Mountain People: The Ik

1466 Words3 Pages

I went to the store. On a brisk Sunday afternoon, I went to the store out of desperation because we did not have any more chili powder for the tacos that I was already in the process of making. Those two sentences say that same thing except the latter paints a completely better picture. Whenever you read something, details are everything. The Mountain People, is an ethnography written by an anthropologist named Colin Turnbull. His book took place in the 1960’s and was published in 1972. His research is over the Ik people who live in the Uganda, Sudan, and Kenya area. His details of his accounts are what makes his research appealing to the everyday person. He does a great job of painting a word picture for his audience. The Ik people were going through a difficult time because of war and other government issues in their country. Traditionally hunters, the Ik are forced to farm and reside in areas that they are not used to and this causes their lifestyles to be completely changed. Turnbull shows us that the Ik people are now a me first society while they rarely ever look after each other.
One of the most important qualities that a good anthropologist should possess is the ability to stay objective during his/her research. Turnbull told his readers that the Ik were not his first choice and in reality they were not even his second. His first two research trips did not pan out and so he “settled” for the Ik. He admits to us that while he was not “enthusiastic” about his trip like he was the other two, he does say that this might have helped to be more objective overall. Another thing that helps anthropologist stay objective is experience in the field. Turnbull already wrote one book, The Forest People. With Turnbull already having on...

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... of its history aspect. Historians define history as written records and so to me this ethnography is history. This book offers an insight into a world that a normal school history textbook is not going to offer. It gives a firsthand account of a people group that I had never heard of before. Turnbull mentions the Second World War as one of the reasons for the Ik becoming the ruthless society that they were or are. This interested me because it shows aftermath of that war that I normally would not have thought of. I now have a deeper understanding of the Ik people and everything that they entail. This book is going to be beneficial to me and my future students that I teach. I got to see firsthand how ruthless a society can be whenever basic needs cannot be met. I enjoyed this ethnography to the fullest because I got to look at another society up close and personal.

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