Introduction
Keith H. Basso’s ethnographic research titled, To Give up on Words: Silence in Western Apache Culture is an investigation of situations when members of a certain Apache community in the western United States assume the state of silence as a form of social interaction. In this paper, I will first note details of the society under consideration and Basso’s interests in regards to the questions he is trying to answer. I will introduce some anthropological concepts that are suitable to the discussion, followed by Basso’s observations regarding silence in the Apache community, including his methods, arguments, and conclusion. Finally, I will evaluate Basso’s findings and deduce if the evidence supports the conclusion made; I will also discuss Basso’s entry into the community, which is sparsely described in the text.
Facts & Interests
Basso’s carries out his research in a Western Apache community situated in east-central Arizona in Navajo County. He conducts the research over a period of sixteen months between 1964 and 1969. Basso specifically observes specifically a settlement called ‘Cibecue’ that he regards as a small community of about 800 people. The society is largely agrarian; agriculture, rearing cattle, and doing some work for wages are the common outlets of earning. Basso notes the high unemployment rate in the community, a factor that still affects the Cibecue society; therefore, many of the community’s residents live in substandard conditions and rely on government subsidies and welfare checks.
The Cibecue live in clusters where the center of domestic activity and communication is what can be described as a ‘camp’ or a gowąą. The word, gowąą, is used to refer to the population as well as the location of ...
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...e is the lack of information regarding his entry into this Western Apache society. In contrast to many other ethnographic works that I have come across, the most successful ones have been where the anthropologist faces some sort of obstacle while trying to gain entry into the community. Moreover, the process of building ties with informants and reaching a level of trust to receive authentic and accurate information is another level that is left unexplored in the text. It goes without saying that there must have been, at least, some difficulties in Basso’s entry into the community and building relationships. I believe that providing this particular account would have allowed the reader to better understand the context of the Western Apache community under consideration, and could have augmented the role of silence and the meaning of ambiguity in social interactions.
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Throughout this semester, our cultural anthropology class has discussed numerous ideas, norms and beliefs from various cultures to help us, as students, better understand the world around us. As part of our final project, we were assigned to read an ethnography book and relate the culture we learn about to the topics we have discussed in class. For this assignment, I chose to read an ethnography book written by Bruce C. Trigger and titled, The Huron: Farmers of the North.
Significantly, Welch deconstructs the myth that Plains Indian women were just slaves and beasts of burden and presents them as fully rounded women, women who were crucial to the survival of the tribal community. In fact, it is the women who perform the day-to-day duties and rituals that enable cultural survival for the tribes of...
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Every seven minutes a child is bullied. On average, 68 percent of students say that “other kids pick on them, make fun of them or bully them” (“Statistics”). This causes students to turn to violence. bullied or made fun of which cause them to become violent. How much longer are schools going to sit back and do nothing about bullies? Without punishing bullies, students’ will continue to harm themselves to massive extents. Schools are not doing enough to stop or prevent bullying, as demonstrated by the creation of the group Stand for the Silent.
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In the interior, the desire to control house herds - a critical resource in California was the reason for American trappers, horse thieves, Mexican soldiers and rancheros congregate. Sutter’s connection to an Indian woman (p. 39)
So now you have met the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas. You’ve learned about their lives, seen their journeys, and traveled with them from the past to the present. In all I hope this paper gives a greater understanding of the history and a look into another culture to broaden minds.
For reservations that are located in places with few resources and in remote areas, there is a lack of opportunity. Jobs are less available and the unemployment rate is high. This pertains to most reservations in the United States (Alvarez). In the United States, the unemployment rate in 2010 was 9.6%. The unemployment rate for Native Americans in the same year was 21.3% (“Labor Force Statistics”). Not only is there a dramati...
The colonization of civilizations has changed the world’s history forever. From the French, Spaniard, and down to the English, have changed cultures, traditions, religions, and livelihoods of other societies. The Native Americans, for example, were one of the many civilizations that were conquered by the English. The result was their ways of life based on nature changed into the more “civilized” ways of the colonists of the English people. Many Native Americans have lost their old ways and were pulled into the new “civilized” ways. Today only a small amount of Native American nations or tribes exist in remote areas surviving following their traditions. In the book Ceremony, a story of a man named Tayo, did not know himself and the world around him but in the end found out and opened his eyes to the truth. However the Ceremony’s main message is related not only to one man but also to everything and everyone in the world. It is a book with the message that the realization of oneself will open the eyes to see what is truth and false which will consequently turn to freedom.
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Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is first-person narrative about overcoming our habits and misfortunes. It takes place at Merryweather High over the course of a year. The main character, Melinda, is a fourteen year-old, who is just starting high school. She is introduced, at first, as someone who doesn’t speak to anyone, almost, at all. All the other people in the high school seem to detest her. They say hateful things to her and throw objects at her. She seems not bothered by any of this. She is in her own being.
Laurie Halse Andersons, Speak, published in 1999 educates the reality of which we must speak out to be heard. Presumptively the novel is set in the late 90's at Merryweather high school in Syracuse New York. Protagonist, Melinda Sordino, narrates her story as a sexual assault victim. We journey through her freshman year and watch her suffer to find her lost voice and overcome her negative convictions . While her persona is revealed, we see that the rape forces change on Melinda through violence. Several months of self mutilation and bitter silence, she finally speaks up for herself and confronts her antagonist. Melinda's introspection through her art allows growth and she becomes a survivor. Her recovery nonetheless was tough and protracted.
There is a deep relationship between the environment and Western Apache people. The bonds between the two are so strong that it is embedded in their culture and history. Keith Basso, author of Wisdom Sits in Places expanded on this theory and did so by divulging himself into Western Apaches life. He spent fifteen years with the Apache people studying their relationship with the environment, specifically concentrating on ‘Place-names.’ When Basso first began to work with the Apache people, one of his Apache friends told him to ‘learn the names,’ because they held a special meaning with the community. (Cruikshank 1990: 54) Place-names are special names given to a specific locality where an event took place that was significant in history and crucial in shaping morals and beliefs. Through the use of place-names, the environment became a teaching tool for Apache people.
In Maxine Hong Kingston’s autobiographical piece “Silence”, she describes her inability to speak English when she was in grade school. Kindergarten was the birthplace of her silence because she was a Chinese girl attending an American school. She was very embarrassed of her inability, and when moments came up where she had to speak, “self-disgust” filled her day because of that squeaky voice she possessed (422). Kingston notes that she never talked to anyone at school for her first year of silence, except for one or two other Chinese kids in her class. Maxine’s sister, who was even worse than she was, stayed almost completely silent for three years. Both went to the same school and were in the same second grade class because Maxine had flunked kindergarten.