Group+C

When you have figured out your culture name, change the link name 'Group C' to the culture's name.

Kaae

Your territory is tropical and very humid. A large river divides the land and breaks up into tributaries at the southern coast. It floods at the end of the cool season. Coral reefs are found along the south coast but not where the ocean drops deeply along the west coast. Year-round temperatures are consistently 30-35C.

Name your homeland. - Kaae Name your people(s) - Kaaen Name the prominent geographic features of your homeland. - Large river, coral river, ocean coastline Populate your homeland. - 8 million (2 million villagers/ 6 million city dwellers) What biota exist in your homeland? - Coral reef, medicinal trees, tropical plants What natural resources are available? - fresh water, tropical fruit, bamboo, rice crops, fish What natural resources are needed? - Certain types of vegetables. Wheat.


 * SUBSISTENCE**

1. What pattern(s) of subsistence will your culture follow?

foraging - villagers pastoralism - minor pastoralism (outskirts of the city) horticulture - city dwellers/ villagers agriculture

2. What resources does your territory have to support your subsistence pattern(s)? - Animal/ wildlife, tropical plants, rice crops, fish (fresh & sea water)

3. How do the climate and seasons in your territory affect your subsistence pattern(s)? - flooding, humidity, Hurricanes, tropical climate

4. How will your subsistence pattern(s) relate to your population size and location? - foragers = nomadic (villagers)

5. How will the labour involved in subsistence be distributed among your people? - Villagers live a simple life of gathering, pastoralism and horticulture to make a life. City Dwellers - minor part of their life (weekly).

6. What technology do your people use for subsistence purposes? - Gardening tools, alternative tools. gathering baskets, traps, etc.

7. What impact does your subsistence have on the environment? - minimal harm done to the environment.

> bear in mind that both pastoralism (animals eat vegetation, and goats are particularly hard on an environment) and horticulture (clearing forest for land) both have an impact

8. How do your people clothe themselves? They make their own clothes out of cotton and other light, breathable fabrics. Silk is popular for ceremonies and traditional ceremonies. Minimal animal hydes used for clothing and cloth products; more cotton and light wool due to the high temperature.

> wool implies sheep, silk implies silkworms, hides imply cows...

9. What type of shelter(s) do your people live in? Cement/ rock structures.

> how is the cement manufactured?

10. Do your people have material goods? What kinds? Where do they come from? Yes but in moderation; society is not based on mateirial goods; satisfaction is achieved through health of family.

11. What is your people’s diet? How do they prepare food? What is a typical meal? Largely seafood (specific type of fish), salt and freshwater fish, tropical fruits and vegatables, Meat from animals as well. Cook/ bake/ raw. Lunch is the largest meal and it is time for the family to gather and talk. Typical Meal - Fish is the main dish, sides consist of local fruits and vegetables.

12. Are there any celebrations centred on subsistence issues e.g. a harvest celebration? Are there special ceremonial or ritual foods? No celebrations about subsistence but there are celebrations for other events. Special ceremonial/ ritual foods - bread (because wheat is scarce).

Note: depending on your choice of subsistence pattern(s), you may have to do some reseearch to fully answer these questions. For example, if you chose ‘horticulture,’ you should know something about how to grow food and/or raise animals. If you chose ‘foraging,’ you should know something about wild foods. And so on.

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1. Describe the typical family or household unit in your culture: Married couples live with either set of in laws depending on circumstances. Villages - live in large groups to help with gathering and house work/ city dwellers - live in large groups as well because family is very important. Senior citizens well respected - no old folks homes.=====

2. What are the roles of the members of the family in the subsistence system you've chosen? - Girls and boys have free education to age 12 and then parents or kinship group need to cover school fees. If children get taken out of school around age 12 they help with duties at home.
 * Is it a nuclear family - no
 * Is it an extended family? Who does it include? - Yes, common to live in large numbers. No particular culture preference to live with either set of in laws.
 * Are there households of non-kin? Who can co-habit this way? - More common to live with families but friends and "non kin" welcome to live with community members until other arrrangments in.

> the idea of organized schools implies social stratification and craft specialization. is this appropriate for a pastorialist/horticulturalist culture?

3. Is your descent system unilineal? - At marriage both can choose which names to keep or go with the general trend of taking the womans name.


 * If so, will it be patrilineal or matrilineal?
 * If it is patrilineal, is it also patriarchal?
 * If it is not unilineal, what kind of cognatic system is it?


 * If so, how many lineages are there? How many families in each lineage?
 * If so, what are the corporate powers of the lineage?
 * If so, is each lineage associated with a particular skill, occupation, or trait?


 * If so, what lineages belong to what clans?
 * If so, who is the apical ancestor mythological or just forgotten?
 * If so, do your clans have distinct totems? What do they symbolize?
 * If so, do your clans have chiefs?


 * If so, what are the two moieties called?
 * If so, how does an individual inherit his/her moiety?


