Module 2 Lesson Plan 2 - Cross Cultural Psychology

 

Native American Cultures
 - Part II

American Indians
 
 

Review Class/Internet Activities Summary Homework All People Smile...

Daily Language Blooper

When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the smiling baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the labels of what's inside, since many people can't read.  webofculture.com

Has Your Travel Agent Told You?

I got a call from a woman who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information when she interrupted me with "I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts." Without trying to make her look like the stupid one, I calmly explained, "Cape Cod is in Massachusetts, Capetown is in Africa." Her response....click.

crosscultural.com

 

Review - Group Thoughts

1.  During your homework from Module 2 Lesson Plan 1, you read Chapter Four from Cross-Cultural Perspectives that dealt with "Kayak-Angst " among Eskimos.  Let's discuss the homework.  Homework questions 13, 14, and 15 asked:
 

13. "What environmental conditions set the stage" for that experience?
14. "What do you think happened to John F. Kennedy Jr.?
15. "What do you think will be the physical consequences for pilots trained to disregard their own sensory input?

2.  During homework form Module 2 Lesson Plan 1, you also read Chapter Three from The Chrysanthemum and the Sword that dealt with "Taking One's Proper Station."  There were 12 questions. Let's discuss the homework.  We can count off by four and have:

Group 1 The "1s" can form a small group  to share the answers with the class to questions 16, 17, and 18. 
Group 2 The "2s" answer questions 19, 20, and 21 for the class.
Group 3 The "3s" answer questions 22, 23, and 24 for the class.
Group 4 The "4s" answer questions 25, 26, and 27 for the class.

  

Class/Internet Activities

1. Optional Activity - Watch a second excerpt (15 more minutes) from the video  "The Making of a Human Heart."
2. Optional Activity - Watch excerpts from the video  "The Native Americans." (19:30 - 38:00 minutes) 
3. Optional Activity - Examine the American  Indian and Eskimo  using Related Links on the Course Homepage.

1.  Optional Activity - Watch a second excerpt (15 more minutes) from the video  "The Making of a Human Heart."

In the second portion of the movie, a British pilot  takes Holy Boy from his native peoples and places Hoy Boy in the company of Catholic Sisters in Canada where he recuperates from Tuberculosis.  Holy Boy meets a young Native American Indian half-breed who becomes his best friend and future sweetheart.  You get to observe the difficulties the Eskimo and the Indian encounter as joint "captives" in a missionary hospital run by members of a culture foreign to both children.

Observe that  children actually adapt to such cultural changes.  Time permitting, we might see that in further excerpts from this movie, the Eskimo is rendered incapable of completely returning to his people.  The Indian makes a strategic choice to become a white person in behavior, and this has important consequences on her relationship to the Eskimo.

2.  Optional Activity - Watch excerpts from the video  "The Native Americans." (19:30 - 38:00 minutes)  This video is narrated by three American Indians living in Northeaster America.  The Indian tribes had already lived through their own period of intensive war among themselves.   These tribes rightly see themselves as grossly mistreated by the colonial English, French, and Spanish conquerors.  In the European cultures, lands that were not occupied by Christians were declared to be unoccupied.  There are great discrepancies between European and Native American cultures placed upon ownership of land.  The Indian saw the land as his "mother" and certainly could not fathom the meaning of buying and selling it.  Indians were deliberately displaced, and some Indian children were removed form their parents, and re-socialized to become as European children.

3.  Optional Activity: Examine the American  Indian and Eskimo  using Related Links on the Course Homepage.

From the Psy-119 Course Homepage, take a tour through the resource sites for American Indian and Alaskan Eskimos.  Notice the wonderfully creative names given to such sites.

Alternatively, using an instructor handout  From Explorations in American Culture, complete the following activities:

Before You Read page 72 Answer: Which seemed to you to be valued more by your school - conformity to a homogeneous standard, or development of individual skills, background and temperament?  Give examples to support your answer.
 pages 72 - 75 Read An Indian Father's Plea by Robert Lake (Medicine Grizzly Bear)
After Your Read page 75 Answer the Reading Journal

If it is true that Wind-Wolf must function and compete in an American classroom of "Western Society," should his father's plea be heeded?  What do you think his teacher could or should do with the knowledge he has gained from this letter?
Extending the Context page 86 Answer #5. "In 1993 a young Japanese exchange student was gunned down by a homeowner who suspected him  of trespassing. ... Write a defense of or an argument against gun control."

