John Omohundro, lecture on Environmental Anthropology
John Omohundro, SUNY Potsdam, Environmental Anthropology, Fillmore 355, 5-6 pm, Monday 13 April 2009
Environmental Anthropology through the ages (or his ages, 4 decades)
Some things that have inspired him in his life
picture - Burntbridge leanto, Adirondacks 2009
Picture - betatakin, Kayenta, new mexico, 1966
Picture - Pueblo bonito, chaco canyon
In his undergrad, he explored why ancient sites were abandoned - drought? People degraded environment and had to move?
Picture - Hohokam irrigation canal, Mesa Arizona
Picture - ifugao rice terraces, PI
Asian environments?
Robert carnero (sp?) - wrote in defense of swidden
Julian steward - inspiration to speaker while speaker was in undergrad
Picture - Duck Ponds, NT, Hong Kong, 1967. speaker traveled here in undergrad. Duck / fish pond. Impressed w/ how crowded Hong Kong could feed its people
Got interested in food systems
Doctoral research - about cultural change of ethnic groups, esp Chinese in SE asia. Eg, what happens if Chinese immigrants came from just 2 provinces, then went other places? “Adaptive radiation, 1970.” Same origin, different destinations. Speaker worked in central phillipines, compared them to Chinese immigrants in other areas.
Speaker in grad school:
Univ of Michigan - cultural materialism, 1970s. rappaport, marvis harris, etc. so speaker
The Ecosystem approach in anthropology, from concept to practice, by Emilio F Moran, editor
Omar kayan moore’s work - divination among people of laborador, cracking caribou scapulae in fire is a method of randomized hunting.
Early 1970s, earth day invented
Starting to move out of the village and take the ‘world view’
“the limits to growth” book, eg, at about 2060, lack of food and life expectancy
Northern plainsmen, book by John Bennett (et al), in southern Saskatchewan. He worked w/ 4 groups: (a) first nations, (b) hutterites, (c) ranchers, (d) farmers
Mid-1970s, started career at SUNY potsdam
1976, NEPCO oil spill in st lawrence river, Alexandria bay area
speaker got into it
speaker got interested in: social impacts, impacts on social structure, routines of life, politics; how people think about disasters. He’s the granddaddy of oil spill research
the impacts of a spill include:
disruption of ordinary economic life
death and alteration in the ecosystem
contamination of personal property
increased …………… couldn’t write fast enough
Then he got into public education about environmental hazards
Theater people impacted by oil spill. Made a musical comedy: “the slick of ‘76”.
Inspired him - musical theater is a new way to teach. He helped with it - his technical report ended up in the song lyrics
Speaker got into studying the impact of the musical “the slick of ‘76”.
1980s - stuff he learned in grad school was getting trashed
every generation of grad students must trash the previous generation
revision in environmental anthropology, eg:
Darrell Posey, 1970s: Amazonian native societies maintained the primeval forest
Anna Roosevelt, 1980s: Amazonian native societies created some of that forest, and maybe farmed it too
Wilderness, history and culture - course he taught
Changes in the land - Indians, colonists and the ecology of new England = book
Roderick nash, wilderness and the American mind = book
1980s - human ecology was starting to come together, get its own journals. Of course, choosing a name was always a problem
shift from systems to actors in theory
eg, peggy Bartlett, farmers develop risk strategies for uncertain environment
eg, Christina Gladwin, decision-trees for strategic actors
Herbert Simon and Amos Tversky (economis of rationality and psychologist): decision-makers are satisficers (making the best of a bad deal) and their strategies may be flawed. Speaker’s work w/ oil spills made this seem good
Northern Newfoundland, how people make their food. What’s the adaptive strategy for growing food in Newfoundland? Channeled roy rappaport - standing in the field, counting potatoes. Did this for ~12 years. Lives - both loggers and fishers. Social structure - extended families, small communities
Looked at “Traditional ecological knowledge.” Harold Conklin all over again.
