12.1-12.3 The Gebusi - Prof. Childs Spring 2018 PDF

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Prof. Childs Spring 2018...

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ANTH%160B,%Spring%2018% % 12.1-12.3%The%Gebusi% % %

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Introducing+the+Gebusi:+1980-82+ Reciprocity+ Gebusi+Culture+ Making+a+Living+ Sorcery+ Kinship+and+Marriage+ Ritual+Sex+Practices+ Initiation+Rites+ Fast+Forward:+1998+ Globalization+and+Localization+ Romance,+Gender,+and+Sexuality+ Modernity+and+Tradition+ Fast+Forward:+2008+ Fast+Forward:+2013+

Introducing%the%Gebusi%(1980-82)% + Papua%New%Guinea% • Cultural+Diversity:+6+million+inhabitants,+>+800+languages+and+as+many+ethnic+groups+ • Colonial+Legacy:+Gained+independence+from+Australia+in+1975+after+almost+100+years+of+colonial+ rule.+Remains+part+of+the+British+Commonwealth.+Pacification+of+nearby+tribes+benefitted+Gebusi+ people.+ + Longitudinal%Perspective+ • Repeat+visits+allow+you+to+carefully+document+changes+over+time.+ • First+visit:+collect+benchmark+data+against+which+future+changes+can+be+assessed.+ + Entering%the%Field+ • Accepting+a+gift+of+plantains.+ • Why+were+the+plantains+so+important?+ • Reciprocity+is+the+basis+of+social+identity+in+Papua+New+Guinea.++ + Reciprocity+ • Receiving+and+giving+gifts+shows+who+you+are+and+who+you+are+connected+to.+ • Practices+of+naming+based+on+the+gifts+you+have+given+and+received.+ • Social+obligations+based+on+who+you+exchange+with+and+what+you+exchange.+ • Food+is+an+especially+important+gift.+ + Gebusi%Culture% % Knauft’s%fieldwork%methods:%% • Participant-observation+ • Structured+interviews+ • Informal+conversations+ • Unstructured+interviews+ • Oral+histories+ • Genealogies+

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Census+and+residential+surveys+ Transcriptions+from+tape+recordings+

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Kogwayay%% Gebusi+term+that+means+(more+or+less)+culture.++ Kog:+togetherness+++Wa:+to+talk+++Yay:+to+call+out+or+yell+ Kogwayay:+All+of+the+things+–+traditions+of+dancing,+singing,+and+body+decoration+–+ that+set+the+ Gebusi+apart+from+all+others.+ Kogwayay’s+meaning+is+part+of+implicit'cultural'knowledge+(it’s+hard+to+explain!).+

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Cultural%Relativism%and%Moral%Judgment+ Kogwayay+is+a+gendered+concept:+men+participate+in+the+activities+associated+with+kogwayay,+ while+Gebusi+women+are+largely+excluded.+So,+is+Kogwayay+bad?++ Knauft’s+Point:+There+is+a+need+to+balance+an+appreciation+for+cultural+diversity+with+critical+ attention+to+inequality+(in+this+case,+gender+inequality).++

