement).
Explain why the Makah tribe believed whaling was such an important part of their culture.
The Makah believed that many of their health problems resulted from the loss of traditional seafood and sea-mammals in their diet. They also believed that the problems facing their young people stemmed from lack of discipline and pride, and restoring whaling would help to restore discipline and pride. Lastly, they wanted to fulfill the legacy of their ancestors and restore a part of their culture that was taken from them. They believed that killing whales would both restore the missing part of their traditions, and help honor the spirits of their whaling ancestors. Whaling was (and continues to be) at the heart of their cultures, identities, and spirituality.
- Whaling came to an end in the early 20th Century following the commercial decimation of the whale population.
- Since then, the population has recovered and the Makah expressed a desire to resume whaling for food and ceremonial purposes. The desire was put into practice in 1999, when they exercised their treaty rights again and put to sea a traditional canoe to kill a gray whale.
- It was a part of a revitalization movement, restoring the pattern of Makah culture.
- None have been officially hunted since then because of the uncertainty of the environmental impact assessment.
Compare and contrast Justice McEachern’s ruling and the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in the Skeena River Valley land claim.
The trial judge Allan McEachern viewed oral tradition evidence as largely “hearsay”; since the stories involved mythological elements, they couldn’t be used as recounts of factual events. Justice McEachern’s decision denied the Aboriginal rights, and his decision was appealed by the Supreme Court of Canada. In the Supreme Court, they determined that the trial judge had severely undermined the value of using oral tradition as evidence. They held that oral traditions are some of the only historical records of events that some aboriginal people have. They ruled that First Nations would retain rights to the land and its use didn’t have to be restricted to traditional subsistence practices. This type of sentencing would restrict the Aboriginal people from progressing and condemn them to live in rural ghettos on the fringes of the white-dominated economy.
What makes the culture of activism different from other social categories such as ethnicity, gender, and age?
Activists are set apart by their decision to unite and resist. Unlike ethnicity, gender, or race, activists choose to organize with others based on shared beliefs. They have organized in retaliation to a perceived threat to their right to exist, such as a threat to their livelihood, belief system, or right to expression.
How did both the environmentalists and the loggers studied by Satterfield associate their position with that of Aboriginal peoples? What was wrong with this appropriation of Aboriginal culture?
For many activists, drawing on Aboriginal practices reflects their continued commitment to protecting the earth and adds a sense of “cultural authenticity to activists’ imaginings of future land-use practices.” This adopted the idea of the noble savage in order to gain authenticity for their argument, since most activists don’t live on the land they’re protecting.
The loggers claimed that the culturally integrated use of the forest by Aboriginal peoples is similar to their own way of life. They attempt to draw similarities between themselves and how the Aboriginals managed the forests with fires, creating a narrative that the forest must be managed.
Both these views are essentialist, and “reduces Aboriginal peoples to unidimensional strategic and counter-strategic implements caught in the crossfire.” It is described as racist and dehumanizing.
