The Ainu Essay Example for Free

The Ainu Essay The Ainu are found in the northern Japan on the island of Hokkaido. Ainu people are distinct from the people of Japan .The Ainu are smaller in height then the people of Japan. Men wear large beards and their moustaches are a sign of beauty and their noses are straight and long. One of the strangest thing in their culture is the sacrifice of a bear they treat bears as their own children and when they are big enough they sacrifice the bear . Then Ainu people think that bear is a strong spirit so a women is made in charge to take care of the cub when its 2 -3 years old they Ainu sacrifice the bear the men drink the blood of the bear and take off its head . later during family ceremonies the skin of the bear finds a prominent place in the house drinks and food are served to the skin of the bear like a honoured desk .Bear is considered as a hero for the Ainu because it taught them to fish hunt weave and so on Ainu live I rectangular huts which are made up of bundles .Ainu live In a climate where snow can last for 6-7 months and is a really rainy area in summer to keep a house form people usually wear warm clothes made out of bear skin and dug a hole inside an house and do bornfire usually chimneys and small holes are made to let escape smoke form outside the room .Ainu usually sleep over platforms made up of wood covered with rush mats they slept dressed because the house only had 2 windows . Ainu religious views are animist all the objeacts such as volcanoes fire water were added as a spirit. They belive when a person dies the spirit is released it could be good or evil harming living beings or people . To avoid this ainus usually worked on wood representation with a human form called ianos . Ianos are usually simple sticks made by cuts of the knife In Ainus culture women are independent till marrying after getting married they are under mens will . Ainu women adorned their hands forehead mouth and mouth online with blue tattoos . Women in the ainu culture do work such as gathered wood , cooked food , look after their kids and make clothes etc. The Ainu women used to make mate, bags ,nets using elm bark . The bark is soaked and and left until large soft threads can be removed . The women wind them in balls later it is woven coarse looms. In the Ainu village the most important person is the shaman. He is the person who has contact with the spirits. Shaman can also cure diseases and is the leader of the village. When a person is sick and asks for help from the shaman the shaman waits till the sunset when he arrives to a sick person a bass drum is played to call the evil spirit who has caused that sickness and the shaman and then they start to dance in a uncontrolled way and in the end he falls down in trance at his return before the amazed eyes of the assistance he extracted out of the body of the patient a cause of the disease a stone a bark once this operation is done healing is immediately required some times a person dies because of the evil spirit is so strong . When a person dies in Ainu culture his family make a large bonfire in a hut and send messengers to inform his friends and relatives when they arrive burial is done a dead body is wrapped in clothes which are torn from a side and at its side his goods are placed and then sacrifices are offered to the spirits that they can welcome the new spirit to their family of dead the family celebrates a great feast after the burial and at the next day the body is wrapped and buried in a tomb if it was a man there is an arrow placed on the tomb and if it was a girl a strip is hanged. The Ainu people eat crabs, lobsters, scallops, mussels, oysters and even turtles. In winter fishing is done by making a hole on the flat layer of ice and in summer fishing is done by using nets, rods, hooks and bows on the stick of the bow poison is placed on the nib of it . The most good trick of fishing of Ainu was a dog they train the dog in special ways. The Ainu people are kind and friendly they welcome their visitors but they will have to follow their culture. When you are entering in an Ainu house you must clear your throat and if invited inside you must leave your shoes outside the house then he will go and sit near a fire and the owner of the house may offer him for example a pipe of tobacco . They also offer sticks which they use to correct their moustaches while drinking because they are so big that they can can enter dishes they are very good people and you can also visit them if you want.

Narrative †My Foolish Faith :: Personal Narrative Essays

Narrative – My Foolish Faith Life without hope in a dull, frustrating world congeals the stuff of human existence...almost. To some, born-lived-died is more than the plot of too many bad novels; it dooms them, chaining their lives to a Maslowian fate. Others drown the raw truth in unrelenting labor, raucous revelry, sunlit spring breezes, cigarettes at noontime, or the bottle. Yet some find hope in this droll, frustrating world, but they will not agree and cannot be sure of that hope. Or can they? Once I could not find hope. I still can't. That's why I leaped for joy when it found me instead. Somehow, by the Grace of God, I find myself with the only, single true hope, a nonsensical faith, a belief I cannot prove with mortal things, a book that turns a hopeless, droll, frustrating world into a beautiful, hopeful, droll, frustrating world where smallest intricacies and biggest setbacks bring joy alike. Did I say my faith makes no sense? I was right. No sane person in his wrong mind would agree to a divine Creator, Revealer, Saviour, Lord, and Friend. Unfortunately, human depravity ensures sane human wrong-mindedness. Once one obtains this hope, the difficulty of Christianity shifts from the foolishness of believing myths to the stupidity of doing what they say. This is my challenge, for God has revealed His will plainly and has promised to help His adopted children understand His Word, the Bible. Once a person agrees to accept the entire Bible as God presents it in the Bible, the test of faith (or mere hope) comes. A mere hoper won't bother (or dare) to keep exactly what God says; a person with true faith will not only try but succeed when he does. Because I have faith in Christ, have escaped the corruption that is in the world, am a partaker of the Divine Nature, and have received many great and precious promises from God Himself, my goal in life is to be diligent in my service of righteousness to God. The society we live in, like any that has seen the noonday sun since the day God spoke it into existence, is utterly depraved, and I am too. It is God himself in my life who works anything in my life that may seem to be faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. Yet there is a war in my life, a war I am very grateful for yet very weary of.

