americanshaman-blog1

[americanshaman-blog1]

Dentistry: A Hoax Dressed in White Lab Coats?

My house costs millions of dollars […] In my neighborhood, there are four black people […] there's me, Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z and Eddie Murphy […] Do you know what the white man who lives next door to me does for a living? He's a fucking dentist! He ain't the best dentist in the world...he ain't going to the dental hall of fame...he don't get plaques for getting rid of plaque. He's just a yank-your-tooth-out dentist. -Chris Rock, Kill The Messenger (2009)

In America, the practice of dentistry has transformed from a barbershop (and purely aesthetic) feature into a prestigious discipline akin to biomedicine, but is dentistry as much a medical institution as it is so often esteemed?  My observation will examine the affiliations the dental community has sought to emphasize between itself and the traditional biomedical institution, and whether the similarities and differences between the two are indicative of a cultural distinction between two different forms of healthcare or if one is to be properly considered healthcare while the other should not.  My analysis will begin by briefly examining the history of the dental occupation in America in order to provide context for an observation and interviews about a specific branch of practice in the affluent island city of Alameda in California’s Bay Area.  It will conclude with a discussion of the credibility the dental experience fosters and how accurate that reputation is.

Although evidence of dental care goes back to ancient times, for early Americans colonizing the east and conquering the wilds of the west oral care was practiced by a barber.  Able to do little more than pull out aching teeth, the fear of the pain a dental visit might incur was no doubt warranted.  By the mid-nineteenth century, Dental care (like many other institutions) began to formalize and the appearance of dental education facilities, such as the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1840 and the Philadelphia Dental College in 1863, were matched by government regulation and legislation with the American Dental Association forming in 1859 (ADA.org).

Comparatively luxurious, my observations were at a modern dentist called “Bright Now Dental” in Alameda, Ca.  It was a nice, quiet, and clean facility situated in a moderately sized shopping center.  When asked about where her dental care was provided, one patient took especial care to associate it with the other store brands collocated: “a large new shopping complex with a Whole Foods, Old Navy, and Jamba Juice.”  Like most aspects of American life, there is a tremendous amount of diversity amongst dental practices, focused primarily around economic class concerns.  The same patient’s last visit had been to what she described as a “ghetto” facility no where near such middle class brands.  This facility was expected to have a higher standard for care due to it’s location in a more affluent area, and both the patient and staff seemed aware of this.

The moment a patient steps through the door, however, they leave the shopping center atmosphere behind in exchange for a much more clinical tone.  Patients find themselves in a waiting room, where a receptionist attired in medical scrubs hands out a hefty amount of paperwork inquiring about previous medical conditions and their insurance provider.  Shortly before the dentist is ready to see the patient they are ushered into an examination room where they are then greeted by an assistant (also dressed in medical scrubs) before being addressed briefly by the dentist herself.  With the notable exception of the dentist’s chair instead of an examination table, almost the entire experience is indistinguishable from that of a general practitioners.

Not only having made observations, but participating as a patient and being examined myself, I was constantly aware of the clinical reality that the Bright Now staff worked so hard to maintain.  No doubt they would consider it a point of professionalism, but at the same time I found it odd how much the dental community had borrowed from the prestige of a proper biomedical establishment with not just a constant presence of associated symbols and processes (from white lab coats, to waiting rooms, and even including insurance paperwork) but an absence of almost any unique symbology of its own.  While their were definitely tools and models around which emphasized the oral cavity, this in and of itself is no different than would be found in any specialist’s office. Considering that the dental community in America has built a consensus about oral care which consistently places cosmetic concerns over biological impact, the hypocrisy of associating dentistry with biomedicine, a form of healing that prides itself on being concerned exclusively with biological results, becomes readily apparent.  

The use of fluoride and the American Dental Associations’ advocacy of water fluoridation has been shown to have effects on a patient’s mental well being that are still not fully understood, and yet the dental community embraces such practices without question (Johnston 2014).  Invasive surgeries and structural changes to the oral region, including braces and the ‘re-setting’ of the jaw bone, are undertaken for what appears to be much more of a social function rather than for a patient’s biological well being.  The confounding of whiteness with cleanliness and purity has resulted in the peeling away of enamel layers for patients whose teeth and oral regions are healthy by all other estimations. In light of such incongruities, it is perhaps not entirely surprising that modern journalists and investigators have been looking into the financial aspects of the dental care industry.  Alex Berenson of the New York Times, stated in his article Boom Time for Dentists, but Not for Teeth:

The dental profession’s critics — who include public health experts, some physicians and even some dental school professors — say that too many dentists are focused more on money than medicine. (Berenson 2007)

His findings showed that the quality of dental care/health was heavily dependent on socio-economic factors and the profits of the dental care industry did not match up to their achievements.  This might be an indictment of the economy in general but it would seem the dental community is especially exploitative.  Compounding this are spurious connections between the most credible dental organization in the land and the corporate sphere, with the American Dental Association receiving tremendous funds from corporations like Coca Cola, whose endeavors primarily result in tooth decay (and consequently higher dental expenditures per capita) (Burros 2003).

In an interview with a patient, I learned that after several appointments she not only failed to receive a remedy to her malady but that her problems had been generated by a dentist and orthodontist initially.  In order to ensure that her already beautiful smile remained intact, her family was persuaded to install braces on her teeth in her youth.  An expensive and experimental version of semi-permanent retainers was used in several regions on the rear of her teeth where they would not be seen.  Due to complications with her insurance, and because her retainers were so unique, 15 years later remnants of the braces remain intact and have been causing her gum line to recede.

Although said patient’s experiences have varied over the years, currently “Nothing is yet resolved,” (Interview).  Having experienced oral care at both lower and higher socio-economic levels, under various payment systems (disparate insurance plans as well as cash payments), the patient’s faith in the dental institution remains strong.  Even though she noted the complete lack of resolution (on an issue resulting from an unnecessary procedure) in her own words, the patient’s attitude about the dentist actually improved.  Having gone in with a, perhaps well earned, negative view of the discipline, without a significant improvement or results the patient plans to return to the Bright Now facility again.

The Bright Now facility was relatively higher end, and although they were not able to offer a different result than any other clinic, she liked them “a lot.  They were really knowledgeable.  And communicative.  They were very gentle with my mouth,” (Patient Interview).  This would seem to indicate that while general outcomes may differ little from facility to facility, there is a host of essentially more important factors to the patient which shape their appraisal of the service.  While the actual condition of the oral care is difficult to determine for many patients, they are able to assess their surroundings, the practitioner and his or her team, and the class of the other patients.

Could this be a form of cultural iatrogenesis, or a cultural problem (aesthetic association of orderly teeth with social position) being subsumed by the medical realm resulting in adverse effects on the patients’ health? By cloaking dental practitioners in white lab coats, are we stealing the hard won credibility biomedicine has earned for itself through practical results which have improved, extended, and increased human lives?  Are the waiting rooms, paperwork, and insurance tropes a necessity of oral care, or do they serve more to play on psychological cues that help to legitimize the dental practitioner by associating his process as a biomedical equivalent?  Does oral care truly need to be considered an inevitable and necessary eventuality, requiring employer subsidized insurance policies and massive political expenditures?  Perhaps these are too grand of questions for a single day observation to pose. While the all consuming nature of our capitalist economy has caused many to bemoan the ways in which fiscal concerns have shaped the American healthcare establishment, America’s dental industry is perhaps an inversion of this process.  A purely cosmetic product has been sold to consumers as a medical need and has ingratiated itself into the medical community to the point where the concerns of the American Dental Association supersede the contemporaneous warning of the American Medical Association in the eyes of the US Government.  Treatment, ordering of care, and payment are all conducted in the same manner as proper biomedicine (ie symbolic parallels like white lab coats, waiting rooms, record keeping, insurance, scrubs, etc…) and yet it is known as a thing apart. 

These symbols of care, which do not necessarily provide healing in an of themselves, have become so associated with healing that through the process of reification they have become endowed with elements of healing power themselves.  Reification is the shifting of a conceptual idea to an existent part of reality and vice versa, often through a process of commodification in capitalist societies.  Viewed in this light, the symbols of bio-medicine can be seen to have been commodified themselves into an element of care which has it’s own intrinsic value and, “profit no longer appears to be the result of a social relation, but of a thing,” (Taussig 1980).

This is not to imply that the dental practitioners themselves are hucksters or are even aware of the value they’ve added to their discipline by adopting such symbols.  As Taussig points out in Reification and the Consciousness of the Patient:

[…] doctors and the “health care providers” are no less immune to the social construction of reality than the patients they minister, and the reality of concern is as much defined by power and control as by colorful symbols. (Taussig 1980)

Although my interviews with the dental staff at Bright Now showed in no way an awareness that the clinical reality of their office was established through the borrowing of reified biomedical symbols, the fact that such a clinical reality exists and is being utilized by what amounts to a ‘semi’ medical discipline has implications for power and control that could be examined at greater length.

Further parallels can be drawn with Tober’s work concerning altruism in sperm donation, as Tober shows how a process that is essentially an economic transaction can become hidden in the guise of a gift:

The cultural values of of altruism attempt to decommodify the commodity – to remove semen from its exchange as a marketable product and redefine it as gift. (Tober 2001)

In the same way that the market for sperm donation uses the symbols and language of altruistic gift exchange to cloak a self serving exchange of goods, dentistry as a discipline has used the symbols and language of the legitimate and credible healing community to hide a commercial product (the purely aesthetic value of a ‘healthy’ smile) under the veneer of medical treatment. Throughout this semester, we have learned that healing is about more than the functional survivability of our physical body.  Any holistic approach to healing should deal not only with the physical but also the social and political bodies of a patient, and one might argue that the dentist is a healer who can be evaluated more for the social well being of it’s patients, but as Tober concludes about semen exchange, I find this argument “untenable” (Tober 2001).  What the dentist proclaims as healthy, actually emphasizes the aesthetic at the expense of a patient’s oral health, while garbing itself in the symbols of a discipline that has focused almost exclusively on the physical well being of it’s patients.  This hypocrisy is compounded by the fact that the physical ills which dentistry attempts to heal are cosmetic wounds identified (and therefore generated) by the very discipline itself: essentially dentistry creates a problem to match the solution it is offering to sell.  

I’ll end this paper by recalling the closing scene of the new Scorsese film Wolf of Wallstreet, where Jordan Belfort (the ultimate capitalist huxster) goes through an audience asking each member to sell him a simple pen.  He is waiting for one of these ‘salesmen’ to demonstrate the pen’s value by creating a need for the pen, as demonstrated by a hard core drug peddler earlier in the film.  While each member of the audience fails to make the connection, I can’t help but think Mr. Belfort would have had far better luck if his demonstration had been given to an ADA convention.  Upon closer inspection, I discovered that Jordan Belfort’s original career choice was to be none other than a yank-your-tooth-out dentist.

Works Cited: American Dental Association - ADA.org. (n.d.). American Dental Association - ADA.org. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://www.ada.org/ Berenson, A. (2007, October 11). Boom Times for Dentists, but Not for Teeth. New York Times. Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/business/11decay.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& Burros, M. (2003, March 4). Coca-Cola Foundation Grant to American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Draws Criticism. Philanthropy News Digest (PND). Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://www.philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/coca-cola-foundation-grant-to-american-academy-of-pediatric-dentistry-draws-criticism Garcia, A. (2010). The pastoral clinic addiction and dispossession along the Rio Grande. Berkeley: University of California Press. Johnston, P. (2014, March 25). Fluoride: Just when you thought it was safe to drink the water.... The Telegraph. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthadvice/10722701/Fluoride-Just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-drink-the-water....html

Rock, C. (Director). (2009). Kill the messenger [Motion picture]. United States: HBO Video. Taussig, M. T. (1979). Reification and the consciousness of the patient. Social Science & Medicine. Part B: Medical Anthropology, 14(1), 3-13. Taussig, M. T. (1980). The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Tober, D. M. (2001). Semen as Gift, Semen as Goods: Reproductive Workers and the Market in Altruism. Body & Society, 7(2-3), 137-160.

[americanshaman-blog1]

HALCYON: Initial Findings

I always enjoy working with small start ups, not only as an opportunity to get involved early on but also to be able to leave my mark. While Halcyon UAS ended up not getting off the ground (drone pun intended) due to operational challenges, I quite enjoyed my responsibilities as CTO including researching the industry and planning for the engineering department. Since the internal documents I generated for Halcyon will never be used, I’ve decided to upload a select few of them here in case there’s someone who might be able to find value in them.

General Overview

This report will examine Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) technology and it’s associated industry, discuss potential ways that Halcyon can exploit the existing level of said technology, and what strategies could be employed to advance that technology in a meaningful and financially viable way.

The report will begin by discussing the history, current status, and future of UAS technology in order to familiarize it’s readers with how industry is currently applying said developments and what possible innovations may be expected in the near future. Next, the industry and it’s participants will be briefly reviewed to demonstrate a relevant need and niche for Halcyon with in it as both a significant UAS Retail/Service provider and as UAS Software Development specialists. This will be followed by strategies and recommendations that Halcyon in particular will be able to realize.

Brief History of Drones as a Technology

A drone is a pilotless vehicle that is not a missile(1), and has at least some level of auto-stabilization/piloting incorporated(2) into it’s design. Generally associated with aircraft, specifically rotorcraft, drones can also be built for ground, water, tracks, and even extra-atmospheric travel. Although the majority of drone’s are still remote controlled by human operators, as the technology itself has advanced, remote control systems are more and more being replaced by smart autopilot and programmable navigation software.

The military applications of such a technology are obvious, and for such reasons drone technology was originally developed by national militaries for reconnaissance purposes, as decoy targets for anti-air weapons training, eventually combat, and even logistical maneuvers of light but high value(3) cargo. Although earlier attempts were made to weaponize drones, the first World War was where drones (and many other notable technologies) first saw consistent use and development.

By the time the US entered the conflict in Vietnam, drones had evolved from large pilotless aircraft to the much smaller sizes we are more familiar with today. Early ‘dumb’ pilot systems were employed for reconnaissance purposes, although these systems were highly limited(4) in their capabilities. Motivated by the relatively large loss of life in aerial combat during the Korean War, in the later Vietnam War drones were used(5) as much as their development at the time allowed. In the words of General John C. Meyer, “we let the drone do the high-risk flying […] the loss rate is high, but […] they save lives!”(6)

As consumer grade electronics and information technology brought more and more of what was once considered exotic military technology into the homes of middle class consumers, a hobby/

1 Although military grade drones like the infamous General Atomics Predator can deploy missiles, a drone itself is usually designed to be recoverable. 2 Requiring the distinction from standard remote control vehicles. 3 Anything from medical supplies to ammunition or intelligence. 4 Not much more than flying in a straight line or a circular pattern until fuel depletion. 5 3435 UAV missions flown, with 554 UAVs lost. 6 "Lightning Bugs and other Reconnaissance Drones; The can-do story of Ryan's unmanned spy planes” Wagner, 1982.

enthusiast community began to materialize around the technology. RC cars, radio controlled model aircraft, and video games have more than prepared the consumer and professional markets for the onset of relatively accessible drone technology. The technology’s popularity and the desire to own and operate drones can be attested to by the many cultural appearances in entertainment media(1) throughout the world, even as the number of actual drone owners remains relatively low.

The new millennium has seen more and more business interests attempt to exploit the nascent and developing technology, from former hobby and defense contractors to smaller specialized companies and individual engineers with a single (but often quite unique) design. As smaller companies are just beginning to develop standards in battery life, sizes, and software systems larger tech companies are holding off until financial viability is proven to enter the market. That is not to say that major corporations like AppleTM and GoogleTM have not already begun to invest in research and development(2), if not actually deploying products.

Existing Challenges and Opportunities

Recently, the biggest challenge UAS’s have faced as both a technology and consumer/professional product has been entirely non-technical. As drones become more available, inevitably moving towards an ubiquitous(3) commercial presence, the introduction of this technology to society at scale has not been without incident. A variety of recent UAS accidents(4) has been fodder for the fear mongering(5) that 24 hour news networks and the internet blogosphere exploit for ratings and page hits.

At this point, professional use of UAS’s (FAA designation: UAV, ICAO designation: RPA) is restricted to licensed operators. While some politicians have mentioned their concerns about drones(6), it remains to be seen if this will have any actual effect on the regulations that the FAA and FCC are generating. Even if actual legislation results from this media attention, it will likely have a positive impact on the industry as it will provide not only clarity going forward, but increase awareness in the general public of the commercial capabilities inherent in many of the UAS platforms already available.

The actual technical limitations current UAS technology is dealing with may be simpler to discuss, but their resolutions remain incredibly complicated to implement. Range, both in terms of fuel capacity(7) and controller range is a primary concern. Obviously, drones that rely solely on auto-pilot and programmed navigation do not need to worry about communications but these

1 Including films (Toys 1992, Stealth 2005, The Bourne Legacy 2012, etc…), video games (Call of Duty 2003,  F.E.A.R. 2005, This Means War 2014, etc…), and television shows (Stargate SG-1, Dark Angel, 24, etc…). 2 In 2014, Google announced that they had already been testing drone technology for years with programs like Google X. It would not be surprising if other large corporations not only kept their cards close to their chest in regards to UAS, but we should expect similar announcements to come out in the next 1-3 years. 3 Similar to other recent technologies: Personal Computing, IT Software, Internet Service, Social Media, Smartphones, etc… 4 Jan 2015: DJI Phantom crashed on White House lawn. Jul 2015: Firefighters interrupted during response to southern California wildfires by several hobbyist drones causing fears of collision. 5 Which is not to underestimate the effects this can have on public opinion, or the dangers implicit in such a technology. It is simply a reference to what I consider to be a hyperbolic response to these legitimate issues. 6 In Jun 2015, Senator Diane Feinstein(D-Ca) introduced the Bill to Improve Safety of Consumer Drones which requires specific safety features be incorporated. While many of these features are already being included pro- actively by manufacturers, upgrading existing models may be a profitable opportunity. 7 For most UAS’s this comprises battery consumption, conservation, and reduced weight/size.

are still highly underdeveloped and not yet common. Creating and perfecting such systems(1), is itself both a challenge the drone industry faces and an opportunity that software developers could exploit with proper motivation.

As the skies become more crowded, both unintentional and intentional interference will become an ever greater issue. Securing remote control communications(2) will be an area where existing practices(3) could be explored and tested for rapid integration. Load capacity will also become more of an issue as logistic businesses continue to explore(4) UAS’s as a delivery mechanism, since most conventional methods for dealing with said issue have already been recovered and incorporated from the standard aviation industry.

Peripherals have, up until recently, not been a major aspect of drone technology(5) but that is definitely changing. Although standardized attachment points(6) do not yet exist, the implications of such a development are manifest. Manufacturers dedicated solely to peripheral development will exist in the next five to ten years(7). Like many other aspects of UAS potential, the technology available is only beginning to scratch the surface.

Potential Avenues of Development

As a company, Halcyon has multiple vectors by which it can enter the UAS market. To be successful though, a sharp focus on a small number of these exploitable opportunities should be clearly designated. Eventually, more areas can be expanded into as Halcyon develops more of a presence and an experienced staff.

The emergence of software standards(8), manufacturer issued software libraries or software development kits (SDK), and robust development communities all indicate that the market is on the verge of being able to support pure software participants. While at this time, such an approach may be premature, the companies that will be dominant in drone specific software development are either forming now or will be in the next few years.

Utilities for interacting with common peripheral types, efficiency algorithms that can reduce battery consumption, remote control user interfaces, multi-drone management interfaces, and special function systems will all require software development and are likely to each be dominated by a single or handful of consumer/professional option(s).

Gaming applications(9) are likely to be the principal driver of both innovation and consumer sales, just as it was for personal computing and online networking. This report was only able to identify a single drone gaming SDK at the time of it’s writing, but once drone gaming becomes a known entity that will change very rapidly.

1 Specifically in regards to collision avoidance, designating no fly zones, self positioning, and smart task prioritization. 2 As well as developing smart auto-pilot systems to negate the need for said communications. 3 MIJI (Meaconing, Intrusion, Jamming, and Interference) protocols developed over decades by the Defense Department and existing network encryption protocols just for starters. 4 Amazon, DHL, and several smaller operations have already declared interests in cargo transportation (if they haven’t already begun testing/implementation). 5 Excluding some of the more obvious possibilities such as remote control interfaces and cameras. 6 Both for physically and digitally connecting peripherals to their drones. 7 A conservative, but realistic estimate. 8 See the Linux Foundation’s DroneCode and others listed in Spreadsheet Data. 9 Perhaps taking advantage of nascent augmented reality technology, as drones remain present outside the virtual world.

