Research Paper: need help for good topic

Ok, so I have a research paper assigned to me. The prompt is basically this:

I must choose a culture (either past or present) and research their practices and beliefs. Based on my findings I must classify the culture into one of two categories.

Category A: believes that the the creation/existence of the earth/universe fulfilled it's final purpose upon the creation/evolution of our species: homo sapien sapien (us). These types of cultures also assume that the world/universe is chaotic and requires man to "fix" it and create order. Man is justified in doing whatever he desires to the earth because of previous two assumptions. They believe that man is above nature/otheranimals and that man needs to master it so that mans' destiny is self controlled as opposed to being at the whim of nature/thegods. It is assumed by those not of this mindset that these practices and beliefs will eventually lead to the destruction
of the earth/ecosystem and/or the universe.

Category B: views man as a part of nature, an equal among the other living creatures. Does not view man as superior to things living in nature. Does not take more than what is needed to survive. Seek to live within the natural balance of the ecosystem of earth. Does not see anything chaotic in the way the "natural" world works.

It would be easer to understand the two categories if you've read the book, Ishmael. Ishmael (novel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Questions to think about are:

What are their beliefs about their origins?
What are their beliefs about the members of their group vs. the
members of other groups?
What are their beliefs about how they fit into the natural world?
What are their food production practices? What do they consume the
most of?
Do they have a method or system of population control, either
naturally occurring or purposefully executed?

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What would be a good culture to do this paper on? I was thinking Tibet, perhaps before they were invaded. Any anthropology buffs out there have any suggestions as to what culture would be a good subject for this paper?

Do American culture. You'll have loads of fun with that one. And by fun I mean getting suspended for justifiably putting us squarely in the first category.

Ancient Roman culture might be fun and interesting. I wish I could be more helpful. I usually have less trouble with research assignments.

hah, the U.S. definitely falls into the first category as does the Ancient Roman Culture I believe. Honestly I don't think that my professor would care at all if my paper was on U.S. culture being in category A.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I'm not used to things being this quiet....so weird not posting in SD threads....

I agree with Project 2501 that American/U.S. culture is an excellent idea, personally

I'm not sure what your access to scientific literature is, but if you're looking towards more "indigenous people" which have been well-documented regarding your topic, I'd suggest any Native Americans, Australian Aborigines, New Zealand's Maori or perhaps the Bushmen (San/!Kung/etc) of South Africa.
While I like the suggestion of Tibet you made in the first post, it might be that a lot of research is focused on politics and their relation with China which you would, indeed, have to sift through.
Other ideas... mh, the Dinka in Sudan, Maasai in Kenya or Quechuas (they comprise several ethnic groups actually, but often classify themselves as one) or Yanomamö in South America. Perhaps even Bedouins.

Although my knowledge is limited, with some of these you could possibly even argue a sort of/slight transition from B to A with the transition from subsistence-oriented economies to cash crop cultivation, but that might be getting too deep into the topic =)
Anyway, these are just a couple of things that came to mind.

Edit: The suggestion of the Ainu made in the Chit-Chat thread is definitely an interesting one too =) And as far as Sear's suggestion, you could consider modern day Scandinavia, which isn't too far off anything else "western" or you could look at the Saami people in that region.

Nénuë, oh my goodness. Thank you. *bows respectfully*
This definitely helps.

As far as focusing on transitioning from B to A, that would actually be fine with the professor. It would probably even help me to flesh out the page requirement without adding fluff. I might just focus on transitioning....

Again, many thanks.