The Crow Indians Summary

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Using the example of the Crow institution of wife capture as explored by Robert Lowie in The Crow Indians, this paper will evaluate Ruth Benedict ideas involving the diversity of culture being due to “a complex interweaving of cultural traits” (37) as well as the ways in which the “final form depends upon the way in which the trait has merged with other traits from different fields of experience.” (39). Basically, diversity is created within a society when different cultural traits come together to form a more diverse society. Additionally, it will be considered how ideas of how the cultural feature of wife capturing presents confirmation of Boas and Benedict’s notion of “universal” ideas and traits (Benedict 19; Boas 902) as classifiable and …show more content…
This is evident after you closely examine the ways in which “universal” ideas and traits are defined and discussed in both texts. “The sameness of ethnological phenomena found in diverse regions is proof that the human mind obeys the same laws everywhere,” (903) says Boas. Boas asserts that upon discovering these universal ideas and traits, many attempts have been and will continue to be made as to what exactly is the reason that certain ideas “develop with iron necessity wherever man lives,” (902). He does not, however, allude to these questions being answered easily or in the near future. Benedict’s views are similar to Boas’ in that he states, “these conceptions, as diverse as they prove to be…raise more questions.” (19). To the Crow Indians, wife capture is directly related to the objectification of wives within the culture. This act of capturing a woman is used as an agent in tribal warfare, and never really has anything to do with romance. This is because of the association of marriage with economic transfer within Crow culture. “Marriage in each case must be understood in relation to other traits to which it has become assimilated” (43), so if one were to begin to try to understand marriage for a Crow, one would have to understand that marriage is viewed and treated as a commodity only useful for tribal relations. This might lead to more and more questions being asked about how this idea has survived and no one has challenged
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