Teaching
The Problems With Coming of Age
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Unit 3
Margaret Mead’s Ethnographic Work in Samoa
In this unit (to accompany SAPIENS podcast S6E2), students will learn, through Margaret Mead’s fieldwork in American Samoa, the facets of ethnography and the impact of her work. By exploring and discussing Mead’s findings, students will be able to analyze the bigger picture of her influence through an anthropological lens.
Learning Objectives
- Define the processes of ethnographic fieldwork.
- Analyze the impact of Margaret Mead’s ethnographic work and findings in American Samoa.
Sapiens articles
Did Margaret Mead Think a Healed Femur Was the Earliest Sign of Civilization?
An anthropologist digs into the origins of a popular story attributed to Margaret Mead about the original sign of civilization.
How the Samoan Tattoo Survived Colonialism
A combination of factors, from geography to group identity, supported the endurance of this traditional body art—even as similar practices were lost in other cultures.
Keywords
View All in Colonialism
![A person dressed in a red Santa Claus suit with white trim kneels on a military runway while speaking into a handheld radio. In the background are two rows of large military airplanes.]()
![An image focuses on two hands of a statue in shadow coming together holding a white flower.]()
![People walk through a long, wide museum hallway with high arched ceilings and skylights framed by tall tan columns.]()
![A person wearing a dark blue shirt and a red umbrella hat walks through a lush field of tall green grasses.]()
![A line of cattle travel across a dry desert landscape, kicking up dust.]()
![The ruins of a gray stone building stand below a cerulean sky with fluffy white clouds.]()
Unwrapping Operation Christmas Drop
An anthropologist takes a critical eye to a long-running holiday tradition: a U.S. military mission that drops toys and supplies throughout Micronesia.
Survival Notes
Black African women in former colonial centers such as London gesture to subversive ways of communicating with those imprisoned in archives across generations.
Spain’s Move to Decolonize Its Museums Must Continue
In early 2024, Spain’s culture minister announced that the nation would overhaul its state museum collections, igniting a wave of anticipation—and controversy.
It’s Time to Replace “Prehistory” With “Deep History”
A team of archaeologists working in Southeast Asia is pushing toward a deeper understanding of history that amplifies Indigenous and local perspectives to challenge traditional archaeological timelines.
An Imagined Monograph for Nongqawuse
A 19th-century prophetess reportedly bore a serious message from the ancestors to her Xhosa people amid British colonial assault. The written archives judged her—but much still remains unknown and unacknowledged.
How Colonialism Invented Food Insecurity in West Africa
Archaeological evidence and Oral Histories show people in what is today Ghana lived sustainably for millennia—until European colonial powers and the widespread trade of enslaved people changed everything.
View All in Indigenous
![People walk through a long, wide museum hallway with high arched ceilings and skylights framed by tall tan columns.]()
![A person wearing a dark blue shirt and a red umbrella hat walks through a lush field of tall green grasses.]()
![A line of cattle travel across a dry desert landscape, kicking up dust.]()
![A gnarled tree stands on a reddish cliff, beyond which stretches a landscape of deeply hued sandstone plateaus that an ox-bowed river cuts through.]()
![A whale’s tail appears above the water, creating white foam as it splashes on the ocean’s surface. A small bird flies in the background.]()
![An ancient circular stone structure lies exposed under the ground surface. In the distance, light-red and tan mesas and flat desert expanses lie under a piercing blue sky with scattered fluffy white clouds.]()
Spain’s Move to Decolonize Its Museums Must Continue
In early 2024, Spain’s culture minister announced that the nation would overhaul its state museum collections, igniting a wave of anticipation—and controversy.
It’s Time to Replace “Prehistory” With “Deep History”
A team of archaeologists working in Southeast Asia is pushing toward a deeper understanding of history that amplifies Indigenous and local perspectives to challenge traditional archaeological timelines.
An Imagined Monograph for Nongqawuse
A 19th-century prophetess reportedly bore a serious message from the ancestors to her Xhosa people amid British colonial assault. The written archives judged her—but much still remains unknown and unacknowledged.
Gathering Firewood—and Redefining Land Stewardship—at Bears Ears
At Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, a new co-management plan brings together federal agencies and a consortium of Native American tribes—revealing deep tensions over land rights and demands for environmental justice.
Protecting Ancestral Waters Through Collaborative Stewardship
The proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, along California’s Central Coast, would be the first of its kind in the U.S. to be nominated by Native peoples.
Digging Into an Ancient Apocalypse Controversy From a Hopi Perspective
When producers for a popular Netflix series sought a permit to film on public lands in the U.S. Southwest, many Native leaders objected. A Hopi tribal official, Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, shares his views.
View All in Methods
![A vibrant, abstract scene features blurred blue and orange lights glowing outward from a central area, with silhouetted figures in the foreground.]()
![An ape-like mannequin, with protruding facial features and a body covered in fur, stands in a museum exhibition under dramatic lighting. Next to it, a text panel starts, “The human story begins.”]()
![Two people crouch down to create colorful chalk art on a street. Intricate designs and language characters surround a central circular moti]()
![A serene lake is surrounded by a dense forest of evergreen trees. The calm, blue water reflects the clear sky above.]()
![Two side-by-side graphics depict skulls, one facing forward and the other in profile. Both images are outlined in blue and have sections shaded in yellow. The profile image has three red lines spanning across it in two V shapes.]()
![Against a black background, two faces in profile look in opposite directions. The one on the left has straight brown hair with pale skin, and the one on the right has slightly darker skin and disheveled orange hair.]()
Best of SAPIENS 2024
Anthropologists from around the globe brought dazzling insights and deeply reported concerns to the digital pages of SAPIENS magazine.