Summary

1.  Perceptions about physical reality are learned, and not biologically inherited.  Persons who grow up surrounded by forests and canopies of trees do not have the depth perception of those raised in wide open spaces.  People who believe their senses do not make competent instrument pilots who can fly within clouds or moonless conditions.

2.  Language greatly modifies how we perceive the world.  Vocabulary, or the lack of it, greatly conditions the variety and depth with which we can experience the world around us.  The respect languages confer a special relationship upon those who  speak them.

3.  Persons like Holy Boy and his friend can choose and therefore modify  their culture if they wish, but there will be consequences, not to everyone's liking.

4.  Native American Indians in the Northeast emerged from a period of intensive warfare before Europeans arrived.  But Indians did not share European values regarding property rights.  The Christian Europeans did not regard non-Christians as human beings of equal worth.

Homework

1.  Read Chapter 16 "Witch-Fear Among the Aivilik Eskimo" pages 84-88 from Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Introductory Psychology.  Answer the following questions in your notebook:

1. What condition could cause a generalized fear of witchcraft in an entire population?
2. What social conditions seem to make it easier for a group to accept the idea of witchcraft or sorcery?

2.  Read Chapter 5 "Debtor to the Ages and the World" pages 98-113 from The Chrysanthemum and the Rose.  Answer the following questions in your notebook:

3. Upon what does righteousness in Japan depend? 
See paragraph 1.
4. Both Chinese and Japanese cultures have many words that mean obligation.  Define "on" as it is used in Japan.
See paragraph 2.
5. What is the meaning behind the story of Hachi, the cute little dog?
See paragraphs 5, 6, 7, and 8.
6. To whom is "on" owed?
See paragraphs 9, 10, and 11.
7. Read the story about Porcupine on pages 107-108.  If this is a story about sensitivity to trifles, how would it be regarded in America?
See paragraphs 16-20
8. Making "on" too heavy leads to trouble, but not the kind of trouble expected by Americans.  Read "Advice to the Lovelorn" given the elderly man on pages 109-112.  Then describe how differently Americans and Japanese will react to the same story.
See paragraphs 21- 33.

3.  Using the Psy-119 website, answer the following question on body language:

9.

What does it mean in Mexico when a man stands with his hands on his hips?

 

Customary Behaviors (Other than my own)

Mexico

A warm, somewhat soft handshake is the customary greeting among both men and women. Men should let the woman make the first move toward handshaking. After the second or third meeting, Mexican men may begin with or add the abrazo, the embrace along with a few pats on the back. Women friends will embrace lightly and pretend to kiss a cheek.

 

bulletIn some areas of Mexico, you may encounter an unusual addition to the handshake where, after gripping the palm, the two people slide their hands upward to grasp each other's thumbs.

 

bulletMany Mexicans are 'touch oriented.' This means they may linger over a handshake, they may touch the forearm or elbow, or they may even casually finger the lapel of the other person's suit. All these touches merely signify a willingness to be friendly nothing more.

 

bulletIf a man stands with his hands on his hips, it suggests hostility.

 

bulletDeference is shown to the elderly, so give way to them in public and don't object if they are waited on first.

 

bulletNever visit churches or religious sites while wearing tank tops, or cut-off shirts or shorts.

 

bulletThe national drink in Mexico is tequila. To drink it properly, here signify a willingness to be is the procedure: place a pinch of salt in the depression of your left hand between thumb and forefinger; then lick the salt and quickly take a drink of tequila; follow this by sucking on a lime wedge.

 

bulletPatience is important; avoid showing anger if and when you encounter delays or interruptions. 

webofculture.com

"All people smile in the same language" ---- Unknown

The culture of the American Indian in the desert southwest is probably influenced in part by the some of the same forces that shape culture among the natives living in the desert southwest in Australia.  What role do you think nature plays in influencing the culture of primitive peoples who survive in desert cultures?