Final Exam
Question #3
07/06/13
Globalization
Everywhere one looks there are signs of cultural change: not just in the schools and the churches and the retail stores, but also in the political institutions, and in the household economy, and in the very heart of the family. These changes, which go well beyond the more obvious material changes, have touched the heads and hearts of most island people, even affecting some of their core beliefs and values. The quandary facing many young people today is how can you preserve your traditional culture while finding a place for yourself in a changing world. To stay completely traditional may not work but if you integrate completely into the modern world you may lose your sense of cultural …show more content…
Even though religious beliefs have changed (70% have converted to Christianity) elaborate funeral practices continue. These traditional funeral practices still serve important functions of binding families together and by offering a way for individuals and families to assert their status in social hierarchy. However today funerals have become a tourist attraction which makes the lose some of there sacredness. The nature of the funeral must be different knowing that people are watching and filming, this has to do with the Hawthorne Effect.
In the O’odham community the epitome of change is present in the recent construction of a hotel/casino complex on the Gila River Indian Community. O’odham today are fully integrated in a market economy. Today there are mixed goals among the O’odham community, they are trying to make a place for themselves in the broader world through education, politics, and business as well as working to preserve their cultural identity of being O’odham. Their traditional oral literature (poetry, stories, songs and dances) is used today as a form of entertainment for outsiders, heritage as …show more content…
Due to this progress the cultural changes for New Guineans has not gone to well. Changes in diet and health--people have moved away from traditional horticulture economies began to work for wage labor. New disease problems developed such as diabetes, heart disease, and AIDS. Outsiders who have come to exploit their natural resources have had significant negative impacts to physical environment. Another change is the movement of people; people are leaving the countryside and moving to the city of Port Moresby. With movement of people it becomes impossible to sustain the traditional way of life. For young people the balance of old and new becomes the composite of what it will mean to be a Papua New Guinean student in the