Hello Everyone!
Anthropology Definition: The scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans.
We have been utilizing an anthropological perspective to help with our idea of Reconciliation. This allows for us to view with an unbiased perspective, learning and viewing the Indigenous culture with an open mindset.
Driving Question: How might we use an anthropological perspective to better understand the history of British Columbia?
Anthropology provides a deeper lens through which we can analyze ideas, cultures, and human evolution. We can break it down into its four major subfields, each of which provides valuable insights into the significance of this artifact:
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Cultural Anthropology: The study of human cultures, societies, and behaviors. It focuses on understanding how people live, interact, and create meaning within their social and cultural contexts.
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Archaeological Anthropology: The study of past human societies through their material remains, such as tools, buildings, and artifacts. Archaeologists aim to reconstruct past ways of life, uncovering information about historical cultures and civilizations.
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Linguistic Anthropology: The study of language and its role in shaping human societies. It investigates how language influences communication, identity, culture, and social relationships, as well as the history and evolution of languages.
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Biological Anthropology: The study of human biology and evolution. It examines human genetic variation, evolution, and the biological aspects of humans, including topics like primate behavior, human skeletal remains, and the fossil record.
We also learn about terms like ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, xenocentrism, and culture shock. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own culture or ethnic group is superior to others, often leading to judgment of other cultures based on one’s own cultural norms. Cultural relativism is the idea that a person’s beliefs, values, and practices should be understood in the context of their own culture, without judgment from an external perspective. Contrary to ethnocentrism, xenocentrism is the tendency to favor and value other cultures over one’s own, often placing foreign customs and practices over their own beliefs. Culture shock occurs when a person encounters a culture vastly different from their own, leading to feelings of confusion, disorientation, or discomfort. These terms are highlighted in anthropology, as avoidance of these things are crucial when studying a culture.
I talk more in my final display of how the Ball-Headed Club is associated with these terms.
To display our knowledge, we also took a test to make sure we fully understand and grasp the topic!
If you want all of my research, understandings, and work here it is:
Our research on anthropology led us to focus on one Indigenous artifact that is currently being held in the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) in UBC. The end goal was to be able to send this to the MOA for them to look and display our work.
My focus was on a Ball-Headed Club that was created by the Coast Salish Nations. Its discovery was quite rare, as Ball-Headed Clubs of this nature were not usually common in the area of British Columbia.
The final product was comprised of a couple different parts, including an analysis of the artifact, how it relates to anthropology, a nation deep dive, and an interactive element. We were also allowed a lot of freedom on how we took things and the areas we wanted to focus. This gave us the ability to be able to have our pace, own direction, and ideas that would come unique to us, creating a really interesting digital exhibit of artifacts from the MOA. These factors really allow for us to understand and go deep into our learning of our respective areas.
I had also decided to create a digital map for my interactive element because I wanted to showcase that the Coast Salish Nation was not just one culture, but a vast amount of communities that came together during the colonization of North America. This allowed me to place all points and locations of each nation!
All my research and final focus display is in this link here:
Anthropology can really allow for us to analyze ideas, cultures, and human evolution, allowing for us to delve deeper than just the surface level. Not only does it allow for us to do this, it makes us learn something with an open mind. If you are unable to grasp, or not understand a different person’s culture, it creates a mental blockade that prevents you from wanting to learn ones culture. Like mentioned before, a lot of people in school and around Canada have prejudice against Indigenous people, viewing them as “lesser” and “vulgar“. They will never be able to truly understand the diversity of Indigenous culture unless they are able to remove this ideal within their mindset. This is why an anthropologists mind is so important when doing research related to Indigenous culture. If you are able to start just as an anthropologist, and slowly learn about more cultures than just yourself, you will be able to remove that mental blockade. It paves the way for Reconciliation, and promotes education and research on this topic.
If you go into my display I talk more about how this club specifically plays a role in Reconciliation!
I really liked combining anthropology and BCFP together; this project was a really interesting blend, and was able to captivate my attention. I enjoy doing research projects like this, where we pick one specific item/event and focus all our attention on it. It gives us the freedom to connect it to past learnings and ideas. Overall I think I did a great job utilizing all information that I had access too, as finding sources regarding this topic was really difficult. Since the actual nation was undiscovered, it was really hard generalizing it as it may not show the full picture.
Thank you for reading!!!
-Chris