Watch and Respond “The Dinka Fat Man Contest”/”The Hadza: The Last of the First”/”Unholy Paradise”

Purpose: To become familiar with a cultural practice, the “fat man contest”, that helps us to understand the role of cattle in the social organization of pastoralists, like the Dinka.
Assignment: Watch the video about the Dinka Fat Man contest and submit your response to the following questions.
The Dinka are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan. The Dinka mainly practice traditional agriculture and pastoralism, relying on cattle husbandry as a source of milk for people of all ages and as a form of currency traded in ritual and marriage. Only men may own cattle, while women tend and milk the cows. The Dinka practice polygyny (individual men marry multiple wives).  
Questions: 
1) What are the two things a man needs to win the fat man contest? 
2) Explain what cows represent to Dinka men? What does it mean to say cows are wealth?
3) What did the other men say about the winner of the Fat Man Contest and why did they admire him?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwS7JaWB0x8

Purpose: To see the Hadza people as they practice their foraging way of life and to apply anthropological concepts to what you see. 
Assignment: Watch the film, “The Hadza: Last of the First” and answer the questions posted below. LINK TO FILM:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwS7JaWB0x8

Film Questions:

What are the Hadza’s primary foods and what methods do they use to get their food?
How do Hadza beliefs relate to and explain their lifestyle? In other words, what does the myth of the Hadza origins tell us about how the Hadza themselves explain their foraging ways?
Describe one of the main challenges facing the Hadza today.

Purpose: to see and become familiar with the Trobriand Islanders as an example of a horticultural society dependent on yams.
Assignment: Watch this German documentary called, “Unholy Paradise” and answer the following questions. 

What is the social significance of yam gardens and the yam store hourses to the Trobriand Islanders?
What is the role of dancing and dressing up in the yam festival in creating kinship alliances?
What is the role of money in Trobriand life and how has it changed their daily lives and social values?
What are some of the social, economic, and religious changes Trobrianders have undergone as they encounter westerners? (Describe at least two examples). 
How does the Kula exchange of the beautiful shell necklaces link men on different islands?