The introduction
Culture is a shared way of behavior and interactions among a certain group of people. Once people live together for long, they develop a common way of doing things and understanding, and that becomes their culture.
Through the process of socialization, a bond of interaction develops linking these people with one another. Socialization is a process through which human beings acquire their behaviors, and beliefs (Kottak, 2008). The way a certain group of people do things and behave, may be different from any other group elsewhere.
This essay will focus the culture of a certain area known as “Carla”. How the culture was in the past, and the way it changed, due to several factors that would be discussed in the paper.
The history of this area dated back to 300,000 and 400,000 years ago. This is the period, which they believed the first ancestors came into existence. During this period, the ancestors directed every activity that was conducted by these people.
The oldest people in the region offered guidance on what is to be done, and how people should behave (Robbins, 2008). The people of Carla were marked by their strong social and belief system.
These people practiced family rituals to have a sense of identity among the rest of societies that were around them. Through their family rituals, they were sure that their continuity would be guaranteed from one generation to the other.
Their family values and cultures were passed from one generation to the other through such rituals. Some of the family rituals that they practiced were slaughtering wild animals and eating as a group (Haviland & Prins, 2010). Nobody was allowed to eat any food while alone.
They believed that eating alone would be a sign of selfishness, and their ancestors may become annoyed and punish them. They also believed that only the elders would touch newborn babies, to determine whether they were acceptable to the community. The Carla people also believed in the existence of God, who worked through their ancestors.
In addition, it was a belief of Carla men to practice polygamy, as a sign of their wealth. According to them monogamy was associated with poverty and lack of wealthy materials. Polygamy is whereby a man marries more than one wife at the same time.
The environment
The forest, and other natural resources such as river Carla, and mountains surrounded the environment of the Carla area. As there was no other group of people, which lived near this area, the Carla people were surrounded by fresh air that was not polluted by anything (Haviland & Prins, 2010).
The weather in the area was extremely conducive as they experienced both winter and summer seasons. The weather in the area was favorable for people and vegetation. There was a season, especially the summer season, when they would enjoy ripe fruits from the natural forests and bushes around them.
The environment did not allow these people to interact with any other group, and that is why they practiced their culture successfully. Although their surrounding was free and comfortable to live in, there were several challenges that surrounded them like lack of information (Haviland & Prins, 2010).
Learning something new was hard for these people, as even the movement was limited to some boundaries. This happened as their beliefs did not allow them to interact with strangers. They treated any intruder as their enemy, and that is why their environment could be defined as a closed environment.
Economic
The main economic activities of Carla area were hunting, fruit gathering and fishing from the nearby river. The forest and the bush that surrounded this area was a reliable source for hunting. In the past, the act of doing agriculture was not introduced to these people. The only source of food for them would be hunting animals and foraging.
Foraging is an economic activity that entails collecting plant foods for feeding purposes. It was the responsibility of men to go out for hunting, and young men to go for fishing. Women would spend the whole day gathering wild fruits. The nursing women were not allowed to participate in any economic activity, as their work was to look after the young ones.
These people believed that their ancestors would not allow them to die of hunger. The fruits they were collecting, and the animals they were hunting, they believed they all came from their ancestors (Kottak, 2008). Most of them could be heard saying that supernatural power was their savior.
Supernatural is a force that is said to be beyond the normal human beings understanding, as it does not even comply with the law of nature. The nature proofed to be fair to these people, as they would receive a well balanced diet from the natural resources around them. All the economic activities that were practiced by these people were done seasonally.
There was a season for hunting, and the meat would be preserved through ancient method such as drying in the sun and smoking. During the sunny seasons, the women would be set ready to go and do foraging. This is the same period when the young men would go for fishing.
Fishing could not be done during the rainy season, due to floods. The elders were relied to provide the schedule, of which economic activity would follow the other (Kottak, 2008). Everyone in Carla knew of his or her duties and responsibilities as expected by the society.
The area was not involved in any form of a trade, as they were self-dependent. The nature used to provide these people with everything they desired.
Political
The Carla area had some guiding rules that everyone was supposed to follow. The elders were taken as the top people in the area. Once an individual attained the age of 60 years, he or she was taken as the elder.
These old people formed themselves as a “political team” that ruled the region. For one to qualify as a political team member, he or she must demonstrate moral ethics, and act as a role model to the rest. Among the political team members, one ruler was elected, and his assistant.
