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Salvage ethnography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Salvage ethnography is a branch of ethnography concerned with the practice of salvaging a record of what was left of a culture before it disappeared. Salvage ethnography is also a branch of anthropology.
Some of the objectives of salvage ethnography include:
- Presenting correct and objective details of a different way of life.
- Gathering a first hand experience in another language and culture, so as to have an insider's point of view.
- Developing a holistic approach by understanding language, folklores, myths, religious and social life, family and kinship, economy and politics of the culture, subject to study.
Robert H. Lowie (1883–1957) was one of the first to employ salvage ethnography as a technique by doing studies on the culture of the Crow Indians. The purpose of the technique was "to salvage a record of what was left of a culture before it disappeared." This aspect had assumed a particular significance at that time (during 18th century and early 19th century) as the American Indians were becoming separated from their traditional culture.