Systems Paper :: essays papers

Systems Paper Part I 1.Animal food cycles 2.Energy flow 3.In identifying parts of the system for the Tsembaga in New Guinea. I will start with the solar energy and rainfall that are the major contributors to life and the growth of plant and human life. The sun produces energy for plants to photosynthesize and the 150 inches of water per year that the Tsembaga receive facilitates this process. The Tsembaga grow a variety of crops including: taro, sweet potatoes, yams, manioc, greens, sugar cane, and some tree crops. Human labor to sustain the growth of these crops includes cutting, fencing, planting, maintaining, harvesting, and walking back and forth. The men usually perform these labors. Another strategic part of the soil maintenance includes the fallowing and rooting of the ground by pigs. The pigs are usually taken care of by the women of the group. After the crop has grown it is harvested by the men and stored for later consumption by the human population as well as the pig population. In times of Physiological stress which includes m isfortune and emergency the pigs are killed by the men and then the flesh is distributed to the group that the stress is greatest. The storage of the crops also leads to not only the consumption of the crop but the crops can also be used in trade outside of their territories for such objects as stone axes. 4.Applying the above in to the Culture Core Model I started with the base of the pyramid, economics. The reason for the growth of the crops has an economic reason, using the crop as an item to exchange goods with for things like stone axes. Also the more of the crop you have the more pigs you can sustain, which inevitably means the more protein you can get from eating the pigs. The Tsembaga also have territories that they live, grow and raise pigs on. That is there largest economic commodity. Social aspects of the model include the division of labor, which could also be a political matter, but the society is egalitarian so that everyone is equal and there are no chiefs. The men work the crops and fight while the women cook, clean, watch the children and over see the pigs. Politically they patrilineal clans, which are organized into smaller groups. Men are the only ones that are allowed to fight. When a pig is killed it is pre decide who will get it depending on need, men during time of war, and in times of illness or injury it is the victim that gets the meat.