Of Dice and Women: Gambling and Exchange in Native North America

Although archaeologists have had success in documenting the movement and distribution of trade goods, they often fail to specify the actual social mechanisms by which such goods are shunted across archaeological landscapes. A thesis is developed that in Native North America gambling was one common mechanism for intergroup exchange. Particular attention is paid to dice games that, according to ethnographic accounts, were often played primarily by women. Building upon the pioneering compilation by Stewart Culin, game paraphernalia, playing rules, as well as odds and payoffs associated with wagering are described and mapped. The social and mythological contexts of dice games are also reviewed. Results indicate that making hitherto neglected links among exchange, gender, and gambling promises novel and more culturally informed ways of approaching the archaeological record.     

Tibet Institute for Nationalities:First in Tibet

Article 9 of the Agreement of theCentral Government and the LocalGovernment of Tibet on the PeacefulLiberation of Tibat, signed on May23, 1951, stipulates: "The spokenand written language and schooleducation of the Tibetan ethnicgroup shall be developed step bystep in accordance with the actualconditions in Tibet."In accordance with the Agreement,Mao Zedong, founder of the People's Republic of China, instructedthe Central People's Governmentto work hard to develop school education in T…     

Jails in Tibet

There are three jails in the Tibet Autonomous Region, with 2,300 inmates, including those serving lifesentences or awaiting execution. They account for 0.9 per 1,000 of the Tibetan population.The three jails are the Tibet Autonomous Regional Prison, the Lhasa Prison and the Borne Prison. Of the three, the TAR Prison is the largest and the only one exclusively for female inmates.Of the inmates, 76 percent are of the Tibetan ethnic group, 20 percent from the Han ethnic group, and remaining four percent from     

Tourism in Tibet

Ｔｏｕｒｉｓｍ　ｉｎ　ＴｉｂｅｔＴｏｕｒｉｓｍｉｎＴｉｂｅｔ￥ｂｙＭａＪｉｎｋａｎｇＳｉｔｕａｔｅｄｉｎｔｈｅｂｏｒｄｅｒｒｅｇｉｏｎｏｆｓｏｕｔｈｗｅｓｔＣｈｉｎａ,Ｔｉｂｅｔｃｏｖｅｒｓａｎａｒｅａｏｆ１．２ｍｉｌｌｉｏｎｓｑｕａｒｅｋｍ,ｅｑｕ...     

Rivers in Tibet

ＲｉｖｅｒｓｉｎＴｉｂｅｔＨＥＸＩＷＵ,ＦＥＮＧＸＵＥＨＵＡＴｉｂｅｔ．ｗｉｔｈａｎｅｌｅｖａｔｉｏｎｏｆｍｏｒｅｔｈａｎ４,０００ｍｅｔｅｒｓ,ｉｓｓｏｕｒｃｅｆｏｒｍａｎｙｍａｊｏｒｒｉｖｅｒｓｉｎＣｈｉｎａａｎｄＡｓｉａ．ＨＩＧＨＬＡＮＤＲＩＶ...     

Plants in Tibet

ForeignbotanistspredictedalmostahundredyearsagothatthereweretheChangtangPlateau.TheybasedthisonsurveysinTibet.Surveyssincel95o,however,showadifferentworld.DIVERSIFIEDSPECIES.AccordingtoRecordsonPlantsinnbetpublishedinl987,therewere5,766sPeciesofplantsinTi…     

Airports in Tibet

Tibet was regarded as ＂Forbidden Zone＂ as far as aviation was concemed due to its high altiude and its towering mountain ranges. How was thes ＂taboo＂ broken？ As for an airport on the Tibetan Plateau, how was it constructed？     

藏地食客

在西藏．我爱上了一切．当然也包括藏地的饮食。西藏的饮食．以藏区特产农作物、砖茶、牛羊为主,调味主要来源于盐、糖、藏葱、野蒜、姜等。受到四川菜的大量影响．辣椒也是常用的调味品．同时又因为与尼泊尔和印度比邻,便也有使用咖喱、胡椒的传统。     

扎根西藏发掘原生态人文精神

作为西藏对外展示新形象的文化窗口,西藏美术馆的建立对促进各民族交往交流交融、提升城市品质品位、营造文化氛围都有着十分重要的意义。有了美术馆,人们大概最关心的就是美术馆的展品、展陈事宜。策展人、画家罗伯特·斯托尔曾说:被艺术感动就是被带离熟悉的环境,跳出自我而灵魂出窍,好的作品会让人回首旅程的起点还有留在身后的那个有限的自我。     

茂地僧人

认识杨延康二十年有余。他的摄影之路曲折、艰辛,但坚韧。一个成功的人往往都很偏执,杨延康的偏执地在藏区。“每个人来到人世间是注定要与一些人和事结缘的”,杨延康这么说过,他这辈子可能终身与摄影、与宗教、与藏民族结缘了。“影踪”栏目是一个影像的“博物馆”,有幸请来杨延康用摄影为我们讲述一段他心底里的藏地故事,实乃不易。我认同他对摄影的理解：“真正的摄影是平静的,平淡的。平淡的不平静才更让人感动,好的片子是看不到摄影师的,他们会隐蔽在相机后面。”     

