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Post Info TOPIC: Assignment #10: Baka - People of the Forest
mre


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Assignment #10: Baka - People of the Forest


 
Imagine you are a cultural anthropologist sent to observe and study the Baka (Pygmy) people of central Africa.  Write down all that you observe about the following:
Environment, geography and climate
Gender roles of tribal members
Family life and children
Work and recreation
Rituals and ceremonies
Music, art and creativity
Now, imagine that your findings are being funded by the US government, which is trying to determine if a multi-million dollar contract should be awarded to a business that will develop critical medicines on land near where the Baka live.  The medicine could save many lives, but the Baka people may be devastated as a result.  Take a position for or against this contract and use your evidence to support your argument.


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Env



-- Edited by jessica finnerty at 20:39, 2008-03-13

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Environment, geography and climate

They live in a rainforest in Africa. Its warm and nice for the most part, except for when it downpours. It rains too much in the rainforest sometimes, and thats just as difficult to work around as a drought.

Gender roles of tribal members

Men hunt and gather food, and women work along side them building their home (literally) and getting everyone water by building dams.

Family life and children

Children work and look up to their parents. They obey and listen to them.

Work and recreation

They work hard all day long then they relax with the rest of the tribe and sing and tell stories around a fire.

Rituals and ceremonies

Men go through a secret initiation process. The initiation process is hidden in the depths of the rainforest. They boys being initiated are led into a special hunt and oil is rubbed all over their bodies. They undergo some public and private rituals, like certain dances.

Music, art and creativity

They sing and play hand made instruments. In one part of the movie a young boy is playing what looks like a harp.

 

plan

Id try to explain the importance of the medicine for other people to them, by doing so theyd have an understanding about why we need the medicine. Them Id spend most of the money on persevering their land. Id hire the best anthropologists to work with the land to make sure that only a portion of the plants are taken and that the people are comfortable at all times.

 



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The baka people live in the rainforest in Africa. The weather was usually hot, sunny, and dry. They suffer from droughts at times. The males in the trbe hunt and catch food, while the females set up camp. They also gather fruits and prepare the meals. The children help ther parents work and the mother and father care for the children. When gathering food and setting up camp, they all work really hard to accomplish what needs to be done. when they are finished, they have dinner and relax around the camp fire, sing songs, and tell stories. The baka people make their own medicines.

I would try to compromise with the baka people. i would go in and build homes and shelters for them in exchange for their plants and resources. i would only use a section of the rainforest so that the untouched land is preserved and all for the baka people. i wouldnt want to take their land away, but i wouldn't want to lose out on those resources. batman.gif

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cheyanne mello


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The environment, geography, and climate of the Baka people is hot, humid, and densely populated with various flora and fauna.

The gender roles of the tribal members is traditional; men are the hunters, go out the most to gather food, and protect the tribe while the women prepare shelter, take care of the children, and assist in securing food whenever they are needed.

The family life of the Baka is tightly knit. Each tribe is made up of a family or two. Because survival is the main concern of the Baka, losing any member of the family can be devastating for the survival of the tribe itself. As such, parents are quick to jump to their childrens protection.

Work is done for simple survival; there are no offices to do paper work or concerts to be held. Building shelter and gathering food and medicine is the work for each person in the Baka tribe. Recreation is done through song, stories, and general horseplay.

The rituals and ceremonies of the Baka, from my observation, are few and far between; campfires are the only real means of ceremony, as it is where the tribe sing songs (with the eldest male leading).

Music is completely oral among the Baka; they have no instruments nor any time to craft them. Similarly, art is not a large focus of their culture due to the nomadic way of life that they lead. Creativity takes a back seat to survival.

My recommendation is to send in an expedition twice a year for a month; the less temporary the establishment of our presence there is, the less damage we will do to the Bakas way of life. Interaction with the local tribes should be limited whenever possible. These temporary expeditions could be used to find new species of plants and animals, with a few of each being brought back for study in order to possibly synthesize a similar treatment for diseases as the original specimen would.

With our level of technology, I believe that this is highly feasible, albeit more expensive than simply establishing a factory. However, not only would this disrupt the Bakas lifestyle but modern establishments of civilization could introduce foreign elements that would kill the plants and/or animals needed for the means of creating a cure. As such, I again recommend limited, periodic expeditions to find what we need.

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Environment, geography, and climate:  Africa forest Cameroon Southeast hot, humid, dry

Roles: Males look for food and hunt. Females stabilize the house, get fruit and seeds. Children help the parents

Family life: stick together at all times the parents are a big influence on the childrenWork and recreation: make medicine sing songs look for food they work all day have dinner and around the fire they sing songs, tell storiesRituals and ceremonies: campfires and singing around the fireMusic art and creativity: Play instruments that they have made  I would actually build shelter for them but not take advantage of their resources I would like to exchange things for the use of their medicine and other creative things they  have produced.

  



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Environment, geography and climate

The Baka live in a rainforest in Africa. Its warm and nice a lot of the time.  However, it has crazy donwpours some of the time.  That can be very difficult to live in.
Gender roles of tribal members

Men hunt for food and protect the families.  The women help to build homes and cook the food.  They also raise the kids for the most part.
Family life and children

Children do little work and watch their parents.  This will helkp them grow up and be productive. They obey and listen to them most of the time.

Work and recreation
All of the villagers work all day.  Everything they do is geared toward survival.  They have very little time to relax and kickback. 

Rituals and ceremonies

They have many different rituals.  Most of them take place in public with a lot of celebration and dancing.  They also have a ritual for children where oil is rubbed all over their body.  It is a signal of them growing up.