+ Making%a%Living% • Foraging+in+the+Forest:+“The+Gebusi+eat+practically+anything+that+moves.”+ • Gardening+in+the+jungle+with+efficiency+and+ingenuity:+Why+cut+the+trees+only+half-way+through?+ • Gebusi+Adaptive+Strategy:+Foraging+++Horticulture+(felling+the+trees+on+top+of+the+crop)+++Semidomestication+of+pigs+++Semi-nomadism+with+permanent+dwellings+ + Sorcery% % % % Sickness%and%Death+ • Low+life+expectancy+ • High+rates+of+morbidity+and+infant+mortality+ + % How%do%Gebusi%Live%with%Death?+ • Personhood:+The+state+of+being+a+full+person,+with+all+rights,+recognitions,+and+obligations+that+ belong+to+humans+in+a+given+society.++ • For+Gebusi,+personhood+begins+around+seven+months.+Before+that,+infants+do+not+have+a+human+ spirit+(family+still+mourn+the+loss).+ • Deaths+investigated+for+sorcery.+ + % Sorcery%and%Sympathetic%Magic%+ • Sympathetic+Magic+(James+Frazier):+Magical+rite+that+relies+on+supernatural+powers+without+ working+through+a+specific+supernatural+being+(spirit,+demon,+or+deity).++ • Rather+than+just+asking+a+deity+to+make+something+happen,+sympathetic+magic+relies+on+rites+ involving+ordinary+objects+for+its+success.++ • Law+of+similarities:+Similarity+between+magical+rite+and+desired+goal.++Ex:+Poking+a+“voodoo+doll”+ produced+pain+in+victim’s+body.+ • Law+of+contagion:+Things+that+have+been+in+physical+contact+with+one+another+have+an+effect+ even+after+contact.++ • Ex:+Christian+Eucharist+(Communion)+is+an+example+of+both+principles+occurring+together.++ o Red+wine+resembles+blood,+bread+resembles+flesh+(law+of+similarities).++

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Consuming+them+spreads+the+blessings+of+God+to+people+who+perform+the+ritual+(law+of+ contagion).++

The%Gebusi:%Two%Types%of%Sorcery% Bogay:+sorcerer+believed+to+have+tied+up+the+feces+of+the+victim+(causing+illness)+then+burned+ them+(causing+death).+Example+of+sympathetic+magic+using+law+of+contagion+(parcel+sorcery)+and+ law+of+similarity,+based+on+principle+of+“like+produces+like.”+ Ogowili:+Magical+warriors+attack+victim+in+the+forest,+killing+him+or+her+with+arrows+and+clubs,+ eating+out+the+insides,+magically+sewing+the+body+up,+then+casting+a+spell+to+give+the+victim+ amnesia;+leads+to+sudden+death+soon+after+the+attack.+Example+of+assault+sorcery.+Explains+ sudden+death,+death+by+accident,+suicide.+ Dugawe’s%Story+ Gebusi+man+commits+suicide+after+quarreling+with+his+wife+over+her+affair.+ Dugawe+had+killed+his+first+wife+and+young+son,+served+prison+term,+returned+to+Yibihilu+to+marry+ his+“brother’s”+widow.+Levirate%marriage:+widow+marries+clan+“brother”+of+dead+husband.++ Dugawe’s+corpse+laid+in+state.+Women+mourn+loudly+and+throw+themselves+on+the+body.++ Relatives+from+neighboring+settlements+arrive,+angry+with+people+of+Yibihilu+over+Dugawe’s+ death.+Tobacco+and+feasting+calm+everyone’s+nerves.++ Ultimate%Cause+ Weeks+later,+sorcery+investigation+undertaken+to+find+out+who+had+driven+Dugawe+crazy+or+killed+ him.+Was+his+widow+guilty+of+sending+an+ogowili+(her+young+lover,+perhaps)+to+drive+Dugawe+ crazy?+Search+for+evidence+near+site+of+suicide+reveals+some+clues,+but+is+ultimately+inconclusive.+++ What%Does%Dugawe’s%Story%Reveal%about%the%Gebusi?+ Gender+roles:+Women+mourn,+men+investigate.+Male+spirit+mediums+direct+the+inquest.+ Gender+violence:+Female+sorcerers+killed+more+often.+ Conflict+resolution:+ o Anger+and+hostility+concerning+a+death+are+diffused+through+hospitality.+ o Sorcery+is+a+form+of+scapegoating.+ o After+inquest,+social+relations+are+reestablished+between+the+families+involved.+ Sickness,+death,+sorcery,+and+marriage+often+link+in+a+cycle+of+reciprocity+over+time.+ Anthropology%and%Ethics+ Should+Knauft+and+his+wife+have+intervened+at+any+point+in+the+investigation+into+Dugawe’s+ death?++ Did+they+follow+the+basic+principle+of+“do+no+harm”+while+also+reducing+risk+and+increasing+ benefits+to+the+Gebusi+people?+