Charles Murray Essay

The New Right came from the work of the American Sociologist Charles Murray who viewed welfare payments has causing lone parenthood which in turn created an underclass. Charles Murray visited the UK in 1989 and said it has a developing underclass. Murray said: â€Å"the underclass are defined by their behaviour. Their homes are littered and unkempt. The men in the family are unable to hold down a job. Drunkenness is common. The children grew up ill-schooled and ill-behaved and contribute to a disproportionate share of juvenile delinquents† Murray saw underclass as behaviour a lifestyle choice, a disease which infects certain groups of people. ‘When I use the term ‘underclass’ I am indeed focusing on a certain type of poor person defined not by his condition, for example, long-term unemployment, but by his deplorable behaviour in response to that condition, for example, unwilling to take jobs that are available to him.’ This shows how members of the underclass define themselves as different by their own behaviour. Murray singles out three forms of behaviour that define underclass status: * Parenting behaviour * Criminal behaviour * Labour market behaviour Specifically, it is illegitimate births to young women, habitual crime and particularly violent crime, and the refusal of young working class men to enter employment that determines the existence of an underclass. ‘If illegitimate births are the leading indicator of an underclass and violent crime a proxy measure of its development, the definitive proof that an underclass has arrived is that large numbers of young, healthy, low-income males choose not to take jobs. (The young idle rich are a separate problem).’ (Murray, 1990) Since, in his analysis, it is the poor themselves that are to blame for their poverty, because they either choose to act in a certain way, or are conditioned to do so by over-generous government welfare, the policy solutions that flow from this analysis are, not surprisingly, aimed at changing the behaviour of the poor. The alternative, improving the effectiveness of the welfare programmes, is not considered. Indeed for New Right theorists, the welf are state is a major part of the problem. What such theorists would seek is the dismantling of the welfare state, and a situation set up that would make it dysfunctional for individuals to act in deviant ways. David Marsland Sociologist David Marsland has adopted the new right approach and does not believe that poverty is as bad as others are making out. He claims that groups such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation purposely confuse poverty with inequality and completely exaggerates the extent of poverty. He argues that there is only absolute poverty and that relative does not exist. Marsland is very critical about universal benefits and services such as health care, education and child benefits. He believes that people who are on low income are results of the state being too generous in their benefits and services rather than the individual’s inadequacy to work (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008). A quote from Marsland : â€Å"the expectation that society, the state, the government, â€Å"they†, will look after our problems tricks us into abdicating from self-reliance and social responsibly† (Marsland 1989). However, Marsland has been criticised by Bill Jordan who says that he is wrong to b lame the culture of dependency to universal welfare provision. He argues that selectively means testing benefits can trap people in a life of poverty. It often turns out that people are better off on benefits than they would be in work. It also can exclude the individual from the rest of society and make them feel ashamed and embarrassed that they receive benefits. Also, if education and health care are private then people with disability and unskilled workers may not be able to afford or find work. Jordan also claims that societies that rely upon means-tested benefits and private health care, tend to develop a large underclass, who have little chance of escaping from poverty; this is the case in countries such as America. Jordan states that poverty is a result of societies being too harsh. He argues that the only way to break the cycle of poverty is by universal benefits that are at a high enough standard so people can afford to work and get back up on their feet (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008). Despite this, the New Right approach has been influential across Western countries, and the Conservative party is in power in Britain today.

Civil War Reconstruction Dbq Essay - 940 Words

During the time period of 1860 and 1877 many major changes occurred. From the beginning of the civil war to the fall of the reconstruction, the United States changed dramatically. Nearly one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence which declared all men equal, many social and constitutional alterations were necessary to protect the rights of all people, no matter their race. These social and constitutional developments that were made during 1860 to 1877 were so drastic it could be called a revolution. The election of Abraham Lincoln and the secession of the South led to the outbreak of the civil war. The civil war was the first revolutionary change in America. States rights were a major issue during this time. Issues of†¦show more content†¦When blacks were given the right to vote, it was only somewhat successful. Many blacks did use their new political power to vote as it is shown in Harpers Weekly (Document G), but whites still tried to stop them. Literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and fear caused by the Ku Klux Klan were used to keep blacks from exercising their right to vote. Another issue of reconstruction was the banking and currency system. In an attempt to uniform the currency, Senator John Sherman gave a speech saying that with a currency and a medium of exchange, we shall have a broader and more generous nationality (Document B). At the time many states had their own currency and a change needed to be made to unite the states. A sense of nationality was neede d as the nation was in turmoil after the attempted secession of the South. Reconstruction came to an end in 1877 with the Compromise of 1877. Rutherford Hayes became president for agreeing to end federal support for Southern Republicans and building a transcontinental railroad. In this compromise he also withdrew troops from the South. This, along with the rejection of laws protecting blacks from discrimination, brought reconstruction to an end in 1877. Many social changes occurred during the time from 1860 to 1877. In the history of the United States, blacks had been viewed as less than equal to whites. This was clearly shown through the three-fifths compromise which counted slaves as less than an actualShow MoreRelatedAp Exam Essays1660 Words   |  7 PagesEngland colonies from 1630 through the 1660s? 2. Analyze the political, diplomatic, and military reasons for the United States victory in the Revolutionary War. Confine your answer to the period 1775–1783. 3. Analyze the ways in which controversy over the extension of slavery into western territories contributed to the coming of the Civil War. Confine your answer to the period 1845–1861. 4. Analyze the roles that women played in Progressive Era reforms from the 1880s through 1920. 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