What is the Culture of San Juan County?
When an anthropologist decides to study a particular culture in an attempt to understand it, what does she or he do? Many things, of course, but among them is to identify six common dimensions of any established human community. The six dimensions include the language of the people under study; the day-to-day rules by which they conduct themselves; the rituals of the people; the character of the heroes & heroines; the processes by which communal things get done; and the values that drive major decisions.
The community studied could be a tribe on a remote South Seas island, a clan in a certain valley high in the mountains of Switzerland, or a defined group (extended family, ethnic population, gang) in a large urban center. Or we-the citizenry of unique San Juan County-could be the subjects of such a study.
Why are the six dimensions useful in defining a particular culture? Very simple: All established communities, from families and corporations to towns and other geographical entities, develop a discreet language, set of rules, rituals, and so on, by which they live. Once these dimensions are identified, a researcher has gone a long way in defining the "culture." Once defined, one culture can be distinguished from another.
Language is important for words are the stepping stones upon which thoughts travel. No words, no movement. If I meet someone in steamy Hong Kong and mention the Nisqually ferry or Lopez Island, and he or she relates to these word, the two of us will most likely be off to a good start on a rousing conversation. We will have identified a small chunk of common ground on which to build. Every cultural group-from Canadians to golfers to CPAs-has some words that carry special meanings to insiders.
Rules, they could also be called customs, are important because they lubricate the day-to-day interactions of people in a given culture. Without some accepted guides to behavior, every transaction between individuals would be like those between strangers, i.e., individuals from different cultures. Rules provide shortcuts for members of the same clan, and they provide behavioral norms as well. If you or I join a new group of any kind, chances are that we will quickly pick up the unwritten code of conduct that prevails in the group, be it a boating club, political society, jazz band, or sports team of some kind.
Rituals are important for they signal what the community under study chooses to celebrate and mourn, its traditions. And when we know them, we have a large clue to what makes a particular community tick. For example, there are still places in the world where communities celebrate the passage of young people into adulthood with solemn ceremonies and lavish festivities. This is generally not the case in our American culture. However, we do celebrate Memorial, Independence, and Labor days, for example. And honoring our military veterans, independence, and work force are prominent threads in the fabric of our American culture.
Heroes & heroines are role models for members of a given culture. Such models serve, for better or worse, as beacons of accepted behavior, as templates to be emulated. When a researcher determines to whom the people under study look for guidance, the researcher has another large clue to the nature of the culture. For example, athletic, artistic, and intellectual people have each been held in esteem by different cultures over the course of history. Likewise, explorers, movie stars, and politicians occasionally serve as prime reference points. A community-be it a company or a county-without acknowledged heroes or heroines has a vacuum that will fill, sooner or later, once again for better or worse.
Processes tell us how collective things get done by the tribe or clan. Some cultures have designated elders who make the big decisions that have to be made. Others elect representatives or depend on hereditary royalty. Sometimes the dominant process is dictatorial. A head woman or man directs and everyone else follows! The processes of community governance help describe a culture.
Values, the sixth dimension, are a way of specifying the shared priorities of a defined group of people. Typically any group has multiple values and they fall into a hierarchy. At the top stands what is most important when difficult trade-off decisions have to be made. I had occasion once to examine the "culture" of a large medical-care enterprise in another state. When I asked the leaders to identify the values of the organization, they generated a list of half-dozen items including patient care, competitive costs, professionalism, state-of-the-art medical practices, profitability, community service, and friendliness. But when pushed to force-rank these seven values, i.e., number them #1 through #7, the leaders split evenly. Fifty percent were adamant that patient care was the number one value; fifty percent put profitability right at the top. So it was little wonder that with such a cultural rift in the organization, it had a lot of trouble getting things done. In fact, my observation was that as a practical matter THE dominant value in that enterprise was dissension!
So how would an anthropologist describe the culture of the people of this special place called San Juan County? Is our locals' language dominated by words about nature-whales, eagles, the sea-or is it more Northwest suburban with words like road rage or Space Needle or WalMart? What are our rules of behavior when it comes to working together, dealing with issues, and relating to one another across our small county in the sea? How about our rituals? County-wide we have the County Fair in August and elections in November. Heroes and heroines? Processes? How about values? When push comes to shove, what do we value most in San Juan County: Independence? Growth? Tradition? Stewardship? Convenience? Anonymity?
Our culture is worthy of attention. Given the population pressures on the county, if we have the culture we want, we need to consciously cultivate and protect it. If we wish to avoid the drip-drip-drip of gradual urbanization, hand wringing is inadequate. Negligence is the sure way to drift into a place we don't want to be. As Edmund Burke put it: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Copyright © 1999, 2002 Steven C. Brandt
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