+ Kinship%and%Marriage% % % Gebusi%Kinship+ • “In+societies+like+the+Gebusi,+cooperation+and+opposition+are+largely+based+on+kinship+and+ marriage.”++ • Kinship+shapes+the+social+order:+who+is+considered+socially+close+or+distant.++

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Kinship+shapes+daily+life:+who+you+interact+with+and+how.+

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The%Importance%of%Clans+ Clan:+permanent+social+group+whose+members+pass+down+membership+through+descent.+ Usually+practice+clan+exogamy.+ Claim+descent+through+a+common+ancestor.+ Gebusi+clan+membership+is+passed+down+through+male+lines+(patrilineal,+patriclans).+

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Gebusi%Marriage+ Clan+exogamy+and+preferential+sister-exchange+ o Woman+from+Clan+A+marries+man+of+Clan+B.+Husband’s+“sister”+from+Clan+B+marries+ woman’s+“brother”+from+Clan+A+ Does+this+always+happen?+NO!+ o Creative+ways+of+defining+sisters.+Bride-to-be+has+veto+power.+You+can+also+elope!+(But+ you+will+be+beaten.)+ Marital%Residence%Rules+ Sister-exchange+pairs+often+share+a+residence.+ Members+of+the+same+clan+do+not+necessarily+reside+in+the+same+settlement.++ Often,+a+man+lives+in+the+same+settlement+as+his+brother-in-law+and/or+mother’s+brother.+ Marriage%and%Sorcery+ One-third+of+adult+deaths+are+homicides;+most+are+sorcery+killings.++ In+more+than+70+percent+of+cases+where+an+affinal+relative+was+accused+of+sorcery,+the+marriage+ was+not+reciprocated+through+sister-exchange.+++ Is+there+a+connection?+When+there+is+no+reciprocation+for+the+loss+of+a+daughter/sister+through+ marriage,+resentment+builds+up+and+often+results+in+a+sorcery+accusation.+Finding+revealed+ through+genealogical+method!+

+ Ritual%Sex%Practices% % % Gebusi%Sexuality+ • Normative+monogamous+heterosexuality+ • Normative+female+heterosexuality+ • Male-male+sex+associated+with+ritual+and+spirit+séances+ + % Ritual%and%Sexuality+ • Ritual+insemination+of+younger+men+by+older+men+common+in+Papuan+societies.+ • Male+transmission+of+life+force.+ • Process+of+“making+men,”+crafting+their+gender+so+that+they+grow+into+strong+and+lively+men.+ • Taboo+for+married+men+(sometimes+broken).+ + % Spirit%Séance%and%Sexual%Humor+ • Joking+and+play+have+a+function+(cf.+Radcliffe-Brown):+

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To+release+sexual+tension+surrounding+ritual+visits+of+spirit+women,+who+bring+important+ information+to+the+spirit+medium.+

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Toym+was+said+by+the+men+of+Yibihilu+to+be+a+human+approximation+of+a+beautiful+spirit+woman.+ Toym+means+“taboo.”+

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Constructing%Gender%in%Gebusi%Society+ Sexual+practices+(ritual+insemination,+sexual+joking)+among+men+shape+them+into+“men.”+ o Distribution+of+masculine+life+force.+ o Enculturation+through+observation:+learning+how+to+joke+and+flirt.+ Through+spirit+séances,+where+men+interact+with+female+spirits,+men+construct+images+of+what+ women+are+and+what+they+should+be+.+

