���Re the article on the Inuit that Beth Benoit cited:
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2009/12/21/through_inuit_eyes/
I'm sure some of the mores of the Inuit are very strange to Americans
or Europeans, but with several of the examples in the article I find it
strange that the author should think them strange.
>And why the cumbersome etiquette around eating,
>the obsession with utensils like the "fork and dull knife
>known by Inuit as nuvuittuq (without point)."
I'm sure one could say something similar about the well-known Japanese
tea rituals.
>At the home where I was staying someone rang the
>doorbell one day and surprised my hostess by dropping
>off a dead baby seal. He’d bagged it on a hunting trip.
I'd be surprised if this wasn't quite a common occurrence in the past
in rural England, with a rabbit for a gift, and for all I know it might
well be the case now.
>Why, he wonders, do Qallunaat always plan some ritual or
>activity when they have visitors over, such as a bridge game?
At least in some parts of English society in the past, this would have
been a common occurrence, with card games or musical performances
arranged for the guests.
Allen Esterson
Former lecturer, Science Department
Southwark College, London
http://www.esterson.org
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[tips] multicultural thoughts
Beth Benoit
Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:12:52 -0800
And an article that might worthwhile sharing with our social psychology
students when we cover outgroup homogeneity bias:
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2009/12/21/through_inuit_eyes/
Beth Benoit
Granite State College
Plymouth State University
New Hampshire
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