Any consideration of cultural diversity in the world, past and present, cannot ignore the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan. The modern political units in this part of East Asia changed significantly during the 20th century. In 1949 Mao Zedong (Mao Tsetung) established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the Chinese mainland after defeating
Currently, the United States has 562 federally recognized Native American communities and more than 270 reservations. Reservations range in size from the largest, inhabited by the Navajos in New Mexico and containing approximately 16 million acres, to fewer than 10 acres, as is the case for various Native communities in states across the United States.
Native Americans of the Great Plains are an important part of popular culture. They have been represented in anthropological studies, literary works, and the cinema. Many of these representations focus on nomadic communities engaged in hunting bison, military activities, and religious practices alien to many citizens of the United States. Although the vast majority of
The study of native peoples of Central and South America addresses many scientific and humanistic debates. It is a subject of considerable intrigue for archaeologists, linguists, and cultural anthropologists. Who are these people? Are they exotic others who engage in hallucinogenic drug use and shamanistic healing? Are they remnants of lost empires, victims of Western
Throughout most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, scholars and policymakers predicted the disappearance of Native Americans and indigenous peoples in general (see Dippie 1982 for many examples). Global patterns of urbanization, industrialization, and resource extraction indeed have led to a reduction in the number of indigenous people living traditional lifestyles on ancestral lands. However