+ Initiation%Rites% • Separation:+Adorning+initiates+to+set+them+apart+visually.+ • Liminality:+Bearing+heavy+wigs+and+long+walks,+receiving+lectures+on+Gebusi+values+and+male+ secrets.+ • Incorporation:+New+costumes,+ritual+feasting,+participation+in+ritual+exchange+with+sponsors,+ dancing+with+women.+ + + Symbolism% • Young+men+begin+as+yellow+initiates,+end+as+birds+of+paradise+ o Yellow+=+in+between.+ o Red+=+menstrual+blood,+symbol+of+fertility.+ o Bird+of+paradise:+symbol+of+communion+with+women+and+spirits.+ • Gebusi+Symbol+System:+Social+death,+physical+death,+male+fertility,+dangers+of+social+life,+life+ through+exchange,+female+fertility+ + Fast%Forward:%1998% + % What%has%changed?%% • Dress+Habits:+From+homemade+articles+of+adornment+and+festival/ritual+attire+…+To+industrially+ manufactured,+second-hand+clothing+from+the+US+and+Europe.% • Space+and+Location:+Many+families+move+close+to+Nomad+Station+(government+administration,+ schooling,+churches,+local+market).+Move+results+in+conversion+to+monotheism,+regimentation+of+ time,+adoption+of+market+exchange+practices.% • Time+and+Temporality:+How+do+senses+of+time+vary+across+cultures+and+across+generations?% o Gebusi,+1982:+No+words+for+days+of+week,+months,+or+seasons.+Few+attempts+to+mark+ time.+Time+viewed+as+cyclical.+ o Gebusi,+1998:+Strict+schedules.+Mark+time+with+watches+and+clocks.+Time+viewed+as+ linear.+ o Cyclical+Time:+Time+is+a+perpetual+repetition.+The+past+is+infinitely+repeatable.+The+past+ serves+as+a+prophecy+for+the+future.+Gebusi+had+the+same+word+for+“yesterday”+and+ “tomorrow.”+

Linear+Time:+Beginning,+middle,+end.+Sense+of+time+fitting+of+monotheistic+world+ religions+that+pose+a+singular+cause+and+resulting+effect.+Secular,+scientific+time+is+also+ linear+time.+ Ritual+and+Religion:+Initiation+rites+replaced+by+religious+services.+Spirit+séances+replaced+by+ pastoral+sermons.+Bawdy+joking+replaced+by+dutiful+worship.+ o Rituals+of+Christianity:+s inging,+prayer,+and+worship ;+fasting+and+feasting;+observance+of+ sacred+day;+daily+practices+of+abstinence;+baptism+(rite+of+passage)+ o Religious+Conversion:+Christianity+touches+down+in+Nomad+in+ways+that+are+unique:+ (fundamentalist,+incorporation+of+sorcery+concerns).+Christian+conversion+takes+place+in+ relation+to+traditional+beliefs+and+practices+(okay+to+attend+initiation+ritual;+not+okay+to+ participate+in+rituals+or+believe+in+spirits).+ Ethics:+The+Case+of+Sorcery+Killings+ o Explicit+cultural+knowledge:+Christianity+is+our+religion.++The+Christian+god+is+not+pleased+ with+sorcery+acts+or+killings.++ o Interpreting+experience:+Maybe+the+person+did+not+die+of+sorcery?++Maybe+Satan+is+ testing+us+by+making+it+look+like+sorcery?+++ o Generating+behavior:+Half-hearted+investigation+into+possible+sorcery,+ending+with+ Christian+burial.++ o Result:+No+more+sorcery+killings.+And+no+more+initiation+rituals,+all-night+songfests,+or+ raucous+sexual+joking+…+“Life+was+tamer+in+many+ways.”+ Market+Activity:+Women+don’t+sell+very+much+at+the+market,+but+they+expend+a+great+deal+of+ energy+harvesting+food+and+carrying+it+to+the+market+to+sell.++Why?++ o Market+is+center+of+women’s+socializing+ o Prestige+of+earning+money+ o Opportunity+to+buy+prestige+foods+ o Contribution+to+household+earnings+ Gender+ o Changing+Gender+Roles:+Women+work+as+market+vendors,+participate+in+church+services,+ attend+school,+are+courted+rather+than+“exchanged.”+ o New+Gender+Stratification:+Women+are+reluctant+to+speak+in+class,+have+lower+ graduation+rates,+have+lower+literacy+rates+in+the+national+language,+are+left+out+of+ sports+(except+the+daughters+of+government+officials+stationed+in+the+area).+ o Changing+gender+roles+in+Gasumi+Corners+opens+up+new+opportunities+for+Knauft+to+ spend+time+with+and+interview+women+(without+their+husbands’+interference!).+ Rising+Inequality:+In+Yibihilu,+practices+of+exchange+and+reciprocity+meant+that+everyone+had+ basically+the+same+goods+and+resources.+At+Nomad+Station,+disparities+among+residents+were+ obvious+–+boom+boxes+for+some,+not+others.+ o Common+Cycle+of+Blame:+Inequality,+Frustration,+Attempts+to+resolve+inequalities+(i.e.,+ theft),+Blaming+the+criminals+for+being+lazy+and+immoral,+Moral+justification+for+ inequality.+ o

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% Globalization%and%Localization% % % What%Does%Longitudinal%Research%with%the%Gebusi%Reveal%about%Globalization?%+ • Interconnections+and+changing+life+ways+among+the+Gebusi+reflect+longer+histories+of+contact,+ movement,+and+colonialism.++

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Is+globalization:%About+the+West+dominating+the+rest+of+the+world+and+making+everything+the+ same?+About+people+exercising+agency+and+producing+their+own+meanings+out+of+a+global+stock+ of+ideas,+goods,+and+technologies?+It’s+more+complicated!+++ Globalization+Balance+Sheet+ o Losses:+Kogwayay,+Shamanism,+Animism,+Sorcery+(accusations+and+violence),+Initiation+ rites,+Forms+of+reciprocity+and+equality+ o Gains:+New+senses+of+place+and+time,+Christian+rituals,+Monotheism,+Material+goods,+ Authority+of+church+leaders,+political+leaders,+police,+and+Papa+God+ Localization+ At+Gasumi+Corners+and+Nomad+Station,+Christian+religion+and+globalized+market+systems+are+ localized+to+produce+new+and+novel+religious,+cultural,+and+economic+systems+(with+positive+and+ negative+effects).++

+ Romance,%Gender,%and%Sexuality% % % What%Did%Masculinity%Look%Like%in%Yibihilu?+ • Initiation+ceremonies+move+boys+into+manhood+and+prepare+them+for+marriage+ • Participation+in+ritual+séances,+hunting+and+horticulture+ • Normative+heterosexuality,+ritual+male-male+sexual+practices+ + % What%Does%Masculinity%Look%Like%in%Gasumi%Corners?+ • Focus+on+one’s+ability+to+court+young+women+ • Sports+abilities+ • Dancing+abilities+ • Style+and+dress+ • Church+activities+ • Modern+sensibilities+rather+than+traditional+practices+ + % Rituals%and%the%Magic%of%Courtship+ • From+rites+of+passage+to+adameni!++ + % What%Does%Marriage%Look%Like%in%Gasumi%Corners?+ • Few+sister-exchange+marriages.++ • More+marriages+by+choice.+ • More+at+stake+in+terms+of+personal+characteristics:+attractiveness,+adeptness+at+courtship.+ • New+emphasis+on+bride-wealth.+ + % Anthropology%and%Ethics+ • Attempt+to+arrange+a+traditional+sister-exchange+marriage+among+four+young+people+erupts+into+ conflict!+ • Gami+refuses+to+marry+her+intended+husband,+faces+abuse+and+scorn,+questioned+by+police.+ Knauft+tries+to+intervene+by+talking+with+elders+and+with+Gami.++Risks+harming+her+reputation+by+ talking+with+her+alone.+Right+or+wrong?++ + Modernity%and%Tradition%

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Sayu’s%Dance+ Performance+for+distant+village.+ Celebrating+“traditional”+dance+that+has+been+replaced+by+“modern”+music,+dances,+cultural+ practices.+ Embarrassment+at+being+seen+in+grass+skirt+when+passing+by+Nomad+Station+on+his+way+home!++

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Independence%Day%Celebration+ Week-long+festivities+at+Nomad+Station.+ Attended+by+many+ethnic+groups+and+government+officials.++ Involves+team+sports,+dramatic+spoofs+of+local+traditions,+d ramatizations+of+modern+inequities,+ costumed,+traditional+dances,+and+performances+of+initiation+rituals.+

