Swaziland

A detailed Summary of Swaziland

WHICH CULTURE IS FOR YOU?

Anthropology is the study of humankind everywhere, throughout time, seeks to produce reliable knowledge about people and their behavior, both about what makes them different and what they all share in common.

The next few pages will share with you some simple facts about two cultures that are very much different, and are seperated by a span of ocean water. These two groups of people are the Yanomamo people of Brazil and the Swazi of South Africa.

There is a large tribe of Tropical Forest Indians on the border between Venezuela and Brazil. They are distributed in about 125 small distant villages. The are gardeners and they have lived until recently isolation for our kind culture. The interesting thing about the group is tat they have managed to retain their native pattern of warfare and political integrity without interference from the outside world. This is due to their isolation in a remote corner of the Amazon. They have remained sovereign and in complete control of their own destiny up until a few years ago.

The Swazi people live in a small land locked country border on three sides by South Africa. They have a wide range of ecological zones; rainforest in

The Yanomamo engage in trade to receive what the now feel to be essential items; matches, machetes, knives, steel axes, fish hooks and nylon fishing lines. They take up river for trade some of their handmade crafts, basket, clay pots etc.

Yanomamo people lived by a combination of horticulture, fishing, and foraging. Horticulturist who raises plantains and bananas, the Yanomamo diet consists of things hunted and gathering of palm fruit. Only about three to four hours in a day were spent working on the food supply. This allows time to enjoy the day by relaxing and having fun. This somewhat likes a civilized society. Because of the tropical region where the live it allows for year round cultivation and gathering of crops. So there is a fair amount of food to allow for this time of play.

It is very clear that these two societies devote some part of their day to take care of their fist basic need. One society has Mother Nature on their side to help with food supplies. Clearly, the other has to place effort forward in order to survive. The amount of time placed on food, I believe has a lot to do with the amount availability of it. A banana dangling from a tree is more readily available the planting the banana tree first.

A Yanomamo village is the basic sociopolitical unit and is occupied by several extended families composed of nuclear family households. The founding nucleus of such a village consists of tow intermarried pairs of brothers their sisters and their descendants. The two resulting lineages exchange their women, thus creating a number of affiance alliances. As additional lineage group join the village community and intermarry with members of the original lineage, political pressures and internal factionalism frequently lead to the splitting apart of the village and the establishment of a completely new community.

One group use words to settle a difference and the others choose a Fierce Axe.

By comparing, the two cultures I will try to show how being isolated and exposed can change a culture. This will show each culture's destiny was decided by each group geographical location.

Some common words found in the essay are:
STRUCTURE Yanomamo, SUBSISTENCE Yanomamo, Forestry Light, Prime Minister, WARFARE Chronic, Christianity Swaziland, Axe CONCLUSION, Venezuela Brazil, Traditionally Swazi, North Africa, swazi people, south africa, food supply, exchange women, outside world, government structures, yanomamo people,

Approximate Word count = 1710
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous