Understanding US Society Through Wildlife

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birdfestUpcoming in Ridgefield is the Birdfest and Bluefest Nature Festival. For those interested in US society and culture and wants to learn about it through the country’s wildlife, mark down October 4-5th in your diaries.

Taking place at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, the festival will have activities for the whole family. Indeed, as director of Friends of the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge, Sarah Hill pointed out, “Birdfest is the perfect time for families to experience everything this great region offers – its diverse wildlife, scenic beauty and rich cultural heritage.” Those attending will be able to view sandhill cranes flying in and out of their night roost in a special sanctuary.

Birdfest is also the only time all are welcome to check out this area that features a ton of great wildlife. Indeed, viewing the wildlife has become increasingly popular at the festival over the last few years. Understanding US wildlife is often crucial to gaining a deeper insight into US society and culture. If we trust what D. A. Poole, former Wildlife Society President said, then we will really make an effort to get to know our country’s wildlife. He argued: “the future of fish and wildlife depends as much, if not more, on understanding the social, behavioral, and economic habits of man as it does on knowing the habits of the animal.”

At this festival, there will also be bird, plant and nature tours and presentations given by experts in the region. One topic discussed at the length will be Southwest Washington’s unique ecoregion, with a special focus this year on the Belted King Fisher.

Those who want to discover more about US society will be able to do so through archeologist-led walks following in the footsteps of Native Americans and Lewis and Clark to interesting sites such as a Cathlapotle plankhouse replica hand-crafted using ancient techniques and tools and a tour of the Kiwa Trail.

Alaskan Anthropology

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Denbigh-Flint-ComplexThe Alaska Anthropology Association recently focused on ancient sites throughout northern and western parts of the state through its yearly month-long festivities. The theme of the event was the Denbigh Flint Complex – a pre-Eskimo archaeological culture of North America, uncovered in1948 in Iyatayet, Alaska. Typical to the Denbigh complex – that predates 2500 BC – is small flaked blades; small, chipped side and end blades; burins; scrapers; knives; and points of ancient American types.

The Denbigh people were distant ancestors of modern Inupiat. They were technologically-minded, founding new lands that established what was needed for the next four millennia of Arctic survival. Further, according to Chief of Resources for Gates of the Arctic National Park and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Jeff Rasic, “they were also the first people to set foot in the Canadian Arctic, all the way across to Greenland — one of the biggest human migrations in human history. The launching pad for all that was right there in Northwestern Alaska.”

It was quite fitting that the Alaska Anthropology Association focused on the Denbighs in their annual celebrations since it’s exactly 50 years since works were first published about these people. Further, it was the Denbighs who were the first humans that colonized most of Arctic North America. That took place close to 5,000 years ago.

One way of studying the Denbigh people is by unearthing various animals. Scientists can then use these to figure out what the people were eating, how game and marine mammals were processed and how they migrated based on the seasons. Rasic added that these were “the best ever craftspeople of stone tools from Alaska. They made incredibly fine tools that were functional, but also beautiful. They’re little works of art and nobody before or after Denbigh ever matched that quality. The Denbigh people were very specialized in how they hunted and gathered food in all these different environments.”

Rasic also discovered that these people were “restless” having moved across the region toward Greenland, despite maintaining connections with their Russian roots. He added that it was important for Northwestern Alaskans to “know that their own backyard is this unique (link) to human history on a global scale.”

Geography America and the Aging Population

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senior-citizensA recent workshop took place entitled, “How Changing Demographics Will Impact America’s Urban Revival.” Participants were: Elizabeth Kneebone and Margery Austin Turner, hailing from the Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution and Urban Institute Program Planning and Management.

The gist of what came out of the discussion was geared toward policymakers and their impact on geography America and changing demographics. When addressing urban and suburban issues, it is “crucial” to consider their geographical context.

In other words, what may be a successful urban policy in Texas might not necessarily be appropriate for the very different demographic of Cincinnati. Policies are impacted by the demographics – whether the communities are aging or more youthful.

Despite these findings, Jim Russell, a geographer specializing on the relationship between migration and economic development, two years ago his research revealed something different. He said:

“Not only did I find brain gain where others decried brain drain, I saw a lot of the Rust Belt in the most distressed San Antonio neighborhoods. Cities all over the United States have struggled with the decline of manufacturing. San Antonio is no exception. Concerning the economic geography of reinventing America’s older communities, place doesn’t matter. Where you have neighborhoods that were (perhaps still are) linked to manufacturing employment, you will find common problems and common solutions.”