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Aestheticizing%Culture+ Way+of+life+that+had+been+discouraged+and+partially+supplanted+by+Christianity+and+market+and+ educational+systems+recreated+for+entertainment,+but+also+remembrance+and+celebration.++

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The%Invention%of%Tradition+ Old+ways+of+life+come+to+be+seen+as+either+“backward”+and+“ignorant”+or+as+“folklore.”++ Stories+of+progress+and+becoming+“modern”+are+powerful+agents+of+cultural+change+and+ important+parts+of+nationalist+ideology.++

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New%Traditions%and%Nationalism+ “I+couldn’t+help+but+think+that+Independence+Day+was+expanding+indigenous+practices+at+the+ same+time+that+it+transformed+them.”++ Made+into+celebrations+of+the+nation+and+interethnic+national+community.+ Syncretism+ The+mixing+and+matching+of+modern+or+contemporary+practices+and+beliefs+with+long-standing+or+ indigenous+ones.++ o Combinations+of+different+dress+styles+at+feasts.+ o Combined+activities+of+traditional+dancing,+dramas,+and+modern+sports+and+games+ during+Independence+Day+festivities.+++ Key%Points,%1998%+ Traditions+alternatively+celebrated,+mocked,+and+treated+as+folklore.+ New+emphasis+on+markets,+monotheism,+and+nationalism.+ Ritual+feasting+remains+important.+ Blending+of+old+and+new+into+an+unfolding+and+syncretic+set+of+beliefs+and+practices.+

+ Fast%Forward:%2008% + % What%has%changed?%% • Closing+of+Nomad+airstrip,+decline+in+government+services+and+cash+economy.+ • Decline+of+Evangelical+churches.++ • Continued+importance+of+Catholic+church,+arrival+of+culturally-sensitive+priest.+

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Incorporation+of+traditional+practices+with+Catholic+events+and+special+occasions.+ New+long+house+and+initiation+rituals.+ String+bands+that+had+become+popular+in+1990s+persist.+ Renewed+interest+in+the+ethnographic+documentation+of+their+past.+ As+in+1998,+no+shamanism+or+sorcery+divinations.+ “Violence+is+not+innate+or+inevitable+but+is+strongly+shaped+by+social+and+cultural+influences+over+ time.”+

+ Fast%Forward:%2013% % % Nutrition%and%Health+ • Closing+of+Nomad+Station+and+decline+in+market+activity+have+led+Gebusi+to+reinvest+in+ subsistence+foraging+and+horticulture.++ • Return+to+sago+and+plantains,+peanuts,+pineapple,+pumpkins,+manioc+–+expanded+reliance+on+ sweet+potatoes,+more+nutritious+diet+than+at+any+other+time.++ • Years+of+peaceful+interactions+with+neighbors+making+living+by+the+water+and+travel+by+canoe+ seem+safe+and+sensible.++ • Fishing+and+gardening+along+rivers+yields+more+nutritious+food+supplies+with+less+work.++ • Lower+disease+rates,+longer+life+spans.++ + % Gender%and%Sexuality+ • Gender+taboos+weakened:+Men+and+women+living+in+homes+with+no+partitions.+Sexual+joking+has+ returned.++ + % Natural%Gas%and%the%Promise%of%Development+ • Gebusi+are+eager+to+see+a+natural+gas+pipeline+built+through+their+territory:++ o Potential+for+payments+from+ExxonMobil+for+rights+to+build+on+and+use+Gebusi+land.+ o Knauft+concerned+about+risks+and+uncertainty.+ + % Applied%v.%Engaged%Anthropology+ • Applied+Anthropology:+Outside+entities+pay+anthropologists+to+conduct+research+with+local+ people.+Work+ultimately+geared+to+satisfy+organization+that+funds+it.+ • Engaged+Anthropology:+Work+that+engages+and+actively+facilitates+plans+or+desires+of+local+ people+(economic+development,+health...