As has already been mentioned, peripherals for these devices should become an entire market unto themselves. While some of these peripherals will operate through purely mechanical means, the majority will be just a component of a complete system which will have at least some software aspect, if not a significant one.

When retail distribution points become more common, other services(1) are sure to become necessary. The first businesses that can focus on providing a comfortable or fun environment, technical proficiency, and quality customer service will not only find these areas profitable as ownership scales, but are likely to secure a dominant position in these fields going forward.

Other areas already being developed by commercial industry(2) include: agriculture, surveying, search and rescue, cinematography, aerial surveillance, border security, forest fire detection, conservation efforts, archaeological and forensic investigation, and crowd monitoring. Any one of these areas could be vulnerable to a new arrival on the market, as branding and product awareness remain in their infancy.

Industry Participants

Very few consumers have actually taken the step of buying a drone of their own so far, but this is likely to change rapidly over the next few decades. While most large corporate firms have been hesitant to commit to an untested product, several small to mid-size companies have been busy carving out clear niches for themselves. The most well known and significant companies are discussed here, as well as the eventual arrival of larger companies.

DJI

A clear industry leader, China’s DJI is at the top of the drone game and has every intention of cementing that position by focusing on quality control and technological innovation. That being said, their demand to have control/influence over development and distribution can make working with such a company difficult. DJI’s business strategy draws easy comparisons with very successful companies such as Apple and Nintendo, but those companies themselves have a complicated history with their own industries(3) depending on what stage of each industries’ development they were in and said companies’ competitive advantage.

DJI maintains tight controls over their hardware and software development. Attempting to leverage some of the advantages of open source while maintaining control over development stages has been a balancing act for DJI, but they’ve managed to navigate that tight rope by aping best practices of larger software companies (somewhat at the expense of those who develop for them). Anyone attempting to do hardware research with their products will certainly be aided by their Matrice-100 and Guidance testing hardware, but the fact that DJI is selling that hardware as if it were a fully developed drone platform makes any intense work with such hardware costly to the point of being prohibitive.

Their software developers face more austere challenges. Once again, DJI has developed

1 These include, but are not limited to: kit construction, component repair/replacement, software repair, software/firmware update distribution mechanisms, upgrading drone hardware, drone rentals/second hand sales, etc… 2 Of course, defense applications are also being developed but such areas may be difficult for a novice entity to gain entry to. 3 Many of the businesses who supported them quite loyally came to regret it (i.e. Adobe, Mac Clones, Sony, etc…).

reportedly stable and high quality SDK’s to make development easy, but only for those developers who can deal with DJI’s complicated, multilevel development licenses. Individual developers interested in accessing the full SDK must each register and be approved by DJI before access is granted. Next, each app being developed must be submitted for approval by DJI(1). If a developer does end up creating anything worth note, it may be incompatible with any other hardware platform, and DJI reserves the right to incorporate the software into their own line up and retains rights(2) to whatever software is developed.

While developing for DJI would be perilous, they have a variety of extremely popular retail products. Any retailer who plans to have commonly sought drone models in their inventory should stock DJI’s products on their shelves, but once again the onerous requirements they place on their distributors (while helping to maintain quality) make relying on them solely/early on problematic. My personal recommendation is to wait till after Halcyon already has an established sales base (and knows it can move DJI’s minimum necessary units) before entering into any commitments.

3D Robotics

Berkeley based 3D Robotics has quickly developed a reputation for excellent tech, with perhaps the most robust drone component offerings available and a high caliber product line. In 2014, 3D Robotics joined the Linux Foundation and several developers to establish the DroneCode project(3) in an effort to create a pre-eminent standard for drone open source software development. A major player in the global drone market, as well as in our local bay area, their proximity and desire to service the hobbyist market with any and all components necessary for constructing a drone make an affiliation with 3D Robotics a good choice.

As previously stated, both their original PX4 software and now DroneCode are open source and at this juncture seem likely to become the standard that most drone developers will follow going forward. This makes it a lot easier to develop for/with their community, and avoids any licensing or royalty issues. While it is still too early to know for sure if DroneCode will become the main/primary standard, it is the only software standard available with more than a single developer utilizing it.

Having a local supplier has obvious benefits to any drone retailer in our area. Furthermore, their large selection of component parts and peripherals offer significant options for both a hobbyist community and for Halcyon to be able to provide drone repair/modification/build services. Almost singlehandedly, 3DR provides all the inventory a retailer could want to stock(4).

Parrot

Although Drone technology is only one of the areas Parrot is moving into, it’s made a significant investment in the technology and that is reflected in it’s large and various offerings in the

1 Similar to Apple’s iOS and App Stores, however DJI is much more involved in the creative process and offers no distribution platform in exchange for adhering to their policies; ironically this practice puts them in violation of Apple’s development license and DJI risks a sudden loss of support/access to the macintosh community. 2 For purposes of charging licensing/royalties. 3 With the PX4 software they acquired and developed serving as the initial backbone of the open source repository. 4 Especially if that retailer also plans on developing software/hardware for said industry.

market. Leading it’s competitors in mini-drones and locomotive-drones, it also has several aerial lines covering both fixed wing and rotors all at some of the lowest price points in their bracket(1).

From a technical perspective, the companies’ incorporation of technology that it has developed in other industries(2) is very interesting. Swiss drone manufacturer senseFly was already leveraging their competitive advantage in long range mapping to become a standard in surveying and agricultural applications of drone tech before they were bought out by Parrot (in 2012), and the association has only furthered their technological advantage.

From a development stand point, they offer a lot of support and solid documentation for their own software libraries, but at this time it is uncertain if they will be adopting any of the developing standards(3) in the open source market. Developing for Parrot might require a dedicated effort that at our initial size may prohibit us from being able to work with other manufacturers’ code(4), and should probably be avoided until our development team is larger, or standards in autopilot software stabilize.

As a retail product, however, Parrot should not be dismissed. It’s reasonable prices and stylish form factors make solid performers like the Jumping Sumo and Rolling Spider a great seasonal offering. While lacking a good professional offering, their entire product line is highly developed, especially relative to their price, and geared towards accessibility.

Horizon Hobby (Blade)

Blade is Horizon Hobby’s main distribution point for drone and mini-drone products. Although Horizon has been in business(5) since 1985, their subsidiary was created when Drones started to distinguish themselves from standard Remote Control products.

Comparable to Walkera and Parrot, Blade distinguishes itself by maintaining a relatively closed platform. They maintain complete control over their production process, which aids them in maintaining consistent performance. From a development standpoint, however, they do not make any of their api’s or sdks accessible to an open source community. Nor do they offer limited support(6), making development of software for their products difficult at best.

At this point, Blade can only offer Halcyon products for distribution and resale(7). With most of it’s competitors offering either open source access to their software libraries or superior products at better price points, it’s hard to find a justification for working with Blade other than maintaining variety in Halcyon’s inventory. At least at present: if their closed development process yields an innovation that gives Blade a competitive advantage they are certainly positioned to take advantage of it going forward and they will need to be re-assessed.

1 Partially due to it’s having saved on R&D costs by purchasing already established drone manufacturer senseFly. 2 Hands free controls for dashboard interfaces in autos, HiFi wireless speakers, copyrighted noise reduction and echo canceling algorithms. 3 Linux Foundation’s DroneCode, Paparazzi, PX4, etc… 4 Unless Halcyon moves into game development, in which case Parrot already has Game Design SDK’s for their products available. 5 Specifically hobby remote control products like RC cars and helicopters. 6 As DJI does. 7 Although, they most certainly support retail lacking even an online distribution point of their own.

Hubsan

While they have many products available through online retailers, such as Amazon and eBay, at the time of this report’s writing (Sep 2015) although their website is a first hit when googled it returns a 404 error. There is also little information about the company itself easily available.

Guangzhou Walkera Technology (Walkera)

Like many of the companies mentioned here, Walkera can trace it’s origins to hobby RC helicopters, but it is one of the few manufacturers mentioned here that detoured through  defense industry development before becoming one of the leading consumer manufacturers. Primarily focused on MiniDrones(1) Walkera is following DJI’s lead (if not their example(2)) and has already snagged a significant share of the online consumer market and are expanding into the professional market.

Walkera is making a strong push into the US market, opening iUAS to serve as a US division with select product offerings geared more towards the developing consumer and professional markets. Their declared intentions to explore large scale cinematography, agriculture, and security applications, combined with their small but solid peripheral offerings might make an affiliation with Halcyon mutually beneficial. Unfortunately, at the time of this report’s writing, most of the development support Walkera offers seem to not exist for English speaking communities3, although this should change at some point in the near future. If we can ascertain how soon this will be(4), Halcyon could begin development with Walkera products rapidly.

While major online retailers remain the primary space for consumers to acquire drones, Walkera is working to establish it’s brand and presence through their own online store. Unfortunately for Walkera, their online store experience still leaves a lot to be desired, but this could be an opportunity for Halcyon as Walkera will likely have to sell most of their products in the US via third party distributors(5); but this may not make up for difficulties working with an out of country supplier. Regardless, they have come out with several stable consumer offerings.

Larger Corporate Interests

As smaller, dedicated drone manufactures prove the viability of UAS at both the consumer and professional levels, larger tech companies have been getting more and more anxious playing the waiting game. While many of these larger companies are working on their own internal R&D at this point(6), a few well know names (Google, Yamaha, Boeing, Lockheed, etc…) have begun to announce their on going research and product tests. While the current drone specific businesses are working hard to solidify their positions the entrance of such major players will have an undeniable impact on the market.

1 Specifically Micro Air Drones (MAV) as result of their contracts with China’s military and Chinese law enforcement. 2 Unlike DJI, Walkera is embracing an open source development approach to help them catch up to more established peers. 3 Which poses a serious problem for us, unless we can hire multilingual team members. This may not be a bad idea, considering China’s dominant position in our field. 4 And assuming that it will occur within the next year and incorporates a significant amount of standardized code (which is difficult to determine, but may already be the case). 5 DJI’s online store, for example, has allowed them to sell more directly, but still require significant third party support distributing their product. 6 Or sizing up which smaller niche providers they can swallow up and incorporate.

With many military drones being repurposed for commercial use, it is not surprising that the business community is looking towards traditional field players in defense(1), who have been responsible for the bulk of hardware development over the first 50-70 years of drone technology. This line of thinking is fundamentally flawed for several reasons(2), and will leave most investment news outlets once again explaining why they got it wrong(3) in the past tense.

The future of drone, and specifically UAS, business will be in commercial(4) products and the secondary industries that support and service them. This report expects large tech firms to leverage their pre-existing technology patents, marketing and distribution assets, and brand recognition to make large splashes in the market. The smarter, agile drone specialists like 3D Robotics and DJI will likely benefit at first, as the commercial market will broaden significantly, but if they do not remain vigilant many of them may be relegated to second or even third tier manufacturers rather quickly.

One presence, that has been quite overlooked by most media coverage, are the large scale auto manufacturers. Although consumers have been taught to think of driverless cars and drones separately, they are in fact one and the same(5) and require much of the same technology(6) being used by other drone companies. Whether these companies will challenge consumers’ notion of what a drone is, and how the drone industry will effect auto manufacturers remains as unclear as it is intriguing.

Overall Industry Assessment

2015 may well be remembered as the year of the drone. With commercial drone usage being opened by the government(7) more significant companies will begin to enter the market, looking to use their larger size and the advantages that brings to disrupt the status quo(8). Companies like DJI and 3D Robotics have certainly seen the writing on the walls, and rushed to solidify their market share and competitive advantage.

1 Such as Boeing, Lockheed and General Atomics. 2 These defense manufacturers are already highly invested in defense, and unlike the exception Walkera which got into defense after already establishing itself in the hobby market in China, they lack good consumer distribution points and no presence in the professional areas currently using UAS tech. Further, with the current dominant players in the arena not burdened with the more expensive initial R&D costs and establishing clear market presence, well known entities in defense will have a hard time rebranding themselves for this market. I could also point to the large tech corporations currently sitting on huge financial reserves, experience with both similar tech development and product sales, and the history of similar tech such as personal computing and the internet but that would be redundant at this point. 3 International Business Times in 2014 released an article by Christopher Harress titled 12 Companies That Will Conquer the Drone Market in 2014 and 2015 which was blatantly wrong. Focused, as one might expect, too much on defense the single business from that list with any presence whatsoever in the commercial market today was not only 12th on their list (DJI) but was already one of the dominant participants in the industry. Sadly, as in most tech areas, business news is a great place to hear about what happened in the past, not what will happen. 4 More in professional applications at first, but as drone technology and awareness improve expect to see a strong second wind from the commercial market. 5 If not actual UAS due to their use of locomotion over aviation. 6 Sometimes coming from the same initial producers (see Parrot). 7 At the start of the year, only a dozen or so companies exclusively involved in cinematography were granted FAA exceptions. In the last few months that number has quickly approached 1000. Further legislation from Washington is being looked at warily by many in the industry, but if history continues to repeat itself, the industry will see tremendous growth after such legislation is passed perhaps as a result. 8 This will have no small effect on the technical limitations the industry has currently come to accept.

This early into the technological development, however, the focus of all these businesses is on the core product itself (the actual UAS or drone) rather than the peripheral hardware and software. Almost all of the peripherals that exist are being developed by companies that also manufacture the drones themselves and the same is true of what little software is out as well. Much of this is a result of where the technology has been up until now(1), and the lack of standardization but this will inevitably change.

Drones were not the only technology to rise out of the ashes of the first World War. Time and again we’ve seen technology(2) follow the same trajectory of development and economic saturation. Large Defense contractors give way to smaller professional commercial companies, only to be replaced by large conglomerates rushing to meet the new consumer demand. Once a core product is ubiquitous however, the true potential(3) of a technology has only begun to be realized as whole new industries form to provide applications and functionality.

Rather than single companies providing every accessory and component, a balkanization occurs that allows product specialization to diversify a technology and increase it’s accessibility. Of course, developing these new products for existing and emerging UAS platforms will take time, effort, and a lot of hard work. As the drone industry itself matures, it will be enterprises that are focusing on this final stage now, that will become the premier brands in the future of what is sure to be one of the more prominent and lucrative commercial activities of the 21st century.

At the time of this report’s writing, most businesses in the UAS market have taken one of two approaches. Many highly specialized drone models(4) are being developed, supported, and sold independently by a single developer or small team; with the intent of leveraging the unique properties of that product into a full product line. Other businesses that enjoyed a pre-existing overlap with some aspect of UAS technology(5) have then either developed their own product line or purchased an existing company. The latter are currently the more dominant brands. It remains to be seen if they will be able to stave off the advances of larger commercial entities when they become more serious about carving out a share of the market.

Strategies for Further Developing Technology

Going forward demands for greater battery life/longer ranges, cost reductions (both to consumers and manufacturers), larger payload dimensions and weight, standardized mounts for peripheral attachments, peripheral attachments that can increase functionality, control devices, and improvements in performance, durability and reliability will be the focus of most hardware products. As the existing software libraries consolidate into one or several platforms expect to see navigation systems, pattern matching/recognition, user interface/control, communication and networking, encryption and security, safety measures/protocols/standards, collision avoidance, traffic management, “swarm” or formation programing/execution, data aggregation

1 Without a decent selection of consistently performing drones, developing a quality product for said industry is impossible. In addition, without an actual demonstrable market for drones there were no customers for support products and services. Companies like DJI and 3D Robotics are showing that such a market now exists. 2 Such as automotive, radio, computing, networking, and flight. 3 And, the profitability… 4 Like the makers of the aerial/amphibious Mariner series, the Lilly platform or the Game Of Drones  team etc… 5 Mainly hobby, RC, or consumer electronics. Oddly enough, Walkera stands out as one of the few defense contractors that was able to make the switch to commercial; however, it was only after starting as an RC company that had switched to defense and law enforcement.

and access, and even gaming will be just some of the areas where we can expect to see dramatic growth. These changes will only shift the weight of the technology more to consumer grade products as well as opening new professional and high end applications.

Recommendations

As the Halcyon family is already active in cinematography and public services, continuing activity in these areas should be capitalized on by expanding the current number of licensed operators. By collecting data on these users’ experiences and their products performance over time, Halcyon can utilize this as testing and market research for the development team to work on professional grade software and hardware peripheral solutions for Halcyon first and then the larger industry as a whole. Not focusing on developing a core platform, but instead working on products for existing UAS drones will dramatically reduce research and development costs and allow the development team to create products more rapidly that work for the platforms that users have already purchased.

The simultaneous deployment of an online store as a retail distribution point for both consumers and professionals will not only provide additional revenues but also allow us to collect data on user’s preferences and areas where they’d like to see further development. Eventually, having an actual physical presence at a commercial site(1) will not only dramatically expand Halcyon’s market to a community that wants to see and try out products before purchase, but will also allow us to make services such as repair, custom kit builds, drone modifications, etc… available to the local Bay Area.

Based on the company profiles previously discussed, this report recommends that Halcyon start with a mixed inventory of 3D Robotics and Parrot products; perhaps incorporating DJI after already establishing a clientele and more precise sales expectations. While the diversity of products (and components) offered by 3D Robotics will mean that we should carry many more types of their products(2), if we can open during or just before a seasonal period, and it’s requisite exposure to introductory users, we should end up ordering more units from Parrot in total(3) as they’ll be more popular with that customer base.

Perhaps the most exciting area for me to discuss personally(4), will be the software we will be focusing on once we’ve established core libraries, a suite of utilities, and at least one platform engine for the development team’s software. Peripherals developed by the hardware team will quite often require a software component, while robust mobile apps and cloud accessible professional and consumer applications can be released independently. Further, I am expecting the gaming software we’ve previously discussed(5) to not only be highly successful and just plain enjoyable, but it will(6) undoubtedly be a driver of sales. Especially if after promoters demo a single player game for their friends and tell them about a multiplayer game he saw Halcyon coming out with in the future.

1 While I won’t get into the marketing ideas discussed about Halcyon work environments in detail, I will say that I am looking forward to wearing a flight suit or coveralls to work again ;). 2 70 - 100% of our offerings. 3 55% of our inventory. 4 Which is saying a lot considering my general appreciation for drone technology as a whole. 5 Which employs augmented reality filters to transform set sized areas like football fields or basket ball courts into courses, arenas, historical recreations, etc… 6 As gaming has done for television, personal computing, network bandwidth, etc…

- Click here for the appendices: Manufacturers & Software Libraries -

Title: Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Overall Responsibilities

Focused primarily on scientific and technical issues, the CTO will manage the development teams (software and hardware) and direct the company’s research direction.

Daily Duties

Coordinate with Development Team to ensure progress remains on track to reach deployment goals as specified by the CTO.

Provide other officers with any technical information they require for the performance of their duties.

Weekly Duties

Assist the Development Team with their software and hardware projects; assure the quality of said projects.

Approve any and all irregular expense requests.

Review completion and performance reports.

Report any major delays in development cycle to COO, and work to resolve expeditiously.

Monthly Duties

Assess both industry competition and partners in the areas of technological development, pacing, or significant product/service releases.

Approve any new hires to the development team’s core membership.

Quarterly Duties

Review regular and irregular expenditures.

Approve project budget proposals and submit to CFO.

Report on development progress with Board Members.

Annual Duties: Supervise and conduct safety training.

Ensure all staff members have maintained appropriate technical certifications.

[americanshaman-blog1]

HALCYON: Inventory Report

I always enjoy working with small start ups, not only as an opportunity to get involved early on but also to be able to leave my mark. While Halcyon UAS ended up not getting off the ground (drone pun intended) due to operational challenges, I quite enjoyed my responsibilities as CTO including the planning for the engineering department and researching the industry. Since the internal documents I generated for Halcyon will never be used, I’ve decided to upload a select few of them here in case there’s someone who might be able to find value in them.

Premise

The purpose of the following material is to aid Halcyon in determining which drone makes and models to purchase for resale inventory. This report will focus on 3D Robotics, DJI, and Parrot as our primary resale options, although it here acknowledges that micro developers and other alternatives do exist for future expansion. Aside from GoPro cameras and flash storage media, at this time there is very little third party peripheral support, but future research will be needed as it develops.

3D Robotics (3DR)

3DR is North America’s top drone manufacturer, based right here in the East Bay. Their existence has really been one of the few reasons that DJI has not completely monopolized the consumer drone market. With a long term forward thinking approach, 3DR has positioned itself well for the entry of larger players into the industry by developing the best and only truly open source navigation software (Pixhawk/DroneCode), making development partnerships with peripheral manufacturers (most notably GoPro), and offering both full scale and specialized models alongside component parts for DIY repair and builds.

As they have been developing their drone technology, 3DR has been seen as a solid manufacturer slightly behind DJI in reliability and performance. However, their efforts to catch and surpass DJI have been greatly aided by their decision to embrace the open source community with DroneCode, a joint venture with the Linux Foundation. Their new premier offering, the Solo, clearly shows they’ve been listening to their customer base and responded to performance and capability requests, as well as working out a new sharper body design after learning how important the aesthetic can be to the consumer market.

