1. I believe Cultural Relativism is the act of observing the beliefs, values, and practices of a culture from a viewpoint from the inside, and taking that information and relating it back to your own culture. Anthropologist use culture relativism to compare and contrast cultures, and to keep the belief that all cultures are worthy in their own ways and are all of equal value. It is important that cultures study each other through the works of anthropology so that we can ensure cultural equivalence.
2. In my opinion, out of the movies we have watched so far, The Emerald Forest, Avatar, and Dances With Wolves all do a great job illustrating the concept of cultural relativism. They all do a really good job of showing how after one culture experiences …show more content…
Going into Fort Sedgwick Lt. Dunbar was under the impression that the Sioux Indians were savages and thieves, and that he needed to be under full alert when around them for his own protection. Once at the fort, and being completely alone, Dunbar finally has his first interaction with the Sioux after multiple weeks. He starts to invite them into his fort, teaching them about his coffee grinder, and asking about buffalo. After that instance he knew that the Indians didn’t consider him as a threat. After he visits their village multiple times and gets married to Stands With a Fist, he was considered an honorary member of the Sioux. We start to see that he starts to care more about the well being of the Sioux tribe, then the well being of the US Soldiers as showed by the scene where the Sioux people save Dunbar, and Dunbar kills the soldiers in able to escape. Dunbar clearly knew he was wrong about his initial impression about the Sioux, and at the end of the movie, Dunbar and Stands with a Fist end up leaving the tribe and going into the world with just each other in order to protect the rest of the tribe. Even though it was a sure suicide living in the open in the harsh winters, he knew it was either they found him and the rest of the tribe, or just him. This shows how much he grew into favoring the Sioux people, along with learning the language, traditions, and even hunting
2. In my opinion, out of the movies we have watched so far, The Emerald Forest, Avatar, and Dances With Wolves all do a great job illustrating the concept of cultural relativism. They all do a really good job of showing how after one culture experiences …show more content…
Going into Fort Sedgwick Lt. Dunbar was under the impression that the Sioux Indians were savages and thieves, and that he needed to be under full alert when around them for his own protection. Once at the fort, and being completely alone, Dunbar finally has his first interaction with the Sioux after multiple weeks. He starts to invite them into his fort, teaching them about his coffee grinder, and asking about buffalo. After that instance he knew that the Indians didn’t consider him as a threat. After he visits their village multiple times and gets married to Stands With a Fist, he was considered an honorary member of the Sioux. We start to see that he starts to care more about the well being of the Sioux tribe, then the well being of the US Soldiers as showed by the scene where the Sioux people save Dunbar, and Dunbar kills the soldiers in able to escape. Dunbar clearly knew he was wrong about his initial impression about the Sioux, and at the end of the movie, Dunbar and Stands with a Fist end up leaving the tribe and going into the world with just each other in order to protect the rest of the tribe. Even though it was a sure suicide living in the open in the harsh winters, he knew it was either they found him and the rest of the tribe, or just him. This shows how much he grew into favoring the Sioux people, along with learning the language, traditions, and even hunting