Lily,+John,+Deana

Ossetians


 * Components of Culture: **


 * Values: Family ceremonies especially weddings are some of the most important traditions the Ossetians value. Bridal salons are what really separates the Ossetian peoples true culture from the rest of the world. Where most brides would choose a wedding dress the Ossetian brides would create their own dresses so they could be exactly as they want. These dresses show much resemblance to those made years ago. **


 * Beliefs: The Ossetians have many traditions, that they use throughout their daily lives, from what they wear to what they cook. Their foods are based off of three (main) pies. They round shape of the pie signifies the universe while the hole in the center is the creator. The set three pies on the table, one for the element air, one for water, and one for Earth.  Ossetians have also gained several of scythian customs one including the heart chain which is untouchable. The Ossetians that have large families usually stick to the beliefs that each person has certain duties, or chores to perform. Like the fact that they consider daughters to be useless/temporary members of the family since they will go to live with their husbands, or how the most unpleasant parts of the housework were given to the youngest -daughter -in-law. **


 * Behaviors: Since they live in mountainous areas they try to use everything they are given, this can be seen when they fill their pies with potatoes and beetroots, and other things they have grown or made. Since alot of ossetians are indo-european it is quite common that they have light brown hair and grey or blue eyes. Osstians are also doing whatever they can to follow the traditions of their ancestors, espetially that of the wedding. The Ossetians produce many wooden utensils and furniture, and still manufacture textiles, both of which are part of a long tradition in Ossetia. **


 * Language: The ossetians speak ossetic. Ossetian was first written in 18th century and in 1844 ossetic writing with cyrillic alphabet was made by sjoegren .Before the conquest of russia the ossetic language was undocumented and In 1978 the first ossetic book was published in cyrillic letters. About 500,000 people speak ossetic in an area that goes on the border of georgia and russia. **


 * Evaluate the impact that the factors of cultural change and globalization are having on your cultural group: **
 * August 7-8, 2008, Lots of our military advisors were in Georgia (NOT THE STATE!) training, planning and equipping their people and trying to help them. They could have also been helping the ossetians in the Caucasus mountains, however while they were in Georgia those in Caucasus were attacked, and the command was sent by none other than Mikheil Saakashvili **
 * who was the President of Georgia. They were able to defend themselves and showed other small countries around the world that it was self-defeating to rely on other bigger countries to solve their problems. They also thought us americans that before we offer to help people all the same time, we should make sure we have the available resources to do so. Several people also suggest that this incident should have showed us that we shouldn’t stick our noses into other peoples buisness, that it would be better if they overcame their problems themselves. **


 * Citations: **
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 * "Caucasian Games: The Score." Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2012. . **


 * "North Ossetia: Land of Abundance." â RT. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2012. . **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Ossetians." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Aug. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossetians>. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Ossetian (Ð¸ÑÐ¾Ð½ ÓÐ²Ð·Ð°Ð³ / Ð´Ð¸Ð³Ð¾ÑÐ¾Ð½ ÓÐ²Ð·Ð°Ð³)." Ossetian Language, Alphabet and Pronunciation. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2012. <http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ossetian.htm>. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Who Are the Ossetians?" Who Are the Ossetians? N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2012. < <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://southosetia.chat.ru/en_whoos.html>. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Ossetes.aspx **