Let's Talk About Boas: A Man all Archaeologists Should be Familiar with....

            Franz Boas is one of the most influential people in the early development of anthropology, and is considered by many to be the founding father of modern and American anthropology (Verdon, 2007:2).  Born in  Germany he was “trained as a physicist and geographer at the university of Berlin” (Ames and Maschner 1999: 20). Within the studies of British Columbia’s prehistory he is largely accredited “for the vast majority of ethnographic accounts and descriptions of the Northwest Coast cultures” (Ames and Maschner 1999: 20).

            In his teaching at Columbia University he influenced and helped shape the academic experiences of some of the finest anthropologists in the modern era (Ames and Maschner 1999:21). Two of Boas’ most notable lifetime achievements was his ongoing fight to disprove racism and promote the idea that all cultures are unique. He did this by
“collecting evidence to show that the diverse beliefs and practices that distinguished different groups of people were due to the differences in social learning, not… racial biology” (Lavenda and Schultz 2010: 17). Secondly, through his vigorous study of language he was able to display the importance of learning and understanding different languages in order to gain better insight into how individuals of specific cultures perceive the world around them (Lavenda and Schultz 2010: 37).

            Beginning in 1886 Boas devoted his life to field work in the Northwest Coast, living amongst the indigenous tribes, he sought to create the coast’s culture history that appeared to be rapidly more difficult to access (Verdon, 2007:4). He and his students strived to create scientific research methods, at the same time “emphasizing the method of empirical culture history” (Preston,  2010). This meant Boas wanted to study these people through their own experiences; he wanted to know their language, their stories and myths. By living with the people of the Northwest Coast, Boas came to learn and understand that these cultures were not static at all, they were in fact extremely dynamic, complex, constantly evolving and were unique from one another  (Verdon 2007:3).  In his life’s research he realized the incredible variation of Coastal myths and lore and realized these cultural traits and variations have evolved gradually over time. Although there are similarities for instance in coastal artwork, the interpretation and meanings of these designs were different. (Verdon 2007:4)

References Cited

Ames, Kenneth M., and Maschner, Hermert D.G. 1999. The Peoples of the Northwest       Coast: Their Archaeology and Prehistory. Thames and Hudson, London.

Lavenda, Robert H., and Schultz, Emily A. 2010 Core Concepts in Cultural           Anthropology. 4^th ed. McGraw-Hill, New York.  

Preston, R.J.

            2010.  Franz Boas: The Canadian Encyclopaedia. Electronic Document,             http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0 000842, accessed March 15, 2010. The Canadian Encyclopaedia, Historica-    Dominion.

Verdon, Michel

            2007 Franz Boas: Cultural History for the Present, or Obsolete Natural       History? Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute pp. 433-451.