Zulu People
The Zulu people live
in KwaZulu-Natal, the eastern border of South Africa. It has a subtropical
climate, with hot summers and cool winters. The temperature in summer ranges
from 70-80 degrees, whereas during winter it’s usually 50-70 degrees. Majority of the year the weather is hot and
humid with long hours of sunlight. To cope with the sun, the Zulu people have darker
skin and thick, coarse hair. Melanin is produced to help protect our skin from
UV rays; depending on where you live you will have a different type. Eumelanin
produces a dark brown to black color, which is what is found in Africans.
Zulu women have many labor chores vary from cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and collecting water and wood which require many hours of hard work. To fetch water and do laundry, women in urban areas often must walk long distances. To save less energy, women have mastered holding buckets on heads without the use of their hands. This technique also allows for their hands to be of use for other things, like children.
The race I would consider the Zulu
people is black, or African. I usually differentiate black and African, black
would be people that are African American whereas as African would be people
who were born in Africa. I would consider them black &/or African based off
of where they are from and the color of their skin.
Andean Indians
The Andean Indians
live throughout the Andes Mountains from Ecuador to Peru to Chile. The weather
varies by countries; in one country it can be hot and humid, while the neighbor
country can be freezing. Seasons are determined by precipitation rather than
temperature, the higher up, the precipitation increases. In the tropical areas,
the snowline is 4500-4800 meters while in the drier areas it increases to
4800-5200 meters. The temperatures in the summer are in the 70’s, while in winter
they decrease to about 50 degrees, but can drop as low as below 0. The Andean
Indians have many physical adaptations that allow them to be more immune to the
cold weather and high altitudes. Enlarged chests allow for an increased lung
capacity when up in those high mountain altitudes. Also Andean Indians have a
higher blood flow which helps keep them warmer in the low temperatures. Wool
clothes and lots of layers is a cultural adaptation that helps keep the Andean
Indians warm. During cold seasons they also have different sleeping patterns
and sleep in stone huts.
The race I would
consider the Andean Indians is Native American, or Indian. Although they do
live in Central America and could also be considered Peruvian, Colombian, etc;
I feel like that would not give someone the image of an Andean Indian.
Summary
From looking deeper into the Zulu and Andean Indians, I feel like physical and cultural adaptations give a more in depth explanation of groups. I feel like my choice of race for the two is a more generic description of the groups and does not necessarily tell where they are from. For example, calling the Andean Indians "Indians" does not give much information about the type of Indians they are, nor does really give you any other information on the Andean Indians. Since the Zulu are black, I feel like calling them "African" really isn't much of a problem but it fails to recognize that in Africa, there are other races that too are African. It is extremely important to study environmental adaptations, as oppose to race, as an anthropologist because it gives a more in depth explanation of the group/culture.
Sources
From looking deeper into the Zulu and Andean Indians, I feel like physical and cultural adaptations give a more in depth explanation of groups. I feel like my choice of race for the two is a more generic description of the groups and does not necessarily tell where they are from. For example, calling the Andean Indians "Indians" does not give much information about the type of Indians they are, nor does really give you any other information on the Andean Indians. Since the Zulu are black, I feel like calling them "African" really isn't much of a problem but it fails to recognize that in Africa, there are other races that too are African. It is extremely important to study environmental adaptations, as oppose to race, as an anthropologist because it gives a more in depth explanation of the group/culture.
Sources
- "The Zulu People." Zulu-culture.co.za. Durban. 2010. Web. 17 April 2012. <http://www.zulu-culture.co.za/index.php>
- "KawZuli-Natal province, South Africa." Southafrica.info. Big Media Publishers. Web. 17 April 2012. <http://www.southafrica.info/about/geography/kwazulu-natal.htm>
- "People of Africa." Africanpeople. African Code, 2001. Web. 17 April 2012. <http://www.africanpeople.info/>
- "Andean People." The Free Dictionary. Research Machines plc, 2009. Web. 17 APril 2012. <http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Andean+Indian>
- "Indian Tribes and Languages of the Andes." Native-Languages. 2011. Web. 17 APril 2012. <http://www.native-languages.org/andean-culture.htm>
- Koelsag, J.H. "Population Hometostasis." South African Medical Journal 20.2 (February 1978) 2.11
- De Lorenzo, F. "Cold Adaptation and the Seasonal Distribution of Acute Myocardial Infarction." QJM 92.12 (1999): 747-751
I agree that our choice of words for race is a lot more generic than describing people by their cultures and how they look and dress. I chose the word Indians, as well, to describe the Andeans, but since there are so many tribes and so many variations in the Andean region, the word Indian doesn't do justice to the wide variety of people you can find in the Andes.
ReplyDeleteCalling the Zulu's Africans does fail to recognize the fact that there are many different cultures and races in Africa that have many phyical and cultural differences.
ReplyDeleteThe Andeans are a unique tribe and if we label them as Indians we will fail to see just how different tribes can be.
Your efforts to explain your determination of race for the Zulu's perfectly demonstrate the problem with using race in the first place. Race is so culturally defined, it has multiple meanings depending upon your social background and geographic origins. Adaptations, backed by biology and culture, are much more reliable for describing a populations in a way that can have meaning across cultures.
ReplyDeleteYou say: "I feel like my choice of race for the two is a more generic description of the groups and does not necessarily tell where they are from."
Excellent. Well said. You got the point of the post! Nicely done on the assignment.