The two would be respected, as they were the final decision makers (Robbins, 2008). The two rulers were the people of high integrity, wise, intelligent, and socially upright.
The work of the political team was to guide the rest, on what to do, eat, and most importantly behave. This team made all the decisions, after considering the desires of the majority. Just like in any other community, several incidences of arguments were experienced among people.
At times, people would fail to conclude after an argument. Such cases were taken to the political team for the final judgment. In addition, several incidences of conflict would arise among the people in the normal day-to-day life.
Any form of conflict resolution was taken to the rulers to go and decide the person in the wrong. Conflict resolution refers to the various methods applied in handling the sources of conflict between people, institutions, or states (Robbins, 2008). Every act had its reward or punishment.
Criminal acts were given punishments accordingly, and the political team rewarded admirable events. Those people, who could be found in serious criminal acts were excommunicated from the society and treated as outcasts. People were avoiding as much as possible being involved in such serious offences.
Changes
Changes are inevitable. It came a time when several inevitable changes affected the ancient life of Carla region. One of the changes is the introduction of new technology, which changed the lives of Carla people completely. The people, who believed to obtain all the information from their elders and ancestors, realized that there were other means of obtaining the information (Robbins, 2008).
The royal people to their elders realized that, there was a way they could acquire education and explore the rest of the world. The advancement of technology required every person in the area to go for formal education.
Some Carla people were resistant, but some accepted the change. Through the formal education, the young generation discovered that their social beliefs were myths, which refers to traditional stories passed from one generation to the other, for the purposes of maintaining the culture.
Every young person started yearning to experience the new life of learned people, who are not tied to their traditional beliefs. The young people who realized the new ways of life, started enlightening their fellows, and some of their beliefs lost their value.
Nobody could adhere to those beliefs. The formal education opened a new path of people to realize their human rights, which are fundamental principles entitled to every human being, to ensure they live comfortably.
The advancement of technology introduced the modern ways of practicing agriculture. People could no longer rely on wild fruits and animals, as the source of their foods. They learned new ways of doing agriculture, and the use of advanced agricultural equipments (Haviland & Prins, 2010).
This change was irresistible, as they would practice farming of both animals and plants, and trade with the products. This was particularly intriguing for these people, who were used to a reserved life. Through trading, these people could not avoid interacting with other communities. This interaction brought more change to the people of Carla; it was one event leading to the other.
Activities like hunting were then done for fun, but not as a source of food for these people. People realized of other fruits with more nutritional value, than those of forests, and started going for them. The dire need for farming resulted to deforestation, an act of clearing and removing indigenous forest, and the surrounding natural bushes for non-forest use.
The new technology resulted to more and more innovations, whereby more ideas of farming better were created. Through the knowledge that people acquired, it was possible to advance the farming methods, to increase the productivity.
Moreover, the introduction of the new technology imposed significant changes to the political life of the Carla area. People, who decided to follow the formal education system, brought the idea of a new political system (Haviland & Prins, 2010). It was realized that, the rest of people in the country were ruled in a different system of governance.
It was realized that, even the young generation could be the rulers within a society. As long as someone portrays to have some qualities of leadership, he or she could be given a chance to lead the rest. As people interacted with the rest of the world, they noted of women leaders, who were doing excellent work.
This led to the ignorant of the belief that, it is only men, who could rule. Women started taking the positions of men. The idea of allowing elderly people to lead the society was eradicated. In addition, the elderly were given an opportunity of resting and enjoy the fruits of their labor (Robbins, 2008).
Moreover, the Carla people adopted the political system, which was used by the people in modernized urban areas, as they also felt as equal human beings. The elders were resisting the change, but after witnessing the productivity of the new system, they embraced the change.
Nevertheless, the changes that were experienced by these people, due to the advancement of technology were significant. It was like a celebration to every member of this society especially the young generation. Mostly, the changes in agriculture led to an improved market economy, where people could engage in trade, and enjoy farm products from other regions.
Market economy is a system, whereby, the citizens, policies of their businesses, and very little government control, manage the key economic decisions concerning the trade of goods and services (Haviland & Prins, 2010). This marked as a beginning of a new open life for these people.
References
Haviland, W., & Prins, H. (2010). Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge. Michigan: Cengage Learning.
Kottak, C. (2008). Cultural Anthropology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Robbins, R. (2008). Cultural Anthropology: A problem-Based Approach. Michigan: Cengage Learning.