This is commentary. And this is really good.
High-altitude peoples are probably descended from people that originally moved higher-up for only short periods at a time before eventually settling there.
Tibetan people have lungs that "synthesize larger amounts of... nitric oxide" and may also have larger blood vessels.
Andean people carry more oxygen in their blood cells, or have a higher hemoglobin concentration.
The Makonde live in southeast Tanzania, in northern Mozambique on the Mueda Plateau, and (slightly) in Kenya. They avoided falling under any foreign power-- by Arabs, Europeans, or other Africans-- until the 1920s.
"During the 1960s the revolution which drove the Portuguese out of Mozambique was launched from the Makonde homeland of the Mueda Plateau. At one period this revolutionary movement known as 'Frelimo' derived a part of its financial support from the sale of Makonde carvings."
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Band societies are the "simplest form of human society. A band consists of a small kin group, no larger than an extended family or clan... no more than 100 individuals."
"Their power structure is often egalitarian and has informal leadership; the older members of the band generally are looked to for guidance and advice, and decisions are often made on a consensus basis, but there are no written laws and none of the specialized coercive roles (e.g., police) typically seen in more complex societies. Bands' customs are almost always transmitted orally. Formal social institutions are few or non-existent."
"Tribes are generally larger, consisting of many families. Tribes have more social institutions, such as a chief, big man, or elders. Tribes are also more permanent than bands; a band can cease to exist if only a small group split off or die."
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The Kalash believe in fairies called Peri/Apsaras, "who help in hunting and killing enemies... [and] live in the high mountains... In late autumn they descend to the mountain meadows." Their male counterparts, the Varoti, are very violent.
There are also Jach, "a separate category of female spirits of the soil or of special places, fields and mountain pastures."
"Crows represent the ancestors, and are frequently fed with the left hand (also at tombs)... The dead are buried above ground in ornamented wooden coffins. Wooden effigies are erected at the graves of wealthy or honoured people."
"People attempting to enter the valleys have to pay a toll to the Pakistani government, which is used to preserve and care for the Kalash people and their culture."
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"Architectural mythology is the overall story of an architectural work, often revealed through art. Not all stories surrounding an architectural work incorporate a level of myth. These stories can also be well-hidden to the casual viewer and are often built into the conceptual design of the architectural statement."
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"The gaucho tendency to violence over petty matters is also recognized as a typical trait. Gauchos' use of the famous 'facon' (large knife generally tucked into the rear of the gaucho sash) is legendary, often associated with considerable bloodletting. Historically, the facon was typically the only eating instrument that a gaucho carried."
"The gaucho diet was composed almost entirely of beef while on the range, supplemented by yerba mate... an herbal infusian made from the leaves of the yerba tree, a typoe of holly rich in caffeine and nutrients."
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"The Akie people are one of the last actual hunter-gatherers left on the African savanna. Besides hunting they collect honey, which involves 'steaming' out the bees, making it possible for [them] to reach into the hive and grab the honey. They enjoy beer which they make from honey. Due to competition for land with the Maasai, they have recently been more reliant on maize, although this rarely produces enough food to last year around."
"The Akie used to cover the Maazai Steppe, but now agriculture, poaching and other hunters have diminished the natural resources forcing the Akie into a bitter rivalry with the Maasai over land and water."
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"The Yaghan were traditionally nomads, who were hunter-gatherers. They traveled by canoes between islands to collect food: the men hunted sea lions, while the women dove to collect shellfish."
"Despite the extremely cold climate in which they lived, early Yaghan wore little to no clothing until after their extended contact with Europeans. They were able to survive the harsh climate because:
- "They kept warm by huddling around small fires when they could, including in their boats to stay warm. The name of "Tierra del Fuego' (land of fire) was based on the many fires seen by passing European explorers.
- "They made use of rock formations to shelter from the elements.
- "They covered themselves in animal grease.
- "Over time, they had evolved significantly higher metabolisms than average humans, allowing them to generate more internal body heat.
- "Their natural resting position was a deep squatting position, which reduced their surface area and helped to conserve heat."
"The Yaghan may have been driven to this inhospitable area by enemies to the north. They were famed for their complete indifference to the bitter weather around Cape Horn... Women swam in its 48-degree-south waters hunting for shellfish. They often were observed to sleep in the open, completely unsheltered and unclothed, while Europeans shivered under blankets. A Chilean researcher claimed their average body temperature was warmer than a European's by at least one degree."
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Among the Korowai/Koroway of Indonesia's Papua, "members of the tribe skillfully climb ladders to their wooden homes often as high as 164ft (50m) from the forest floor where they usually live in a family of up to eight. Homes are built at different heights depending on how well they get on with their fellow tribe members."
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Microcultures are subgroups within subcultures. "Different field settings-- such as hospitals, airport[s], or cafeteries-- may have their own particular micro-climates, influencing people's actions and motivation in micro-specific ways, so that findings from any given setting should not be generalised without external checking."
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"Polycentrism is the principle of organization of a region around several political, social or financial centres."
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Shame cultures (AKA honour-shame cultures, shame societies) are cultures "in which the primary device for gaining control over children and maintaining social order is the inculcation of shame and the complementary threat of ostracism. A shame society is contrasted with a guilt society, in which control is maintained by creating and continually reinforcing the feeling of guilt (and the expectation of punishment now or in the afterlife) for certain condemned behaviors, and with a fear society, in which control is kept by the fear of retribution."
"Lead the people with administrative injunctions and put them in their place with penal law, and they will avoid punishments but will be without a sense of shame. Lead them with excellence and put them in their place through roles and ritual practices, and in addition to developing a sense of shame. Lead them with excellence and put them in their place through roles and ritual practices, and in addition to developing a sense of shame, they will order themselves harmoniously." Confucius, Analects
"Shame is a reaction to other people's criticism, an acute personal chagrin at our failure to live up to our obligations and the expectations others have of us. In true shame oriented cultures, every person has a place and a duty in the society. One maintains self-respect, not by choosing what is good rather than what is evil, but by choosing what is expected of one." Paul G. Hiebert.
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