Supplemental Notes - Anthropology of Childhood

Supplemental Notes The Anthropology of Childhood was published in November, 2008, however, I
delivered the current manuscript to the publisher over a year earlier. My
search for cases relevant to this effort did not cease, hence the need for
this supplement. It offers a foretaste of additions and revisions in the
next edition. The Supplement begins with an Errata section-mercifully
short. Then I provide Notes, in largely undigested form, mapped into their
appropriate chapter/section from the book. Certain topics have been blessed
with lots of new material, in particular, on fertility and reproduction,
child labor and fosterage, apprenticeship, and child soldiers, street kids
and children's agency. Additionally, the reader will find color versions of
the plates from the book. I hope the user finds these notes helpful and
will add to this archive by calling my attention to omissions.
Errata Ch 1
p. 1 demonstrated profound and unpredicted influences of culture and formal
schooling (Lancy and Strathern 1981; Lancy 1983; Ochs and Schieffelin
1984).
p. 6 Note 7 It is interesting that childhood was shorter for Neanderthals,
but then their tool technology was also simpler than that of humans and,
presumably, took less time to master (Hawcroft and Dennell 2000).
p. 18 calorific=caloric Ch 2
p. 73 Note 93 Neonatal medicine, while evolving into a multi-billion dollar
industry, has also fashioned an entire culture of terms and practices to
humanize or "normalize" a biologically defective organism (Isaacson 2002). Ch 3
p. 81, high-altitude living imposes Ch 4 Ch 5
p. 183 In Tamang (Nepal) custom, the first rite of passage - for boys only
- is the chewar, a ceremony marking the first haircut. It is performed by
the mother's brother (Fricke 1994: 133). Ch 6 Ch 7
p. 198 ". . . youngsters seem to deliberately exploit R&T. . . as a way in
which to publicly exhibit their dominance over a peer. (Pellegrini 2002:
446)
p. 248 "Zapotec (Mexico) children¹s excellent command of ethnobotany is
described
as 'everyday knowledge acquired without apparent effort at an early age by
virtually everyone in town'" (Hunn 2002: 610). page 239
"He could also use the cattle terminology to be precise in telling an owner
about a beast which has strayed or one that had a sore hoof, or one that
was giving an exceptionally good or poor flow of milk. (Messing 1985:133)
(Reed 1960: 133) Ch 8
p. 272 Among the traditionally hunting and fishing North American Copper
Inuit
p. 279 we frequently see the creation of distinct warrior sub-cultures
into which young men are inducted (Gilmore 2001: 209).
p. 280 The Creek of North America inflicted bloody wounds
p. 301 During this profound and protracted transition, a girl's chances of
continuing her education or economic advancement may depend on her access
to contraception to avoid the pregnancy that-custom demands-should end her
single status Ch 9 Ch 10
p. 357 . . . we need to balance out concerns for the rights of children
with a recognition that "universal" rights are often based on ethnocentric
definitions of childhood. (Holloway and Valentine 2000: 10) Page 203 response from Marjorie Goodwin to my discussion of her work:
With respect to your footnote about my 1998 article on p. 203... I took out
the example from the white Southern, middle class, (more adjectives could
apply such as Unitarian, children in a school where the principal read
Deborah Tannen, etc.) in my book The Hidden Life of Girls when discussing
hop scotch, because I found that white middle class girls in California are
also able to be quite confrontational. In fact the book deals a lot with
the ways in which girls practice exclusion, play status games, and how
their ways of negotiating in games are similar across ethnic groups. I
compare about six different groups in the book, as compared with the 1998
article which I admit portrayed middle class in a skewed way. When I found
out that Deborah Tannen was using the 1998 article in her classes I got
really concerned about what implications that article had and eliminated
the example of "Southern white girls." Email received 1/5/09. p. 205, line 18: Garry Chick Notes
Preface
Cecylia Maslowska assisted with translations of Gerd Spittler's
Hirtenarbeit and the late Renate Posthofen with Barbara Polak's work in
German. Sarah Gordon assisted with material in French. Chapter One: Where Do Children Come From? Is There Such a Thing as Childhood? Wicks, Ann Barrott and Avril, Ellen B. (2002) Introduction: Children in
Chinese Art. Ann Barrott Wicks (Ed.), Children in Chinese Art. (pp. 1-30).
Honolulu: HI: University of Hawaii. "Possibly the earliest identifiable representation of a children in
Chinese art is a small jade plaque dating from the fourth century B.C.,
excavated from the royal Zhongshan tombs of Hebei province. Found along
with similar jade plaques of three female adults, the child is depicted
frontally, wearing a skirt with an unusual checkered pattern that matches
the clothing of the adults. The child's facial features are not
distinguished from those of the adults; the short stature and hairstyle are
the only indications that the figure is indeed a child. The head appears to
be shaved except for a small tuft of hair, or topknot, in a style that was
common for young boys throughout most of China's long history; thus the
child is presumably male." (Wicks 2002: 29) "The negligibility of childhood demonstrated by the infrequent portrayals
of children is consistent with the attitude toward children that is
reflected in Han burial practices. Prescriptive texts suggest that mortuary
rites were not performed until a child was at least eight sui (Chinese
years), and even then in an abbreviated version." (Wicks 2002: 30) Shon, Mee-Ryong (2002) Korean early childhood education: Colonization and
resistance. In Gaile S. Cannella and Joe L. Kincheloe (Eds.), Kidworld:
Childhood Studies, Global Perspectives, and Education. Pp. 137-160. New
York: Peter Lang. "Generally, the concept of "childhood" as a separate group from adults did
not historically exist in Korean. By the time children (infant and toddler
years according to the western concept) were trained in physical self-
control, children leaped into the adult world by staying with elders, by
practicing anticipated roles as males and females, and by engaging in early
marriage." (Shon 2002: 141) Crawford, Sally (1999) Childhood in Anglo-Saxon England. Gloucestershire,
UK: Sutton. "'In the Middle Ages, children were generally ignored until they were no
longer children.'" (Crawford 1999: 168) Heywood, Colin (2001) A History of Childhood: Children and Childhood in the
West from Medieval to Modern Times. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. "Childhood is thus to a considerable degree a function of adult
expectations." (Heywood 2001: 9) But Why Bother with Childhood? Challenges in Studying Childhood Little, Christopher A. J. L. (2008) Becoming an Asabano: The Socialization
of Asabano Children, Duranmin, West Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.
Unpublished Master's Thesis. Trent University. Peterborough, Ontario,
Canada. "Asabano children of Yakob Village, Duranmin, West Sepik Province, Papua
New Guinea (PNG)..." (Little 2008: ii) "There are many difficulties involved in working with children that can
complicate research and should be noted." (Little 2008: 29) "Initiating oneself as an adult into children's groups can prove difficult,
particularly if the researcher is especially foreign to the children. It
took me more than week, for example, before many children felt comfortable
enough to talk with me or have me sit around with them. Some children,
particularly the youngest girls, never overcame their fear of me and there
was one child that broke out into hysterics every time I walked near her,
up until my very last day." (Little 2008: 29) "Undoubtedly many children were intimidated by me and unaccustomed to an
adult showing so much interest in them." (Little 2008: 29) "Children can be manipulative, as others have noted, and working with
children can also expose one to the manipulation of adults. Some children
would constantly harass me for cookies, crackers, or candy, and would
assert that our good relationship depended on it. ... The father of a
family that I had been spending much time with told me that I would have to
send him and his children school books, paper, and pens because I had been
studying them. His requests later grew to include clothing for the
children, himself, his wife, as well as some that he could sell for profit;
a tent; a sleeping bag; the best quality soccer cleats that I could buy;
and new seeds for his garden." (Little 2008: 30) "Adult community members would often attempt to force children to talk to
me, which never worked, and at other times the same individuals would
berate the children for bothering the "white man" if they played or sat
nearby. ... Adults would also tell children how to respond to my questions-
even hitting them if their answers were not something they understood me to
be interested in. ... It was nearly impossible to coax children into doing
anything or answering a question in which they did not have some short-term
interest." (Little 2008: 31) "This was due to a combination of trepidation and also because Asabano
children, like children everywhere, are somewhat unruly." (Little 2008: 31) "Other children simply did not respond to questions about dreaming or
spirits. These individuals maintained eye contact until I had posed my
question, at which point they would simply wander away, stare at the
ground, nod confusedly, or start talking (Little 2008: 32) about things
like hunting or eating, which were presumably of greater interest to them.
A great many times my line of questioning was derailed by a simple silence
as children either did not understand or care to