Ishi The Last Yahi by Theodora Kroeber
The objective of the assignment is double. On the one hand it is intended to give students a grounding in situations of human contact and colonial interaction –in this case involving the destruction of Amerindian cultures- illustrating both the range of human activities promoting or resisting cultural endangerment, but also the multiplicity of responses, cultural logics and practices of the societies involved. On the other, the exercise is designed to furnish the student with a dynamic perspective of culture based on concrete historical realities and processes. An examination of processes affecting the reproduction of cultures may be helpful to prevent a recurring tendency to disregard cultural diversity as a fundamental issue or to see cultures as static perennial entities. Choose two questions from the following list and answer them in two separate short essays (between 600 and 800 words max. per response/essay). (NOTE FROM STUDENT: I've selected 5 pages, meaning that I need 2.5 pages per essay, please. I've also attached an example of my own writing in case that helps.) 2. Recent investigations on colonial situations have underlined the importance of studying native catastrophic depopulation brought about by introduced Old World diseases. Using examples from the texts, describe the spread of contagious diseases that may have weakened native local populations and discuss the social and cultural consequences that such events may have precipitated. 6. Using examples derived from the text you have chosen, discuss the ways in which racism and skin color discrimination was used to justify violence and oppression against the native population. In order to standardize formats please use ½ inch margins (up, down, left, and right), 1.5 spacing, justified, font size 12, Arial. Remember to include your name and date on the response sheet. Start each response with the number of the question; it is not necessary to copy the whole question. Recommendations on writing style: 1. Omit useless words, 2. Use the active voice, 3. Write complete sentences with nouns and verbs, 4. Do not overwrite, 5. Use orthodox spelling. IMPORTANT: All questions requiring the use of examples extracted from the text should be properly cited using the following format (last name, date, page) (Hill 1992: 335; or Hill (2013: 111). This way I can locate the origin of the citation. For all quotes please use quotation marks. Good luck! I want to be clear that the 2 questions I need answered come right after the "NOTE FROM STUDENT." They are to be based on the book "Ishi the Last Yahi" by Theodora Kroeber. Please keep in mind that I'm a journalism major, not anthology. This paper should be intelligent but not necessarily sound as though an anthropology major wrote it. Lastly, it should be in 1.5 spacing. It's all in the instructions but I just want to be clear on these points. It's much appreciated.
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Importance of studying the catastrophic depopulation brought about by introduced Old World diseases and their social and cultural consequences to the native local populations of America.
In 1942, when Columbus embarked on a journey to discover a new world, he did not have any intention whatsoever to bring misfortunes and suffering to the Native American people. Unfortunately, that is what exactly happened for a very long time after their first interaction with Columbus. It was a severe case of suffering because in some cases, some entire groups of Indian people became extinct.
The purpose of this paper is therefore to explore the importance of studying the depopulation catastrophe brought about by the interaction between the Europeans and the Native populations of America. The social and cultural consequences of the exchange in particular will be the subject of the paper in reference to the book “Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America” by Theodora Kroeber.
The pandemics
Because the diseases that resulted from this interaction have been named as the greatest factor in the dismantling the populations, it will be imperative to look at how the diseases were introduced to the populations. This will help the reader understand the impacts of the diseases on the social and cultural aspects of the Native populations.
Epidemic diseases tend to have prevalence in areas with high-density population such as cities and where the involved community is in frequent contact with each other. Also they usually spread more quickly through the most vulnerable way in the group. Eventually, the diseases subsidize after the population becomes adaptive to the affecting pathogen.
Alfred Crosby, a historian believed that this infection was a special in that it was found in very isolated regions in the world where there had never been an epidemic prior to this. Thus he called it the “virgin soil epidemic” which is characterized by a population being defenseless due to their low immunity. Shortly after the Europeans arrived in this region, the Native Americans began to die in large numbers. This was due to the introduction on new diseases that came with the Europeans. Even though they also died, the Natives were more vulnerable to the diseases. Having no earlier disclosure to these diseases, they were tremendously susceptible. The fact that they were isolated from the other population escalated the problem as they immune system would not take on the diseases. The other reason that led to the massive infection was the fact that most of the diseases were highly contagious through air and touch which made it extremely easy for the Indians to be infected. Smallpox was the deadliest attack they had encountered even though other diseases such as influenza and measles took part in the deaths.
Social and cultural impact
After the exchange, many social aspects changed the lives of the Native Americans. First, a significant number of people died and the death tolls were inconsiderably high among the ages between 15 and 40–the productive age of the community. Without people to work, it was almost impossible to carry out normal agricultural tasks. Thus the infected community suffered even as a result of lack of food. The diseases also tended to have adverse effects on the birth rate. For example, when very few people of Yahi were left, they were not able to reproduce. This is evident when Ishi is caught by the sheriff as they give the description. “The wild man was emaciated to starvation; his hair was burned off close to his head…” (Kroeber. 2004: 3).
The interaction between the European and the native americans resulted in a big...