 * What specific group is one expected to find a spouse from?


 * If so, does it include both polygyny and polyandry or just one?


 * by the individuals themselves?
 * by the individuals' parents?
 * by supernatural means or by a match-maker?

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11. Does the marriage involve bride wealth or dowry or some other arrangement of gift-giving? - Gift giving is custom to the newly married couple to the families. Bride and groom exchange bracelets on the day of the ceremony to signify the new relationship.=====

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12. Describe about the wedding ceremony/ritual/celebration. - Death celebrated - elderly people's lives are celebrated after death. Tragic and unplanned deaths are mourned. Bodies are usually cremated and Ashes are kept by family members.===== - Wedding ceremony - Weddings are very important but usually simple ceremonies depending on the preference and wealth of the couple and their kinship group. About the actual joining of two individuals, families do not get too wrapped up in the planning of the wedding.

13. Where do the married couple reside after they are married? They can choose where they will reside, but it was common to live with family.

Economic System

1. Taking your subsistence into account, what resources are needed and how will they be allocated in your culture? e.g. land tenure, access to raw materials 2. What labour is involved in your subsistence? Who does what? 3. Are people compensated for their labour? If so, how? 4. What goods are produced in your culture? Is it through households or occupations? Small-scale handicrafts or large-scale industrialized products? 5. What rituals or ceremonies are the basis for generalized reciprocity? balanced reciprocity? What gift giving is involved? 6. Is there trade within your culture? With another culture? What is the basis of the transaction? (i.e. barter? money? some other medium of exchange?) 7. Is there any form of redistribution of goods and services? 8. If you decide on a market-based economy, describe the allocation of labour, the means of production, the products, who are the consumers, etc. 9. Does your group trade with another group? What is traded? How is trade incorporated into the economic system? 10. Is the distribution of wealth equitable in your culture or are there differences in social status, wealth, and prestige? How is wealth achieved? maintained? displayed?

POLITICAL SYSTEM

When considering these following questions, keep in mind the subsistence strategy/strategies and economic system you have developed so far. Population size is also a factor. Later, religion may also be a consideration.

1. What kind of political organization(s) will your culture have?

• uncentralized bands • uncentralized tribes • centralized chiefdoms • centralized states

2. If your culture has a leader, how does a person acquire this status? What are his/her responsibilities to the community?

3. If your culture has a centralized leader, what is his/her title? What social stratification is in place to support the political system? What bureaucracy and institutions are needed?

4. How does a leader maintain influence/authority/power? Can the leader be replaced? If so, how?

5. How does your culture deal with conflict and disagreement among its people? (Consider how you answered this in the very first exercise we did).

6. How does your culture make decisions that affect the whole community?

7. How does your culture deal with inappropriate social behaviour and crime?

8. What are typical negative social sanctions in your culture? Typical positive social sanctions?

9. Is there internal strife within your culture? Describe how it occurs, why it occurs, and how it is resolved (if it is).

10. Is there external strife between your culture and another culture? Describe how/why it occurs. How is peace achieved/achievable?


 * RELIGIOUS BELIEF SYSTEM**

1. Does your culture worship a deity or deities?

2. If your culture is monotheistic...

What does God look like? What role does God play in people’s lives?

3. If your culture is polytheistic...

How many gods are there? What do they look like? Do different gods have different responsibilities in the world? e.g. death, fertility, rain

4. Does your culture have ancestor veneration? Is it totemic? How does ancestral veneration work?

5. Does your culture believe in animism or animatism? How does it work?

6. Is there a belief in ghosts and demons? What role do they play? Can they be controlled or used?

7. What is the culture’s mythology?

How did the world begin? How were humans created? What stories explain the existence of things? of culture? What happens to people after death? What moral lesson are taught?

8. How do people worship?

on their own? with religious specialists? healers, diviners, mediums, shamans, priests/priestesses? a bit of both? who does what?

10. If there are religious specialists...

how do they become religious specialists? how do they connect with the supernatural world? manipulate it? what is their social status?

11. Is there a belief in magic used? How is it used for good or bad? How do people protect themselves from bad magic?

12. Are there rites of passage? If so, what rites are there? e.g. mortuary, marriage, birth

13. Are there rites of intensification? If so, for what purposes? e.g. fertility, drought, epidemics

14. How are the rituals in 12 & 13 performed? e.g what offerings, sacrifices, symbols, actions, language, costumes, masks, performances, etc. are involved? By whom? 15. Have there been changes in belief? Conflicts? Have these resulted in cults or movements? How have these been handled by the social structure? -- GENDER QUESTIONS

1. How is gender identity reflected in differernces in clothing, behaviour, speech, etc.?

2. What are the gender roles of men and women, boys and girls in the domestic sphere and in subsistence labour?

3. What gender roles are apparent in economic activities, political organization, and religion?

4. What gender status differences are there between men and women?

5. What control do women have over divorcing their husbands?