Adaptive Strategies:

Adaptive Strategies: Hunting & Gathering (Foraging)

4 Adaptive Strategies • HUNTING & GATHERING (FORAGING) • HORTICULTURE • PASTORALISM • AGRICULTURE • INCLUDES PEASANTS

Cultural Ecology • Inter-relationships between people & environment • ADAPTIVE STRATEGY: • THE WAY PEOPLE IN A PARTICULAR ENVIRONMENT USE CULTURAL MEANS TO SURVIVE IN THAT ENVIRONMENT; • THE STRATEGY EMPLOYED TO PROCURE NEEDS OF THE GROUP

ENVIRONMENTAL POSSIBILISM: • ENVIRONMENT PLACES LIMITATIONS & PROVIDES POSSIBILITIES • IT DOES NOT DETERMINE CULTURE

Hunting & Gathering • Successful way of life – 99% of human history • Out of 150 billion people ever – 60% H&G

Why Have H & G Disappeared? • Disappearance is not due to technological inefficiency • Political factors – European expansion • Importance of early human history • Contemporary H&G are not relics from the past • But participants in the modern world system • Forced into marginal areas

Geographic DistributionH&G • European contact ~ 1600 (polar, desert)

Where H&G persist today

Collectors (vs. Producers) • Dependent on scarcity or abundance of resources • Hunt • Forage • Combine

I. PEDESTRIAN H&G • !KUNG SAN: Plant-focused H&G • 55,000 SAN; 4000 !KUNG SAN) • 1 KUNG BAND = • 250 SQ. MI. • POPULATION DENSITY 44/100 SQ. MI. • 11 GROUPS

Functional Consequences • SMALL GROUP SIZE, 25-50 • NOMADIC, FUSION & FISSION • MOBILITY - DONT ACCUMULATE SURPLUS

BASIC UNIT OF PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION = VILLAGE/CAMP • DIVISION OF LABOR BY SEX & AGE • LACK SPECIALIZATION • EGALITARIAN - EQUAL ACCESS TO RESOURCES • NO SOCIAL STRATIFICATION • NO INDIVIDUAL OWNERSHIP OF RESOURCES • RECIPROCITY

BANDS ORGANIZED ON BASIS OF KINSHIP • INFORMAL SOCIAL CONTROL • "HEADMAN" • POLYTHEISTIC RELIGION • PART-TIME RELIGIOUS SPECIALIST (SHAMAN)

MOBILITY & SOCIAL RELATIONS • = SOLUTION TO ADAPT TO RESOURCES • FOOD IS CONSTANT BUT DISTANCE TO IT INCREASES IN DRY SEASON • GROUP SIZE IS DETERMINED BY CARRYING CAPACITY • THE KEY ISSUE IS WATER - FIXED DISTRIBUTION OF WATER HOLES • SEASONAL AGGREGATION IN DRY (100); • MAY BE 7 GROUPS AT 1 WATERHOLE • DISPERSAL IN WET (SMALLER) • MOBILITY: MAY MOVE 2 - 10 TIMES/YEAR

Perspectives… • HOBBES: • “LIVE IN A STATE OF NATURE”; • LIFE IS “NASTY, BRUTISH & SHORT” • SAHLINS: • “THE ORIGINAL AFFLUENT SOCIETY”

Richard Lee’s Research • D.O.L. - MEN HUNT, WOMEN GATHER • "MAN THE HUNTER IS A MYTH" • 60-80% DIET IS VEGETABLES, GATHERED BY WOMEN; • 2-3 DAYS/WEEK • LESS THAN 20% OF DIET IS MEAT • 1 KILL EACH 4 DAYS

WOMEN PROVIDE 2-3 TIMES THE AMOUNT OF FOOD AS MEN • PROBABILITY OF MEN FINDING FOOD IS LESS THAN 25%; WOMEN 100% • 1 HR. HUNTING 100 CAL.; • 1 HR. GATHER 240 CAL.

ACUTE AWARENESS OF THE ENVIRONMENT • MEN’S KNOWLEDGE OF ANIMAL HABITS, ABILITY TO TRACK ANIMALS • POISON ARROWS WITH BEETLE LARVAE • WOMEN’ ABILITY TO IDENTIFY VINES, EDIBLE PLANTS • 40% (YOUNG & OLD) DON’T CONTRIBUTE, DEPEND ON REST • POPULATION OF 466, 46 ARE OVER AGE 60 • LEISURE TIME (compared to industrial society)

Dietary Quality? • Reciprocity Evens out wealth differences • Diet: 37% MEAT, 63% VEG. • Mongongo nuts (not all are eaten) • 300 NUTS/DAY; 33% OF VEG. DIET; • PROVIDES 5 x CALORIES & 10 x PROTEIN AS CEREAL (CORN, RICE) • EQUIVALENT OF 2 1/2 LB. RICE, 15 OZ. BEEF; 56 GM. PROTEIN