Picture - gardening in Newfoundland
Eg, they plant things in gravel pits - less acid, less moose walk in it, etc
Speaker published a book = rough food, the seasons of subsistence in northern Newfoundland, 1994
Political ecology
Anthro seeing that villages aren’t isolated. Can’t understand the village w/out looking at the large nation that it’s part of
Susan stonich, we are destroying our forest!
Eric Wolf and John cole: peasant villages in the tyrol - Austria, italy.
Speaker took the regional view in Newfoundland. Reconstructed Viking village in Newfoundland. Very mobile population, the Vikings. Good map. Swing boat up north along greenland’s coast, Greenland gets close to northern Canadian islands. Looking at large geographic area, not just village
Thomas McGovern: settlement and collapse of the Greenland norse, 900-1400
-maintaining elite privilege
-locked into a trade scheme for luxuries
-refused to adopt successful native/thule strategies
-deteriorating climate
-interdisciplinary (archaeo, sagas)
speaker looked at northern peninsula of Newfoundland. The regional view. Look at the forest as a resource. Eg, Newfoundland outlawed cod fishing, b/c that was depleted, so Newfoundlanders turned to logging - would they deplete the forest resource? Resource depletion
worked with Michael roy (professional forester), to find out if the forest is in trouble, and if so, why
collaborative work, very applied, the audience isn’t other anthropologists. Audience - lay people and logging corporations
published something on it - in something edited by kay Milton, environmentalism
contrast - working w/ locals in Newfoundland, working against locals in st Lawrence river.
St Lawrence - coast guard gave him a contract, explain locals’ ideas to coast guard
Newfoundland - chose to be on the side of his friends
environmental justice - who suffers when something happens?
Cultures and protected areas
Hard to be anthro (people) and environmentalist (not humans)
Patricia k townsend - environmental anthropology, from pigs to policies
Themes from townsend’s book:
-environmental advocacy
-intellectual property rights
-globalized, broad perspective
-biodiversity conservation
Conrad kottak’s ‘linkages methodology’, multi- level
Speaker is now director of environmental studies program at SUNY Potsdam; not really an anthropologist anymore
Picture - dix range, Adirondacks, 2009
Environmental Anthropology through the ages (or his ages, 4 decades)
Some things that have inspired him in his life
picture - Burntbridge leanto, Adirondacks 2009
Picture - betatakin, Kayenta, new mexico, 1966
Picture - Pueblo bonito, chaco canyon
In his undergrad, he explored why ancient sites were abandoned - drought? People degraded environment and had to move?
Picture - Hohokam irrigation canal, Mesa Arizona
Picture - ifugao rice terraces, PI
Asian environments?
Robert carnero (sp?) - wrote in defense of swidden
Julian steward - inspiration to speaker while speaker was in undergrad
Picture - Duck Ponds, NT, Hong Kong, 1967. speaker traveled here in undergrad. Duck / fish pond. Impressed w/ how crowded Hong Kong could feed its people
Got interested in food systems
Doctoral research - about cultural change of ethnic groups, esp Chinese in SE asia. Eg, what happens if Chinese immigrants came from just 2 provinces, then went other places? “Adaptive radiation, 1970.” Same origin, different destinations. Speaker worked in central phillipines, compared them to Chinese immigrants in other areas.
Speaker in grad school:
Univ of Michigan - cultural materialism, 1970s. rappaport, marvis harris, etc. so speaker
The Ecosystem approach in anthropology, from concept to practice, by Emilio F Moran, editor
Omar kayan moore’s work - divination among people of laborador, cracking caribou scapulae in fire is a method of randomized hunting.
Early 1970s, earth day invented
Starting to move out of the village and take the ‘world view’
“the limits to growth” book, eg, at about 2060, lack of food and life expectancy
Northern plainsmen, book by John Bennett (et al), in southern Saskatchewan. He worked w/ 4 groups: (a) first nations, (b) hutterites, (c) ranchers, (d) farmers
Mid-1970s, started career at SUNY potsdam
1976, NEPCO oil spill in st lawrence river, Alexandria bay area
speaker got into it
speaker got interested in: social impacts, impacts on social structure, routines of life, politics; how people think about disasters. He’s the granddaddy of oil spill research
the impacts of a spill include:
disruption of ordinary economic life
death and alteration in the ecosystem
contamination of personal property
increased …………… couldn’t write fast enough
Then he got into public education about environmental hazards
Theater people impacted by oil spill. Made a musical comedy: “the slick of ‘76”.