Solo w/3-Axis Gimbal

The pinnacle of 3DR’s consumer grade line up is clearly the Solo. Designed in partnership with GoPro to take advantage of the features offered by the HERO4 camera in flight (a unique and valuable utility), the Solo also features a powerful but simple controller + smartphone app combo that allows for various cinematic flight routines as well as programmable one touch navigation buttons. Standard for all current 3DR systems is the Pixhawk 2 flight controller and a smart battery. HDMI and WIFI are also built in, while video capture is recorded directly to smartphone camera roll, making it relatively easy to edit/share/distribute footage immediately. The Solo can be purchased as a separate platform or with the 3-Axis Gimbal included.

Iris+

3DR’s introductory model, the Iris+ is a stable and sturdy platform priced to sell. It supports the Tarot T-2D Brushless Gimbal Kit and/or LiveView Kit for GoPro, coupling robust video capture and stabilization with 3DR’s relatively easy to control and command Pixhawk 2 auto-pilot and navigation programming. Current 3DR systems come with Follow Me, Automatic Mission Planning, and Flight Protection features. Everything you need to get started, right out of the box.

Aero

Not all drones use rotors to fly, and the Aero demonstrates the inherent advantages a traditional fixed wing design incorporates. With nearly twice the battery life of other 3DR models, the Aero offers a great option for surveying, SAR, agriculture, security, or any application that requires longer time in the air, and greater distances to cover. As fixed wings are more likely to have a collision, the Aero has been equipped with a fairly sturdy design that can tolerate a decent amount of wear and tear. The Aero’s wings connect to it’s fuselage via rubber bands, increasing the chance that the wings will be preserved on impact by snapping off and then being easily re-attached.

X8+

Previously, the X-8 served as the main chassis for both 3DR’s consumer and commercial rotor drone offering, but with the introduction of the Solo it’s consumer version seems to be redundant. That being said, it is the only rotor drone offered with a mapping module or M designation. It can also be fitted with a gimbal, and possibly more attachments, making the X8+ the most versatile model in 3DR’s product line. With it’s relatively low battery life, unpopular frame design, and higher price compared to the Solo and other models that out perform the X8+, it seems likely to be the last of 3DR’s X-series. We expect to either see the Solo or an entirely new design snagging the X-8’s M designation.

M Designations

Both the Aero and X-8 are offered with an M designation for mapping (the Aero-M and X8-M respectively), which comes with a surveying package which includes:

Canon S100 with custom 3DR EAI software and fixed mount.

Pix4Dmapper Mosaic 3DR Edition (Windows only).

Spektrum DX7s radio control.

An extra model specific battery (in addition to the single included battery).

Travel Case, fit to accommodate the larger sensor package.

Ground station radios in 433 or 915 MHz.

This package designation pushes it’s corresponding model’s capabilities and prices well into the Commercial grade. The absence of an OS X/Linux compatible version of the Pix4Dmapper software may offer us an opportunity to port the current software over. It is also available as a separate software package, priced nearly as much as a full M-Designation drone and package itself.  As drones move into other industries, it is possible that 3DR will offer other designations (i.e. an “A” class for agricultural uses or “S” class for Search and Rescue).

DJI

Chinese company DJI is a clear industry leader in drone technology, however they have employed a risky strategy in regards to development. Attempting to control every aspect of their development and distribution has resulted in a ‘my way or the highway’ reputation that is not undeserved. That being said, uniting the development of camera, gimbal, drone platform and user interface as one system offers some serious performance and deployment advantages. Up until now, DJI has leveraged that edge to be the most successful manufacturer to date.

Further, they’re relatively strong software libraries are available to developers, but DJI does retain creative control and rights to said development which has left the majority of independent and hobby developers working on open source options (the largest and most successful project being the DroneCode joint venture between 3DR and the Linux Foundation). It remains to be seen if such an approach will alienate third party development, and whether or not that will cripple DJI’s dominance of the market, but as alternatives like 3DR and Parrot prove themselves comparable and larger corporate entities start to enter the market (i.e. Amazon, Google and the auto industry) it will certainly prove challenging.

Phantom 3 Standard

DJI’s iconic flagship, the Phantom series is one of the most popular drone model lines yet. The baseline model, the Phantom 3 Standard out performs similarly priced models: at just one hundred dollars more than 3DR’s Iris+ and two hundred dollars more than Parrot’s Bebop and yet it is a far more reliable and popular model.

Phantom 3 Professional/Phantom 3 Advanced

For those who want all the frills and options they’ll need out of the box, DJI offers both the Phantom 3 Professional and the Phantom 3 Advanced. The primary difference between the two models is the equipped camera and the effect it has on flight performance, with the Phantom 3 Pro sporting a 4k camera and the Phantom 3 Advanced  retaining the standard HD 2.7k camera. The Pro also comes with a 100W battery charger for faster turn around times. Both models include removable lens and a slightly more useful controller than the standard.

Inspire 1

Soon to be replaced by the upcoming Inspire 2, there’s no doubt that DJI is ready to put the overly hyped Inspire 1 behind them. Aimed at being a sleek midrange offering, the Inspire is more expensive than most consumer options but cheaper and less capable than a commercial grade drone. If it had not incurred a reputation for performance and maintenance issues, the Inspire might have carved out a new niche as a high end consumer model, but that does not seem to be the case. The much anticipated Inspire 2 is purportedly DJI’s answer to most of the issues unaddressed in the Inspire 1, but until it is released, the Inspire 1 remains DJI’s black sheep useful only to more experienced users.

Spreading Wings S series

The Spreading Wings S series is a line of octocopters built for commercial use, specifically professional cinematography. It’s 8 powerful arms can carry very high load capacities while maintaining the stability a camera platform requires. Far cheaper than other rotor designs with similar capabilities, the S series has a variety of model options from spartan to feature rich, and makes one wonder just why DJI is competing against itself with the far less desirable Inspire 1.

Parrot

The eurozone is not to be overlooked in the development of drone technology, and French manufacturer Parrot is making strides in cheaper lower end entertainment and mini drones with little to no commercial utility. They are perhaps the only significant drone retailer that is offering ground/wheeled drones in their mini line.

Definitely a departure from the more traditional drone manufacturers, Parrot drones are geared towards entertainment and have a more polished form factor, at a considerable expense to performance. While Parrot drones have little to offer enterprise and professional clients, they would provide a far wider range of introductory offerings and price points for the consumer inventory, which would be an initial focus as we get our distribution points up and running. Furthermore, they embrace open source development which would allow software development a mutually beneficial option.

Bebop Drone w/Skycontroller

While most of Parrot’s product line is geared more towards the pure entertainment value of controlling a drone, the Bebop is an attempt to provide an equivalent to consumer models like 3DR’s Iris+ and DJI’s Phantom Standard. When coupled with Parrot’s Skycontroller the Bebop actually becomes more expensive than both models (although the Iris+ does not have a camera mount standard), but the device can also be controlled with just an iOS or Android device and is the safest drone to fly in doors in it’s price range. While it’s battery life and outdoor performance leave much to be desired, it might become a viable introductory level option with further development.

Rolling Spider

Parrot really shines when it comes to fun toy like applications and the Rolling Spider serves as a great example. Quite a performer for a mini-drone, the Rolling Spider is equipped with a camera and able to handle out door flight. When you attach the relatively large axel and wheels, the Rolling Spider earns it’s name able to roll on the floor or the ceiling. Offered in a variety of colors, the Rolling Spider has 8 mins of battery life and is controlled via Parrot’s iOS/Android app.

A.R. Drone 2.0 (Elite, Power, GPS)

The most well known drone, and probably the most popular non-mini drone, Parrot offers is the A.R. Drone series. Although it’s camera, engines, and intelligence is not as advanced as the Bebop or anything DJI or 3DR is releasing the A.R. Drone 2.0 enjoys extremely high customer satisfaction and is great for indoor and limited outdoor (winds below 15 mph) activity. Supports gaming applications with a small selection of titles.

Airborne Cargo/Airborne Night

The Airborne mini drone frame comes in a variety of colors and styles. The Airborne Cargo has Lego attachments and comes with one of two lego characters. The Airborne Night has three different color themes and justifies it’s slightly higher price by including a set of head lights. Fun for indoor use, but outdoor use is extremely limited.

Hydrofoil

Absolutely the only aquatic based drone this report will discuss, Parrot’s Hydrofoil includes an entire aerial mini drone that can be flown separately, but is intended to serve as the aquatic mode’s propulsion system.

Inventory Recommendations

3DR’s Solo will be a must have for any retail offering, especially if DJI’s Phantom series is not available. It’s list price will be prohibitive for some consumers, but the Iris+ would be a great introductory offering at a much more accessible price. If I were to speculate, I’d imagine that the Solo would interest a large number of our clients in acquiring a drone (serving as a draw for business that can demonstrate drone technology’s potential), but I’d expect that a majority would choose the Iris+ after comparing the two price points. The Aero would round out this line up well, offering a fixed wing option with nearly twice the battery range of the rotor models.

The X8+ would really have no clear role or place in this line up, and would probably just eat into sales of the Solo rather than bringing in any new clientele. Notably, 3DR offers a significant amount of component parts with a relatively substantial DIY section on their website. It may be entirely possible to purchase and assemble drone models from this offering. It remains unclear if the larger profit margin would be greater than the additional assembly, packaging, and warranty costs. I would recommend further research and a report on the custom build option with a cost/benefit analysis after we’ve established consistent retail numbers.

Due to the difficulties we’ve already faced in supporting DJI in both retail and development, it may be advisable to not carry any of their products until we’ve established a client base and have firm sales expectations. That being said, it would be difficult to not offer DJI’s Phantom series in this market, although if their dominance falters in the face of competition it may not be necessary to support DJI going forward. If supporting DJI becomes a possibility, the bulk of consumer purchases will be the Phantom and Inspire series (although it may be best to avoid the Inspire series as it will be both popular and problematic, risking high level of customer dissatisfaction).

If retail performs at a level that would support commercial offerings, the Spreading Wings S series would be an asset to the retail inventory. They outperform other models in their price range, are designed around cinematography, and can be configured for relatively heavy payloads. At this time DJI does not report max altitude and speeds, but for it’s purposes it would be hard to imagine performance demands exceeding its capabilities. The eight engine design does place significant demands on energy consumption, with battery life maxing out at around 15 minutes in ideal conditions.

While Parrot’s offerings are hardly comparable to 3DR or DJI they expand our retail coverage through the introductory ranges and well into the toy and even impulse buying range. The A.R. Drone 2.0 series is quite popular, mostly due to it’s control via smartphone devices and it’s association with the iPhone. The Bebop drone can operate on the same interface, but when coupled with Parrot’s range enhancing Skycontroller it is at least in the same ball park as 3DR’s Iris+ or DJI’s Phantom 2 v3.

Notably, Parrot’s designs are not just fun to use but incorporate entirely unique features such as lego attachments, wheeled drones, and even a hydrofoil design. While many of these mini drones have trouble performing outdoors or at range, the entertainment value makes these products great as gifts, especially for younger/novice users. From a development standpoint, Parrot is the only manufacturer with gaming software included, and they are attempting to build an open source community for such applications.

Inventory Breakdowns

The following breakdowns display potential product line ups for our retail inventory. Until we ascertain or negotiate our profit margins with each manufacturer it is not possible to know exact profits, but each set compares models’ list prices against number of units out of every hundred sold to determine the percentage of gross drone model sales. If we assume that all models in our inventory are being sold at the same profit margin (which may not be the case), then the percentage of gross would be equal to the percentage of net earnings from drone sales.

One-of-Each-Type Only This offering has very limited options, but would result in higher volume by product as there is little to no functional overlap and offers the highest gross yield.

3DR Solo w/3-Axis Gimbal         $1399.95   #20   =   35.6% 3DR Aero                                    $1350.00   #08   =   13.8% Parrot Bebop w/Skycontroller    $899.99     #28   =   32.1% Parrot A.R. Drone 2.0 Power      $369.00    #36    =   16.9% Parrot Hydrofoil                          $159.00   #08     =    01.6%

Seasonal Start If Halcyon is able to get a distribution point online in time to take advantage of the seasonal shopping period, this line up would be geared towards gift/toy market advantages.

3DR Solo                                    $999.95 -  $1399.95     #08   =   23.7% 3DR Iris+                                                      $599.99       #15   =   22.2% 3DR Aero                                                      $1350.00    #04   =   13.3% Parrot Bebop                             $499.99 -   $899.99      #09   =   11.1% Parrot Rolling Spider                                    $99.99        #18   =   04.4% Parrot A.R. Drone 2.0 Power                        $  369.00    #12   =   10.9% Parrot A.R. Drone 2.0 GPS                           $  349.00    #08   =   06.9% Parrot Airborne Cargo                                  $    99.99    #19   =   04.7% Parrot Hydrofoil                                            $  159.00    #07   =   02.7%

Efficient Option Similar to ‘One-of-Each-Type’ but with slightly more introductory/low end coverage.

3DR Solo                                  $999.95 -   $1399.95   #15   =   27.1% 3DR Iris+                                                     $  599.99   #19   =   17.5% 3DR Aero                                                    $1350.00   #09   =   18.7% Parrot Bebop                            $499.99 -   $  899.99   #16   =   16.6% Parrot A.R. Drone 2.0 Power                      $  369.00   #30   =   17.1% Parrot Hydrofoil                                          $  159.00   #11   =   02.9%

Optimistic Volume Geared towards a high volume expectation, this line up also includes DJI (however, the first 100 units will not meet DJI monthly sales minimum).

3DR Solo                                 $999.95 -   $1399.95   #06   =   11.0% 3DR Iris+                                                    $  599.99   #08   =   07.8% 3DR Aero                                                   $1350.00   #03   =   06.6% 3DR Aero M                                               $5400.00   #02   =   17.5% DJI Phantom 3 Standard                           $  699.00   #09   =   10.2% DJI Phantom 3 Professional                      $1259.00   #06   =   12.1% DJI Spreading Wings s900                        $1400.00   #02   =   04.5% DJI Spreading Wings s1000                      $1900.00   #02   =   06.2% Parrot Bebop                          $499.99 -   $  899.99   #07   =   07.0% Parrot A.R. Drone 2.0 Power                    $  369.00   #10   =   06.0% Parrot A.R. Drone 2.0 GPS                       $  349.00   #06   =   03.4% Parrot Airborne Cargo                              $    99.99   #16   =   02.6% Parrot Airborne Night                               $  129.99   #16   =   03.4% Parrot Hydrofoil                                        $  159.00   #07   =   01.8%

[americanshaman-blog1]

HALCYON: Development Strategies

I always enjoy working with small start ups, not only as an opportunity to get involved early on but also to be able to leave my mark. While Halcyon UAS ended up not getting off the ground (drone pun intended) due to operational challenges, I quite enjoyed my responsibilities as CTO including the planning for the engineering department and researching the industry. Since the internal documents I generated for Halcyon will never be used, I’ve decided to upload a select few of them here in case there’s someone who might be able to find value in them.

Premise

This report will examine several key aspects of software engineering, Halcyon’s planned developmental infrastructure and its strategy for implementing and growing into said infrastructure in order to explain Halcyon’s organizational plan for Software Development. At the end of this document is an appendix with standard operating procedures for the Engineering Department leadership positions.

Software Development Process (SDLC) Known variously as the software development life cycle, system development methodology or the Software Development Process, an SDLC is an organizational work flow to help manage the component phases of software development. At Halcyon, the SDLC is organized into six steps that repeat upon conclusion: at the end of the Defend step, a new software version of the product will be Designated if support is to be continued. Frosh and JV teams will be required to employ Halcyon’s 6-D’s, while Varsity teams will have flexibility to utilize more advanced/complicated development systems if necessary (see Structured v. Extreme Coding, below).

Designate Initially, Halcyon’s development leadership will Designate a software development application. This will involve analyzing a problem to be solved or identifying a need by users or market niche. External to the team, market research is conducted in the Designate phase for performance and feature requirements, initial product branding analysis, and to propose a distribution strategy.

Design In the Design stage the software’s development is planned at both high and low levels, then balkanized into development modules so as to estimate development times. Using Business Model Integration (see figure) the software design will be divided into a Process Model focused on the end user’s experience and a Data Model in which data objects, types and structures used by the process are prepared. Derived from both will be a Requirements Document explaining what applications the software will have, although specifically not how that will be achieved. At the conclusion of the Design phase the Project Manager should know which modules will be implemented by which team member and when each module should be concluded.

Develop During the Develop stage the team will implement the code according to the software design hosted on a source repository. First pass documentation and alpha level testing will occur at this stage while each team member works on their modules. Project Managers will be responsible for their team keeping pace with expectations set in the Design stage, and to report any delays or issues that cannot be resolved at the team level.

In order to facilitate cohesive development source repositories will be maintained in a version control system, although it is expected that the bulk of coding will occur in an individual team member’s appropriate IDE. All development shall be test driven, with Unit Tests made available to all team members.

Debug In the Debug stage the development team will build, integrate and test the software for quality assurance. Revision control systems will be employed, but ultimately the Project Manager will be responsible for coordination and bug proofing. Peer analysis and beta testing will be completed at the conclusion of the Debug stage.

Deploy Although a considerable portion of the Deploy phase occurs external to the development team, said team will be available to assist/facilitate distribution of software release for consumer/commercial consumption and to generate release and end-user documentation. Final market/brand analysis, release approval and distribution into product environment will be implemented externally from the development team, but during the Deploy stage.

Defend After the product of development has been released, a Project Manager will be assigned to maintain and support software with security, bug fixes, and feature/interface updates. This manager will not necessarily have been involved in the previous stages, although it is preferred when possible. The Division Head overseeing development will be responsible for the product of development at this stage and will establish product support channels, schedule update releases, and designate new module assignments.  

Structured v. Extreme Coding The previous 6-D’s follows a structured or more traditional SDLC approach. Varsity teams will have the option of utilizing more agile development systems (such as Prototyping, Scrum, Spiral, etc…). Extreme Coding systems are intended to improve quality and responsiveness in real time usage with frequent releases in short development cycles. Certain applications will have a requirement for these more flexible systems, such as web, cloud or other server based applications which can also incorporate long term support for systems advancing to scale.

In any instance when a Varsity team intends to deviate from the standard SDLC the team’s Project Manager will need to submit an SDLC Deviation report to their Division Head. Said report will detail the ways the team will interact with external elements for tasks that would traditionally take place during Designate, Deploy and Defend stages. This report must be approved both by Division Head and CTO.

Documentation Passes At Halcyon, our software development will highly emphasize portability and cooperative coding. All software being developed will be documented, but in order to balance the need for rapid implementation with readability, documentation will occur in multiple passes. Each developer will have a minimal level of comments for each method/function/field implemented, which they will update for internal usage in the First Pass during the Develop stage. At the conclusion of the Peer Analysis conducted by a fellow team member in the Debug stage, said peer will perform a Second Pass to make documentation readable for external usage. During the Deploy stage a Final Pass will be conducted by either a team member or a qualified technical writer depending on the scale/scope of said project.

Halcyon Specific Formatting Style Halcyon software will be written in camel case, adopting most industry conventions with few exceptions to increase readability. When naming non-primitive variables, they are named after type and/or function to facilitate decomposition. When enclosing code segments with curly braces, the open brace should never be on it’s own line and the closing brace should only occupy it’s own line to prevent multiple closing braces on the same line.

Department Structure The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will establish and run the Engineering Department, eventually composed of multiple relatively small classrooms (see figure). Initially, the CTO will serve as the only Division Head and Project Manager. As necessary, the CTO will participate directly in the development process.

Classrooms Each classroom is lead by a Division Head that reports directly to the CTO and is relatively small, comprised of only three teams. Paid interns and provisional hires in each classroom will make up their Frosh Dev Team, principally focused on training while also able to take on easier modules from the Service Queue. More experienced hires and veteran members of the classroom will comprise the JV Dev Team, which fully participates in the Service Queue. The Varsity Dev Team represents the more talented members of their classroom, responsible for the most crucial and difficult tasks in the Service Queue and able to adapt to extreme coding systems.

An entire classroom can be focused on a single product’s development, a component of a product or multiple products at the discretion of the CTO. Each Division Head will organize their assignments into a Service Queue and will coordinate with their Project Managers to clear assignments from the queue. As previously discussed, the Varsity Dev Team will coordinate with their Division Head as to which software development process will be employed, while all other teams will follow the 6-D’s.