VARIETY: 84 PLANTS (FRUIT, BERRIES, ROOTS, BULBS) • WIDE RANGE ALTERNATIVES; • 90% OF VEG. DIET IS BASED ON 23 SPECIES • SELECTIVENESS • KNOW 2300 ANIMALS, 54 EDIBLE, 17 HUNTED

OPTIMAL FORAGING THEORY • SELECTION IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE CALORIES OFFERED, PER UNIT OF EFFORT REQUIRED TO OBTAIN THEM • GREATER ENERGY COST TO OBTAIN, LESS LIKELY TO SELECT

Brink of Starvation??

Richard Lee: • "CONSIDERING THE GREAT IMPORTANCE OF THE MONGONGO & THE LONG DISTANCES WALKED BY THE !KUNG TO REACH THE GROVES, ONE WOULD IMAGINE THAT SOME ATTEMPT WOULD HAVE BEEN MADE TO GROW THE MONGONGO TREES IN THE SANDY SOILS NEAR THE PERMANENT WATER HOLES, MAKING POSSIBLE A MORE SEDENTARY LIFE. I ASKED XASHI, " WHY DONT YOU TRY GROWING THE MONGONGO TREE?" HE ANSWERED, " WHY SHOULD WE PLANT WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY MONGONGOS IN THE WORLD?"

II. Equestrian H&G • Cheyenne (agriculture nomadic hunters) • LARGER GROUPS, MORE MOBILE • MORE LIKELY TO DEVELOP A SOCIAL & POLITICAL HIERARCHY

GREAT PLAINS - • SPANIARDS INTRODUCED THE HORSE IN THE 17TH CENTURY • THUS H&G IS A RESULT OF EUROPEAN CONTACT • 1ST ACQUIRED BY APACHE, WHOSE RAIDS IMPELLED OTHER GROUPS TO ADOPT THE HORSE & DEVELOP WARFARE FOR DEFENSE • MILITARY SOCIETIES DEVELOPED

EXPANSION OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER UPROOTED NATIVE AMERICANS & FORCED THEM WEST • THEY CAME INTO CONFLICT WITH OTHER TRIBES AS THEY COMPETED FOR HUNTING GROUNDS

CHEYENNE: 10 BANDS FORM TRIBE, • EACH BAND HAS MEMBERS FROM SEVERAL OF THE 7 MILITARY SOCIETIES band A band B

FUSION IN SUMMER – 1000'S UNITE FOR BUFFALO HUNT (MATING SEASON) • SUCCESS DEPENDED ON COOPERATIVE HUNTING IN SUMMER • BUFFALO POLICE WITH COERCIVE AUTHORITY ONLY DURING HUNTS • FISSION -- DISPERSE IN WINTER • VARIATION: TRIBAL ORGANIZATION & WARFARE RARE AMONG H & G

III. Aquatic H&G • KWAKIUTL – Northwest Coast • EVEN LARGER GROUPS, GREATER SOCIAL STRATIFICATION, MORE ELABORATE MATERIAL CULTURE • ELABORATE FISHING TECHNOLOGY (BOATS) • PRIVATE PROPERTY IS CLEARLY DEFINED • DIFFERENCES IN WEALTH & SOCIAL RANK

25 GROUPS (TRIBES), EACH WITH ITS OWN AUTONOMOUS VILLAGE • CEDAR & SALMON = RICH ENVIRONMENT, "HARVEST THE SEA" • 5-7 SALMON RUNS PER YEAR

UNUSUAL ABUNDANCE = FOOD SURPLUS, LIFEWAY SIMILAR TO AGRICULTURALISTS • LARGE SETTLED COMMUNITIES, PLANK HOUSES • LEISURE ALLOWED ATTENTION TO NON-ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF LIFE • ELABORATION OF MATERIAL CULTURE (TOTEMS, MASKS)

EXTENDED FAMILIES WITH INHERITED RIGHTS TO FISHING AREAS & HUNTING TERRITORIES; • FAMILIES WERE RANKED ACCORDING TO WEALTH & PRESTIGE, • VALIDATED THROUGH POTLATCH

Friedl: Society & Sex Roles • What is the source of power among H&G? • Understand her hypothesis ! • Comparative study of 4 H&G societies • The !Kung are an anomaly • Why don’t women hunt? • What lessons does this have for women in the U.S.?