Inspired him - musical theater is a new way to teach. He helped with it - his technical report ended up in the song lyrics
Speaker got into studying the impact of the musical “the slick of ‘76”.
1980s - stuff he learned in grad school was getting trashed
every generation of grad students must trash the previous generation
revision in environmental anthropology, eg:
Darrell Posey, 1970s: Amazonian native societies maintained the primeval forest
Anna Roosevelt, 1980s: Amazonian native societies created some of that forest, and maybe farmed it too
Wilderness, history and culture - course he taught
Changes in the land - Indians, colonists and the ecology of new England = book
Roderick nash, wilderness and the American mind = book
1980s - human ecology was starting to come together, get its own journals. Of course, choosing a name was always a problem
shift from systems to actors in theory
eg, peggy Bartlett, farmers develop risk strategies for uncertain environment
eg, Christina Gladwin, decision-trees for strategic actors
Herbert Simon and Amos Tversky (economis of rationality and psychologist): decision-makers are satisficers (making the best of a bad deal) and their strategies may be flawed. Speaker’s work w/ oil spills made this seem good
Northern Newfoundland, how people make their food. What’s the adaptive strategy for growing food in Newfoundland? Channeled roy rappaport - standing in the field, counting potatoes. Did this for ~12 years. Lives - both loggers and fishers. Social structure - extended families, small communities
Looked at “Traditional ecological knowledge.” Harold Conklin all over again.
Picture - gardening in Newfoundland
Eg, they plant things in gravel pits - less acid, less moose walk in it, etc
Speaker published a book = rough food, the seasons of subsistence in northern Newfoundland, 1994
Political ecology
Anthro seeing that villages aren’t isolated. Can’t understand the village w/out looking at the large nation that it’s part of
Susan stonich, we are destroying our forest!
Eric Wolf and John cole: peasant villages in the tyrol - Austria, italy.
Speaker took the regional view in Newfoundland. Reconstructed Viking village in Newfoundland. Very mobile population, the Vikings. Good map. Swing boat up north along greenland’s coast, Greenland gets close to northern Canadian islands. Looking at large geographic area, not just village
Thomas McGovern: settlement and collapse of the Greenland norse, 900-1400
-maintaining elite privilege
-locked into a trade scheme for luxuries
-refused to adopt successful native/thule strategies
-deteriorating climate
-interdisciplinary (archaeo, sagas)
speaker looked at northern peninsula of Newfoundland. The regional view. Look at the forest as a resource. Eg, Newfoundland outlawed cod fishing, b/c that was depleted, so Newfoundlanders turned to logging - would they deplete the forest resource? Resource depletion
worked with Michael roy (professional forester), to find out if the forest is in trouble, and if so, why
collaborative work, very applied, the audience isn’t other anthropologists. Audience - lay people and logging corporations
published something on it - in something edited by kay Milton, environmentalism
contrast - working w/ locals in Newfoundland, working against locals in st Lawrence river.
St Lawrence - coast guard gave him a contract, explain locals’ ideas to coast guard
Newfoundland - chose to be on the side of his friends
environmental justice - who suffers when something happens?
Cultures and protected areas
Hard to be anthro (people) and environmentalist (not humans)
Patricia k townsend - environmental anthropology, from pigs to policies
Themes from townsend’s book:
-environmental advocacy
-intellectual property rights
-globalized, broad perspective
-biodiversity conservation
Conrad kottak’s ‘linkages methodology’, multi- level
Speaker is now director of environmental studies program at SUNY Potsdam; not really an anthropologist anymore
Picture - dix range, Adirondacks, 2009