Music, art and creativity

They sing and dance a lot of the time. Throughout the movie the Baka are siging and dancing a lot.
Plan
I would let the company move in and develop their medicines.  It would save so many lives across the globe that you have to let them develop the medicines.  I would also hire scientists to help preserve the Baka's land and their way of life.  



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The Baka people live in the rainforest in Africa. It usually hot and dry and oftern suffer droughts however, they have huge downpours. There are gender roles the men hunt, provide, and protect the tribe where as the women raise the children, build homes, and cook. They are close to one another and stick together. They are busy hunting and trying to survive for the most part, for recreation the older men tell stories and they play around. The Baka people sing and dance and boys must complete a task to become a man.


I would try to comprimise by reserving most of the land for the Baka people and some for research and we could possibly try to grow the plants in a green house because the medicines could help so many people around the world yet the land does mean a lot to the Baka people and they have been there so long I do not think it's right.

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I passed this in physically.

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Where were you? I'll repeat the question...what took you so long?


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i was absent for this video.

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Environment, geography and climate

They live in the rainforest, it rains unpredictable. It is usually very green and lush.

 
Gender roles of tribal members

Men hunt for food. While the women dam things up, take care of the home and kids and what not.

Family life and children

Children do little work and watch their parents. So they can learn the way things work

Work and recreation
Villagers work most of the time. Everything they do is geared toward survival, but when they do have free time it is spent telling stories and playing music 

Rituals and ceremonies

They have many different rituals.  Most of them take place in public with a lot of celebration and dancing.  They also have a ritual for children where oil is rubbed all over their body.  It is a signal of them growing up.


Music, art and creativity

They sing and dance a lot of the time when they have the time

Plan
Nuke em' (joking ofcouse, I'd probably help them by giving them some money to trade things with and help them by giving them food.



-- Edited by Tyrell at 18:20, 2008-03-28

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Environment, geography and climate
They live in a rainforest in Africa. It is hot, with a dry and wet season. During the wet season, they can get feet of rain.
Gender roles of tribal members
Men hunt and gather food, and women work around the tribe and care for children.
Family life and children
Children are very respectful to their parents and elders
Work and recreation
After a long day of working, they sit around a communal bonfire and tell stories and sing songs.
Rituals and ceremonies
Men go through a secret initiation process. They boys being initiated are led into a special hunt certain dances are preformed.
Music, art and creativity
They sing and play hand made instruments.

-- Edited by ErinFeeney at 18:24, 2008-03-28

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  Environment, Geography, Climate:   They live in the rainforest where there are rivers and lakes, mammals and birds. 

Gender roles: 
Males do the hunting and fishing, while the women cook the food and take care of the children.
J

Family Life and Children:  The females took more care of the family and the children, but the males took their sons to assist them to what they do on a daily basis, hunting and other sorts of ways to gather food for their tribe and family.

  Work and Recreation:  They hunt, gather, fish and prepare food daily.

 
Rituals and Ceremonies:  Baka boys go through an initiation at one point in their lives that lasts several days.  They are in a hidden part of the forest and they are undressed, washed, shaved, and palm oil is put on their bodies.  Then they go in a special hut and perform rituals such as dancing and eating very little.  The Spirit of the forest kills them and brings them back to life with the powers of adults. 

Music, Art, and Creativity: 
Music is used in their every day lives.  They get their instruments by trading, and the women play flutes and musical bows.

Plan:  I agree with this contract because they need the medicine to help them survive.

-- Edited by Krystal at 18:44, 2008-03-28

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mre wrote:

Imagine you are a cultural anthropologist sent to observe and study the Baka (Pygmy) people of central Africa.  Write down all that you observe about the following:
Environment, geography and climate
Gender roles of tribal members
Family life and children
Work and recreation
Rituals and ceremonies
Music, art and creativity
Now, imagine that your findings are being funded by the US government, which is trying to determine if a multi-million dollar contract should be awarded to a business that will develop critical medicines on land near where the Baka live.  The medicine could save many lives, but the Baka people may be devastated as a result.  Take a position for or against this contract and use your evidence to support your argument.


Environment, geography and climate
African rainforest,mostly warm, sudden downpours
Gender roles of tribal members
Men hunt for food and protect families, Women build houses,cook, and take care of children
Family life and children
Children dont do much other than learn from their parents for when they are older and able to work
Work and recreation
They are working most of the time, theyre very rarely relaxing because they work to survive
Rituals and ceremonies
Alot of dancing, music, and they also have a ritual for children where oil is rubbed all over their body.  It is a signal of them growing up.
Music, art and creativity

       The Baka are always singing and dancing



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mre wrote:

Imagine you are a cultural anthropologist sent to observe and study the Baka (Pygmy) people of central Africa.  Write down all that you observe about the following:
Environment, geography and climate
Gender roles of tribal members
Family life and children
Work and recreation
Rituals and ceremonies
Music, art and creativity
Now, imagine that your findings are being funded by the US government, which is trying to determine if a multi-million dollar contract should be awarded to a business that will develop critical medicines on land near where the Baka live.  The medicine could save many lives, but the Baka people may be devastated as a result.  Take a position for or against this contract and use your evidence to support your argument.


4got the plan...
Id just send all kinds of money so they can do with it wat they need



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mre


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grades updated 3.31.08 - Also, I took points off for all of you who copied Jessica's work.  That's not the purpose of this type of assignment.  You only hurt your own grade by not putting any effort into your assignments.

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