Environmental Adaptations: The Zulu & Andean Indians

The Zulu

1. The Zulu occupy a subtropical region of South Africa known as KwaZulu-Natal, which is surrounded by the Indian Ocean and an abundance of mountains. The average temperature is about 21C (70F). However, the climate fluctuates throughout the year to great extremes between the summer and winter months. While it is scorching hot and rainy in the summer, the Zulu experience heavy snow and suffer the awfully cold and dry weather in the winter. Their province has been characterized by adequate rainfall, especially during the summer, which functioned to provide fertile soil, thereby contributing to the overall productivity of agriculture as a fundamental means of subsistence. Unfortunately though, this trend is rapidly changing and the fate of the Zulu is at jeopardy. Annual rainfall has either occurred less frequently causing drought, or with tremendous magnitude producing flooding.
2. In response to the high temperature of the summer months, the Zulu have physically adapted in their production of melanin, which causes dark pigmentation of the skin as a protection mechanism against the harmful UV rays.
                               
3. Culturally, the Zulu had to adapt to changing rainfall conditions by diversifying their economical practices since their agriculture has been threatened. Alternatively, they have had to find other modes of earning income, such as making household products to sell such as baskets, brooms, and doormats. Moreover, the Zulu have made changes to their farming practices by making strategic use of the agricultural landscape in order to compensate for the inconsistent and unpredictable rainfall. For example, increasing plant distances maximizes the space that is ideal for nutrient and water absorption.
                                
4. I think the Zulu would best fit the African American race on the basis of the popular notion of "race" being associated with the physical characteristic of skin color.

Andean Indians 

1. The Andean Indians inhabit the Andes Mountains of South America. Climate varies quite a bit depending on the region (North, Central, and South) since they differ in their altitudes as well as their distances from the equator. In the winter, temperatures can average about less than 52F with about 4 inches of rain, and around 68F-72F in the summer with 8 inches of rain. For the Andean Indians, altitude is an extremely important environmental factor that plays a significant role in determining all forms of life, including aspects of climate, vegetation, animal habitation. 
2. In response to the environmental stress of high altitude, the Andean Indians have physically adapted through their increased production of hemoglobin and lung expandability. As a result, higher concentrations of oxygen are able to be carried by the blood to prevent hypoxia, which is caused by a deficiency in oxygen at lower atmospheric pressure in high mountainous regions.
                                                    
3. Furthermore, the Andean Indians also had to develop cultural adaptations in response to high altitudes, which greatly impacted plant and animal life. The kinds of animals they could raise and the types of plants they could grow obviously depended on the temperature, soil, climate, and rainfall - all of which were limited by the altitude. Llamas and alpacas were the animals that could survive in such harsh elevations, and they produced food (milk and wool) and warm clothes (hide and wool). Another source of food was through the cultivation of potatoes, which were able to subsist in the cold environment.
                                 
4. Again, on the basis of physical appearance, the Andean Indians would best be characterized as indigenous peoples of the Native American race.

Summary: Adaptation vs. Race

I believe that the concept of adaptation has more explanatory power over the idea of race in describing a population, and is therefore more useful to anthropologists. Race is such a social and cultural construction that cannot be definitively determined. Its fluidity and ambiguity are maintained by differences in people's experiences and knowledge about their own culture as well as others. The races I have assigned to each population is not an accurate depiction or description and lacks meaning because it is merely predicated upon a public display. On the other hand, identifying physical and cultural adaptations is a much more reliable approach to better understanding both populations since it takes into account how they have interacted with their environments both biologically and culturally.


References
"Adaptation, Institutions, and Development" 
"Andes Mountains"
"Andes Mountains" 
"Nutritional and Physical Degeneration: Chapter 14" 
"Three High-Altitude Peoples, Three Adaptations to Thin Air" 
"Zulu"