Month: November 2017
An American Thanksgiving
For this fieldwork assignment, I chose to create a visual exhibit describing what an American Thanksgiving teaches about the relationship between American culture and kinship. Kinship – The system of meaning and power that cultures create to determine who is related to whom and to define their mutual expectations, right, and responsibilities. Among the guests were our close friends, Scott and Isabelle, and my decent family consisting of my father, grandmother, and grandfather. In my family, Thanksgiving is a time to come together and visit with friends and loved ones as the holiday season approaches. With deeper exploration into the systems of kinship classifications, such as rights and responsibilities, it can be useful to see how Thanksgiving is celebrated by others and with whom. My family’s Thanksgiving Day rituals teach me about the relationship between culture and kinship and that, if not for family and loved ones, there would be no true meaning for Thanksgiving.