Dead Birds Ethnographic Essay

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P. Named-Person Ethnographic Film Assignment (1 of 2) (625 words) Dead Birds Dead Birds is a 1964 documentary film whose subject matter is the Dani people of New Guinea. The film goes into great detail to document many facets of life, namely as it most closely follows a grown man called Weyak and a boy named Pua. The film explores many parts of the culture of these people, and gives an inside view to how these people both live and die, and most importantly the theme of how they interpret and celebrate life and death. Weyak is a well liked and trusted member of the community, and his major contributions to his people are with his skills as a weaver, a warrior, and as a guard. His position as a guard is crucial as his people are at a constant state of war with a neighboring people, and as such his people are constantly on alert. In order to survive, his people must venture out into plots outside their village to farm, which can expose them to enemy attack. (1) To ensure the safety of the women farmers, Weyak and other guards will scale constructed guard towers, and after thoroughly assessing the surroundings and determining they are safe from attack, he will build a small fire to provide a smoke signal to alert others of the safe conditions. Due to the warring nature of these people, preparation in their youth to become warriors in adulthood is also necessary. (2) To accomplish this, boys will often play in an abandoned farming plot, where they will “attack” each other with grass spears, safely emulating and practicing the real and dangerous attacks they will later undergo as grown men. While staying active and busy during the day, the Dani are not usually found away from home at night. A major component of their culture lies in their belief in ghosts of the dead, especially those that have died in battle. (3) They strongly believe the frontier in

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