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Study Guide: Chapter 6
What is the ethnographic approach?
- A research approach that uses intensive, extensive fieldwork among the people
being studied. Analysis of the findings produces a richly descriptive account of
the culture as a whole and the interrelationship of its different parts and aspects.
What are trouble cases, who studied them, and why are they considered
important?
- Trouble cases arise when some traditional rule within the tribe has been
infringed and the tribe s leaders come together to deliberate and resolve the ’
dispute. Llewellyn and Hoebel studied these cases to identify the law of the
Cheyenne, and Llewellyn and Hoebel believe the law is not defined in terms
of rules or institutions but is rather identified with the process of social control.
They are important because these pioneering studies of dispute resolution
fostered future Anthropologist studies of a variety of different cultures around
the globe.
What is/was the Eskimo Drum Song Court? What did it do and what
does it illustrate? What are the dozens and how is that ritual similar?
- The Eskimo Drum Song Court is a procedure for settling disputes. When a
dispute among Eskimos developed, a drumming contest would be arranged and
the winner would be decided by which contestant had better off, or shaming, the
other contestant. In contemporary society, the inner-city ritual called the
dozens, in which disputants hurl insults at each other while being egged on by
onlookers bears a close relationship to this singular process for resolving
disputes.
What is legal pluralism and why is it significant to anthropologists?
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- The term legal pluralism was formulated by cultural anthropologists in
recognition of the fact that formal systems of law typically co-exist with one or
more other systems of social control or dispute settlement.
What are the three practices listed in text box 6.1 and why are they
significant to anthropologists?
- Level of Law; Character of Law; Setting. These practices help Anthropologists
grasp a better understanding of how and why these forms of law or practices
were/are used.
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What is the “right of discovery” and how is it important to
understanding the history of land takings from aboriginal peoples on
the North American continent?
- Western explorers and colonizers justified what they did in terms of a right of
discovery, the need to save the souls of irrational heathens, and the divine right
of entitlement to develop and control the underutilized land occupied by
indigenous peoples. It is important to understand the history of land takings
because they have left a lasting impact on the American Indian community.
American Indians today, have had high rates of unemployment and pathogens
such as alcoholism, child abuse, and suicide, linked with the conditions
imposed on them. It’s important because it can explain the continued
oppression of Indians
What are treaties? Why are they important to understanding the history
of land takings from aboriginal peoples on the North American
continent?
- Treaty: a formally concluded and ratified agreement between countries. The
big issue involving the treaties between the Whites and American Indians is
that the Indians didn’t fully understand property law, and for example, by
signing this treaty they were giving up their right to hunt, fish, and settle on
Manhattan Island. Also, this treaty was a violation of the U.S. Constitution:
Article VI; because reservation land promised to Indians was now being taken
away from them…later this whole debacle lead to a $3.4 billion settlement.
What are allotment and tribal sovereignty?
- The dominant policy, the allotment, broke up many of the Indian reservations
into private holdings, with the principal objective being the integration of
Indians into the larger society and assurance that non-Indians would not be
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subjected to control by Indians.
- Tribal sovereignty, more direct control by Indians over their affairs. One
interpretation, tribal sovereignty is pre-constitutional, this means that the
sovereignty of Indian tribes existed before the adoption of the American
Constitution, and under principles of international law, the U.S. was never
entitled to preempt the original sovereignty of the indigenous peoples.
What are ethnocentric tendencies?
-
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What are the four major “families” of law?
- Civil Law: legal system in which legislative codes are central; statutes rather
than judicial opinions are dominant; of continental European origin.
- Common Law: legal system in which judicial finding of law is central; legal
precedents
rather than legislative statutes; of English origin.
- Socialist Law: legal system in which socialist practices and objectives provide
fundamental
guidance; popular justice; Communist countries.
- Sacred Law: legal system in which religious texts-e.g. the Koran- provides
fundamental guidance; religious laws enforced; countries where religious
fundamentalism is dominant.
What is codification and why is it important to understanding
the civil law tradition?
- Codification is the absolute primacy of written codes of law. (Codes, however,
are not unique to civil law legal systems, nor are they central to all legal systems
so classified.) The code, Twelve “The Tables” is the true starting point of civil
law.
What are the 3 names listed in our text for the “oldest, largest, and most
enduring legal family”?
-
What is the common law and what three different “quite meanings” does
it have? What did the socialist law tradition emerge from?
What are the idealistic, traditional, and pragmatic views of law?
