Among the Manus, tending the children is often the man's job. He goes fishing early in the night and comes home when everyone else's day starts. He plays with the children most of the day while the women go about their work.

The boys find out what their lifetime profession will be by getting a guardian spirit. The spirit gives gifts that tell what the boy will be - a warrior, shaman, hunter, or gambler. The girls also receive guardian spirits representing their domestic duties.

Some men in most of these tribes would take the dress and occupation of women at puberty or shortly after that. People regarded them as leaders in women's work, good healers of certain diseases and organizers of social affairs.

The Burmese work hard and don't worry about the future. They don't try to build a fortune, but try to increase in merit so they can be reincarnated at a higher level.

From puberty to marriage, which may be several years, the Gururumba girls are not required any physical labor. They spend their time eating, sleeping, primping and in courting sessions.

To the Cubeo, work is associated with a general feeling of good will. In projects like fishing, basket-making, and housebuilding, they work only when the general morale is good, i.e. when they feel like it. When they get tired of a project, they quit because they don't like to drive themselves to boredom or fatigue. Manufacturing articles is a group activity, so they almost consider it a pleasurable recreation. A woman's willingness to work depends on her regard for husband and community. Everyone highly disapproves of a lazy person, and even though they don't voice their opinions, even a thick-skinned person can feel their disapproval.

They work with the objective of rest. If they get more money than they need, they stop working until the money runs out, then they go back to work. They got this philosophy from hunting. When they caught enough game for their needs, they stopped hunting until the food ran out. They couldn't keep it around long because of not having refrigeration. Consequently, they can't get or hold good jobs because they are "obviously lazy, shiftless, etc." No one understands or teaches them. Such frustrations are largely what drives them to lose themselves in drunkenness.

The Masai hate agriculture because they believe it is wrong to scratch the body of Mother Earth. They say that since the earth feeds the cattle with grass, she already gives man milk as food, and she shouldn't be forced to contribute twice.

To get a big project done, the Tarahumara hold /tesuinadas/ or 'work festivals' throughout the year. They are probably as important in Tarahumara life as the religious festivals. At the /tesuinadas/, the most difficult tasks are accomplished by group action, like building a stone or log house, or dragging logs to a place to build a corral or storehouse. No pay is given for the work, and all males, except the very young and the old, work.

The Ma'anyan 'dangau' family, usually 1-10 persons, is the basic unit of the agricultural labor exchange system. All families participate in this "day for a day" system. When a man works for someone else, someone from that family will work for his family in exchange, the same number of hours. The head of each family has to keep a mental record of where his family has worked and which families have sent members to work on his plots. A host family must furnish a full midday meal and a midafternoon snack to all those working on its plot. Of course, at the end of the season, some may not have paid back one or two days, but this is usually overlooked. But, if a family continues to owe people year after year, people quit working for them.

The principal foods among the Yahgan are shellfish, sea mammals, and birds. Shellfish are gathered by women, mainly along the beaches and from boats offshore. They spear shellfish in water up to 12 feet deep, but in the deeper water, divers, especially women, bring them up in baskets held between their teeth to waiting boats. It's hard to say whether the women do this because women always collect wild foods while men hunt, or because of the women's greater fortitude and better insulation in withstanding the icy waters. The water is usually 40-50 degrees F.