Hanscom - Technological Elaboration

In the United States of America, we live in a fast-paced, technologically elaborate society where we are constantly striving to become more advanced in our technologies. We are in competition with other countries who are doing the same thing, and I believe it's becoming a pretty big distraction. After studying primal cultures in this class and understanding their way of life, I began to see how we could benefit from a slower and more simple life style. The Navajo Indians are a good example of a slower-paced, oral culture that lives primarily off the land. They use basic tools to help them with their daily chores such as farming, as well as highly sophisticated technologies like the tool they use to make rugs. They demonstrate a high level of skill in the areas of work they do to maintain their lifestyle, and it takes a lot of work for them to sustain their lives.

In the film of the Navajo, the grandmother of the family was asked what she was responsible for teaching the younger generation. The grandmother said she hoped to train younger girls to make rugs, cook food, and keep their families and houses in order. She also said that the older men were responsible for teaching the young men how to farm, chop wood, and care for the animals. To me, this seems so simple, but I'm sure their life style is difficult to maintain especially with the competition of our technologically elaborate society. Even though they want to train their children to learn their trades and respect the tradition of their culture, the older generation is not able to have the younger children live with them on a daily basis. Their lifestyle cannot support a large population, so they had to place the Navajo children in schools and live in a different area. Even though the children would come visit on the weekends to learn the traditions of the older generation, they will most likely choose to live in an area where there are more complex tools to advance their position in society.

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