The ethnography that I chose is the The Hopi Way by Laura Thompson. This book discusses the way of life of the only surviving group of the desert dwellers, the Hopi. I will give an overview of the Hopi’s environment, political and social organization, the journey from birth to death, the resources used during this time, and how they made a living. I chose this book because I have family living in northern Arizona and I think that the translation of the word Hopi which means the peaceful people is beautiful. I also decided to pick the Hopi because they are one of the oldest living cultures in the world today and learning about how their culture survived when others didn’t is captivating. The Hopi and other surrounding cultures are all commonly
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The life cycle is divided into four phases, the case study calls it the four worlds. These phases represent some events that occur in present day people. After a child is born, the newborn is bound in “supine position to a cradle” for the first three months of their life except when bathing. I feel like that would postpone the abilities of the child because they would not be able to move. At this phase, the children have time to play because they have the least amount of responsibilities. Between each phase, there’s a celebration for the person. When a child turns five or six they move into the youth stage. The youth stage is when the godfather and the aunt are chosen, boys join a secret society, the boy is expected to kill his first game, and responsibilities increase for both sexes. Compared to how children are raised today, the children of the Hopi take on a lot of responsibility. The transition from youth to adulthood and old age is marked by a series of crises involving adolescence and marriage ceremonies for both sexes. This is the phase where the boys become men and start to take on their responsibilities. When the Hopi people become elders, they pass their responsibilities to a successor and they call this the final phase, old age. Mortuary rites are quick as discussed in the case
The life cycle is divided into four phases, the case study calls it the four worlds. These phases represent some events that occur in present day people. After a child is born, the newborn is bound in “supine position to a cradle” for the first three months of their life except when bathing. I feel like that would postpone the abilities of the child because they would not be able to move. At this phase, the children have time to play because they have the least amount of responsibilities. Between each phase, there’s a celebration for the person. When a child turns five or six they move into the youth stage. The youth stage is when the godfather and the aunt are chosen, boys join a secret society, the boy is expected to kill his first game, and responsibilities increase for both sexes. Compared to how children are raised today, the children of the Hopi take on a lot of responsibility. The transition from youth to adulthood and old age is marked by a series of crises involving adolescence and marriage ceremonies for both sexes. This is the phase where the boys become men and start to take on their responsibilities. When the Hopi people become elders, they pass their responsibilities to a successor and they call this the final phase, old age. Mortuary rites are quick as discussed in the case