Introduction “Conservation and Globalization” written by Jim Igoe looks at issues brought upon by westerners such as not only enclosing lands belonging to the Maasai, but also installing their beliefs of economics and cultural construction brought on by private conservative companies in East Africa, more specifically Tanzania. Issues that are explained is the regulation of land that Maasai call home. Westerners did so by creating national parks, Maasai Mara, Amboseli Reserve, and Tarangire National Park. Igoe explains in the first chapter in his book of how the Maasai lived. Before colonialism, conservation, and regulation, the Maasai were pastoralist and had herds of cattle. Now the Maasai are struggling to keep their herding traditions and are forced into subsistence farming (Igoe 2004: 5). The Maasai believe that when God created Earth, they were entitled to all cattle on Earth. This leads to the Maasai to take cattle by force from other ethnic groups surrounding them. Conservation and Globalization are mentioned throughout the book. Westerners use these ideas to run the Maasai out of their homeland and lock them out of their grazing lands. The idea of these indigenous people couldn’t appreciate this land and didn’t know how to fully use their resources are heavily racist. Colonist believed that Maasai did not deserve these herds of cattle or live on land that they did not know how to use. Igoe explains how the Maasai control their resources and how they understand their environment. “Because Africans did not appreciate the beauty of nature, the therefore had no right to be in that nature. Nature was therefore set aside for the enjoyment of Europeans.” (Igoe 2004: 71) This idea is discussed thoroughly in the book Fortress Conse... ... middle of paper ... ...iously owned by the Maasai economically using tourism as the major draw. They have driven the Maasai out of a pastoral life and forced them into joining the system so to speak where they have modernized the Maasai to everyday people living in villages and not have to worry about them getting in the way of their interests. They’re only interest is making money for themselves without any regard for their actions that impact the local population. After reading the book I liked how it was very easy to read academically without having to hear all kinds of complicated jargon. Are the Maasai being soaked in by globalization and urbanization of Tanzania and becoming just a normal citizen at a rapid rate? How many Maasai still live a complete Pastoral life and how long do they have until preservation encloses their lands and exploit the resources that belonged to the Maasai?
In his book “Cattle Brings Us to Our Enemies”, McCabe does a 16-year stint in East Africa, specifically in Northern Kenya, doing research on the Turkana. He does this through STEP, the South Turkana Ecosystem Project. In “Cattle Bring Us to Our Enemies”, McCabe follows four families through his years in Kenya and notes how they live in a very demanding environment. He uses ecological data to analyze how and why the Turkana people make decisions about their everyday life. McCabe focuses on four main areas of study: how the Turkana survive and adapt to a stressful environment by nomadic pastoralism, how the techniques used to extract resources and manage livestock modify the environment, the effects of the environmental and cultural practices have on
The book Segu is about telling the story of Africa as if it was a person wanting an autobiography done before its life is over. The history of Africa during the 18th and 19th century was a really vague topic for me to understand. After reading Segu by Maryse Condé my thinking of this period was made clear by the personal experiences of the Traoré family sons. What I came to understand is this book deceitfully explains the decline of West African countries in the eyes and personal struggles of the Bambara people of Segu. In this case it’s the focus on the travels of the four sons of Dousika Traoré. Tiekoro, Siga, Naba, and Malobali all summoned on personal journeys that gave me a better understanding of what actually happened during the 18th and 19th century time period of people who actually experienced it.
They further saw the Indians as lazy people since they would not settle down at a place and develop the land they inhabited, there by missing out on profit opportunities and life improvement. On the other way round, the setllers cherished the natural resources because of the market value it possessed and not because of it immediate need. This made the settlers depict the Indians as poor and incompetent to maximize the transformation of these natural resources into economic gains and wealth.
Reflecting on the colonization of North America is an uneasy topic for most Americans. The thought of war between the Indians and the early settlers creates an image of clashing cultures between the well-armed Europeans and the hand-crafted weaponry of the native Indians. We tend to have the perception that the early colonists came and quickly took away the land from the Indians but, in reality, the Europeans did not have this power. Though French explorers and English settlers had a different perception of land ownership than that of the Native Americans, the fate of the Europeans rested in the hands of the Indians. Either from self-preservation, civility or curiosity, various American Indian tribes assisted the early European colonies through the sharing of resources, by befriending them as allies and, ultimately, by accepting them as permanent neighbors.