Nevertheless what also needs to be taken into consideration is the fact that the number of those born in America between 1946 and 1964 (65+ ers) is “projected to hit 83.7m by 2050.” This is almost twice as much as the estimated 43.1 m older residents who got to that age three years ago according to ‘An Aging Nation: The Older Population in the United States’ and ‘The Baby Boom Cohort in the United States: 2012 to 2060.’

Thus it is crucial to look at geography America, demographics, and figure out where the largest aging population is. Senior citizens require different medical and other care and services.

Mesa Verde National Park Discovery

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mesa-verdeA recent discovery was made in Colorado at the Mesa Verde National Park.  It seems that what has been considered for a long time to have been an Ancestral Puebloan water reservoir – that has been standing for a thousand years – may not have actually been erected to store water.
Instead, it seems that the latest study concludes that given that it is on a ridge, US Geological Survey scientist Larry Benson pointed out that “it’s hard to believe that Native Americans who understood the landscape and were in need of water would have decided to build a reservoir on that ridge.” Thus those in the study believe that Mummy Lake – what was thought to have been a water reservoir – was actually instead “an unroofed ceremonial structure” a bit like ancient kivas and plazas common in the Southwest.  It also looks a bit like a Arizonian amphitheater that was also originally considered a water reservoir.
Around 20 years ago an evolving ritual landscape was discovered by researchers studying the Manuelito Canyon Community of New Mexico.  Throughout history, the Manuelitos changed the ritual focus of their community, developing ceremonial roads to connect their retired great houses and great kivas to the new complexes.  Benson’s group believes the same thing occurred at Mesa Verde, concluding that it is time for “new signage” on the structure…We could probably call it ‘Mummy Lake’ again.”

US Anthropology and the Lego Revolution

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legoTop executives at Lego have been using German and US anthropology in their road to continued success.  This was done by placing anthropologist researchers into families, seeing how they interact, and, with a special focus on their play.

In an attempt to get Lego back on track, executives sought to demystify the notion that customers “no longer had to time to play” through research in the field of US anthropology.  They wanted to figure out if 21st century “plug and play” games were rendering old-school Lego play unpopular.

Interestingly what happened in this US anthropology research was that it was found that children these days do still have a lot of free time and in this time, they enjoy tackling challenging problems.  Further, when they weren’t being supervised, their behavior and actions were different to when they were being supervised.

Interestingly what has been found – by researchers Christian Madsbjerg and Mikkel Rasmussen, (ReD Associates’ founding partners) – is that the way to really understand what’s going on is by anthropology.  That, as opposed to questionnaires and spreadsheets.  Culturally going in and experiencing what is happening is going to give us a much more accurate analysis of what children like to do.  At least, that is what Lego has found.  And they are pretty successful.

New Americans US Society Integration

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cisnerosA non-profit organization to help support immigrant groups throughout America was recently launched by Henry Cisneros.  The former Mayor and Housing Secretary and current CityView Executive Chairman, set up the Cisneros Center to “identify best practices among these groups and promote an immigrant “road map” to accelerate their integration into U.S. society.”  The idea was also that it should be used as a kickback to the escalation in US immigrant populations.  Retired US diplomat Cecilia Elizondo Herrera will be the center’s CEO and first president in San Antonio with Nicolas Perilla as executive director in Washington DC.  José Estrada will be the center’s regional manager in Arkansas.

The Cisneros Center will seek to create awareness of the true “urgency” encountered by immigrants on education and other such issues common in their new lives.  It will be Cisneros’ “single, focused effort” in civic life. He believes that strong immigrant communities are what will “save our country.”

The main role of the Center will be to assemble nonprofit groups, academics, faith-based organizations and those with a foot in the door of immigrant communities to brainstorm the best ideas to deal with isolation.  As Perilla pointed out, there are “new gateways that have experienced dramatic demographic shifts in the last 20 years and are still in the process of building the infrastructure to serve them,” which have “so much potential,” but are lacking the necessary tools.

US Anthropologist Becomes Voice of the Dead

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trophy-skullsTwo organizations – the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the US Army Central Identification Laboratory were the driving force behind a team of scientific anthropologists who are in the process of investigating American military remains that were unearthed in places around the world.