Conclusions: • Male dominance varies with the amount of meat available • The less meat, the more egalitarian • Vegetables are distributed within the family • Meat is distributed to the band (source of power)

!KUNG SAN - SOCIAL CHANGE • HAS !KUNG CULTURE REMAINED UNCHANGED FOR 1000s OF YEARS? • GOOD ANTHROPOLOGISTS UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY • !KUNG PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ALTERNATELY REPRESSED BY DUTCH, BANTU, & INFLUENCED BY THE HERERO & TSWANA

Kalahari Desert Namibia Botswana

HUNTING & GATHERING SOCIETIES OCCUPY THE LAST FRONTIERS OF EXPLOITABLE RESOURCES IN THE WORLD • 1652 ON, DUTCH KILLED 200,000 SAN IN 200 YEARS; LAND TAKEN OVER FOR AGRICULTURE, HERDING • 18TH C.: COLONIAL SETTLERS USED THE !KUNG AS MENIAL LABORERS OR WENT ON RAIDS & MASSACRED SMALL CAMPS • THE ENCROACHMENT OF CAPITALISM & SOUTH AFRICA'S WAR ON ITS NEIGHBORS TOOK A TOLL ON !KUNG CULTURE

BOTSWANA - RAPID EXPANSION OF CAPITALIST RANCHING • BROUGHT IN DRILLING RIGS & DUG WELLS TO REACH DEEP WATER IN THE KALAHARI • PEOPLE IN HIGH GOVT. POSITIONS ARE GAINING 99 YEAR LEASES TO THE LAND

KALAHARI DESERT - SITE OF MAJOR MINERAL PROSPECTING BY MNCs • THE FUTURE OF H&G IS MORE CLOSELY BOUND TO MNCs THAN WITH HUNTING ANTELOPE OR AVAILABILITY OF MONGONGO NUTS

BOTSWANA • WAS A S. AFRICAN PROTECTORATE (1886) • GAINED INDEPENDENCE 1966 • BELONGS TO UN & SUPPORTED S. AFRICAN LIBERATION MOVEMENTS VS. APARTHEID • FOUGHT VS. ONE OF WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL & RACIST REGIMES • LACKS A LARGE EUROPEAN SETTLER POPULATION • MAJORITY ARE BANTU SPEAKERS; SAN ARE MINORITY • SUBJECT TO INTENSE MISSIONIZING

NAMIBIA • WAS A COLONY OF SOUTH AFRICA, SEIZED FROM GERMANY IN WW I • AS S. AFRICA IMPLEMENTED EXTREME POLICIES OF APARTHEID, U.S. CONSIDERED IT STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT: • GOLD, DIAMONDS, MINERALS • S. AFRICA'S SMALL RULING WHITE ELITE DEPENDED ON THE LABOR & SUPPRESSION OF MILLIONS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE • S. AFRICA TIGHTENED BORDERS BETWEEN BOTSWANA & NAMIBIA, RESTRICTING MOVEMENT OF !KUNG & INHIBITING THEIR SUBSISTENCE ACTIVITIES

BY 1970s !KUNG WERE LIVING IN SMALL GOVERNMENT-ADMINISTERED CAMPS, DEPENDING ON GOVT. RATIONS, & UNABLE TO HUNT & GATHER

SWAPO • SW AFRICAN PEOPLE'S ORGANIZATION FORMED IN 1966 • MARXIST GUERRILLA GROUP • U.S. OPPOSED THE LEFTIST GOVERNMENT OF NAMIBIA • S. AFRICA USED NAMIBIA AS A CORRIDOR TO RAID SWAPO CAMPS IN ANGOLA, SUPPORTED BY THE U.S. • S. AFRICAN ARMY RECRUITED 100s OF !KUNG, FORMING 2 BATALLIONS • 4000 !KUNG IN THE AREA WERE UNDER TOTAL CONTROL OF THE ARMY

THE RESULT: ALCOHOLISM, FIGHTING, HOMICIDES TRIPLED AS !KUNG MEN GOT WEAPONS & ACQUIRED A MACHO IMAGE • THE SYSTEM OF RECIPROCITY BROKE DOWN, ANOMIE • SWAPO GAINED INDEPENDENCE FOR NAMIBIA IN 1990 • THE NEW CONSITITUTION STRESSES HUMAN RIGHTS & DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION FOR ALL PEOPLES

SOME H&Gs HAVE DEVELOPED POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS TO MOBILIZE & RESIST ENCROACHEMENT • THESE DRAW ON THEIR OWN CULTURAL, POLITICAL, & ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES • BUT THEY RELY ON OUTSIDE HELP, SUCH AS ANTHROPOLOGISTS • 1975 ANTHROPOLOGISTS CREATED KALAHARI PEOPLE'S FUND • CONCERN WITH AIDING THE STRUGGLE FOR SELF- DETERMINATION

Adaptive Strategies: