What Is Native Anthropology?
Anthropology is the study of humans. It includes humans in the present day and their ancestors as well as the most remote human origins. Subcategories of anthropology include sociocultural, biological and linguistic, and can also encompass archaeology, according to the American Anthropological Association. A native anthropologist can be any of the four.
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Definition
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Native anthropology is when the anthropologist studies his birth community. Other anthropologists maintain a distance or detach themselves from their research focus, but a native anthropologist shares common interests with the community being studied.
Expert Insight
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Anthropologist Takami Kuwayama, in her book "Native Anthropology: The Japanese Challenge to Western Academic Hegemony," argues that native anthropology is sometimes not entirely native. Professional anthropologists and anthropology professors live near research institutions that are generally outside of the small communities being researched. Kuwayama states that native anthropologists are "native only in the secondary sense of the word."
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Benefits
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By having a local appearance and mother tongue, native anthropologists can develop a rapport with communities easier than outsiders. Native anthropologists may choose to study their own communities to avoid or correct previous erroneous ethnographic conclusions.
Drawbacks
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The close proximity between the anthropologist and the informants can make it difficult to attain objectivity. While being of the same ethnicity or nationality can be beneficial, it can also be misconstrued. Some native anthropologists have encountered their community turning away from them because an inquisitive local can be seen as being part of the military in certain countries.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Archaeologist image by russe from Fotolia.com