As part of this project, head of the team, forensic anthropologist Marcella Sorg, has been trying to figure out the root of various “trophy skulls” that have appeared in Maine following the deaths of veterans from the second World War.  Also in this category are bones of enemy fighters that were taken as military service souvenirs and discovered by family members.

In her position, Sorg is often asked to investigate unknown human skeletal remains.  In this way, she can figure out the identity of the individual and if their death was caused by a murder. In her US anthropology work over the years, Sorg has found a “steady increase” in the amount of drug-related deaths over the last decade and a half.  Indeed, between 2011 to 2012 there was a quadrupling of heroin-related deaths.  Methadone deaths have been decreasing, since 2008 though.

Still, at the end of the day, even though US anthropologist Sorg spends a lot of time analyzing bones, she always tries to remember that at some point, they belonged to somebody’s mother, father, etc.

Vero Beach Excavation

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megafaunaArchaeologists are set to resume a Vero Beach, FL, excavation that is more than 13,000 years old.  If successful, it could suggest that mankind has been in North America longer than is believed by most industry excavators.

The site was originally discovered in 1915 during which time saber tooth cats, mammoths and ground sloths were unearthed. Further, it is noteworthy since it is one of only documented sites in the Western Hemisphere where human remains have been found right by those of megafauna that are now extinct.  Further, according to a Mercyhurst University report, the Vero Beach human remains were discovered alongside extinct animal remains dating back to the Pleistocene era (that ended around 11,700 years ago).

So what is going to happen next is that archaeologist James Adovasio and his team will lead this excavation.  But the fact that a human skull along with 44 other human bones were found suggests that it was from a man who lived 13,000 years ago and thus there was humankind around in the region at this time.  Since this discovery, the term “Vero Man” has been coined.

Another issue is that Vero had always had an infamous status since, according to Adovasio, “it was seen as such a threat to the then perceived wisdom that no humans had lived here during the last Ice Age.” The next step is for the team to use current techniques at the site.

US Anthropology Researches Thanksgiving Fare

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by Bonni Strong
by Bonni Strong

Traditional food served on Thanksgiving has a really long history. Today, throughout America and in other countries (expats), the holiday has kept up very much with these traditions. Let’s take a look at how they came about and what people ate on November 27, 2014.

Interestingly, a lot of the typical food found at the Thanksgiving table hails from South America and Mexico. Senior Scientist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Bruce Smith, explained the reason for this: “Most likely this diffusion happened as a result of trading or other contact among American Indian tribes in this country.”

Wild turkeys were eating at the very first Thanksgiving. It took longer for domesticated ones to make it to the table and they were probably brought from Mexico to Europe and arrived in America via Europeans who settled the colonies.

Again with potatoes it was most likely the Europeans that brought the potatoes to Eastern America when they settled there. They were originally domesticated in South America around 10,000 years ago.

The most common type of squash – the cucurbita pepe – probably underwent two domestications (like the turkey), both in Mexico and eastern America. Some of the more common members of this species include: acorn squash, pattypan squash and spaghetti squash. The jack-o-lantern was the first plant domesticated in the Americas.

More than 8,000 years ago, corn was domesticated in Mexico but only arrived in southwest US around 4,000 years ago. Eastern North America got the crop in around 200 BC. And finally cranberries actually are originally from America, probably from New England. However, their name was most likely given by European settlers – craneberry originally – as the plant looked like a crane. American Indians were the first to use cranberries as food.

So don’t forget the cranberry sauce next Thanksgiving!

 

San Diego Charles Brandes on Middle East Investments

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When one invests, there are a lot of issues to take into consideration.  Along with the fiscal issues plaguing potential investments, the “geopolitical developments of the Middle East” have to be taken into consideration.

This is an issue Brandes Investment Partners, LP, has been aware of in recent times.  According to the firm’s investment director, Gerardo Zamorano:

“It’s been a dynamic region for investments this year.  When we are looking at the potential of some of these countries, which stands out the most is how healthy they are from a macroeconomic  perspective, metrics like debt-to-GDP – that’s a real strength. The income per capita also tends to be higher than your average emerging market countries.”

In addition, a recent survey from Reuters showed “fund managers in the region are placing big bets on Middle East stocks…One only has to look to countries such as Turkey that neighbor the region to see the dismal performance of emerging markets: Istanbul’s BIST National 100 is down nearly 5% for the year.”

Zamorano, who works alongside Charles Brandes, concluded:

“Certainly, stock markets in the region have had a strong run up this year, which makes looking at individual companies and finding value on a case-by-case basis more important now.”