Malonowski: Plus Alpha

Here are your first set of Plus Alpha projects --

Simone
For my alpha plus I decided to research what Argonauts means. I found that the word comes from Greek mythology where it refers to a group of heroes who went on a bunch of adventures but the most important one was when they sailed to retrieve the Golden Fleece (a mythological creature that looks like a ram with wings). Today Argonaut can also refer to an adventurer who is engaged in a quest (often by sea).

Gabriela
As for the "plus alpha" I researched Bronislaw Malinowski. I am pleased to know that he is from Poland, which is also my country of origin, and that he actually attended a university in Cracow where he received a Ph.D. (surprisingly in physical sciences). He is the founder of participant observation, an idea which he demonstrated throughout the reading by forming a close relationship with the people and their environment. He also cofunded the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, and established the London School of Economics as one of Britain's greatest centers of anthropology.

Meagan
I chose to look up "Professor Seligman" from page 14:
Seligman originally studied medicine, but was interested in  
anthropology and did field work in New Guinea, as well as Melanesia  
and what is now Sri Lanka.  This in-depth field work later influenced  
Malinowski.  He also worked with his wife, and used Freudian ideas.  
He was born in 1873, and died in 1940.

Brittany
I looked up "argonauts" because I have never heard the term before.  The name comes from Greek mythology. The argonauts are a band of heroes led by Jason in a quest to find the Golden Fleece, the coat of a golden winged ram.  Their name comes from the name of the ship they traveled on, Argo. It is interesting that Malinowski used this name to describe the people in Melanesian New Guinea.

Juliet
I don't know if this counts as a plus alpha, but I thought I would tell you what I looked up anyway.
On page 22 the author writes about a point being the real "Gordian Knot" in the study. I had never heard this saying before so I looked it up.

(My Summarized Version)
According to an ancient Greek legend, one day a poor peasant named Gordius arrived in the village of Phrygia with an Ox Cart. He fulfilled the prophecy that the future king would come into town riding on a wagon, and was thus made the king. Gordius, in gratitude, dedicated his ox cart to Zeus and tied it up with a very intricate knot. Another Oracle said that whoever was able to untie this knot would become ruler of all of Asia. No one was able to solve the mystery that was the knot and untie it, until, Alexander the Great, who cut the knot with his sword. The Gordian Knot is now used as a metaphor for an intractable problem, solved by a bold stroke, like "cutting the Gordian knot."

Websites used for info:
http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_9_01.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot

Hannah
when looking up the argonauts of the western pacific, i noticed that it was one of three in a series, and that one was based solely on the sexual practices of these people. which made me wonder what was so fascinating about their sexual practices, that a book was necessary. When doing a small bit of research i learned that malinowski looked at relationships, but also that the natives were known for their use of a wide array of sexual positions, and the birth of the term, missionary position.

Ali
Mwali value is determined based on size, color, and how well they are polished or finished. The shells become more valuable with age.
Also, it is a basic rule is that someone can't keep a valuable mwali indefinitely or take it out of the circulation unless someone personally owns the mwali.

Liz
In the paper, it said that tribes exchange different goods, one of which was sago (page 1).  Sago is a type of starch that is a major staple food for the people of New Guinea.  It is cooked and eaten in a variety of different forms (e.g. as a steamed pudding or as a pancake).  It is nearly a pure carbohydrate and has very little protein, vitamins or minerals but it is eaten because it is grown in areas that are unsuited for other forms of agriculture.

Danielle
The Motu are a group who live on the the Southern Coast of Papua New Guinea.  Their language is similar to the rest of the Austronesian languages of New Guinea.  They celebrate Christian holidays and their houses are in lines and are connected by walkways/  The Motu are monogamous but in precolonial times men could have several wives.  Marriages used to be arranged but today they are not. The traditional foods are fish, yams and bananas and their most popular sport is rugby.

Tom
Pg 7 Omarakana
Apparently I was not the only one stumped when I read this word. Even Google thought I typed in the wrong thing. Omarakana, better known as the Trobriand Islands, is located off the coast of Northern Australia. For my interest, it was discovered by the French in 1793 (of course it was already inhabited). In 1943 Troops landed on the island as part of Operation Cartwheel and in the 1970's the natives to the islands formed an anti-colonial association and political movement.

Mary
I was interested in finding out more information about the Trobriand people and their marriage customs. I wanted to look up their marriage customs to see if they related to the essentials of the Kula.  I found the Kula transactions done between partners to represent a bond similar to the commitment of a marriage.  I ended up finding out that the Trobriand people do not have a traditional marriage ceremony.  Once the couple is married they eat together for a year, and then go their separate ways. The initial meal together officially recognizes the couple as married. I was surprised by these findings because I thought the marriage between the Trobriand people would be more of a symbolic exchange, similar to the Kula.