All Frosh Dev Teams are also members of the Training Division. It’s Division Head will coordinate and run the Developer Training Program with each Frosh Project Manager assisting in instruction. As such, Frosh Project Managers should be chosen from the most well informed managers, able to instruct and mentor.

Development Team Each Development Team will be lead by a Project Manager that reports directly to the Division Head. Managers coordinate and hold accountable the team’s Core Members, Specialists, and Support Staffers.

Core Members Members of a classroom whose skill set will be necessary for each project the classroom will task are Core Members. Generally these will be software engineers with C-Family certifications (i.e. C++, Java, Objective-C, Python, etc…) and are likely to possess multiple certifications.

Depending on a classroom’s focus however, Core Members might include web/mobile developers, graphic artists, assembly coders or others that traditionally serve as Specialists, if their skill set matches up with that classroom’s focus.

Until and unless a classroom is re-tasked by the CTO, Core Members will remain in their classroom; although their team assignment can be changed by the Division Head based on Core Members’ performance and the current Service Queue.

Specialists Members of a classroom whose skill set is not crucial to a classroom’s focus are Specialists, and can change classrooms and development teams as they are needed. C-Family engineers would be Core Members rather than specialists, but any other skill set required for a project’s completion but not directly related to the classroom’s focus would be Specialists. This could include consultants, or outsourced segments, but when at all possible externals will be avoided.

Support Staffers Support Staffers represent development team members that are not serving as developers, and like Core Members they remain with their classroom until it is re-tasked and their Division Head can modify their team assignment based on Support Staffers’ performance and the current Service Queue. These are often important skill sets, and can range widely depending on the classroom focus. Possible positions include Technical Writers, Aeronautical Engineers, Testers, Industry Experts, etc…  

Developer Training Program Here at Halcyon we want to be a proving ground, where people are given opportunities to demonstrate talent while maintaining accountability and maximizing performance. Therefore we will not exclusively focus on hiring industry tested professionals (although they certainly will have a place with our Varsity Dev Teams and in our management hierarchy), and our Developer Training Program will serve as a great way to make ourselves accessible to entry level technical staffers.

Assessment Every heroes’ quest must begin with a test, and Halcyon’s Developer Training Program is no different. We will assess the abilities of applicants and new hires rigorously, ensuring that each individual ends up in the right place in the program; where they can be challenged but not overwhelmed (see below, for details about different training levels). We also track technical growth and the performance of our program by conducting both an initial and exit assessment.

Our assessment has five stages, in order to achieve a holistic/comprehensive understanding of the assessed’s potential. It begins when a submission is received which includes a resume and a short essay. The resume will be examined for previous experience, credentials and work history. The short essay will be evaluated to measure communication skills, general level of excitement and personal outlook.

After each submission is received, the applicant will be scheduled for an evaluation (60% multiple choice, 40% algorithms) and a short joint interview. The evaluation will assess technical proficiency and the short interview will focus on an applicant’s ability to be a team player and whether they are open to instruction. The final stage of the assessment will be a team project where multiple applicants will coordinate and work together to come up with both a problem and a plan to resolve it.

Level 1) Unpaid Internship Program The Level 1 program is designed for those with little to no programming background. In the first few weeks, trainees will be exposed to Halcyon’s internally developed simple navigation mode. Trainees will have hands on experience programming drone navigation using a select number of simple commands that are also Java compatible.

After trainees have had a chance to get comfortable, the class will shift focus to traditional Java development with training routines that emphasize programing methodology in the middle weeks. The program will conclude with preparation for Oracle’s Java SE 8 Programmer I 1Z0-808, and finally each trainee that passes their exit assessment will receive a grant for their certification exam.

Level 2a) Documentation Writing I During Level 1 training, each trainee will spend one week undergoing additional training on proper code commenting and documentation. Trainees will still be responsible for the material being taught in their standard Level 1 training that week, in addition to learning about Javadocs and HTML 5 + PHP comments/documentation. However, the week they miss will reflect an area where the trainee has demonstrated strength in either the Level 1 program or in the initial assessment, to prevent the trainee from falling behind.

Level 2b) Documentation Writing II During Level 3 training, each trainee will spend one week undergoing additional training on proper code commenting and documentation. Trainees will still be responsible for the material being taught in their standard Level 3 training that week, in addition to learning about Objective-C and Swift comments/documentation. However, the week they miss will reflect an area where the trainee has demonstrated strength in either the Level 3 program or in the initial assessment, to prevent the trainee from falling behind.

Level 3a) Paid Internship Program For trainees that have demonstrated a certain level of competence in either Java specifically, or another language from the C-family, the Level 3 training program offers the advance technical knowledge said trainee will need to be productive in the Halcyon workforce, as well as other similar development programs in our industry.

The first portion of the class focuses on I/O, data management and networking topics in Java, as well as xml parsing. The second portion of the Level 3 program will see the trainees divided into either a Java or Cocoa development path for specialized training with a focus on certification (once again, approved applicants will receive a grant for the cost of their certification). In the final portion of Level 3, the two separate training paths will come back together as the class cooperates as one team to learn about Halcyon’s SDLC while taking on small modules from the Service Queue as members of a Frosh Dev team. All graduates will receive preferential hiring if they choose to join us at Halcyon.

Level 3b) New Hire Program New hires to the company who lack a proven work record can still be productive members of our team while ensuring they have the necessary training they might be lacking from our Level 3 training program. All new hires (without an exceptional level of experience in their field or having graduated from Level 3a) will under go the same assessment process mentioned above, and unless their results are exemplary they will only come on as a provisional hire.

For the first two portions of the Level 3 program, each new hire will only be required to attend weeks that they are deemed to need follow up training. In the final portion, new hires will join the current Level 3a trainees to learn about Halcyon’s SDLC while taking on small modules from the Service Queue as members of a Frosh Dev team. After completing the program, new hires will be classified as permanent employees and will be promoted to a JV or Varsity Dev team depending on their performance in the program and their exit assessment.

Scaling Strategy It should be obvious that this plan is very forward looking. We expect to be up to full capacity in a five year period; however access to funding, availability of staff, and industry performance could each accelerate or delay our expectations. While it is difficult to determine with a high degree of accuracy the amount of time required, future growth can be broken down into three distinct phases.

Initially, our primary focus will be establishing the first Varsity Dev team. We expect a six month building period as we collect the right people, foster a corporate culture and begin to fulfill the Service Queue. This team may include entry level developers, but the primary focus on building this team will be seeking out and proving leadership skills so that as we expand we have the ability to promote and train from within.

By the end of our first year, it is our goal to have at least one fully operational development team participating in the Service Queue. The next phase of our growth should be principally geared towards establishing the first full classroom. With one team operational and lead by a Project Manager, leadership will be able to switch it’s focus to building the first JV Dev team while preparing to initiate the Developer Training Program. With some determined preparation, we hope to have the first full classroom with Varsity, JV, and Frosh Dev teams up and running within two more years.

At the beginning of our fourth year, Halcyon’s first full classroom should be operational and lead by a Division Head, with leadership grooming a permanent Division Head for the Developer Training Program. Development periods should begin to shorten and our product quality is expected to increase quickly as multiple dev teams operate as a single classroom and best practices firmly take hold. Over the next several years expansion could occur rapidly if we are able to bring in experienced professionals to work alongside the resulting hires from the Developer Training Program, possibly reaching three to five fully operational classrooms at the end of our first five years.

Future Reports The following reports may be necessary, if this plan is approved.

Assessment Tests Both the initial and exit assessments should be prepared with evaluation parameters for each of the five stages.

Developer Training Program Syllabi A detailed syllabus for each level of the training program should be produced with prerequisites,  weekly focuses, required materials and evaluation strategy. Each level should be set to a four month cycle.

Extreme Coding Systems Anticipating and evaluating the more popular systems strengths and weaknesses should occur before Division Heads approve Varsity Dev team SDLC Deviation reports.

Appendix I: Standard Operating Procedures

Title: Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Overall Responsibilities: Focused primarily on scientific and technical issues, the CTO will manage the development teams (software and hardware) and direct the company’s research direction.

Daily Duties: Coordinate with Division Heads to ensure progress remains on track to reach deployment goals as specified by the CTO.

Provide other officers with any technical information they require for the performance of their duties.

Weekly Duties: Assist the Division Heads with their software and hardware projects; assure the quality of said projects.

Approve any and all irregular expense requests.

Review completion and performance reports.

Report any major delays in development cycle to COO, and work to resolve expeditiously.

Monthly Duties: Assess both industry competition and partners in the areas of technological development, pacing, or significant product/service releases.

Quarterly Duties: Review regular and irregular expenditures.

Approve project budget proposals and submit to CFO.

Report on development progress with Board Members.

Annual Duties: Supervise and conduct safety training.

Review FAA legislation with General Counsel.

Title: Division Head

Overall Responsibilities: Reporting directly to the CTO, may be made responsible for a portion of a software title, a complete software title, or multiple software titles. Will convert project responsibilities into the Service Queue and coordinate which modules from the queue each subordinate team will complete.

Daily Duties: Coordinate with Project Managers to ensure progress remains on track to reach deployment goals as specified by the CTO.

Weekly Duties: Assist the Project Managers with their software and hardware projects; assure the quality of said projects.

Submit any irregular expense requests to CTO.

Revise completion and performance reports.

Report any major delays in development cycle to CTO, and work to resolve expeditiously.

Monthly Duties: Approve any new hires to the development teams.

Adjust dev team membership based on performance and assignment need.

Annual Duties: Ensure full classroom participation in any mandated safety training.

Ensure all staff members have maintained appropriate technical certifications.

Title: Project Manager (Dev Team Leader)

Overall Responsibilities: Reports to his or her Division Head. Coordinates and facilitates team’s completion of Service Queue in accordance with Halcyon SDLC (or SDLC Deviations for Varsity).

Daily Duties: Opening and closing brief with development team.

Appraise Division Head of Service Queue progress.

Weekly Duties: Inform Division Head of any irregular expense requests.

Revise completion and performance reports.

Report any major delays in development cycle to Division Head, and work to resolve expeditiously.

Monthly Duties: Bring any new hires to the development team on line.

Request dev team membership changes based on performance and assignment need.

[americanshaman-blog1]

Lillypalooza Elementary (p. 1)

I created this pen and paper RPG for my step daughter, Lilly, when she was getting ready to start school and her mother and I had been working with her on her math skills. I came up with the idea as a way for her to learn what to expect from school and practice basic addition and subtraction. It was a great success, as she not only thoroughly enjoys playing the game but had nothing but excitement for her first day of school. I don’t know for a fact that this reduced any trepidations she might have had (after all, she’s always been a brave little child), but it certainly didn’t hurt. I still plan on developing this into an app at some point, but in the mean time I’ve posted it here for other parents’ use. All you need to play are these rules, some 6 sided dice and a dozen or so pennies. It is a pen and paper RPG, so whoever is running the game should take time to familiarize themselves with both the rules and the game scenario before starting (all the players  / children are required to do is make decisions, roll dice and spend their “Magic Pennies”). I hope others can have as much fun with this as my family has.

Welcome to the world of pen and paper role playing games! Lillypalooza Elementary is an interactive game for players ages 4 and up, but requiring at least one older player to be the Narrator. The game is only limited by the players’ imagination and is designed specifically for young children to get a chance to role-play and think about their elementary experience.

WARNING: this game tries to include information about the most likely actions the players will take, and sometimes this includes bad behavior. It is important to remember that this is a hypothetical exercise where players can explore various strategies and discover what their consequences would be. The Narrator will ultimately have control over the story and for best results should keep it age appropriate.

gamePLAY

This game does involve rolling dice and keeping track of different players’ stats but thanks to Magic Pennies and the LillyPal Card even a young child can be involved in the basic application of math used in this game. On the LillyPal Card are three boxes for players to stack their Magic Pennies. At the beginning of the game, each player starts with 7 pennies. Players can stack their Magic Pennies on their character’s Body, Mind, and Social attribute boxes (with at least a single penny on each). During the course of the game, players can improve their characters by spending the future Magic Pennies they’ve earned to improve a specific attribute. It costs as many pennies as the player wants their attribute to increase to (maxing out at 5 for each player), and each attribute has to be increased one point at a time.

For example, if Kyle starts the game with 3 pennies on his Body square, he will have to earn 9 Magic Pennies in the game to increase his Body to 5 (first 4 pennies, than 5 more).

Magic Pennies are intended to be US Pennies, but can be any similarly sized and stackable object the players find convenient.

These three attributes can then be combined to determine the rest of a player’s stats. The LillyPal Card shows the formula to determine the most common skills a player will use. The player’s skill level will determine how many dice the player will roll when determining if they can do whatever it is the player is attempting to do. When rolling, any 4 or higher is considered a success and 6’s can be re-rolled for additional successes. If a player rolls all 1’s, then their failure should be a spectacular failure. Players will either be rolling a test or a challenge. A test involves a single player rolling one skill out and seeing the number of successes they achieve (most tests require 2 or more successes, but the success threshold for each test will be determined at the Narrator’s discretion).

For example, if Kyle wants to pull a cart (Strength test) and has a Body of 5 then he will roll 10 six sided die. Each dice that lands on 4 or more counts as a success. A lighter cart would require less successes than a heavier cart.

A challenge involves multiple players rolling their skills at the same time and comparing the successes against each other. Most often, challenges involve a single skill, but sometimes different characters will use different skills in the same challenge.

For example, if Kyle wants to fight a Bully Buddy, he might pit his speed (Reaction) against a Bully Buddies’ toughness (Strength) and the character with more successes would win the challenge (with each net success reducing health). Since Kyle has no formal martial arts training or experience though, his Narrator decides Kyle would have to rely on his toughness in a fight (Strength challenge) instead of his speed. After both characters roll their Strength dice, Kyle has 2 successes and the bully gets 4 successes, meaning that Kyle lost 2 points of health (4 - 2 = 2).

The Narrator handles rolls for all NPCs (Non-Player Characters), and relates the story to the players as well as translating the success or failures of their rolls into the story. The Narrator is the final authority on how to play the game and awards Magic Pennies to players who are playing the game well, being funny, being respectful, moving the plot forward, etc… If a player is able to make a cogent argument for why a rule should change, the Narrator may award bonus dice to the player but the Narrator’s ruling still stands.

scenarioLAYOUT

The following sections include the details and information for several scenarios, which together comprise the Lillypalooza Elementary Campaign. Each scenario contains an introductory dialogue titled straightTALK to be read out loud to the players at the start of play. Next is a brief description of the scenario’s events called the shortVERSION, followed by theDETAILS section which contains a more detailed walkthrough of the scenario and information about which tests and challenges the players are likely to face. The importantPEOPLE section includes stats and information for the various NPC’s in the scenario, and finally whatsNEXT explains how to wrap up the scenario, Magic Penny awards, and which scenario to move onto next.

Enjoy and have fun! J.A. LingoLunch Time!

[americanshaman-blog1]

Lunch Time! (p. 2)

I created this pen and paper RPG for my step daughter, Lilly, when she was getting ready to start school and her mother and I had been working with her on her math skills. I came up with the idea as a way for her to learn what to expect from school and practice basic addition and subtraction. It was a great success, as she not only thoroughly enjoys playing the game but had nothing but excitement for her first day of school. I don’t know for a fact that this reduced any trepidations she might have had (after all, she’s always been a brave little child), but it certainly didn’t hurt.

I still plan on developing this into an app at some point, but in the mean time I’ve posted it here for other parents’ use. All you need to play are these rules, some 6 sided dice and a dozen or so pennies. It is a pen and paper RPG, so whoever is running the game should take time to familiarize themselves with both the rules and the game scenario before starting (all the players  / children are required to do is make decisions, roll dice and spend their “Magic Pennies”). I hope others can have as much fun with this as my family has.

straightTALK

Class is so boring, and you sure are hungry. Only a few minutes to go, and it’ll be lunch time. A whole hour to eat and hang out on the playground. You’re thoughts about how much fun it will be to use the Swings, Slide, & Monkey Bars are disrupted when the school bell rings. Yay!

You and your classmates rush to the door, before the teacher can even finish her lesson. Sniffling Steve and the Nerd Crew are headed to the Computer Lab to play chess and watch YouTube™ videos. Quick Rick and his Jumpy Jocks are playing soccer at the Sports Field, while Cool Kitty Kate and the Cool Cats look on from the Lunch Tables. Watch out for Vice Principal Yavno; she’s keeping an eye on all the kids to make sure no one’s misbehaving and is ready to put kids on Time Out for naughty behavior.

OH, NO! Speaking of bad behavior, Bully Boy Bob and his gang of mean Bully Buddies are at the Playground hogging the Swings, Slide, & Monkey Bars. They never share the toys and playground equipment that they use. They’re sure to cause you trouble if you head over there, what will you do? Will you enlist the help of the various factions on the playground, or face Bully Boy Bob and the Bully Buddies alone?

shortVERSION

Lillypalooza Elementary, like every school, has a variety of facilities and activities for students to enjoy during Lunch Time. The main objective for our players is to get to use the Swings, Slide, & Monkey Bars in the Playground section, with Bully Boy Bob and his Bully Buddies serving as their primary obstacle. This is a great scenario for the players to meet the various factions at the school, and try to earn their assistance by performing various challenges. Or the players can choose to confront Bully Boy Bob directly, and see if they can get to use the playground equipment without getting beat up by the Bully Buddies or in trouble with Vice Principal Yavno.

The various factions are spread out around the campus, and each challenge will take up a certain amount of time. The Narrator should keep track of the in-game time as it passes, and let the players know how much time they have left before Lunch Time is over, which is when they have to return to class. Information about the challenges is in theDETAILS, and each factions’ character stats are found in the importantPEOPLE section.

After Lunch Time ends, regardless of whether the players have gotten to use the Swings, Slide, & Monkey Bars move on to whatsNEXT.

theDETAILS

As the players have heard in straightTALK, the Bully Buddies are hogging the Playground and initially they will not let the players use the Swings, Slide, & Monkey Bars. If the players attempt to go to the Playground first, then the Bully Buddies will be hostile but will refrain from confronting the players unless they try to use the playground equipment. If the players attempt to negotiate with the Bully Buddies for access to the Swings, Slide, &  Monkey Bars, then Bully Boy Bob will propose a different naughty challenge/test for each piece of equipment.

To use the Swings, the players will have to challenge (either Reaction or Strength challenge) one of the Jumpy Jocks in a fight. To use the Slide, the players will be instructed to destroy the science project (Intellect test) that the Nerd Crew has been building. To use the Monkey Bars, the players will have to embarrass (Charisma challenge) one of the Cool Cats. These actions will allow the players to achieve the objective but should cause the other kids to treat them like bullies themselves, and the players should have to avoid being caught and put on time out by Vice Principal Yavno (see below).

If the players head to the Sports Field, then they’ll run into Quick Rick and his Jumpy Jock friends as they play a game of Soccer. Quick Rick will invite the players into the game (resulting in both Strength and Reaction tests), but regardless of the players’ sportsmanship they will be willing to aid the players in getting access to the playground equipment after a few athletic demonstrations. If the players earn the Jumpy Jocks’ friendship they can try to recruit Quick Rick to challenge Bully Boy Bob directly. In order to do so, however, they will have to defeat Quick Rick in a wrestling match (Strength challenge) to prove their resolve.

If one of the players can climb (Strength test) the apple trees near the field, then the Jumpy Jocks will put on a gymnastic show at the Playground and Bully Boy Bob will let the players use the Monkey Bars as part of the show (he’ll even clap with enjoyment afterwards). If the players are able to win a race (Reaction challenge) against a Jumpy Jock, then one of the Jumpy Jocks will shout an insult at the Bully Buddies and lead them on a chase while the players quickly use the Slide. Performing both of these challenges is one way to earn the Jumpy Jocks’ friendship.

Up at the Lunch Tables, Cool Kitty Kate and the Cool Cats are lounging around and watching the jocks play their game of soccer. If the players approach, the Cool Cats will probably be disinterested at first (and if the players have acted like a bully at all, the Cool Cats may actually tease and make fun of them). If the players can prove themselves to be totally cool, and defeat Cool Kitty Kate in an argument (Charisma challenge), then she will help them take on Bully Boy Bob directly.

The players can prove themselves to be totally cool, by completing two requests. First, if they can make the Cool Cats laugh (Charisma test), then Cool Kitty Kate will sweetly ask Bully Boy Bob to let the players use the Swings (and due to his crush on her he will stumble over himself to comply). Next, if the players are able to learn a secret from Bully Boy Bob (Charisma challenge), then the Cool Cats will trick Bully Boy Bob by telling him that the players are better at the Monkey Bars then him (and he will let the players use the equipment in order to show how much better at the Monkey Bars he actually is).

