Cultural Diversity

1
Cultural Diversity

• Chapter 2 section 2
• Cultural Variation

2
Arapesh

• The Arapesh are contented and gentle,
  non-aggressive, receptive, trusting and warm
  people.
• They live in close knit villages consisting of
  clan-families, in which complete cooperation is
  the key to their survival
• The women bring firewood and water, and prepare
  daily meals along with carrying goods from place
  to place.
• The men clear and fence land, build and repair
  the houses.

3
Arapesh

• Aggressive acts are not tolerated within their
  society.
• Elders and children engage in several activities
  together so that the young can learn from them.
• The Arapesh are considerate people who care for
  their fellow village members.
• Both men and women make ornaments and take care
  of the children together.
• If the mothers work is more pressing (wood or
  water) the father watches the children, while the
  mother completes the task.

4
Arapesh

• Marriages are arranged by the family.
• Patrilocal (The custom in which the wife goes
  to live with her husbands family or people after
  getting married).
• The boys father makes the match.
• When a girl is 6 or 7 she promised to a boy 7
  years her senior.
• Marriage is viewed as an opportunity to increase
  the warm family circle.
• Marriage is comprised of one man to one woman.

5
Mundugumor

• Aggressive.
• Prior to government intervention, the Mundugumors
  were headhunters.
• Both men and women are competitive, jealous, and
  violent towards others.
• They readily recognize and avenge any insult.
• They like showing off and fighting.
• Due to their hostility towards others, the
  Mundugumor live in isolated homes.
• Open hostility among all members of the same sex
  (brother to brother, sister to sister)
• Fathers and son and mothers and daughters also
  have hostility with each other.

6
Mundugumor

• Family lineage is traced through the practice of
  the rope.
•  e.g. Father, daughters, daughters sons, his
  daughters sons etc.
• This is the same on the mothers side.
• Very little contact is provided for children with
  their parents or other elders.

7
Mundugumor

• Wealth and power are derived by the number of
  wives a man has.
• The more wives, the more a man can get done with
  everyday tasks. (he can also get his wives
  brothers to help with the tasks)

8
Comparing the Two Societies

• What factors account for the vast cultural
  differences between these two societies?
•   Geography
•  Arapesh (mountains) food producers
•  Mundugumor (river valley) hunters and
• gatherers
•    Food Production
•   Arapesh (food scarcity common)
•   Mundugumor (food plentiful)
• Mead summarized that the differences were of a
  cultural, not a biological basis.