Lessons From Lucy
Fifty years ago, the remains of an Australopithecus afarensis ancestor, named “Lucy” by archaeologists, rewrote the story of human evolution.
Tackling the Impossibility—and Necessity—of Counting the World’s Languages
A language scientist delves into historic and current efforts to catalog the planet’s 7,000-plus languages, uncovering colorful tales and Herculean challenges.
On the Tracks to Translating Indigenous Knowledge
A team of researchers will journey by railway to Lac Seul First Nation in Canada to better understand alternative ways of seeing the world.
Learning From Snapshots of Lost Fossils
Not all fossil discoveries happen in the field. In museum archives, researchers found photos of remains from Paleolithic children who had belonged to a group of early Homo sapiens in Eurasia.
Excavating the Coexistence of Neanderthals and Modern Humans
An archaeologist explains how remains recently recovered from a cave in present-day Germany suggest that Neanderthals and modern humans populated Europe together for at least 10,000 years.
Glossary
Atauloma
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A historic parochial school building in Afao village on the island of Tutuila in American Samoa.
Diversity
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The practice or quality of including people from a range of social and ethnic backgrounds and with different genders, sexual orientations, etc.
Ethnography
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The scientific description of the customs of individual peoples and cultures.
Taupou
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A high-ranking ceremonial hostess, selected by a high chief of a Samoan village from the young girls of his household, who is charged with formally receiving and entertaining visitors.
Professor Talking Points
- Consider the concept of sexuality as a learned behavior in relation to cultural pressures and societal norms in Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa, specifically her findings about young Samoan women in contrast to young women in the United States. Discuss how that concept is relevant today.
- Many scholars have debated whether Mead’s conclusions were valid at the time she worked in American Samoa and allege further that her findings are not credible today because Samoan society has changed immensely since the 1920s. Discuss what it means for ethnographers to capture an “ethnographic moment” that may become inaccurate with the passage of time.
- Define the skills gained in ethnographic research—participation, communication, and record-keeping—and consider how they can be integrated with current technological advances. Discuss how a modern ethnographic excursion would differ from Mead’s studies in American Samoa.
Academic Articles
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Feinberg, Richard. “Margaret Mead and Samoa: Coming of Age in Fact and Fiction.” 1988. American Anthropologist 90 (3): 656–663.
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Jones, Janice, and Joanna Smith. 2017. “Ethnography: Challenges and Opportunities.” Evidence-Based Nursing 20 (4): 98–100.
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Côté, James E. 1992. “Was Mead Wrong About Coming of Age in Samoa? An Analysis of the Mead/Freeman Controversy for Scholars of Adolescence and Human Development.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 21 (5): 499–527.
Student Discussion Questions
- Given the breadth of human diversity, what role can ethnography play in illuminating it?
- How does Mead’s study of the cultural practices of Samoan coming of age give insight into your own culture’s coming-of-age traditions?
- Some have said that Mead romanticized her life in American Samoa. For the sake of argument, defend the value of her findings, giving three examples of what you learned about ethnography, human culture, or yourself from her work.
- In what way can scholars use Mead’s research to guide their own study of culture through the ethnographic approach?
- What questions should you be asking about your own culture, as Mead asked in her book? For example, she challenged how young women approach their sexuality. If someone immersed themselves in your culture, what societal norms might they challenge?
- Mead’s use of the word “primitive” in her book title is deeply offensive to many people, especially Samoans. Why did Mead use this word and what are the problems with its use today?
Activities
- After reading the SAPIENS article, “The Life and Meaning of Margaret Mead,” create a definition of ethnography with specific examples from Mead’s work in American Samoa.
- Divide the class into sections, assigning each section two to three paragraphs of Mead’s book Coming of Age in Samoa. Ask each section to collaborate and summarize the given paragraphs into a central concept Mead was trying to convey.
- Ask students to choose an identifiable culture (e.g., Basque, Japanese, Navajo). Compare possible ethnographic experiences in the chosen culture with Mead’s experiences. Devise a plan wherein an ethnographic trip could take place, and Mead’s methods could be used.
Additional Resources
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Article: Chris Drew’s “15 Great Ethnography Examples”
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Article: Encyclopedia Britannica’s “Ethnography”
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Article: Park Ethnography Program’s “What is Ethnographic Research”
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Exhibition: Library of Congress’ “Samoa: The Adolescent Girl” in Margaret Mead: Human Nature and the Power of Culture
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Video: CrashCourse’s Social Development: Crash Course in Sociology #13
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Video: The School of Life’s The Ancient Origin of Sexual and Gender Identity: Margaret Mead
Videos
Unit By
Casie Gray, Freedom Learning Group
Teaching
The Problems With Coming of Age
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Unit 4
Margaret Mead’s Remarkable Career