Permafrost in Tibet

ＰｅｒｍａｆｒｏｓｔｉｎＴｉｂｅｔ￥ｂｙＬｉＳｈｕｄｅＣｈｉｎａｒａｎｋｓｔｈｉｒｄｉｎｔｈｅｗｏｒｌｄｉｎｔｅｒｍｓｏｆｃｏｕｎｔｒｉｅｓｗｉｔｈｅｘｔｅｎｓｉｖｅｔｅｒｒｉｔｏｒｙｓｕｂｊｅｃｔｔｏｐｅｒｍａｆｒｏｓｔ．Ｔｉｂｅｔ,ｗｈｉｃｈｓｉ...     

Lakes in Tibet

ＬａｋｅｓｉｎＴｉｂｅｔ￥ｂｙＦａｎＹｕｎｑｉＴｈｅＱｉｎｇｈａｉ－ＴｉｂｅｔＰｌａｔｅａｕｉｓｄｏｔｔｅｄｗｉｔｈｎｕｍｅｒｏｕｓｌａｋｅｓ．Ｓｔａｔｉｓｔｉｃｓｓｈｏｗｔｈａｔｌａｋｅｓｅａｃｈｗｉｔｈａｎａｒｅａｏｆｍｏｒｅｔｈａｎｏｎｅｓｑｕ...     

Forest in Tibet

ＦｏｒｅｓｔｉｎＴｉｂｅｔ￥ＸＵＸＩＡＯＱＩＮＧａｎｄＧＵＡＮＨＯＮＧＳＨＵＰｒｉｍｉｔｉｖｅｆｏｒｅｓｔｓ,ｃｏｖｅｒｉｎｇ７．１５ｍｉｌｌｉｏｎｈｅｃｔａｒｅｓ,ｍａｋｅｕｐ９９．７ｐｅｒｃｅｎｔｏｆｔｏｔａｌｆｏｒｅｓｔｓｉｎＴｉｂｅｔ．Ｔｈｅ...     

Colorful Sports in Tibet

TraditionalandmodernsportsflourishinTibettoday.WiththefoundingoftheSportsCommissionin1960,Tibetisnolongertheno-sportsregionintheworld.MASSACTIVITIES.Tibetanshavecreatedmanymasssportsactivitiessuchaswrestling,horseracing,archeryandtugofwar.Alongwiththecr…     

Hot Springs in Tibet

Ｈｏｔ　Ｓｐｒｉｎｇｓ　ｉｎ　ＴｉｂｅｔＨｏｔＳｐｒｉｎｇｓｉｎＴｉｂｅｔ￥ｂｙＴｏｎｇＷｅｉＴｉｂｅｔｉｓｒｉｃｈｉｎｈｏｔｓｐｒｉｎｇｒｅｓｏｕｒｃｅｓ．Ｗｉｔｈｔｈｅｉｒｕｎｉｑｕｅｐｏｓｉｔｉｏｎｏｎｔｈｅｒｏｏｆｏｆｔｈｅｇｌｏｂｅ,ｔｈｅ...     

Rock Paintings in Tibet

Rock paintings in China can be divided into south-ern and northern schools.Southern school rock paintings depict mainly religious rituals and are painted in red. They are distributed in an area from southwest to south China.Northern school rock paintings, carved into rocks, show hunting activ-ites in north China. They are distributed in an area from the northeast to northwest and southwest. The part from northeast to southwest China extends from Heilongjiang to Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gan…     

Old Ferryboats in Tibet

According to Tibetan historical documents, as early as the Tubo period, sailing activites were recorded on the Yarlung Zangbo River and Lhasa River. According to Biography of Padmasambhnva, he onec crossed the Yarlung Zangbo by a wooden bout with a horse＇s head to reach Samye Monastery murals in the Samye Monastery, Potala Palace and Norbu Lingka record this.     

Acrobatics in Ancient Tibet

Acrobatics date back to the Tubo period, according to many historical records including Biography of Padmasambhava and A Feast of Scholars.     

西藏一年

书云/作家,制片人。生于上世纪60年代。1982年考入北京大学英语系,之后在牛津大学圣安东尼学院攻读国际关系,毕业后现在英国从事电视制作。首部导演的纪录片《半边天》讲述一家四代中国妇女的命运,获得瑞典“环球南北电视大奖”最佳纪录片奖。1997年,参与制作的《百年叱咤风云录》获得“艾美奖”最佳纪录片大奖。     

Special Schools in Tibet

TheCentralGovemmenthasinthepastfewdecadesmadeunremittingeffortstopromoteeducationintheTibetAutonomousRegion.InadditiontoadoptingpreferenhalPolicies,theCehtralGovernmentorganizesfinancial,manpowerandherderstoattendschool.Thefollowingisanintroductionofschoo…