Anthropologist Purpose

According to behavioral scientists and anthropologists, culture refers to full range of human behavior patterns that have been learnt. It includes belief, knowledge, custom, law and morals as well as other habits and capabilities that man has acquired while living in the society. Culture comes out as a powerful tool for human survival, though scientists have also proven that it is a fragile phenomenon. Culture is in constant change and it gets easily lost due to its existence in the minds of people. Anthropology is mainly focused on the study of variations in culture among humans and also data collection about the impact of political and global economic processes on realities in local culture. In relation to this, anthropologists normally employ the use of different methods that include interviews, participant observation and surveys in gathering information. This kind of research is termed as fieldwork since it entails spending time and extended periods in a specific research location by anthropologists.  Therefore, this article represents a detailed discussion on report from a cultural anthropological study carried out at the main city center in Minnesota through observation and note taking awaiting analysis.

The Scene

The exact scene where observation was being made was on a bench almost at the middle of the city center under a five storey hotel, near a zebra crossing where it was possible to view people crossing and many activities going on. It was in early afternoon on the second Monday of the month. The architectural design of the town is typical modern greatly influenced by modern technology also evidenced by well-developed infrastructure. The climate at that time makes Minnesota a bit distinctive. It was summer, hence, during the fair, water sports took the better part of the day. A fall of colored leaves on the roads was also noticeable, an activity only happening during summer.

People

The general lifestyle of people in Minnesota shows massive external influence from Irish Americans, Native Americans, Scandinavian Americans and Polish Americans as well as other immigrant groups. The majority of people at the city center are the middle class known by the cars they drive and job activities. Diversity in appearance has made Minnesota become an icon of state culture in America. It was a time when a state Fair dubbed The Great Minnesota Get-Together was underway with visitors forming a quarter of the total population in the surrounding. This fair came out to feature most of the aspects of life in Minnesota, such as science, food preparation, fine art, agriculture, the midway, 4-H displays and corporate merchandise. As a result, Minnesota appeared as a good display of butter sculptures of birthing barn and dairy princesses and seed art. The walking majority around the area were aged between 30-50 evidenced by their physical appearances, height and on look (Dregni, Mark & Mark, 2006).

Cuisine

Sitting on a bench at the city, one cannot miss to notice the cuisine being advertised and even prepared by the nearest restaurants around. In most places, common wild edibles were advertised such as raspberry, serviceberry, blueberry, wild rice, hazelnuts, blackberry and thimbleberry. It was also possible to notice a variety of fish being sold, more so displayed on the adverts on banners outdoors such as walleye and trout. The explanation for this is that these foods have been adopted by Native communities even before Industrial revolution took place and before white settlements have taken shape in the region. Other items such as bison meat, fry bread and jam were prepared by small inns. In addition, seeing service of foods of German and Scandinavian heritage was inevitable. Some of these include lutefisk, sauerkraut, lingonberries, rosettes, sausages, krumkake, gravlax and lefse (Dregni, Mark & Mark, 2006). During the state fair, it was possible to observe dozens of foods given to customers on a stick and one of them being deep fried candy bars.

Themes and Behaviors

People in Minnesota are friendly illustrated by the fact that one could not notice any malicious activity in the environment except for people who immersed their heads in their businesses and their ways. Walking fast is another aspect of life that portrays their urgency in personal lives also supported by the pace of preparation and presentation of foods in the restaurants especially the once with outdoor setting which was possible to observe. Leisure and recreation activities also form part and parcel of culture in the city center. From the scene it was possible to notice billboards advertising cinemas and movies to be aired in the course of the month as well as other key events. This indicates that Minnesota people love pleasures and people come from other states just to spend time in movie theatres located in Minnesota. One of the most mentioned on the adverts is Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes which act as a great destination for warm-season activities (Dregni, Mark & Mark, 2006). Being that it was summer and not winter, it was possible to take notice of roads headed there. In addition, sports is another aspect of life that people in the surrounding talked about openly, thus, telling volumes of the tendency tilted towards love for sports. For instance, people talked about many naturally occurring lakes numbering to over 10,000 that provide good grounds for boat racing and other activities during the summer when ice fishing and water skiing could not be done.  This again explained the general knowledge that Minnesota is the state with the largest number of per-capita boat registration compared to other states in the country.