1. Becoming an Ethnographer and the importance of Myths

2. Learning Intentions: 1. Understanding what the study of anthropology involves 2. Understand what kinds of questions an anthropologist attempts to answer 3. The importance of myths in the study of cultures

3. It is the study of humans as they interact in groups

4. With your table group come up with questions that pertain to the following subject areas that an anthropologist would want to learn about. 1. Food, diet, and its collection and production 2. Social organization 3. Leadership and government 4. Religion 5. Kinship Be prepared to share your “answers”

5. Food, diet, collection and production Does the society live by subsistence? (are they self sufficient?) Are they hunter-gatherers? Do they practice agriculture – farming, domestication of animals? Does the society live in a consumer society (some produce for the consumption of many)

6. Social organization What are the rules of the society? Are there laws that pertain to everyone? What are the sizes of the social groups? Large cities, smaller satellite villages? Leadership and government Who is in charge? King? Chief? President? Who has authority? How is power distributed? Many? One? Checks and balances? How is power continued over time? Passed down through generations?

7. Religion How does their religion provide explanations for certain events in life? Does religion provide a moral structure? What festivals are observed and for what purpose? Is it a mono or polytheist religion? Kinship How do people trace their linage and describe their relationship with other family members? How are families kept together? Matriocal, patrilocal, matrilineal, patrilineal, bilateral, patriarchal, matriarchal

8. Part 1: Become an anthropologist and an ethnographer. Using the categories in these notes and pg 187 of your Crossroads text, prepare and conduct an interview of another student in the class. Part 2 At home, based on the information gathered, construct an ethnography of that person’s cultural background. Then reverse roles. Share findings with the class.

10. Why do societies and cultures use myths? What purpose do they serve? Where do they come from? How do they last?

11. Section A: Why do myths survive? Good against evil. Gods and Goddess Section B: Creation myths The first humans Heroic humans Section C: Culture heroes The afterlife Animals Section D: Fabulous beasts Sacred places Contacting the Gods Section E: Where did myths come from? Why is mythology important

12. There are many First Nations, and all are unique. Languages, beliefs, and stories of creation are specific to each nation. The weight and meaning of beliefs and stories are passed down through generations. There is, however, one unifying theme that is common throughout all First Nations: everything is one and all is interconnected. Humans, animals, nature, and the spirit world are all tied together in a mystical circle, connecting those who came before, those who live now, and those who shall come in the future.

13. Stories of creation are kept alive from generation to generation through traditional song, dance, ceremony, storytelling, and art. First Nations stories, or myths, explain the creation of the earth, the birth of the landscape, and the origins of peoples. They also serve to illustrate and instruct on moral and social conventions as well as traditional customs. The importance of these myths to social organization, kinship, status, and art cannot be overstated.

14. Popular First Nations myths focus on deceptive, mischievous, and sacred creatures called “transformers.” These tricksters, often taking the form of a raven or coyote, can turn themselves and others into objects, animals, or anything else they wish. These transformers are featured in stories about change and the restoration of order. http://www.fraserbasin.bc.ca/publications/documents/Bridges_Between _Nations.pdf

15. Read the Myths: Dene – creation of seasons Tsimshian – rebirth of a corpse Blackfoot – earth diver Northwest Creation Story Then answer the questions provided in the package

16. Complete questions on myths Write your own myth; It can be about the creation of the world It can be a moral It can be about how something came about.