Safely tucked in doors, Sniffling Steve and his Nerd Crew can be found in the Computer Lab. At first, they will be shy around the players (and quite scared of the players if they’ve been behaving badly). If the players prove themselves smarter than the average dope, and defeat him in a game of chess (Intellect challenge), then Sniffling Steve will hack into the Lillypalooza Student Records and change Bully Boy Bob’s Address of Record (causing him to be sent to a different school for about two weeks, eventually being corrected).

Proving themselves smarter than the average dope will require the players to complete two objectives. If the players can solve a complicated problem from Sniffling Steve’s advanced math homework (Intellect test), then the Nerd Crew will lure the Bully Buddies away with an annoying remote drone while the players quickly use the Slide. After beating Sniffling Steve in a game of Mortal Street Combat Fighter 2 (Reaction challenge), he will send one of the Nerd Crew to pull a fire alarm while the players enjoy the Swings (if this route is taken, then Vice Principal Yavno will confront them about not lining up in the parking lot with the other kids, risking a time out).

Patrolling the campus during recess is Vice Principal Yavno. While she can’t be everywhere at once, if players are attempting to misbehave than Yavno should be nearby and ready to catch them. Should the players make any reasonable attempt to hide their actions, then they should be able to avoid time outs (perhaps after a challenge or test), but the other students attending Lillypalooza Elementary will still hear about it and may react appropriately. The first time out the players get should cost them 5 minutes, the second timeout 15 minutes, and if they’re caught a third time misbehaving the players will spend the rest of lunch in the Principal’s Office. If the players report Bully Boy Bob or the Bully Buddies for not sharing, the Bully Buddies will get in trouble (knowing exactly who told on them) and the Playground will be off limits to everybody for the rest of the week.

Feel free to add tests or challenges that match each factions’ theme, but don’t worry too much if the players run out of time or are unable to solve this scenario. Mostly this is an opportunity for the players to learn how to play the game and meet the various NPC’s they’ll be interacting with.  

importantPEOPLE

See the Cast of Characters for information / stats on Bully Boy Bob, Quick Rick, Cool Kitty Kate, Sniffling Steve, or Vice Principal Yavno. All other relevant npc information is as follows:

Bully Buddies (5):       Body 4, Mind 1, Social 1 Jumpy Jocks (4):        Body 4, Mind 2, Social 1 Cool Cats (2):             Body 2, Mind 1, Social 4 Nerd Crew (3):            Body 1, Mind 4, Social 2 Other Students (23):   Body 2, Mind 2, Social 2

whatsNEXT

Regardless of what happens, after 60 minutes of activity passes in the game then Lunch Time! is over and the players will have to return to class. The relationships they made during this break (both good and bad) will follow the players into future scenarios. If the players failed to use all three pieces of playground equipment, don’t worry too much: it will not effect their ability to proceed in the game.

If the players misbehaved or were put on time out, the other students and faculty will react to them accordingly. Even a single bad act should make the other characters in Lillypalooza Elementary nervous, but the other kids will have a short memory if the players show they can behave most of the time. Magic Penny Awards:

1 Players use the Slide 1 Players use the Swings 1 Players use the Monkey Bars 2 Players use all the Playground equipment 2 Players challenge Bully Boy Bob directly and defeat him 1 Players win Quick Rick wrestling match 1 Players win Sniffling Steve chess match 1 Players defeat Cool Kitty Kate in an argument 2 Players avoid getting a time out during Lunch Time!

The Narrator can proceed to either The Big Game, Performance As Art, or The Matrix is Here depending on which factions the player seemed to develop the best relationship with. DO NOT go to the scenario Return to Castle Playgroundstien until all other scenarios have been played through.

[americanshaman-blog1]

The Big Game (p. 3)

I created this pen and paper RPG for my step daughter, Lilly, when she was getting ready to start school and her mother and I had been working with her on her math skills. I came up with the idea as a way for her to learn what to expect from school and practice basic addition and subtraction. It was a great success, as she not only thoroughly enjoys playing the game but had nothing but excitement for her first day of school. I don’t know for a fact that this reduced any trepidations she might have had (after all, she’s always been a brave little child), but it certainly didn’t hurt.

I still plan on developing this into an app at some point, but in the mean time I’ve posted it here for other parents’ use. All you need to play are these rules, some 6 sided dice and a dozen or so pennies. It is a pen and paper RPG, so whoever is running the game should take time to familiarize themselves with both the rules and the game scenario before starting (all the players  / children are required to do is make decisions, roll dice and spend their “Magic Pennies”). I hope others can have as much fun with this as my family has.

straightTALK

Today’s the day, yes sir…it’s the Big Game! The Jumpy Jocks are being led out onto the field by Quick Rick as all the students cheer them on against the Mean Muscle-heads from rival school Vega Vista Valley Elementary. The game is American Football, and the stakes are high, as the winners of the game will have bragging rights for a whole year.

Bully Boy Bob and the Bully Buddies are sitting together near the bottom of the bleachers, cracking jokes and not really much interested in the outcome of the game. At the top of the bleachers Cool Kitty Kate and her friends the Cool Cats are focused intensely on Quick Rick and the outcome of the game. It’s a real shame Sniffling Steve and the Nerd Crew all ended up being sick today, they are absent and missing such an important game!

Well you’ve got your bag of peanuts and your giant foam number one hand, the only thing left to do is to decide where to sit: alone in the middle of the bleachers, at the top with the Cool Cats, or at the bottom with the Bully Buddies?

shortVERSION

It’s the big game, and the players will have to take a seat somewhere on the bleachers. After the players choose who they will sit with and have a brief interaction, one of the Jumpy Jocks will get injured in the game and the players will have to choose how to react. If they step up and help the Jumpy Jocks it’s possible for them to save the day and help win the game. Otherwise, Quick Rick will fail to lead the Jumpy Jocks to victory and he will be effected by the results of the game for the rest of the Campaign.

theDETAILS

If the players choose to sit alone, they will miss out on some key pieces of gossip, but while it will make things more difficult for the players later, it will not have much effect in the current scenario. After a brief description of the game, the players will notice Cool Kitty Kate head to the restroom, and then one of the Jumpy Jocks will trip on the field and get injured.

If the players choose to sit at the bottom of the bleachers, how they acted in previous scenarios will determine how the Bully Buddies react to them. If they’ve misbehaved at all, or cooperated with them earlier, then the Bully Buddies will welcome the players, and let them know their plans. If not, they will be teased at first. After talking with Bully Boy Bob (Charisma challenge) he will share that he has a crush.

If the players choose to sit at the top of the bleachers, how they acted in previous scenarios will determine whether the Cool Cats act aloof or welcoming. If the players have developed a bad reputation then the Cool Cats are likely to shun the players outright. Otherwise, conversing (Charisma challenge) with Cool Kitty Kate can reveal that she has been developing a crush on Quick Rick (literally, she thinks he’s ‘dreamy’).

After the players have had a chance to take their seats, hear a brief description of the game and have any conversations available to them the next phase of the scenario will begin. During a penalty time out, Cool Kitty Kate will use the lull in the game to take a break and head to the restroom. Once she’s no longer present, Bully Boy Bob will whisper to one of his Bully Buddies who will then trip one of the Jumpy Jocks from the sideline after the football game resumes. If the players are sitting at the bottom of the bleachers, they will have a front row seat for all of this and will have no trouble observing all the events. Otherwise, they will need to notice (Perception test) Bully Boy Bob whispering.

Wherever they are seated, the players will be able to see the blatant tripping. Vice Principal Yavno will race to the sidelines immediately and drag the Bully Buddy off to the Principal’s Office. Shortly after that, the coaches and referees will confer on the middle of the field, and the head referee will eventually announce the need for replacement players, or else the Jumpy Jocks will have to forfeit. If the players join the Jumpy Jocks, the game should continue with a series of Reaction and Strength challenges.

importantPEOPLE

See the Cast of Characters for information / stats on Bully Boy Bob, Quick Rick, Cool Kitty Kate, or Vice Principal Yavno. All other relevant npc information is as follows:

Bully Buddies (5):                Body 4, Mind 1, Social 1 Jumpy Jocks (4):                 Body 4, Mind 2, Social 1 Cool Cats (2):                      Body 2, Mind 1, Social 4 Mean Muscle-heads (5):     Body 3, Mind 3, Social 1 Other Students (8):             Body 2, Mind 2, Social 2 Coaches & Refs (4):            Body 4, Mind 5, Social 4

whatsNEXT

If the players choose not participate in the game, the scenario will end rather quickly. The Mean Muscle-heads will walk off triumphantly with a trophy. If the players join the Jumpy Jocks and finish the game the scenario should break into an epically close game with various tosses, catches, evasions, and tackles which should provide ample opportunity to test/challenge the players’ skills.

Even if the players fail most of their tests, there should still be a final Disney-like miracle opportunity for the players to win the game. Players with more successful rolls should have no problem leading the team to victory. No matter how it goes, Quick Rick will be actively participating in the game and plays tirelessly until the final buzzer.

Cool Kitty Kate should return from the restroom just as the game comes to an end. If the players have saved the day and brought the team to victory, she and Quick Rick will cheer and celebrate the victory by hoisting the players over their heads as the Bully Buddies skulk off. If the players lose the game, Cool Kitty Kate will tell the players and Jumpy Jocks that they did great for trying while Quick Rick leaves angrily. If the players let the Jumpy Jocks forfeit, Quick Rick will run off crying, while Cool Kitty Kate follows trying to console him. After either a loss or forfeit, the Bully Buddies will laugh and taunt the players and a perceptive player (Perception test) will notice one of the Mean Muscle-heads shaking hands with Bully Boy Bob.

Magic Penny Awards:1 Players don’t sit alone 1 Players learn Bully Boy Bob’s secret 1 Players learn Cool Kitty Kate’s secret 1 Players notice Bully Boy Bob whispering 2 Players help out the Jumpy Jocks 1 Players win the game 1 Players notice Bully Boy Bob and the Mean Muscle-head shaking hands.

The Narrator can proceed to either Performance As Art or The Matrix is Here depending on which factions the player seemed to develop the best relationship with and if the scenario has not yet been played. DO NOT go to the scenario Return to Castle Playgroundstien unless all other scenarios have been played through.

Awards:

1 Players don’t sit alone 1 Players learn Bully Boy Bob’s secret 1 Players learn Cool Kitty Kate’s secret 1 Players notice Bully Boy Bob whispering 2 Players help out the Jumpy Jocks 1 Players win the game 1 Players notice Bully Boy Bob and the Mean Muscle-head shaking hands.

The Narrator can proceed to either Performance As Art or The Matrix is Here depending on which factions the player seemed to develop the best relationship with and if the scenario has not yet been played. DO NOT go to the scenario Return to Castle Playgroundstien unless all other scenarios have been played through.

[americanshaman-blog1]

The Matrix is Here (p. 4)

I created this pen and paper RPG for my step daughter, Lilly, when she was getting ready to start school and her mother and I had been working with her on her math skills. I came up with the idea as a way for her to learn what to expect from school and practice basic addition and subtraction. It was a great success, as she not only thoroughly enjoys playing the game but had nothing but excitement for her first day of school. I don’t know for a fact that this reduced any trepidations she might have had (after all, she’s always been a brave little child), but it certainly didn’t hurt.

I still plan on developing this into an app at some point, but in the mean time I’ve posted it here for other parents’ use. All you need to play are these rules, some 6 sided dice and a dozen or so pennies. It is a pen and paper RPG, so whoever is running the game should take time to familiarize themselves with both the rules and the game scenario before starting (all the players  / children are required to do is make decisions, roll dice and spend their “Magic Pennies”). I hope others can have as much fun with this as my family has.

straightTALK

History class started off cool, talking about Roman soldiers fighting some battle somewhere…but then it got boring pretty quick, something about fiscal policy. You’re real glad it’s <say the day of the week>, because now that History is over, your class gets to head over to the Computer Lab.

Your teacher blows her whistle, and everyone puts their desk in order before lining up outside the classroom. On the next whistle, all the students in your class march in step to the Computer Lab. It’s going to be so fun, you love all the games there. As you walk up to the computer lab however, you notice some of the Bully Buddies from another class running off, and soon you know why.

As you enter the computer lab, Sniffling Steve shrieks in horror. The Computer Lab has been totally trashed! It must have been those darn Bully Buddies running away. The teacher heads off to report this incident, while the Nerd Crew gather around one of the damaged computers crying and wailing.

shortVERSION

The Computer Lab is a total mess, and the Nerd Crew will need some help getting things back in order. If the players are able to help them, they will be invited back after school to learn about a top secret virtual reality game that the Nerd Crew has been developing. The players will get to experience the old west as they play a virtual Oregon Trail game!

theDETAILS

Having their sanctuary defiled will have a significant effect on the Nerd Crew, requiring a lot a of help from the players. If the players have already run through The Big Game and the Jumpy Jocks failed to win, then Quick Rick will not be present and the Jumpy Jocks in the class will be quiet and dejected. Neither they, nor the Cool Cats will be of much help in this scenario (although creative Narrators/Players may be able to find ways to incorporate them into this part of the story).

The players can get started helping out the Nerd Crew by offering to clean up, but if the players make any attempt to talk to them at all Sniffling Steve will explain that they’d been working on a “super special secret project” and now their efforts had been ruined. It had taken them months of work to get the hardware together and even longer to develop the software they needed for their “super special secret project” and now the Nerd Crew is convinced that all is lost.

The players will realize that things are not quite that bad (no liquid spills or actual damage to the devices, just a few cracks in the plastic casings of hardware and one of the monitors is damaged beyond repair). After dusting everything off and reconnecting all the components (Perception Test), everything will be setup and run but the network will crash on startup. Some more advance software troubleshooting (Intellect Test) will get things going again, resulting in cheers of jubilation from Sniffling Steve and his very grateful Nerd Crew.

After offering his profuse (and probably verbose if not slightly arrogant) thanks, Sniffling Steve will offer the players a very special reward. As he’s no doubt already explained, the Nerd Crew has been working on a “super special secret project” and will offer the players the chance to try it out if they can promise to keep it a secret. If the players have failed any of their tests, or not chosen to aid then they may or may not be offered access to the “super special secret project”. Some players may need to arrive at the offer through a more indirect alternative, such as the Cool Cats offering access in exchange for some kind of assistance (Charisma challenge).

If the players find out about the “super special secret project” and promise to keep it quiet, the Nerd Crew will tell the players to come back to computer lab after school. When they arrive the doors will automatically lock shut behind them, and a revelation sequence should be elaborated to them (involving a transformation of the computer lab into a fully equipped professional grade tech laboratory replete with bursts of venting smoke, dramatic changes in the lighting, and sinking/rising parts of the floor). With the transformation complete, Sniffling Steve will bring the players over to a giant tank of water and explain that it’s a sensory deprivation chamber (you may have to google deprivation chambers before hand if you’re not familiar with the concept). The Nerd Crew has constructed it in order to aid their quest for the ultimate virtual reality experience, and they now think they’re ready for the players to give it a try.

Some or all of the players should suit up and enter the deprivation chamber, but if any players remain present in the physical world they can monitor whats going on in virtual reality at a nearby terminal. That terminal can also be used to communicate two way with the players (it should seem like a disembodied voice in virtual reality, being heard by all players but ignored totally by any characters from the game). At first, the players in virtual reality should see only darkness and hear nothing but themselves and a slight hum, but then Sniffling Steve’s (or an external player’s) voice will speak from no where explaining that the system needs to boot up.

After another few seconds, the horizon will appear as the sun rises and reveals the semiarid desert of the old West. Depending on how many entered virtual reality, the players will be some or all of a 19th century American family of settlers, riding in a covered wagon down the Oregon Trail. In this reality, the players will substitute their Mind for their Body attribute, as they will have no access to their physical abilities. Otherwise, everything in virtual reality should operate just like the rest of Lillypalooza Elementary including the loss of consciousness if they lose all their health.

The Narrator should feel free to tailor this experience to the type and length of game they are trying to play, but generally the players should have to accomplish a handful of tasks as they travel to their final destination in Portland, Oregon. Tasks could include dealing with a snake bight (Intellect Test), trading at a Settler Stopover (Charisma Challenge), or a Buffalo Hunt (Reaction Challenge). If the players fail a task, a family member should be lost as a result, and if all the family members are lost the players will receive a Game Over message.

importantPEOPLE

See the Cast of Characters for information / stats on Sniffling Steve, Quick Rick, Cool Kitty Kate, or Bully Boy Bob. All other relevant npc information is as follows:

Bully Buddies (5):          Body 4, Mind 1, Social 1 Nerd Crew (3):               Body 1, Mind 4, Social 2 Cool Cats (2):                Body 2, Mind 1, Social 4 Other Students (8):        Body 2, Mind 2, Social 2

whatsNEXT

If the players fail to help the Nerd Crew, and they don’t find some other way to get invited, then the scenario will come to an end pretty quick. Feel free to move on, players will just have to try again next time. Otherwise, both the tech laboratory and the virtual Oregon Trail should be interesting departures from the typical elementary school environment. Feel free to use over the top explanations and incredible special effects (imagine Sniffling Steve to be on par with Q from the 007 series, or Forge from the X-Men).  

If the players excel in this scenario and make it all the way to virtual Portland, then Sniffling Steve will be very impressed and offer to hack the players’ grades (or someone who they request in their place). The outcome of their virtual reality experience should have little effect on future scenarios, so it shouldn’t be too big of a deal if the players lose.

Magic Penny Awards:

1 Players help restore the Computer Lab 1 Players fix the hardware/network 1 Players fix the startup error 1 Players enter the virtual Oregon Trail 2 Players win the Oregon Trail game

The Narrator can proceed to either Performance As Art or The Big Game depending on which factions the player seemed to develop the best relationship with and if the scenario has not yet been played. DO NOT go to the scenario Return to Castle Playgroundstien unless all other scenarios have been played through.

[americanshaman-blog1]

Performance as Art (p. 5)

I created this pen and paper RPG for my step daughter, Lilly, when she was getting ready to start school and her mother and I had been working with her on her math skills. I came up with the idea as a way for her to learn what to expect from school and practice basic addition and subtraction. It was a great success, as she not only thoroughly enjoys playing the game but had nothing but excitement for her first day of school. I don’t know for a fact that this reduced any trepidations she might have had (after all, she’s always been a brave little child), but it certainly didn’t hurt.

I still plan on developing this into an app at some point, but in the mean time I’ve posted it here for other parents’ use. All you need to play are these rules, some 6 sided dice and a dozen or so pennies. It is a pen and paper RPG, so whoever is running the game should take time to familiarize themselves with both the rules and the game scenario before starting (all the players  / children are required to do is make decisions, roll dice and spend their “Magic Pennies”). I hope others can have as much fun with this as my family has.

straightTALK

All the kids in school have been talking about the drama club’s play for weeks, and it’s finally ready. Tonight, Cool Kitty Kate will star as Helen of Troy and Quick Rick will co-star as the mighty Hector. All of the special effects, lights and audio are being handled by Sniffling Steve and the Nerd Crew. Even Bully Boy Bob is participating as Achilles. What could go wrong?

After lunch, you and your classmates meet Vice Principal Yavno at the school auditorium. Quickly the seats fill up, but you manage to get an excellent spot near the front. The stage has been set, the lights have come down, and excitement is buzzing through the room as the play is about to start.

A spot light comes on center stage, but instead of the curtains opening up and the show starting, one of the actors pokes their head out of the curtain. “Ms. Yavno, we have a bit of a situation back here.” Murmuring quickly turns to a raucous chorus as the students in the audience grow impatient. You wonder what’s going on back stage?

shortVERSION

Everyone was so excited for the performance  tonight, but once again the Bully Buddies are planning to ruin things for everyone. Before the players can get to that though, they’ll need to figure out how to get backstage. Once there, they’ll discover that Quick Rick has locked himself in the bathroom and won’t come out. What’s worse, Cool Kitty Kate has disappeared. If the players can get the show back on the road, they’ll be heroes, but it won’t be easy.

theDETAILS

Getting back stage shouldn’t be too difficult. With Vice Principal Yavno pre-occupied, the players will simply have to choose to head back stage. A more creative Narrator might use the hectic nature of the auditorium to make a few obstacles, but in general it shouldn’t take players too long to get to the scene backstage.

Once the players have made it backstage they’ll immediately notice Quick Rick’s predicament. He’s locked himself in the bathroom and is crying from stage fright. Vice Principal Yavno is outside the bathroom door, trying vainly to get Quick Rick to come out. Meanwhile, Bully Boy Bob is watching all of this unfolding with a smirk and the occasional giggle, sitting next to one of the Cool Cats.

Before that can happen the characters are going to have to complete a series of Charisma based tests. If the players have a good relationship with Quick Rick they’ll only need two success for each test to succeed. Otherwise, they’ll need progressively more successes depending on how bad their reputations have become.

