Reading Journal Six

For Reading Journal Six, I have chosen to respond to Melissa Nelson, PhD, an author’s profile. She is also the President and executive director of Cultural Conservancy.

The reading comprises of quotes that stimulate my thinking. One of the quotes that I underlined is ‘I was elated to find and work for an organization that was so aligned with my life passion’. I can’t agree more with this sentence as I a firm believer that people find true happiness and satisfaction when they do something related to their passion. Another quote, ‘…allowed many species of plants and animals to co-evolve with humans’ shows how evolution of a species affects the evolution of another species in the ecosystem. Besides that, ‘…they held important leadership roles within tribes’ is a quote that presents about female leadership. Often, leadership is related to masculinity. So, not many tribes are led by female leaders.

From this profile, I was interested to read about the impacts on culture on the food system and eating styles. I was curious to know how changes in this traditional food system affect the lifestyle of the tribe. For instance, when the tribe switches its diet from eating own farm products to government subsidized food the change results in diabetes that was uncommon before.

Costa has organized this profile by splitting it into three sections. The first is about her background, untitled. The following two parts are titled. These subtopics help to tell the gist of their passage. For example, the subtopic, ‘WOMEN’S ROLE IN WILD CULTIVATION’ shows me that the main point presented will be about women in the tribe and their job scopes in wild cultivation.

Apart from that, this profile is full of substance. It is loaded with information about the traditional food system and its effects on the tribe when the food system changes.

Costa has also presented by widely using complex sentences, often continuously. ‘Melissa found the oral traditions… As a collaborative ethnographer, … It is critical to document and protects…’ is an great example.

Besides that, Costa has presented the profile in third person’s point of view. ‘…Melissa is of mixed-blood heritage’ is an example for this. Occasionally, the usage of direct quote from the main character, Melissa Nelson, PhD gives first-hand experience of the main character of this profile, Melissa Nelson, PhD. For instance, at the second paragraph, the author has presented the exact words by the main character, ‘…This connection to place was visceral and spiritual, not intellectual…’ depicts the exact feeling of this woman without ‘contamination’.

I my opinion, preserving culture and traditions lead to balanced, undisturbed lifestyle. Sometimes, changes that are considered good might not bring the outcomes desired. For instance, the commodity food distributed by the government alters the practice of customs of the tribes. Consequently, the health of the tribe is badly affected.