New HRAF Home Page- New News Feed

Please check out our new HRAF home page with lots of new and exciting features.  Use http://hraf.yale.edu to follow HRAF news feed and learn more about HRAF’s online databases–eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology.  This blog will no longer post news about Human Relations Area Files.

HRAF at ALA Midwinter in Philadelphia, PA

Pastoral Societies Quiz! Test your Knowledge!

Which of the following are pastoral societies? These and other (not so easy) questions can be answered with eHRAF World Cultures, a unique online ethnographic database.

a) Amhara, Hazara, Hopi
b) Mbuti, Vedda, Mi’kmaq
c) Maasai, Kazakh, Basseri
d) Gusii, Semai, Jivaro
e) Ghorbat, Croats, Sea Islanders

In eHRAF World Cultures you can find the answer. Click “Advanced Search”; then click the “Add All” tab for cultures; click “Search”. This will take you to a screen with a list of region names. Click “Narrow Results by Subsistence Type and Sample” and there you can select pastoralists, intensive agriculturalists, horticulturalists, hunter-gatherers, commercial economy, and other subsistence types for the various culture names. That’s pretty cool!

Reindeer Herdering and Pastoralism in eHRAF World Cultures

Blackfoot in eHRAF World Cultures

Blackfeet Teepees on the summit of Logan Pass, Mount Reynolds, Glacier National Park. It’s one of the images made by George A. Grant during the Going-to-the-Sun Highway Dedication, July 15, 1933. Photo courtesy of the US National Park Service Historic Photograph Collection.

The Blackfoot consist of three geographical-linguistic groups, or nations: the Siksika (formerly called Blackfoot), the Kainai (or Bloods), and the North Peigan and South Peigan (the Blackfeet of Montana). Although these groups are sometimes called a confederacy, there was no overarching political structure. Each of the nations of Blackfoot came together in their own large camp during the summer. Traditionally, the Blackfoot were hunter-gatherers who depended largely on bison hunting. The basic sociopolitical unit was the clan cross-cut by a series of age-grade men’s societies. On the reserves today, the Blackfoot depend on ranching, farming, wage labor, and welfare.

Learn about the Blackfoot in eHRAF World Cultures.  Click Browse Cultures then use the By Region, By Country, or the A-Z index tabs to find the Blackfoot culture and its links to the Culture Summary and the various ethnographic works in Collection Documents.

Afghanistan’s Kyrgyz Nomads: Surviving in a Remote Area of the World

The photo essay “Stranded on the Roof of the World” by National Geographic gives an insight into the hard lives of the Kyrgyz, a nomadic ethnic group that lives in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.

In eHRAF World Cultures the Kyrgyz are described as Turkic-Mongol people who live primarily in Kyrgyzstan. Their traditional livelihood was pastoral nomadism. The former Soviet government both encouraged and forced settlement into permanent Soviet-style settlements in cities and towns and on collective and state farms. The Kyrgyz are Sunni Muslims.

The Pashtun, Hazaras, Baluchi, and Ghorbat are other ethnic groups from the Kyrgyzstan-Afghanistan-Pakistan area that are included in eHRAF World Cultures  (once logged on click Browse Culture>By Country>Afghanistan).  Contact hraf@yale.edu for a temporary log-in to eHRAF.

eHRAF World Cultures: The Pashtun, an Ethnic Group in Afghanistan and Pakistan

A Pashtun man and boy walking in a road in the Urah Valley in Pakistan

The Pashtun inhabit southern and eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Their language is Pushto (Pashto), in the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Except for a small minority, they are Sunni Muslims. Until recently, Pashtun dynasties controlled the tribal kingdom of Afghanistan. Agriculture, primarily grain farming, and animal husbandry are the most important activities in the Pashtun economy. The most important crop is wheat. In addition to raising stock, nomads as well as some farmers engage in trade and moneylending. The presence of the border dividing Pashtun territory into two countries also makes smuggling a lucrative pursuit.

Learn more about the Pashtun in eHRAF World Cultures.

HRAF at next week’s AAA Meeting in Chicago, IL

Attending the American Anthropological Association meeting in Chicago, IL next week? If so, I would like to invite you to stop by the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) booth # 217 to learn more about the new and improved eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology.  I’d like to show you our exciting new features such as being able to sort search results by subsistence type, or give ideas on how eHRAF can be used for teaching. If you have a specific research topic that you would like to answer with eHRAF, let me know and I’ll give you useful search methodology tips.

Have a good trip and I look forward to meeting you! Christiane Cunnar, HRAF Member Services, www.yale.edu/hraf

Ancient Engineering and eHRAF Archaeology

Great works of ancient engineering, like the Pyramids or Stonehenge, and the techniques used to put these structures in place was recently discussed in a local public radio article (http://wshu.org/post/howd-they-do-story-giant-rock-and-road-ice).

In eHRAF Archaeology researchers can use HRAF specific subjects such as one for “Weight moving” (OCM 483) to find information on the application of human energy in the transportation of heavy weights (e.g., logs, heavy stones); mechanical aids and cooperative techniques employed; use of weight-moving machinery; lifting or raising of heavy objects (e.g., in loading vessels, erection of megaliths); etc. in prehistoric cultures of the various regions of the world.

To search prehistoric cultures in eHRAF Archaeology using HRAF specific subjects such as “mining and quarrying” (OCM 316) I recommend the Advanced Search and the “Add Subjects” feature. This screenshot shows a search example using only OCM subjects (see http://screencast.com/t/k62QxwdGJm3) and paragraph results one can expect to find (see http://screencast.com/t/ynfG08jv4Za).

You can “build” up your Advanced Search to include OCM subjects such as “weight moving” (OCM 483) and various keywords (e.g. megaliths, monoliths, rocks, stones, slabs, etc.). This screenshot shows how such a search would look like… http://screencast.com/t/WZQkyAUbfc.

For temporary access to eHRAF Archaeology visit Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) at http://www.yale.edu/hraf. If you have a research topic you’d like to answer with HRAF’s cross-cultural databases, please contact me at christiane.cunnar@yale.edu. I’d be happy to help you “build” your Advanced Search.

 

Cultural Celebration of the Day of the Dead

In Mexican folk culture, the Catarina, popularized by José Guadalupe Posada, is the skeleton of a high society woman and one of the most popular figures of the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico.
© Tomas Castelazo, http://www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0

The Day of the Dead is celebrated by many cultures and nations by giving offerings and praying.  In Mexico on “Dia de los Muertos” people go to cemeteries to be with their deceased relatives and build private altars with foods and beverages, and perhaps place photos and memorabilia of the departed.  In Guatemala people celebrate the Day of the Dead with making and flying giant kites.  In Spain the tradition is to adorn the graves of their dead relatives with flowers, and in Germany people put candles on the graves.

How cultures from other regions of the world maintain relations with the dead can be researched in eHRAF World Cultures using the HRAF specific subject “Cult of the Dead” (OCM 769). The OCM subjects, based on the Outline of Cultural Materials, can be found in the “ADD Subjects” menu of the Advanced Search at http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu.  If prompted for a login, contact HRAF at hraf@yale.edu for a temporary username and password.