First, the players will need to convince Vice Principal Yavno to step aside and let them try (Charisma challenge). Next, they’ll have to talk with Quick Rick to discover why he’s upset (Charisma test reveals that Bully Boy Bob scared Quick Rick with some silly stories just before the play was to start). Finally, players will need to convince Quick Rick that he’s got nothing to fear (Charisma test).

Once Quick Rick has been coaxed out of the closet, now it’s time to rescue Cool Kitty Kate, but where has she gone? The players can search her dressing room, finding two clues: a key to the roof and a letter. The letter is signed by Quick Rick, but if he’s present for the search or if the letter is shown to him, he’ll claim to have not written it or seen it before. The contents of the letter are essentially a series of crude insults to Cool Kitty Kate’s acting abilities and a suggestion that she spare herself the embarrassment of performing.

If Bully Boy Bob is approached by the players, he will not be able to keep his brilliant scheme a secret. Busting at the seems, he’ll blurt out that he forged the letter to Cool Kitty Kate and then convinced Quick Rick that he too should be scared of the audience’s poor reception. What he won’t admit, is that he set his plan in motion because he’s really scared too (although a Narrator may allow the players to discover this after a difficult Perception or Charisma test, in order for the players to be able to convince Bully Boy Bob that there’s nothing to be scared about).

At some point, the players should be able to find Cool Kitty Kate on the roof. Once she realizes that the letter was a forgery, and that Quick Rick really thinks she’s great at acting Cool Kitty Kate will come down. It may take some tests to convince her though, especially if she has a poor relationship with the players. If the players are having any problems figuring things out, Sniffling Steve has witnessed all of Bully Boy Bob’s devious actions and can help get the players back on track.

importantPEOPLE

See the Cast of Characters for information / stats on Sniffling Steve, Quick Rick, Cool Kitty Kate, or Bully Boy Bob. All other relevant npc information is as follows:

Nerd Crew (2):              Body 1, Mind 4, Social 2 Cool Cats (1):               Body 2, Mind 1, Social 4 Other Actors (4):          Body 2, Mind 1, Social 4 The Audience (8):         Body 2, Mind 2, Social 2

whatsNEXT

How things play out (pun intended) will depend on how many of the actors the players will be able to convince to get over their insecurities. If either Quick Rick or Cool Kitty Kate can’t be convinced to do the play, the players themselves will have to take their place, which should be difficult since they’ll need to improvise their lines.

If Bully Boy Bob performs without a pep talk from the players, he will forget his lines at some point and flee the stage. Otherwise, he may prove helpful to the players, playing along with their improvisations. Regardless of what happens, if the players end up on stage they’ll easily win over their peers. If not, then the players will get to take a seat and watch events unfold. If the players never make it backstage, the show will be cancelled.

Magic Penny Awards:

1 Players make it backstage 1 Players convince Quick Rick to come out of the bathroom 1 Players convince Cool Kitty Kate to come off the roof 1 Players perform on stage 2 Players give Bully Boy Bob a pep talk 1 The show does NOT get cancelled

The Narrator can proceed to either The Big Game or The Matrix is Here depending on which factions the player seemed to develop the best relationship with and if the scenario has not yet been played. DO NOT go to the scenario Return to Castle Playgroundstien unless all other scenarios have been played through.

[americanshaman-blog1]

Return to Castle Playgroundstien (p. 6)

straightTALK

Today has been fun so far, but you’re definitely ready for a break. Thank goodness it’ll be lunch time soon. When the bell finally rings, you and your classmates bolt for the door. Before you can make it outside though, one of the Bully Buddies stops you.

“Bob wants you to meet him at the cafeteria. He says he needs your help.”

shortVERSION

It’s lunch time again, giving the players a chance to return the setting of the Lunch Time! scenario, but this time things are quite a bit different. In all of the previous scenarios, while the players were worrying about successfully progressing through the narrative, Bully Boy Bob has been preparing his final confrontation.

theDETAILS

Before the players can get out to their lunch break, and see the mess that Bully Boy Bob has created, the players will have to deal with one of his flunkies he has sent to distract them. If the players agree to meet Bully Boy Bob, then the Bully Boy will lead them to the school cafeteria.  Once the players get there, the Bully Boy will attempt to lock them in.

If the players attempt to ignore the summons, or resist in anyway, the Bully Boy will fight or chase them. While the players shouldn’t have too much trouble escaping the cafeteria or dealing with the Bully Boy, it’s key that their characters are distracted for enough in game time that Bully Boy Bob can setup the scenario’s remaining events.

Rather shrewdly, Bully Boy Bob has arranged for several ‘obstacles’ to be removed from the board before he sets his plan in motion. For the majority of this scenario, Vice Principal Yavno will not be available, as she has been called home for a family emergency. Conveniently, she’ll have enough time to get home, realize that the family emergency was a ruse and return at the end of the scenario. All other faculty will be locked in the teachers lounge and unavailable.

In order to get Quick Rick and Sniffling Steve out of the way, and to lure Cool Kitty Kate to his lair, Bully Boy Bob has recruited a traitor from each of their respective factions. By the time the players get back to the playground, a rogue Jumpy Jock will have taken Quick Rick on an extremely long cross country run. If the players are having trouble with the scenario, however, the Narrator may choose to allow Quick Rick to finish the run early and return.

Sniffling Steve and the Nerd Crew are facing an even tougher dilemma. One of their members has trapped the rest of his faction (including Sniffling Steve) in their own virtual reality game (see The Matrix is Here). To add insult to injury, the traitor has reprogrammed the Oregon Trail to be full of vicious monsters and other threats. The traitor will be monitoring the rest of the Nerd Crew from a console in the computer lab if the players arrive. Getting past him won’t be hard, but they’ll only be able to free the Nerd Crew if they can reset the system from within the game.

There’s also drama at the lunch tables and the sports field. If the players head there, they’ll see only a single remaining Cool Cat. She’s doesn’t know where her friends went, and will follow the players until she finds Cool Kitty Kate. The remaining Jumpy Jocks, on the other hand, are being physically detained by the Mean Muscle-heads on the sports field. If the players help to drive off the Mean Muscle-heads (or even better, convince them to leave) then the Jumpy Jocks will be available to assist in assaulting the Castle Playgroundstien.

While attempting to help the Nerd Crew, the Jumpy Jocks or the last Cool Cat the players’ previous interactions will color how the faction interprets the rescue. If they have upset the Nerd Crew, then rather than helping the players reset the game they will attempt to obstruct the players, thinking that the players are responsible for trapping them. The Jumpy Jocks may think that players are helping the Mean Muscle-heads and will fight against them. Even the last Cool Cat may not trust or want to talk to the players if they’ve been behaving poorly in previous scenarios.

At the playground, the players will see the culmination of Bully Boy Bob’s plan, discovering that he has transformed the playground into a castle! The Bully Buddies have brought several quilts from home that they have lashed together with tent poles to create a perimeter. Most of the Bully Buddies will be outside these castle ‘walls’, while Bully Boy Bob stands at the top of the slide looking over the quilt wall and at the players. When the players arrive he will say this:

“Welcome to Castle Playgroundstien, my ultimate fortress! I have trapped Cool Kitty Kate here, and I’m not gonna release her until she agrees to be my queen. Why aren’t you in the cafeteria where you belong?”

If the players have been developing a good relationship with Bully Boy Bob (by misbehaving and alienating the other factions), then they may be able to convince him they are on his side. If they fail to free Cool Kitty Kate after they’ve entered Vice Principal Yavno will show up immediately to stop the bullies, which now will include the players, and they will all get in trouble and lose the game.

If the players have been developing a bad relationship with the Bully Buddies, then they should be able to recruit the survivors of the remaining factions to storm the Castle. If the players free them from the Mean Muscle-heads, the Jumpy Jocks will be able to wrestle with the Bully Buddies and allow the players to proceed without having to roll tests. If the players have helped the Nerd Crew escape, then they will be able to defeat the walls by identifying a loose thread which when pulled will unravel a quilt. Otherwise the players will have to figure out their own way through the wall.

Once the players have gained entry to the playground, they will be able to see the remaining two Cool Cats. The traitorous Cool Cat is holding Cool Kitty Kate’s arms behind her back, and will attempt to dissuade the players from helping Cool Kitty Kate. If the lost and abandoned Cool Cat is with the players, she and Cool Kitty Kate will be able to convince the traitor to come back to her original faction and the Cool Cats will flee together without the players needing to roll any tests. If not, the players will have to free Cool Kitty Kate on their own.

If Cool Kitty Kate is released, the players will need to deal with Bully Boy Bob who will come down the slide to confront them. The players may be tempted to engage in a physical fight, but this will result in Vice Principal Yavno arriving and they’ll all be in trouble for fighting. If they try to talk Bully Boy Bob down, Cool Kitty Kate and the Cool Cats can return if the players need help succeeding. Alternatively, the players may try to out think Bully Boy Bob, in which case they can suggest an appropriate challenge (Bully Boy Bob will respect the outcome if he loses). If the players go this route and Sniffling Steve has been liberated, he will suggest a game of chess and offer suggestions to the players if they need help.

importantPEOPLE

See the Cast of Characters for information / stats on Bully Boy Bob, Quick Rick, Cool Kitty Kate, Sniffling Steve, or Vice Principal Yavno. All other relevant npc information is as follows:

Bully Buddies (5):                 Body 4, Mind 1, Social 1 Traitors (3):                           Body 2, Mind 2, Social 2 Jumpy Jocks (3):                  Body 4, Mind 2, Social 1 Mean Muscle-heads (5):      Body 3, Mind 3, Social 1 Cool Cats (1):                       Body 2, Mind 1, Social 4 Nerd Crew (2):                      Body 1, Mind 4, Social 2

whatsNEXT

Even if the players fail to outwit or out charm Bully Boy Bob, Vice Principal Yavno will be able to show up and rescue the players. Once the players have finished dealing with the Bully Buddies they’ve successfully completed the Lillypalooza Elementary Campaign. Congratulations, the players have won!

Magic Penny Awards:

1 Players escape the cafeteria 1 Players rescue the Nerd Crew 1 Players rescue the Jumpy Jocks 1 Players rescue the last Cool Cat 1 Players enter Castle Playgroundstien 1 Players rescue Cool Kitty Kate 2 Players defeat Bully Boy Bob without help 1 Players win the game

Now this doesn’t have to be the end. The Narrator is free to continue the adventure, either by constructing their own campaigns or playing future releases to the Lillypalooza game system. The players can go on field trips, graduate to new grades and classes, encounter new factions and even participate in extra curricular activities. The world of Lillypalooza is your oyster!

[americanshaman-blog1]

Cast of Characters (p.7)

Bully Boy Bob Body 4, Mind 3, Social 3

The leader of the Bully Buddies and the principle antagonist in the campaign, Bully Boy Bob is tough and has enough social skill to dominate his pack of followers. He can also be cunning, if given time to plan, and avoids directly exposing himself as long as he has someone else he can command or manipulate.

He’s not completely irredeemable: he has a crush on Cool Kitty Kate and she can usually calm him down. Also, if the players earn his respect and treat him nicely he will respond in kind. He will not like anyone associated with Quick Rick.

Bully Boy Bob is taller than all of the other students, excepting only Quick Rick, and very strong for his age. He usually wears black cargo shorts and a white t-shirt, with his socks pulled all the way up and a backwards hat.

Cool Kitty Kate Body 2, Mind 4, Social 5

The most popular and well liked girl on campus, Cool Kitty Kate is the queen of the Cool Cats. She is smart and incredibly charismatic, but not very athletic or interested in being so. Kate understands the value of silence, and is actually fairly laconic, but when she does have something to say everyone pays attention. 
This is especially true for her two swooning suitors Quick Rick and Bully Boy Bob, neither of which have had the courage to talk to Cool Kitty Kate. Although he often day dreams about holding her hand and hearing her laugh, Quick Rick is uncharacteristically shy around her and even clumsy at times. Bully Boy Bob, also wishes he could win her over, but tends to be far less obvious about it.

Cool Kitty Kate is slightly shorter than average, with long curly brown hair and blue eyes. She likes to wear nice dresses and will be distressed if she gets dirty. Also, each member of the Cool Cats wear a black headband with kitty cat ears.

Sniffling Steve Body 1, Mind 5, Social 3

Not only the smartest kid in school, Sniffling Steve is probably the smartest kid this side of the Mississippi river (which he can spell, no problem). Enjoying a wide range of interests, Sniffling Steve can discuss everything from the ancient Assyrians to motherboard architecture, if you can get him to open up that is.

Really, he’s only comfortable when alone or talking to someone one on one. The Nerd Crew is an interesting exception to this rule, as he draws confidence from his other friends, and enjoys being the center of attention when they’re the only ones around.

Sniffling Steve is constantly adjusting his wire frame eye-glasses and wiping his runny nose (hence the name). His mom often dresses him in nerdy button up shirts and khaki slacks, but he doesn’t mind; such superficial concerns as appearance are beneath him.

Quick Rick Body 5, Mind 2, Social 3

Probably the coolest guy at Lillypalooza Elementary, and also the most athletic, Quick Rick is the leader of the Jumpy Jocks. Although he’s not the brightest bulb in the box, Rick is affable and easily makes friends.

Hating confrontation, Quick Rick is quick to intercede on behalf of the little guy (which, along with the fact that he seems to be quite popular with Cool Kitty Kate, has earned him the enmity of Bully Boy Bob) and is loath to use his position in the student body to belittle or manipulate the less popular students.

Quick Rick is extremely proud of being in pop-warner, and never takes off his white and silver jersey. Tall and lanky, he doesn’t like standing still and is often found dribbling a basketball or tossing a football in the air.

Vice Principal Yavno Body 2, Mind 4, Social 4

Having been an educational administrator for over a decade, Vice Principal Yavno has pretty much seen it all. If any of the children act too aggressively or violent, she is quick to swoop in and will punish all parties involved. Not on her watch.

The only campus rule Vice Principal Yavno breaks, and only when she’s assured herself that she’s absolutely alone, is that she’ll sneak an occasional cigarette. If she gets discovered by an adult she’s incredibly embarrassed and will apologize profusely. If it’s a student that catches her she will act to hide the cigarette and shoo them away.

Vice Principal Yavno is an older lady, who wears grey pant-suits with black flats that allow her to keep up with the children. She’s never caught with out her whistle and a stern reprimand ready to be issued.

LillyPal Cards

[americanshaman-blog1]

Preserving Injustice for Future Generations

The Murder of Emmett Till is a thoughtful and evocative documentary film that explores racial tensions and conflicts unique to American culture by looking at incidents specific to the Emmet Till murder of 1955. Emmett Till’s murder was horrifying to both the African American community and the majority of white America not only due to its brutality and racism, but the blatant injustice of the Jim Crow era legal system. The film gathers an incredible collection of contemporary footage, which is used to capture what the French newspaper Le Monde referred to as the American public’s “passionate attention,” (PBS, pg 2).  Perhaps one of the most touching scenes is the display of grief as huge lines of mourners pay their respects to the Till family, but even more powerful was the political change that the sacrifice of Emmett Till helped to catalyze and achieve for our nation.

With the film’s release in 2003, an observer could be forgiven for questioning the social impact such a delay could make, but such a question has at its heart the assumption that the racial tension and discrimination that led up to Emmett Till’s death have long been laid to rest. Anyone attentive to racial issues today would admit that this is clearly not so, but further The Murder of Emmett Till explores several of the unresolved and controversial elements of the case (not quite as much as the similar film The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, released the same year but with more of a focus on discrepancies in the murderers’ later Look Magazine confession).  The honest questioning of the film contributed to Emmett’s body being resumed in 2005 for it’s first autopsy and to clarify the identification of the body, with “Federal interest in the case [being] heightened more recently by a documentary, as well as the long-lost trial transcript,” (Fuchs 2005).  Although media from the time was obsessed with the case, it was far too controversial politically for the full truth to come out, and The Murder of Emmett Till reminds us that issues persist with the specifics of the case and the alleged claims of Emmett’s not-convicted murderers.

Of greater social consequence, at least to American society as a whole if not to the individuals effected by the case, was the film’s demonstration of the need for oppressed minorities to both protect themselves and expect protection from their government and fellow citizens. The importance of Emmett Till’s sacrifice and murder diminishes if America’s media allows its story and lessons to be forgotten, and the collection of so much related data in a long form documentary not only inaugurates new generations into the horrors of popular democracy devoid of minority protections, but it preserves in perpetuity both the popular reaction and several key pieces of data for understanding the relevant aspects of the case.

Although PBS has developed a great website associated with the film, which comprises an archive of various tertiary information that accomplishes the near impossible of providing even more depth than the film, it is unfortunate that social media was not earlier adopted and used.  While PBS’s site has dossiers, timelines, teaching tools, and more, there’s a distinct lack of online discussion.  Emmett Till has a Facebook page (obviously a posthumous production), no doubt inspired by the documentary’s revitalization of Emmett’s story, but it too is devoid of discussion. While the producers of the film (essentially PBS) used modern digital media to expand the collection of raw content, the infancy of social media at the time is shown by the missed opportunity for popular discussion.  At the end of the day, discussion and awareness is the ultimate purpose for a long form documentary, and The Murder of Emmett Till is a great transition point for a paradigm shift from stand alone documentary films to interactive media collections.

Works Cited

Aufderheide, Patricia. Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York: 2007.

Fuchs, Marek.  50 Years Later, Emmett Till’s Body is Exhumed. New York Times, 1 Jun 2005. 23 Oct 2011 <http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/01/national/01cnd-till.html>

Kirsner, Scott. The Future of Web Video: New Opportunities for Producers, Entrepreneurs, Media Companies and Advertisers. Digital Release, 2007.

PBS, Timeline: The Murder of Emmett Till.  American Experience: The Murder of Emmett Till.  <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/timeline/timeline2.html>

Till, Emmitt.  Emmit Till, Emmitt Till. Facebook: 25 Oct 2011. <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emmit-Till/143339549016945?sk=info>

[americanshaman-blog1]

Shifts in the Hawaiian Economy and their Consequences

With the arrival of Captain Cook in 1778,  Hawaii witnessed a dramatic series of transformations that would take Hawaii’s land tenure system of feudal usufruct rights and replace it with a Westernized allodial title system of fee simple land rights. These changes were vastly important in understanding the dynamic relationship between the land and the common people, as well as the mechanisms for political control that would grow to replace the indigenous governing structures. Together, these changes brought about an entirely new economic system made necessary by the broadening of the Hawaiian economy from an isolated domestic market to a global market with a greater diversity in material culture. The fact that this transition was brought on through economic factors belies the greater cultural repercussions that resulted from the Western hegemony that took hold.

Hawaii’s pre-contact economic organization traces its roots, as does Hawaiian culture, to Tahiti (Colum 5).  The Matakainaga system was the Polynesian system of land rights employed by the Tahitians in which land rights were claimed through familial relations, with individuals being awarded land to work on from their kin (Kirch 10 Mar 09).  When the first Hawaiians arrived on the islands, from Tahiti at least indirectly (Kirch 29 Jan 09), they brought with them this system.  However, overtime it would develop a unique manifestation the indigenous Hawaiians referred to as Malama’aina, “Caring For The Land,” (Kame’eleihiwa 25).  Although land rights continued to derive from kinship relations, this change represented a paradigm shift in the Hawaiians’ kinship relation to the land itself.

In the Hawaiian creation mythology that would develop, the relationship between the land, its vegetation, the elites, and the commoners became a complex series of familial responsibilities that reflected the Matakainaga system with the previously mentioned parties fulfilling the roles of specific family members. According to legend, Papa, the earth-mother, and Wakea, the sky-father, gave birth to the Hawaiian islands and to their daughter Ho’ohokukalani.  One night, Wakea had an affair with his daughter Ho’ohokukalani, and she bore him two children: the elder born Haloa-naka, which was premature and buried in the ground eventually growing into the Kalo/Taro plant, and the younger born Haloa, from which the Ali’i Nui lines descend (Kame’eleihiwa 24). The maka’ainana, or “commoners on the land” are then the remaining Hawaiians who no longer can trace their lineage directly to the Ali’i Nui lines through genealogies (17 Feb 09).

From these myths the Hawaiian economic system emerges. The Islands themselves are the first generation, from whom all agricultural bounty is provided, which certainly correlates to the geographical climate of the Hawaiian islands being ideal for agricultural production (Kirch 22 Jan 09). The next generation is comprised of the Taro plant, the single most important crop to the pre-contact economy (with it’s use necessary for poi production, as well as infrastructure and clothing needs), and the Ali’i Nui, the landed gentry that embodied the physical relationship between the land and the people (who governed the people, provided military service, and were by right owed a large portion of the bounty of the land).  Finally the maka’ainana make up the subsequent generations, duty bound to care for the land and the Ali’i Nui in exchange for the land providing taro, the taro providing sustenance, and Ali’i Nui ensuring the process continues by reminding the land and taro of their filial relations. Through conspicuous consumption, the Ali’i Nui created a large demand for taro that the maka’ainana labored to meet. This, however, was balanced by warfare between competing Ali’i Nui, which had little effect on the maka’ ainana as they were considered part of the land. By not pillaging and destroying the maka’ ainana, they were able to accept the conquering Ali’i Nui after a conflict and remain productive.