There are many ways in which individuals and communities own culture and nature can be seen. As a result, conflicts can arise when culture and nature are bought and sold in a marketplace. These can best be seen in the articles “Painted Desert” and “Tragedy of the Commons.” In “Painted Desert” the conflict is that the Natives of Australia, also known as the Aboriginal Australians, were stripped from their land by white developers and had to regain their land by selling their art. The Aboriginal Australians weren’t ones for selling their art as seen in a Dreaming Story. A Dreaming Story was a narrative drawn in the sand that represented how their ancestors had come to Australia. Because the narrative was drawn in the sand, it would constantly
Bryant H. McGill once said “Education should prepare our minds to use its own powers of reason and conception rather than filling it with the accumulated misconceptions of the past” (McGill ). There are misconceptions all around us; people look at certain things in a particular manner but what each person sees comes from their background. I have recently come to the realization that there are many misconceptions held about the African continent; my current class has helped me see these misconceptions and understand why they are incorrect and how I formed them. With the help of our Western society, I developed beliefs that Africa was a continent full of poverty, civil unrest, and in desperate need of help. Much of the media coverage in Africa showed droughts, famine, the need for clean drinking water; everything that was exposed to the American population about Africa through these channels carried a negative connotation. I was never taught or informed about the complex culture and fascinating traditions that make up such a diverse continent. The ancient kingdoms of West Africa were complex, developed civilizations that had rich culture, traditions, values, norms and skills that exceeded those of societies of the rest of the world such as European ones. In this paper, I will first further explain some of the common misconceptions that I had about African in general and about their ancient kingdoms.
Saitoti, Tepilit Ole. The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior. Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1986.
There seems to be a central theme to Sears’ book, Momaday’s book, and the various films we have reviewed, that there are old stories told about all of these "sacred places" that show us how to understand, care for, preserve, and protect the land around them. There are two aspects that stem from this main theme: that the words of these stories are traditional and sacred, and that people value different parts of the land in different ways. Some cultures value land as a worshiping center while others use it merely for entertainment and recreation. A problem comes into play when the culture’s views clash and the people don’t respect each other’s customs. When people don’t understand native’s points of view, they don’t understand how important their values are either.
For this assignment I chose to write about Jomo Kenyatta. After reading chapters three and four of Khapoya’s book, it was hard to imagine an Africa that wasn’t under colonial rule. I can only comprehend on a very basic level the impact colonialism had on the Africans economically, physically, and mentally. It is inspiring to read further and discover the immense, calculated, and passionate efforts that many Pan African leaders played in the years that followed. I found Jomo Kenyatta to be particularly interesting. For many reasons, Kenyatta is considered one of the most significant leaders of the Pan African movement in the twentieth century. Kenyatta had a clear vision of what he wanted for Kenya (or Africa as a whole), he was prepared for the path he would have to take, and he accomplished much for the country and continent as a whole.
Africa has been a continent that it’s in the process of fining their place in the world. It hasn’t develop as much as the rest of the world, this its connected to; their history, the fact that the continent was used as a place to obtain all type of natural resources and, sadly, slaves. But through time Uganda managed to evolve. Globalization has impact so many countries; there had been positive and negative outcomes related to the int...
...ions both in the past and the present and is one of the best explanations of present day African underdevelopment, showing the importance of a historical approach to understanding current affairs.
Bohannan, Paul, and Philip Curtin. Africa & Africans . Long Grove: Waveland Press, Inc. , 1995.
Located on the south-west coast of Africa surrounded by water and one of the oldest deserts in the world, lies a place most people do not recognize by name. its a place that is full of vibrent people with extreme pride in there culture and ways of life.
Having done the above analysis on my favourite text, “Anowa” by Ama Ataa Aidoo, I realise that my like for the text have heightened because the analysis of Anowa has given me a deeper understanding of Africa’s colonialism. I now know what actually led to our colonialisation (the betrayal) and how it began(the bond of 1844) through the personal lives of Anowa and Kofi.
...active to investors to build more hotels, and island destinations. There is potential for this country to move forward and no longer be a third world country, it just needs to tap into its resources to make a difference.