AN310 Introducing Cultural Anthropology Rev. 1
Assignment_08, Cultural “Rites of Passage”
January 13, 2012
Culture is one thing that we can never overlook. Everywhere we go, we have to observe and respect the cultures of the people despite our personal feelings about that particular culture. Culture is a word that is used daily by many people all over the world and most of those people do not mean precisely the same thing when they use it. One definition that I truly liked is, “Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”
If you travel, or have travelled, around the world and you would have seen many different kinds of people. Some of those people might have had the longest neck created by stretching them with several rings while another group of people had lots of scars on their faces. Ignorantly, we’d think that these people are simply primitive and become judgemental. In our own society we get married, graduate; we get baptized and go through so many more ritualized ceremonies that helps us make the transition from one stage to another. Arnold Van Gennep called all these and more the “Rites of Passage”. He wrote that the life of an individual in any society is a series of passages from one age to another and from one occupation to another.
Other rites of passages include male and female circumcision. For the boys, this involves removing the foreskin of the penis. In many cultures, this is used to mark the socially recognized transition to sexual maturity. The female’s passage into womanhood is her first menses. A lot of Native American societies celebrated this transition and certain ceremonies were performed during this time to inform the public that their daughters were becoming women and instructions were given on how to behave as a woman and wife.
The Essay on "The Modern Temper: The American Culture And Society In The 1920s" By Lynn Dumenil
In Lynn Dumenil’s account of the era commonly referred to as the “roaring twenties” in The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s there is an intentional emphasis placed on the effort to dispel the popular notion that the new, revolutionary transformations in culture and society that took place at this time in history were direct results of the First World War. ...
One of my favorite is the Moko of the New Zealand Maori people. I remembered the first time I saw a Moko, Maori full faced tattoo, was when I met a good friend. One could do nothing but stare for the first few minutes. Whether the art of it all was quite fascinating or intimidating, it always amazes me to see one of those. It is true that a lot of people get full body tattoo, but do they have any significance like the Moko?
Captain James Cook used the word “tatow” when he saw one being done in Tahiti in 1769, where the word “tattoo” actually derived from the Tahitian word “tatau”. Archaeological evidence states that tattooing came to New Zealand from the Eastern Polynesian culture. However, according to the Maori’s myth, tattooing began with a love affair between a young man, Mataora, and a young princess Niwaraka of the underworld. Tattooing commenced at puberty and was accompanied by many rituals. The Moko reflects the Whakapapa, genealogy of the Maori wearer, and can be seen as a cultural affirmation. This is similar to an identity card, or passport. A warrior’s rank, status, and their ferocity were showed in the Moko as well, because the wearer’s position of power and authority had to be instantly recognized. The tatoo marked both rites of passage and important events in a soldier’s life. It was forbidden to have sexual intimacy and eat solid food during this process.
Because the Moko was time consuming and was an extremely painful process, flute music and chant poems were performed to help soothe the pain. The head was considered to be the most sacred part of the body, and the tattooing caused blood to run. This is why the Tohunga-ta-oko, craftsman, was considered very “tapu”, sacred, forbidden or respected, persons.
The Term Paper on Maori Culture
Indigenous methodology The importance of immersion in the tangata whenua language and cultural values – the way of expression of our respect. We have to treat each other as equal partners with mutual respect (Ki a koe tētehi kīwai, ki a au tētehi kīwai. For you one handle of the basket and for me the other.). The powhiri should be completed to enclose parties, but the affiliations of tangate ke ...
How cultures decide on the method of rites of passage is completely different even if the transition is the same. Could some of them be animistic and primitive at times? Definitely! I would think this would be more so to someone of a different culture. But judging without being open-minded is also harsh and ignorant.
References
Lenkeit, R. E. 2008. Introducing cultural Anthropology, Third Edition, Culture 30-31. United States: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
http://history-nz.org/maori3.html
http://anthro.palomar.edu/social/soc_4.htm
http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=kJpkBH7mB7oC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false