While the indigenous system functioned very well, no doubt due to the fact that it was developed to match the specific agricultural output of the islands and the specific needs of its inhabitants, it was forced to change by the arrival of the outside world. These ‘haole,’ or foreigners, brought with them a whole new world of material goods, now available to the Ali’i Nuis’ system of conspicuous consumption. Sandalwood reserves on the islands replaced taro production and initially were the only real currency precious to foreign markets (Kirch 16 Feb 09).  Although King Kamehameha I consolidated the islands and initially controlled the trade, with his death no single Ali’i Nui had enough authority to dominate the trade. Instead, a crisis state began to develop, in which the elites continued to compete, quickly devastating the island’s reserves as well as incurring large debts beyond the diminishing production’s capacity. With relatively infinite merchandise to purchase and an absence of warfare generated by the new monarchy, the consumption and waste which had driven taro production now threatened to demolish the isolated economy (Kirch 50).

Further, a wave of protestant missionaries and their teachings threatened the indigenous political structure. Two contrasting political movements developed: the male descendants of Kamehameha I favored an anglophile world view, instituting a constitutional monarchy that supported trade and business interests, while attempting to retain the religious authority from which the Ali’i Nui derived their political power. Kamehameha’s wife, conversely, established a line of Kuhina Nui females that embraced the protestant missionaries and American puritanical ideals.  After considerable struggles, King Lot enacted a constitution that ended Kuhina Nui influence, but both sides had lost considerable power to the Haole interests they had relied on (Kirch 105). These changes would result in a new, powerful class of native born, or at least naturalized, Haoles.  They would come to dominate cabinet positions and government appointments as well as controlling the majority of the private sector, and use their influence to denounce indigenous customs as “sorcery [. . .] intimately connected with the worship of heathen deities” (Silva 106).

Meanwhile, as Ali’i Nui continued to maintain high demand for foreign goods, the collapse of the Sandalwood trade due to over harvesting on the archipelago and the discovery of new sources elsewhere, made the need for a new commodity or service vital.  The haole received even more power, and they now defended their economic interests with various naval presences deployed from Great Britain, France, and the United States.  Although the rise of the whaling industry helped stave off a complete economic collapse (which may have been something the overburdened maka’ainana would have benefited from), it was clear that this would be only a temporary solution. Haole interests supported a restructuring of the usufruct system in place of a fee simple system of land rights in order that industry be driven and motivated by the possession of personal property by the commoners. However, it quickly became clear that the purpose of such a change was not to:

“emancipat[e]” the natives “from a state of hereditary servitude, to that of a free and independent right in the soil they cultivate,” [. . .] to obtain an adequate amount of land to achieve economic independence. (Van Dyke 38).

but merely to allow Haoles the chance to purchase and own lands for economic development.

By the mid-nineteenth century, enough pressures existed that a final definitive break with the old ways was imminent, and it came in the form of the Great Mahele. In the reign of King Kamehameha III, the Board of Commissioners to Quiet Land Titles was proposed by the Haole Minister (and former missionary) Gerrit P. Judd in 1845 to determine which parties had a claim to the land.  Five commissioners were appointed, but half their membership (two full and one mixed) were Haole, giving a largely disproportionate influence to the Haole perspective (Van Dyke 36).  The commission published a set of guidelines for land restructuring in 1846, that declared there were three parties with a vested right to the land: the King, the Chiefs and Konohiki (Ali’i Nui), and the Maka’ainana (Kirch 10 Mar 09).

After a period of intense negotiations between the Chiefs and Kamehameha III, the two parties toured the islands divvying up the land amongst themselves.  Each party agreed to set aside a third of their lands for the government, but as the selections were voluntary the best lands were reserved for the Ali’i Nui and Kamehameha III.  Not being a party to this process, the Maka’ainana opposed the Mahele with signed petitions against the restructuring because a fee simple system would allow lands to be sold to haole business interests. Although the rights of the Maka’ainanas were recognized by the Board of Commissioners to Quiet Land Titles, there was no enforcement or representation of the commoners during the initial process.  After some time, a Land Commission was convened, to award land claims to the Maka’ainana, but was relatively unsuccessful due to the arduous and bureaucratic petition requirements.  At it’s conclusion, the Great Mahele awarded 1.495 million acres of the poorest lands to the government, 984 000 acres to be retained by the Crown, 1.62 million acres to be divided among 245 Chiefs, and 28 600 acres awarded to Maka’ainana (from whose portion several thousand acres of land were awarded to Haole) (Kirch 10 Mar 09).

With fee-simple rights in place for land tenure, the stage had been set for Haole sugar plantations to develop.  As the decadent lifestyles of the Ali’i Nui resulted in the premier lands that had been claimed in the Mahele being transferred to Haole debt collectors and investors, the Sugar plantations that were subsequently built came to reshape the islands’ demographics, agriculture, and foreign relations (Kent 35). After the native Maka’ainana were exhausted as a labor force, a reliance on a steady flow of immigrants from countries like Portugal, China, and Japan began.  These indentured servants worked and lived in substandard conditions and closed communities which would eventually act as a source of cultural diffusion (Kent 40).  To support the hydraulic needs of sugar agriculture hundreds of miles of irrigation and ditches were laid, which dramatically reshaped the local ecology, allowing for fertile areas to be maintained in previously arid regions. By the 1920s the sugar industry was responsible for “diverting in excess of 800 mgd [million gallons per day] of surface water and, in addition, pumping almost 400 mgd of groundwater,” (Wilcox 5).

A major political result of the switch to a sugar based industry was its effect on Hawaii’s relations with the United States. The US Civil war prompted the northern states to place an embargo on the southern states, cutting them off from a source of sugar and creating a demand for Hawaii’s stock. The Sugar industry had already been enjoying a smaller level of success supporting the demand in San Francisco generated by the Gold Rush, but this increased demand caused an economic boom of agricultural activity.  In order to consolidate his recent democratic contest for the Crown, King Kalakaua championed a reciprocity treaty that “guarantee[d] Hawaiian sugar duty-free entry to the continental market [. . . and] unprecedented prosperity came in its wake” (Kent 38). These political maneuvers would bring Hawaii closer and closer to political control by the Haoles. Organizing into the Hawaiian League and the Annexation Club, the final tools were in place for their rebellion. The Haoles exerted overt political control (although it had previously just been an open secret as to their level of dominance in political affairs), and after failing to be absorbed by the United States, the Haoles established a brief Hawaiian Republic until Hawaii’s eventual assimilation and statehood (Kirch 19 Mar 09).

While Hawaii’s diverse flora and fauna were enough to support the isolated and limited pre-contact populations, in order to match the scale of trade necessary at a global level the Hawaiian economy had to focus itself on a singular industry.  The shift from taro to sandalwood and whaling, through the Great Mahele, and on into sugar production represented more than just economic factors, but a whole cultural change that would allow a new political order to develop.  The familial ties of the land to the Hawaiian peoples were increasingly disturbed by the influx of Christianity and the failure of the Ali’i Nui to adapt to a rapidly growing and dynamically changing world.  Instead, Haole private interests hijacked all political authority, transforming Hawaii from a tribal/usufruct system to one that supported western industrialized agricultural practices. The change in population demographics, political power, and foreign affairs that resulted left the old ways crippled, but did allow the people of the Hawaiian Islands (afterwards, certainly a more diverse group of individuals) to survive and flourish. As the modern Tourism industry (and the current mono-economy focus) fades whether it will be replaced by another single industry, various modes of economic productivity, or something else entirely is unknown, and the greater cultural repercussions of such a change remains to be seen.

Works Cited:

Colum, Padraic 1925. The Bright Islands.  New Haven: Yale University Press. Kame’eleihiwa, Lilikala 1992. Native Land and Foreign Desires. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press.

Kent, Noel J. 1993. Hawaii, Islands Under the Influence. Manoa(?): University of Hawaii Press.

Kirch, P. V. Spring 2009. Hawaiian Ethnohistory: Foundations of Hawaii’s Multi-Cultural Society. University of California, Berkeley: Anthro 124AC

Kirch, P.V. and M. D. Sahlins, 1992.  Anahulu: The Anthropology of History in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Volume I, Historical Ethnography (M.D. Sahlins); Volume II, The Archaeology of History (P.V. Kirch).  Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Silva, Noenoe K. 2004. Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Van Dyke,  Jon M. 2007.  Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawaii? Manoa(?): University of Hawaii Press.

[americanshaman-blog1]

Spanish Hegemony in the Yucatan

When the Spanish Conquista arrived to the shores of the Yucatan, its aim was not only to conquer and pillage militarily, but to also establish a colonial center of power replete with an indigenous labor source committed to serving their masters by order of a divine Catholic God.  This called for a drastic program of indoctrination, re-education, re organization, and conversion that came to be known as Reduccion.  This reduction involved three dimensions of space, conduct, and language utilized to transform the indigenous people from what the Spaniards viewed them as, into what the Spaniards wanted them to be.  The actual institutions used in the Conquista Pacifica demonstrated a dual strategy of church and state represented respectively by the Missionary Guardianias and the secular Cabildo government.  Although the Spanish failed in the end to completely dominate and convert the indigenous Maya, the processes put in place by the Reduccion did bring a massive change resulting in both a new hybrid culture and a redefined native ethnic culture.

Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, Mayan residential units blanketed the Yucatan peninsula, excluding the frontier regions of the deep jungle.  The 15th century witnessed a host of major problems for the Maya, including pestilence, famine, and civil war.  In Friar Diego De Landa’s account from Yucatan: Before and After the Conquest, he recalls, “hurricane . . . an epidemic of pestilencial fevers . . . plague . . . wars and other afflictions” (Gates 18-19).  These calamities left behind a war torn and beleaguered population, still able to resist the Conquista for twenty years, but unable to unite and look past lineage conflicts developed in previous generations.  When the military invasion ceased, the Spanish faced the difficult reality of trying to occupy an entire ethnic region with little resources, far from aid and oversight in Spain.

In 1552, missionaries lobbied in the Royal Court of Spain for the crown to send a high ranking courtier to set forth law  and maintain order in the Yucatan.  In response, the crown appointed Tomas Lopez Medel as Oydor (Auditor), a position which gave him authority over the entire colony.  After evaluating the many dilemmas in the region, Lopez Medel drafted a series of Ordenanzas (Ordinances) in which he implemented new theories of urban design and social control hoping the Mayans would be receptive to Christian civility and order, (Hanks 23 Sept 08).  These Ordenanzas became the complete template for what became the Reduccion, a program ideally meant to bring order and organization to the region.

The availability of space in the Mayan region that was beyond the observation of the Spanish controlled urban centers was a major issue for the Conquista because it would allow the Mayans to continue to practice their idolatrous behaviors or even to organize resistance.  The metropolitan cultures encountered by the early Spaniards indicated the Maya were no savages; the Christian Spanish inferred then, that the Maya were a civilization debauched by Satan into performing human sacrifices and acts of cannibalism. The difficulty of transmitting a religion, at its heart defined by a written tradition, from one entirely alien language into another allowed for a host of theological and conceptual problems to possibly occur in the Mayan conversion. The Ordenanzas brought three distinct elements of the Reduccion into focus: space, conduct, & language; and it was these three areas the Ordenanzas hoped to target and correct (Hanks 23 Sept 08).

To deal with the wide dispersion of the indigenous Maya, the Reduccion forcibly relocated the Mayans from their small villages to entirely new towns.  While towns had previously existed before the Spanish (there were about 400 Kah, or small towns, in the Yucatan originally), they were not organized in the Pueblo System the Spanish had developed, and they also were more difficult for the Spanish to control.  This would make attempts for the Spanish to wipe out “paganism” in the Yucatan, where the Mayan response to the Christians “was often to flee, and a series of refuge settlements arose, deep in the bush of Southeastern Yucatan, where the traditional way of life could be pursued free of interference from Spanish Authorities,” (Sharer 518).  To counteract this the original fields, orchards, and villages were destroyed, and within thirty years they had been replaced by 147 new pueblos with Cabildo governments which will be discussed later in this essay.  Stones used in previous Mayan temples were reused to create over twenty Monasteries, which unlike European Monasteries were in the center of the Pueblo rather than on the outskirts of the town (Hanks 23 Sept 08).  In this way, the Spanish were able to disrupt the Mayan people and keep them in areas where they could be overseen in self management.

The religious practices and war-like behaviors exhibited by the Maya, coupled with their environmentally appropriate lack of clothing made Mayan conduct a primary concern of the Reduccion.  Landa remembers a somewhat exaggerated system of practices in which, “idolatry, divorce, public orgies, and the buying and selling of slaves” were the chief vices (Gates 29).  These sins were to be brought to a stop by a forced conversion of the entire population and re-education of the children in order to instill Christian values at the earliest levels.  Landa explains the Franciscan’s methods and their outcomes:

The method taken for indoctrinating the Indians was by collecting the small children of the lords and leading men, and establishing them around the monasteries . . . they gathered them for catechism, from which frequent visiting many asked baptism, with much devotion.  The children then, after being taught, informed the friars of idolatries and orgies . . . punishing those who returned to their old life. (Gates 29)

These practices recall those instituted by the National Socialist party in corrupting the ideology of youth in Nazi Germany, both for its disregard for free thinking and its efficiency and success at turning children against their parents. The teaching of these children returned the Church to the difficulties in communicating with the Mayan people, both in translating theological concepts and in censuring their previous theologies.  The importance of knowing the native language was demonstrated in the prestige awarded to Lengua and Grande Lengua (Proficient and well known authorities on indigenous languages).  The Lengua published grammars, dictionaries, and even sermons to be read by non-fluent speakers.  The presence of these prewritten sermons and catechisms, along with the practice of mass baptisms came under criticism by many as containing discrepancies in areas far too important to be left up to a non-fluent speaker (Hanks 2 Oct 08).  Ah Kin, the pre-Conquista Mayan scribes that cared for Mayan archives and books, were recruited as Maestro Cantors, and entrusted with the re-education of the children as well as the instruction of the Escribanos (scribes for the secular government).  This gave the Maestro Cantors tremendous influence, either by supporting the church’s indoctrination or by confusing and sabotaging the intended message.

To oversee the proper implementation of the Reduccion and to guide the progress of the conquest, the Spanish established two political hierarchies: a secular Cabildo government and the missionary Guardianias.  The Cabildo government was the local level of government in the Yucatan, organized around a town council led by a Batab (Hanks 2 Oct 2008).  The Cabildo government was run by indigenous Maya, any of whom that had received schooling would have been trained by the Maestro Cantor in catechism.   Natives doing labor outside the pueblos were organized into Guardianias, the Franciscan orders way of organizing a parish around a mission like convent, to spread the Catholic church’s control over everyday Mayan life.  With these systems in place, the Reduccion was carried out by the secular enforcement of Ordenanzas by the Cabildo government and the religious inspection of the indigenous Maya’s lifestyle by the Church.

The Spanish Conquest’s goal was to bring the indigenous Mayan population into a hegemony where the Mayans were so dominated they internalized the values of the Spanish and supported the domination as an eager source of labor.  The drastic nature of such a goal bespoke its failure, but in failing the Spanish Conquest transformed the Mayan population in almost as drastic a way as was intended.  The thoroughness of the Spanish was guaranteed by the zeal of Diego De Landa, and his unauthorized inquisition, but left little love for the Spanish overlords.  Later, Bishop Toral would attempt to reform the brutality of Landa’s conversions, but the final triumph of Landa would leave the Church infrastructure of the colonial period strongly supportive of the oppressive secular government.  

This relationship between Church and State served not only as a conservative element, but also as a channel for progressive political ideas to aid the indigenous populations.  The relationship that was started by the Spanish developed into a deeply rooted connection in the region.  This connection would remain important long after the Spanish were repulsed from the country of Mexico, a lasting effect of the Reduccion.  In spite of the Conquest’s failure to transform the Yucatan into a permanent part of the Spanish Empire, this resulting synthesis has infiltrated every element of the Yucatan, resulting in new spatial zones, new ideas of proper conduct, and linguistic changes incorporating Spanish into traditional Mayan vernacular.

Works Cited:

Gates, William; Yucatan: Before and After The Conquest (New York: Dover Publications, 1978).

Hank, William; Anthropology 179: Ethnography of the Maya Lectures (UC Berkeley, Fall 2008).

Sharer, Richard J; The Ancient Maya 5th Edition (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994).

[americanshaman-blog1]

Procreation as a Cultural Imperative: Israel’s National Health Insurance Law of 1994

The National Health Insurance Law of 1994 (NHIL) provides the Israeli system of public healthcare, and includes a variety of health services for every Israeli citizen. These provisions include several important and mainstream health care functions, but what is unusual (from the American perspective) is that the NHIL provides funds for “infertility diagnosis and therapy” and “artificial fertilization” as a form of assistance in “bearing a first and second child, for couples who do not have children from their current marriage, and also for a childless woman who wishes to establish a single parent family” (Ravitsky 2009:13 Mar).  A brief review of the Nation of Israel's millennial-spanning fight for survival will show that the rather progressive stance of the NHIL in support of reproductive technologies remains consistent with an ongoing cultural imperative to procreate. This imperative can supersede other social issues in relative importance, and allow formerly traumatic or shocking behaviors to conform to standard, Rabbi approved, Jewish kinship systems. In this way, kinship itself is shown to be a practice of participants rather than biologically predetermined associations.

The story of Israel's procreative obsession hearkens back to the very inception of the culture among nomadic-pastoral-tribal people of the middle-east. Their dispersal and low population density made procreation critical and their “very survival depended upon reproduction, both among their herds of animals and among themselves,” (Pagels 1988:11).  Hygiene became a productive tool in helping to ensure a pronatal environment, as did censuring forms of sexuality that were not productive with the limited populations of nomads in the area. The early Hebrews disagreed with their neighbors behavior concerning prostitution, homosexuality, abortion, and infanticide because they “assumed that sexual activity should be committed to the primary purpose of procreation,” (Pagels 1988:11).

This assumption was very likely a driving force in the development of the Jewish religion. The Torah (the first five books of the old testament in Protestant and Orthodox bibles, which includes Genesis, Deuteronomy, and Leviticus) is nearly consumed by proscriptions for proper hygiene and condemnations of unproductive sex, with a prevalent inclusion of animals under these guidelines which would be expected of a pastoral peoples. In Genesis, Abraham and his wife go to extreme measures, including the adoption of a surrogate mother, in order to procreate, but are denied throughout their long lives, until the point in time when the Hebrew god deigns to allow them a single son. All of these commands come together in the central contract between the Jewish god and the patriarch Abraham from the book of Genesis, with Abraham agreeing to conform to his god's laws concerning hygiene and the legitimate use of sex in exchange for:

I [the Jewish god] will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; (Genesis 22:17, New King James Version)

This records a defining moment in Jewish history, when the imperative to procreate becomes the key to dealing with future threats to the continued survival of Hebrew society. As the nation of Israel encountered future trials and tribulations (Egyptian enslavement, Babylonian Captivity, Jewish Diaspora), by remaining committed to their monotheistic god and the patriarchal nuclear family he represented, the line of the Jews would continue until the renewal of their land and the rebirth of their nation.

By the late nineteenth century, reproduction had cemented itself as a primary focus of the greater Jewish community. The Zionist movement, in an effort to strengthen the Jewish claim to the Holy Land, called for the remaining Jews in Palestine to grow their numbers and build an Israeli demographic base. Jews from around the world were encouraged to immigrate to Palestine and once there to join their local Jewish cousins in procreating:

One of the basic concerns of the Zionist movement, especially the Labour Zionist movement, since the  beginning of the Zionist settlement in Palestine, has been the creation of a Jewish majority in the country as a precondition for the establishment of the Jewish state there. . . .Gradually the objective and subjective conditions for aliyah (Jewish immigration to Israel) have dwindled and Israeli Jewish national reproduction has come to rely more and more on Israeli-born babies. (Yuval-Davis 1987:62)

This growing need, coupled with the social desire to replace the great loss of so many Jewish people during the Holocaust, created a sense of urgency for many Israeli women that developed into a public duty which remained after the establishment of Israel in 1948.

