Difference Between Hmong And Aztecs

The Hmong and the Aztecs

Culture is fully integrated; all of its characteristics correlate or influence each other. That being said, cultures can also reflect aspects of a foreign society. To discover cultural commonalities an anthropologist must analyze the cultures individually before looking at them holistically. A general starting point when investigating a society is to look at their environment. A society’s environment affects many, if not all, aspects of their culture. A major aspect of culture that is influenced by environment is technology; specifically environment affects subsistent strategy which is basically how a culture procures their food. This is major for the obvious reasons, such as the need for food to survive. If a culture

Though human sacrifices were an element of their culture, the Aztecs were a much more civilized culture then their more gruesome practices leads one to believe. The Aztecs, or Mexicas, arrived in central Mexico in the thirteenth century. After many years of difficult and drama filled travel they finally settled in a placed called Tenochtitlan. They built elaborate palaces after allying themselves with the Tepanec Empire, who provided them with the materials their new home could not provide. Their population quickly expanded due to this new economic stability. Most of the population was comprised of commoners, who farmed the land and fought battles. The Aztecs practiced an agricultural subsistence, unfortunately around the fifteenth century they suffered a famine. This was resolved when their government seized control of the production of the crop maize and combined with ritual offerings of food to the goddess of maize, they survived. The Aztecs were a very religious people, they even settled in Tenochtitlan because of an omen sent from one of their deities, Huitzilopotchtli. As far as rules for descent, the Aztecs recognized both the mothers and the fathers’ side equally (bilateral). While most positions available were defined and limited at birth, there was the ability to move up through ranks via accomplishments. The

The Hmong are located throughout China, Thailand, and Vietnam. Their subsistence strategy is agriculture and their staple foods include rice and corn. They also have a long history with the growing and selling of Opium poppy. This provided income for the Hmong; however their profits were forcibly reduced due to having to split the profits with the government and military. The Hmong had an uneasy relationship with the Chinese government; the government had driven them from their lands and into the mountains for the sake of continuing their way of life. The Hmong villages varied in looks and structure based off of location. In the warmer areas the houses were built on stilts to avoid contact with the damp ground. Plus the stilts helped to avoid contact with the various reptiles and insects while also providing an area of covered storage. The Hmong primarily used bamboo to build their homes in these areas. In contrast, in the cooler areas the houses were built on compacted dirt and the roofs were made of leaves. An interesting fact about the Hmong is that none of their villages have names; instead they identified them through clan and lineage membership. They identify lineage patrilinealy, and they view family ties as been very important. The Hmong do not hesitate to help their extended family should the need arise. As far as marriage, the Hmong practice cross-cousin marriage and though polygyny is