Monday, April 7, 2008
Chapter 1 - Encounter
Well, it seems that once I have started reading the book, its keeps getting even more descriptive in it's content. I mostly understood the subjects that the author was talking about. One thing I didn't understand were the words "sedentary" and "semi sedentary." I learned more in depth about the things that went on before the "Encounter" or before Columbus's voyage to the Indies. I was really interested in Portugal's exploration of the West coast because it talked about the Slave Trade and how Africans were actually slaves in Iberia first before coming to America. It was interesting to read the birth of Spanish America after the falls of the Aztec and Inca Empires.
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Hi Dennis,
You said you were not clear on the terms "sedentary" and "semi-sedentary." Sedentary refers to cultures that remain in one location on a basically permanent basis. These are societies in which farming and the raising of crops is of primary concern. The crops provide enough food and other supplies for the society to survive in one location without following wild herd animals. You can also refer to these societies as settled, agricultural societies. Agriculture refers to the raising of food crops. Anthropologists have often referred to sedentary societies as a “step above” hunter-gather societies, as these sedentary societies often create “higher levels” of technology and social organization. They often produce large settlements which become cities. Be careful however not to think that technological advances and more complex social arrangements represent some sort of qualitative advance. One society is not necessarily better than another, just different, usual as a result of climate and environment. For example – the Plains Indians of North America, like the Sioux, were hunter-gathers, non-sedentary peoples, who generally lived in small multi-family groupings of less than a couple hundred individuals. They had the most simply of tools and technology and always faced the danger of mass starvation if the hunt was not successful. But they were usually quite democratic and rarely engaged in major wars with other tribes. The Aztecs were a sedentary society with advanced technology and grand cities. Their cities rivaled anything in Europe created around the same time. The surplus wealth created by their agriculture allowed rulers to live in extreme luxury. But they were a very hierarchical society in which rulers were treated as gods and practiced mass human sacrifice. They also sought to dominate other indigenous Mexican groups through organized warfare.
“Semi” usually means partial. So semi-sedentary means they have not given up hunting and gathering completely, but have adopted forms of settled agriculture. The Guarani of Brazil, depicted in the film The Mission, were semi-sedentary because they general stayed with in a small area and derived much of their substance through planting of food crops.
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