Surrounded by unfriendly nations, many of whom had opposed the creation of Israel and refused to recognize it, and with the majority of the population in Palestine still Arab, the nation of Israel took extreme steps to secure their position which included military expansion and intense political maneuvers. While these issues may seem distinct from kinship systems to American eyes, the role reproduction played in all these matters was ever present to the Israeli mind with, “the emotional needs of a people in a permanent war society, where husbands and sons might get killed at any moment, and cultural familial traditions probably play a more central role [in the decision to have children in Israel] than anything else,” (Yural-Davis 1987:62). 

These considerations were reflected in a series of legislative actions in the Knesset that established a precedent of public sector support for the Jewish imperative to procreate. In 1968 the Fund for Encouraging Birth was established and in 1983 the Law on Families Blessed with Children. These provided state support and funds to large families, offering further incentive for women to meet their social responsibility to procreate and to help incite “internal aliyah,” (Portugese 1998:104).  On the other hand, contraception remained conspicuously absent from Israeli public policy until the 1980's when the Israeli Ministry of Health targeted Family Planning efforts to the Arab Sector (Kanaaneh 2002:36-37).

This long history of pressure to reproduce on the Israeli woman was not exclusive to women in Patriarchal nuclear families. Single women continually find more pressure to participate in kinship reproduction, but sex out of marriage remains a social stigma. If not for religious reasons, many Israeli women wish to avoid pre-marital coitus in order to evade issues with paternity; as one Israeli woman explains, “I was afraid of Rabbinic law. I heard that according to rabbinic law, the father can claim a boy at age six, and I didn't want to risk it,” (Kahn 2000: 20).  

Although some Israeli women have resorted to the cultural practice of 'stealing sperm' (a term that refers to sleeping with a man in order to conceive and withholding the knowledge of his child; “what one recent immigrant [to Israel] even labeled 'the Israeli thing to do',”) many find this distasteful and an inauspicious start for their child (Kahn 2000:21).  As an Israeli woman named Chaya relates, “I didn't want to steal sperm [. . .] as for my child [. . .] I want him to start out clean and not from dirty things. To steal sperm is to begin not in a clean way,” (Kahn 2000:21). It is important to note the emphasis on cleanliness and hygiene found in these statements. The relatively recent cultural practice of 'stealing sperm' conforms to consistent cultural models as a form of bad hygiene that may impair the development of the child, and so it is rendered wrong.

With the passing of the NHIL in 1994, a variety of new options were placed in the hands of all Israeli women who were eligible for reproductive technologies. Under the NHIL, public funds are “required to provide IVF treatment without limitation of treatment cycles, unless medical grounds justify restrictions,” and such an, “extensive level of public funding is unparalleled in any other country in the world,” (Ravitsky 2009:13 Mar).  Female single-parents are specifically mentioned in the language of the bill, and are guaranteed the same reproductive rights as 'legitimate' couplings. While IVF and other reproductive technologies made available by the NHIL are seen as “a last resort” they have become part of a process that allows Israeli women to “define their actions in conservative terms, despite the potentially radical and destabilizing consequences of their actions,” (Kahn 2000:17).

The absence of paternal figures in these single parent families that the NHIL supports and procreates through its funding of Artificial Insemination and IVF fails to stimulate the same level of distress evident in the Christian West when they face similar kinship systems. While the acceptance of widows as a legitimate archetype of a child rearing unit may make single parent families a more comfortable topic for the Israeli mind, it is important to note that it is the Jewish procreative imperative superseding Carol Delaney's Paternal 'Begetting' with Maternal 'bearing' (Reader 62). Delaney points out that anthropologists have often “envisaged [Paternity] as a physical rather than conceptual relation,” but, as a result of the NHIL, reproductive technologies have been able to, “provoke a conceptual scramble to make coherent links between the social and biological facts of reproduction,” in Israel that has allowed the imperative to procreate to remain the foundation of Jewish reproductive focus in the midst of a possible challenge to the very Patriarchal nuclear family that helped to inspire it (Reader 56, Kahn 2000:169).

The NHIL's provisions for reproductive technologies have also helped other groups of formerly illegitimate reproducers gain social acceptance. When describing her search for a sperm donor to use in an NHIL sponsored artificial insemination, Tamar reports, “I met an old friend from the army, a gay man, and we started talking. It turned out he really wants a child, too.  So it seemed perfect, and we got very excited,” (Kahn 2000:10)  Tamar's lack of a husband and her donor's homosexuality would have made the two illegitimate in the eyes of Jewish religious custom, but through the NHIL's provisions for reproductive technologies both were able to meet their obligation to procreate.

Although there is no legal restrictions prohibiting lesbians from receiving these treatments, social custom forces the many lesbians that do seek the use of reproductive technologies to hide their sexual orientation. However, once a mother the social stigma concerning a lesbian's sexuality in many ways evaporates as the imperative to procreate takes precedence. For example, one Israeli woman named Miki relates her experiences within her own family:

Before the baby, my mother would not accept my lesbianism at all, she would not call or come to the house, she would not talk to my lover.  When I told her about the pregnancy my mother was very disapproving.  [. . .]  Once the baby was born, my mother changed completely. It is her first grandchild, and now she comes by all the time, baby-sits, and even brings presents for my lover's biological son. (Kahn 2000:53)

Miki's mother not only accepted her new grandchild, but that grandchild's second mother and her other son. The birth of a child legitimated Miki's relationship with her lover in the eyes of her more conservative mother, allowing reproductive technologies provided by the NHIL to help conform illegitimate behaviors to legitimate fulfillments of the cultural imperative to procreate.  This demonstrates that, “being a mother, whether married or unmarried, is the most valuable cultural identity for a woman in Israel,” (Kahn 2000:55).

An arguable interpretation of the Nation of Israel's history is a society reacting dynamically to changing bio-cultural environments and conditions by retaining a consistent cultural imperative to procreate. This imperative has allowed the Nation of Israel to co-opt and domesticate previously taboo and unheard of behaviors to their normative kinship systems.  In this way:

Reproduction for Jews [. . .] is a cultural achievement [. . .] not imagined simply as a biological process that creates human beings, it is imagined as a cultural process constitutive of humanity. (Kahn 168)

The NHIL's provisions for reproductive technologies have simply emphasized these facts by showing in Israel, “inadvertently the ways that heterosexuality and marriage have never had a monopoly over reproduction in the Jewish imagination,” with the child as a product itself dominating any concerns or notions of how it was conceived (Kahn 2000).  Although the Jewish people have been consistent in their commitment to abide by certain levels of hygiene (in this sense being 'clean' as opposed to 'dirty') and to censure their sexual behavior, they do so in order to fulfill the greater cultural imperative to procreate and readily adapt these commitments to whichever applications of them will render the best results to that end.

References Cited:

Franklin, Sarah 1997 Embodied Progress: A cultural account of assisted conception. London: Routledge

Kahn, Susan Martha 2000 Reproducing Jews: A Cultural Account of Assisted Conception in Israel. London: Duke University.

Kanaaneh, Rhoda Ann 2002 Birthing the Nation: Strategies of Palestinian Women in Israel. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California.

Pagels, Elaine 1988 Adam, Eve, and the Serpent. New York: Random House.

Portugese, Jacqueline 1998 Fertility Policy in Israel: The Politics of Religion, Gender, and Nation. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

Ravitsky, Vardit 2009 Culture as Shaping Public Policy: Public Funding of IVF in Israel. 13 Mar. Hinnovic.com: Health Innovations in Context. RSS feed, 27 Nov 2009. Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania. <http://www.hinnovic.org/culture-as-shaping-public-policy-public-funding-of-ivf- in-israel/>

Yuval-Davis, Nira 1987 The Jewish Collectivity. Women in the Middle East. ed. Magida Salman. London: Zed Books.

[americanshaman-blog1]

Bernier & Spencer: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Although F. Bernier’s Travels in the Mogul Empire was written as a travelogue and H. Spencer’s Principles of Sociology was crafted as a scientific endeavor to gain an understanding of human behavior, it would be unfair to classify both their arguments and style as completely different because what results from these two efforts is a body of evidence that preserves and explains the way the Western Mind handles and perceives foreign cultures and ideals.  While the distinct intentions of each author, coupled with their differing backgrounds and perspective, causes the two approaches to appear unique, the hierarchical and linear elements found in both writer’s reasoning and thinking is a product of the writer’s enculturation.  By examining the inherent and universal elements of both author’s arguments and style, the Western reader discovers all that has changed about his or her native culture, and all that remains the same.

Bernier, himself a man of science and a physician of famed repute, endeavors to inform his fellow Europeans as to the state of affairs in India with his memoir Travels in the Mogul Empire.  While Bernier has not been especially trained in anthropology, a discipline not yet in practice by the 17th century, his exceptional attention to detail and the lofty nature of his company transforms the history Bernier has compiled, the experiences he has collected, and his personal correspondence into a body of ethnographic evidence.  It should be noted that, like a ‘modern’ anthropologist, Bernier is isolated from his native environment and immersed in the Mogul culture; having lived amongst the Moguls for an extended period of time, Bernier possesses an understanding of their behaviors; and Bernier (due to the fact that he comes to India driven more by curiosity than any desire to change or conform Mogul culture, as a missionary or conqueror would) is afforded a certain neutrality absent from many contemporary sources of data.

As Bernier judges the actions of the Moguls throughout his relation of the war and the events after which that he witnessed he himself recognizes the folly of holding an Asiatic society to Eurocentric standards:

[. . .] the Mogol attained the summit of power.  These means were indeed unjust and cruel; but it is not perhaps fair to judge him by the rigid rules which we apply to the character of European princes [. . .] he is a consummate statesman, and a great King, (Bernier 199).

Yet, throughout the entire text Bernier makes his judgments concerning the actions of the King and his court, actions which Bernier recognizes as cyclical and a part of the Mogul political structures.  As a product of Western Culture, Bernier views the world through a system of hierarchical comparisons, discussing nations as either superior or inferior states than his own, rather than uniquely adapted to their foreign environment.  Even when considering the massive Asiatic armies that far dwarfed contemporary European forces, Bernier is incapable of considering them without comparing them to his native French troops, and it is with relative ease that he imagines, “veterans from the army in Flanders [. . .] would overcome these armies, however numerous,” (Bernier 55).  As a hierarchical thinker, Bernier cannot define a cultural element without comparing it to a series of others and categorizing them from inferior to superior.  Even after living amongst the Moguls for 12 years, and unable or unwilling “to lose all remembrance of the practice” of Mogul customs, Bernier’s native enculturation comes bursting through the material.

Spencer too, in his Principles of Sociology, displays the Western Culture's linear tendencies in the form of it's need to generate hierarchies with inferior and superior positions, and the obvious ease with which, time and again, Western Culture places itself at the top. In his very creation of the Primitive Man, Spencer immediately relegates any society that does not conform to a Western definition as inferior and subordinate.  When examining the physical aspects, Spencer notes right away that, "we cannot say that there is any direct relation between social state and stature," (Spencer 41) citing the Patagonians, African pygmies, and others quickly in order to demonstrate his point that the physical traits of an ethnic group signify more about the environment of it's development than the inherent value of it's society and culture.  However, as a product of Western Culture, Spencer is incapable of discussing a continuum of diverse and different physical traits without placing them into a well defined and ordered scale, equating "some connexion between barbarism and inferiority of size," (Spencer 41).  

Although he acknowledges that environment and access to resources might account for the physical flaws Spencer now finds in the Primitive Man, it is far easier for Spencer's linear mind to accept that all ethnic groups which contain individuals of smaller stature than his own race, whether in India, or Borneo, or Madagascar, have been dispossessed. The fact that Spencer puts forth his only evidence for such assertions as “general probability" demonstrates the lack of logic and cultural relativity, and rather a supplication to his ethnocentric enculturation (Spencer 43). Spencer, like the majority of his society at the time, exists in a hierarchical world where exotic traits and behaviors can be evaluated in relation to his own. 

An astute reader would expect that for Spencer, all that is inexplicable about a society is useless in his own environment and is by that very fact to Spencer primitive.  When dealing with the structure of legs and arms, dental size, and level of consumption, Spencer can only understand these differences as they relate to his society's adaptations: the violent nature, specific cuisine, and preference for the slender in British society (Spencer 45-46).  What this demonstrates about his own cultural perspective can be insightful into the very Western culture that produced today's readers, so critically challenged by this material.

After a sojourn through both Bernier’s experiences and Spencer’s analysis, the astute reader is left with more questions than answers. Can the west interact with an exotic culture without conforming it into a primitive or superior view? Why is it so easy for the Western mind to accept itself in ascendancy in all things? Is this a uniformly human trait or a specifically characteristic of Western society. Fortunately, an astute reader can also recognize that the ability to ask such questions results from the body of knowledge these two works helped to establish and shape. Only by exploring and evaluating the way others think, can we truly know and judge our own way of thinking. Anthropology, itself incapable of beginning without an ethnocentric perspective, has used this biased and limited material to recognize the need for cultural relativity and to develop the means of acquiring it.  

Works Cited:

Bernier, F.  Travels in the Mogul Empire.  London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, and Co.  1898.  Books.google.com.  25 January 09.

Spencer, H.  Principles of Sociology.  New York: D. Appleton and Company. 1898.  Books.google.com.  2 Feb 09.

[americanshaman-blog1]

Early Chinese and Japanese Subsistence: How That Shaped Social Development

The archaeological record in East Asia during the second and first millennium BC reveals the two distinct cultural identities of China and Japan developing economic, social, and political complexity. By 2000 BC the Shang, in present day northern China, had a stable system of agriculture that could support it’s population to a degree that allowed craft specialization to occur.  Evidence for “potential agriculture in East Asia is in both North and South China from 7000 to 6000 BC”  with rice being well established as a staple by the Shang Period (2000-1027 BC) after having originated in the Yangzi River Basin (Crawford 2006:77,78). Rice’s wetland adaptation, “unique among the world’s primary food grains” made it well suited to cultivation in China, especially flood prone areas where “rice is the only crop that can be grown” (Crawford 2006: 78).  

Of course rice was not the only staple harvested, with the “rice-wheat combination [becoming] critical to the Chinese agricultural economy” and research, conducted at the sites Fengtai and Arhetela, documenting “barley becoming significant in western China during the Bronze Age some time between 2000 and 800 BC” (Crawford 2006:78).  The presence of both the lush wetlands associated with the Yangzi river basin and nutrient rich loess soil of the Yellow river basin, Chinese subsistence developed intensive agricultural systems that resulted in “increasing propensities for population outflow” (Bellwood 2006:108).

In Japan the adoption of rice agriculture is considered to have come later, but by 2000 BC the Jomon culture had long adapted to life in the Japanese archipelago in a complexly integrated system of hunting and gathering, domesticated cultivation, and perhaps fishing.  Although the nature of Jomon agricultural subsistence remains controversial, the theoretical view that “economies lie along a continuum from hunting and gathering to intensive agriculture” and that the Jomon shifted from hunting and gathering to intensive agriculture is becoming more and more accepted (Crawford 2006:86).  Late Jomon Period (2300-1500BC) sites “saw a noticeable increase in horse-chestnuts finds in the west, suggesting subsistence stress and intensification, since this nut needs leaching before it is consumed” (Hudson 1999: 105).  By this period, “Jomon peoples had sizable, complex villages and large communal buildings found at some sites” which has often been used to argue for the need of agricultural subsistence, but the absence of “extensive evidence of obvious crops” at Sannai Maruyama and other major Jomon sites makes it difficult to confirm such arguments (Crawford 2006:86).  

By the Yayoi Period (400BC-250AD), it is clear that agriculture was being performed on a large scale, with the Yayoi people being described “as Japan’s first full-scale agricultural society” (Hudson 1999:103) and clear evidence from sites such as Toro, the first excavated site from the Yayoi period which contained the earliest evidence of rice agriculture at the time of it’s discovery (Habu: 20 November 08). By 100 BC, intensive agriculture had spread from Kyushu to northern Honshu, although evidence at the sites of Itatsuke and Nabatake may indicate that rice cultivation was occurring in Kyushu as far back as the Late and Final Jomon Periods (Habu: 25 September 08).  If more information concerning the fauna levels in Japan could be made available, perhaps a comparison with population estimates might show whether Jomon subsistence is entirely sustainable on hunting and gathering alone, or if agriculture was necessary or feasible prior to the Yayoi Period.

The good fortune of both China’s ecological environment and the indigenous people’s industrious and innovative reaction resulted in an agricultural productivity output that allowed rising population centers to transform from chiefdoms into full fledged states.  A variety of urban centers have left their remains as evidence of this, some in a “large complex of sites near Anyang, in northern Henan province” including the excavations at Yinxu (Barners 1999:117).  The first fifteen seasons of excavation at Yinxu recovered a host of features and artifacts including:

refuse and storage pits, semisubterranean dwellings, fifty-three surface foundations, water ditches; eight four-ramp tombs, two two-ramp tombs, more than 1000 sacrificial pits, and several hundred small burials at Xiaotun, Dasikongcun, and Xibeigang [. . .] thousands of bronze, ceramic, bone, shell, ivory, stone, and other materials. (Barners 1999: 122)

This evidence clearly indicates a complex society and settlement, with large populations and high levels of social organization and control needed to construct such communities and their resident features. Craft specialization, afforded by the productive agricultural economy which reduced the individual labor required for consumption, was in place for the development and employment of Bronze and Ceramic technology indicating horizontal social stratification.  

Perhaps most informative are the burial remains found in this area, which show a clear trend of vertical hierarchy increasing as the “royal cemetery stands in sharp contrast to several immense tracts of burials for the petty elite” (Barners 1999:129).  This trend continued to progress throughout the last two millennia BC, culminating in the Zhou mortuary tradition of lie ding, “in which the number and types of bronze vessels to be buried with the deceased was strictly prescribed according to rank” (Pines and Shellach 2006: 210).  If it can be assumed that the general concept and practice of lie ding continues through the Qin Period, if not the rigorous adherence to a numerical structure, than the magnificently appointed tombs of such individual’s as Fu Hao and Qin Shihuangdi would indicate an extreme vertical stratification with tremendous variation between class distinctions.

The Jomon peoples were certainly organized on a more egalitarian hierarchy, as exhibited by their excavated burials and the smaller population distributions. Although the continuing debate as to the Jomon’s level of agricultural subsistence has not yet been concluded, evidence for the necessary sedentism, craft specialization, horizontal stratification, and technology abounds, perhaps explaining the controversy of the debate. The difficulty in applying these into the argument is “that regional and temporal variability [. . .] is quite large [. . .] not all of these ‘complex’ features can be found when we look at Jomon” sites individually (Habu and Underhill 2006:135). Further complications, specifically a “decrease in the relative frequency of large settlements and site density, and by an increase in ceremonial artifacts and features, sophistication of crafts, including lacquerware” in the Late and Final Jomon periods, “seem to indicate a decrease in organizational complexity in subsistence and settlement” while simultaneously, there is an increase in organizational complexity in production (Habu and Underhill 2006:140).

This confusion may result from a preconceived concern that previous correlations between complexity in subsistence, settlement, and production in other cultures must also be observed in the Japanese archipelago.  If production and subsistence are considered two competing avenues of expended labor and resources than the Late and Final Jomon periods are merely exhibiting a shift in complexity, and perhaps economic value, from subsistence to production. This shift could have been necessitated by the isolated nature of, and lack of resources on the archipelago. Trade, and it’s necessary increase in production of goods, was a viable way to exchange for the subsistence needed. This would help to explain the tremendous ceramic industry of the Jomon without local intensive agriculture, as well as the “variety of new items [. . .] systematically traded. These include natural asphalt and probably salt” (Habu and Underhill 2006:140).

Bibliography:

Barners, G.L. 1999 The Rise of Civilizations in East Asia: The Archaeology of China & Japan.  Thames & Hudson, London.

Bellwood, Peter 2006 Asian farming diasporas? Agriculture, languages, and genes in China and Southeast Asia. In Archaeology of Asia, edited by Miriam T. Stark, pp. 96-118.  Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA.

Crawford, Gary W. 2006 East Asian plant domestication. In Archaeology of Asia, edited by Miriam T. Stark, pp. 77-95.  Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA.

Hudson, M.J. 1999 From Jomon to Yayoi: The Archaeology of the First Japanese.  In Ruins of Identity: Ethnogenesis in the Japanese Islands, pp 103-145. U. of Hawaii, Honolulu.

Shellach, Gideon and Yuri Pines 2006 Secondary state formation and the Development of Local Identity: Change and continuity in the State of Qin (770-221 B.C.).  In Archaeology of Asia, edited by Miriam T. Stark, pp. 202-230.  Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA.

Underhill, Anne P. and Junko Habu 2006 Early communities in East Asia: Economic and socio-political organization at the local and regional levels. In Archaeology of Asia, edited by Miriam T. Stark, pp. 121-148.  Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA.