Population A: Zulu
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Zulu Students
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Location: Kwazulu-Natal Province in South
Africa
Population: 9.2 million
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| Zulu Village |
Environment
The Zulu tribe is more of a rural area in South Africa and does not have basic services such as electricity, clean water, formal housing, transport, hospitals, or clinics. The dry season's (May-September) can drop to as low as 57F in the mornings and 79F in the afternoon. This means that little rainfall occurs during the winter. During the wet seasons (October-April) the rainfall increases due to it's intense humidity and heat. It is common to rain in the afternoon during October and November, but in December, January, and February there are thunderstorms and it becomes humid and hot.
Physical Adaptation
The Zulu tribe is located just south of the equator which results in lots of sunlight reaching that part of the earth. The people in this tribe acquire new physical traits and it involves actual genetic change in the entire population. The trait that they acquire is the production of eumelanin. melanin produces dark brown to black colored skin. The darker colored skin allows ultraviolent radiation blockage.
Cultural Adaptation
The Zulu have adapted by using clothes that show a lot of skin which helps by keeping them as cool as possible. The clothes that they wear are built from resources in their natural environment. The use of minimal clothing in warmer temperatures allows them to remain at normal body temperature. If the Zulu people were to use heavier and larger clothing like other cultures they would overheat and become at risk to death and bodily harm.
I feel like the Bantu race is similar to the Zulu people because they are also located in South Africa and not only do they dress a lot like each other, they share a lot of the same languages.
Population B: Andean Indians
Environment
The Andean Indians are from Central America (south from Guatemala) and northern coast from south America. They live in high altitudes which means scarce oxygen, cold temperatures, and intense ultra violent radiation. These weather conditions make it a hard place for the Andean Indians to live. During the winter the temperatures average less than 52F and in the summer it usually averages to about 68F.
Physical Adaptation
The Andeans adapted to the thin air by developing the ability to carry more oxygen in each red blood cell. This allows them to breathe at the same rate as people who live at sea level but they have the ability to deliver oxygen throughout their bodies more effectively than people at sea level do.
Cultural Adaptations
A cultural adaptation the Andean Indians had were farming adaptations. Living in the Andes mountains made it difficult for farming because there isn't much flat land so farmers used a strategy called terracing. This method would give farmers the land they needed by making it in a stair step way to plant their crops.
A race that I think the Andean Indians can relate to would be the mongoloid race. This race can relate to the Andean Indians because a lot of physical features can appear to be the same such as hair color and facial features like dark eyes
Summary
Overall I would say a more useful approach for an anthropologist on adaptation vs. race would be cultural and physical adaptations. Both of these would help describe a tribe in a better and more knowledgeable way rather than race because when describing by race it's more physical appearance and features.
Sources:
- https://www.safaribookings.com/zulu-nyala/climate#:~:text=Zulu%20Nyala%20Game%20Reserve%20has,humid%20Wet%20season%20during%20summer.
- https://www.everyculture.com/wc/Rwanda-to-Syria/Zulu.html#:~:text=The%20subtropical%20climate%20brings%20lots,and%20rural%20residents%20remain%20strong.
- https://www.smore.com/6upsw-adaptations-to-life-in-the-andes
- https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Zulu/606945
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Andean-peoples
- Google Images
Zulu: Let's talk about this comment here:
ReplyDelete"does not have basic services such as electricity, clean water, formal housing, transport, hospitals, or clinics"
They don't need electricity. They have water. They have native homes that are well adapted to their environment. They walk where they want to go. They have their own indigenous medical care. Moreover, these populations do have access to more modern "services" if they need them.
But beyond this, the first section here asked you to discuss the environment of this population. Was it necessary to include this (rather biased) information here for this purpose?
You go onto offer a rather good description of the environment, but what are the key environmental stresses experienced by the Zulu? How about heat stress? Solar radiation stress?
Physical: Yes, solar radiation is a significant stress, but this should have been included in your first paragraph. Good discussion of the trait of high melanin content as a physical adaptation to solar radiation stress.
Cultural: Good discussion here. Just note that this adaptation wouldn't work if they didn't also have darker skin to protect against solar radiation stress, correct?
Race: "Bantu" is an ethnic group, not a race. Race is determined primarily by external phenotypic traits, like skin color. The most logical race for the Zulu is "black".
Andean:
Environment: Excellent! You've identified the three key environmental stressors: high altitude, cold and solar radiation.
Physical: Good, but I would have liked you to explain a bit more HOW this adaptation works. How can Andeans carry more oxygen in their blood? Two ways... more red blood cells and more hemoglobin. They also have larger lung capacity.
Cultural: Yes, terracing is an excellent example of a cultural adaptation to high altitude stress.
Race: Okay, I can see how "mongloid" might apply here. A more common option would just be "indigenous Indian".
Summary: Overall, on the right track here. Yes, race is effectively just describing, not explaining, but why can't race explain? That's the key here.
Race is not based in biology but is a social construct, based in beliefs and preconceptions, and used only to categorize humans into groups based upon external physical features, much like organizing a box of crayons by color. Race does not *cause* adaptations like environmental stress do, and without that causal relationship, you can't use race to explain adaptations. Race has no explanatory value over human variation.