Identity is “a person's sense of self and their relationships with others” (Miller, Van Esterik and Van Esterik. 2010. p.148) . Margaret Mead's study of the development of gender identity among three geographically similar but culturally different tribes "indicated that gender [identity] is culturally defined and constructed" (Miller et al. 2010. p.149 ). Identity is formed by culture through mechanisms of enculturation and rites of passage. This article will discuss, in general, how culture is essential in the formation of identity through the mechanisms of formal and informal enculturation and rites of passage among the Xavanti, Makuna and North Americans. Enculturation, “the process of transmitting culture to infants and other new members of society” (Miller et al. 2010. p.148), can occur through formal and informal learning. Generally informal enculturation begins at home, with learning about loved ones and how to behave towards them (Miller et al. 2010, p. 202). Play is another way for children to acculturate by imitating older children and adults, learning cultural roles and relationships in their culture. Among the Makuna, a child helps his father make masks for a dance of the Spirit (Millenium ep……) and can pretend that it is he who wears them, among the Xavanti the boys play with each other (Millenium ep… …) and in the North American children play with toy kitchens and guns. North American culture is unique among the three cultures discussed in that it exhibits more enculturation influences. The Makuna and Xavanti children have limited exposure to cultures outside their own village; their loved ones and the village are often the only source of their enculturation. North Americans, however, are inundated with different cultures and ideas from a woven paper environment, and culture is essential to the development of identity. Formal and informal enculturation and rites of passage are universal, as demonstrated by the three very different cultures of the Makuna, the Xavanti, and the North Americans. It is through these cultural mechanisms of enculturation and rites of passage that identities are formed and knowledge is transmitted.Works CitedÅrhem Kaj. (1993). Millennium Among the Makuna: An anthropological cinematic adventure in the northwest Amazon. Anthropology Today, Vol. 9, no. 3 (June) pp. 3-8. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Article DOI: 10.2307/2783118. Retrieved from: http://0-www.jstor.org.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/stable/2783118Miller, BD, & P. ​​Van Esterik, & J. Van Esterik. (2010). Cultural anthropology. (4th Canadian ed.). Toronto: Pearson Education Canada Inc...