Robert Thomas Peoplehood Model

The United States of America is a country that appears to be full of many types of peoples. It has metaphorically, been described as a melting pot because it is composed of many different elements of people and culture melting together, creating a common people and culture. A people has been described as men, women, children, black, white, and red. While people were described as a collective group of gender or race, anthropologist, professor, and Cherokee Indian Robert K. Thomas thought in order for people to be considered a people they must fit in the four descriptive categories of his Peoplehood Model.
As a matter of fact, unlike anything introduced before, Thomas’s Peoplehood Model lays out the boundaries individuals must collect in to be considered a people. According to his Peoplehood Model, individuals must all have a language, sacred history, place territory, and ceremonial cycle in common before being considered a people. Many researchers use Thomas’s Peoplehood Model to …show more content…
Place, as described by the Peoplehood Model is the sense of relationship with the land. One can gain a relationship with the land through loved ones being buried within the land, or sanctuaries. For example, when a loved one is buried within the land of the country, all individuals who had a relationship with the individual who died are forever connected to the land with a sense of place. Another example can be used with sanctuaries. Sanctuaries are places within a country that give an individual a sense of refuge. I believe that all individuals in The United States are connected to the country because of the sub-domains of burial grounds and sanctuaries. Due to this connection, I believe the individuals of The United States fit within the description of the place territory