Most people in are governed or ruled by some kind of
political system. Monarchy and Democracy
are two examples. Some indigenous tribes even have rituals that can be viewed
as a political system. The Awa tribe, however, does not have any formal way of governing
their people. The father of each Awa family is the authoritative force. The
father enforces rules and governs his family based on how he was raised by his
father.
As mentioned before, the Awa do not have a formal political
system. They do have “norms” that are accepted by the tribe as a whole. A norm
is defined as a standard, a model, or a pattern. If a member of the tribe
commits adultery, steals, or violates some other norm, it is publicized in
front of the whole Awa tribe. Usually they have a social gathering where
everyone joins in the general meeting place of the village. This, in a sense,
is their unofficial political system.
Awa Kwaiker- Sociopolitical Organization. Electronic Document. http://www.everyculture.com/South-America/Aw-Kwaiker-Sociopolitical-Organization.html, accessed November 4, 2013.
If the United States did not have a political system, the whole country would most likely be chaos. Yet the Awa have no government and they are very organized. Everyone knows their place in the village and they get along with relatively no problems. Granted, they are a small group but I think other countries who do have a political system should take note of this tribe. They put the authority in the hands of the family head. So all “government” in the Awa tribe is family oriented. That makes for a more uniform, happier people because all the rules are fair and is for the benefit of all members of the Awa.
ReplyDeleteNorms are different in all parts of the world. But breaking norms are handled differently in different countries. The Awa choose to make it a public event while in most countries the person who commits the crime in punished usually in a more private manner, except for on the cases of extreme crimes. It’s a possibility that the Awa make all crimes public to teach others right and wrong and to show the rest of the tribe what is expected of them when it comes to upholding the Awa name.