American Culture : The Pinnacle Of Human Achievement

the First Nations were criticized and judged for moving to Canada and keeping their own cultural beliefs. The natives held onto their religion and culture because it was a part of them and their past and they also would not give it up willingly because they have been through too much to give up. “The federal government and most non-native Canadians believed that life for the First Nations people would be greatly improved if they gave up their culture and became part of mainstream, Christian Canadian”(Freeman-Shaw, Hastings-Winner 38). Canadian society was so full of itself that they considered everyone else and their culture to be less than their own. The Canadians thought everyone would be happier if they shared to same religion and beliefs

Before the Europeans came to Canada, Natives had their own culture, traditions and norms. These differences were obvious to the Europeans who sailed to Canada, their interactions with the Native peoples proved these vast differences. One major difference noted was that the Iroquois organized their societies on different lines than did the patrilineal western Europeans. Iroquois women “by virtue of her functions as wife and mother, exercised an influence but little short of despotic, not only in the wigwam but also around the council fire.” “She indeed possessed and exercised all civil and political power and authority. The country, the land, the fields with their harvests and fruits belonged to her … her plans and wishes modeled the policy and inspired the decisions of council.” The Europeans were astounded by this way of life.

1. How can an understanding of the complexities of culture help us make sense of the day-to-day world which we live? Give an example from your life to illustrate your answer.

Ever since the late 1400’s when the European discovered North America they brought along with them a practice of domination leaving the first nation people with very little rights forcing them to stand defenceless. Ever since the settlers arrived, the lives of the First Nation people have forever been damaged with the implementation of new ways of living. These changes have created an image

To begin with, colonization began when first contact was made between Indigenous peoples of Canada and Europeans. At first the settlers were humble to Indigenous peoples and learnt how to survive the diverse land of what is known as Canada. As settlers began getting established in Canada, the land began getting taken over by Europeans. The signing of treaties was a mechanism used to divide and conquer the lands from Indigenous peoples. Indian reserves were created to separate different tribes and land was claimed for natives to live on. According to ….. the land given was not very healthy and did not accommodate the way first nation peoples lived. Next, the Indian Act was established in hopes to absorb “ indianess” and in hopes would expire therefore eliminating the existence of “indianess”.

The Canadian government wanted to attract settlers to Western Canada while maintaining peace with First Nations

Canada and the US categorized Indigenous people creating a complex paternalistic system because Indigenous people were seen as inferior. The American and Canadian governments sought to control Indigenous people without any regard for their human dignity, nor did they acknowledge the different tribes, languages or customs and instead set about creating a single entity that would stand for the whole group (82). Instead of treating each group differently, the one-size-fits-all approach was taken because it required less work on the governments part and reinforced the message that Natives were not important enough for individual recognition. King shows the assimilation and elimination that Indigenous people endured and how the governments decided that they had to either butcher or civilize the Indians quickly (108). A major assimilation policy were residential schools which targeted children so their culture would die out by the next generation.

Throughout history European people have been conquering territories that were already inhabited. Canada was one of them and the people that were already living there are known as The First Nations Peoples. They are the peoples who used to be called Indians. They are divided into more than 600 diverse bands. All these tribes have different history, culture, and traditional cuisine. Something they share in common is that they were forced to assimilate to European Culture by the Indian Act. According to the website Indigenous Foundations the Indian Act was composed of two previous acts, which were the Gradual Civilization Act of 1857 and the Gradual Enfranchisement Act of 1869. The Indian Act was established in 1876. The website Indigenous Foundations explains the Indian Act and the following quote explains part of the Indian Act, "This authority has ranged from overarching political control, such as imposing governing structures on Aboriginal communities in the form of band councils, to control over the rights of Indians to practice their culture and traditions. The Indian Act has also enabled the government to determine the land base of these groups in the form of reserves, and even to define who qualifies as Indian in the form of Indian status". In other words the Indian Act was created so that Natives would lose their cultures and so that the government decided their lives for them. At the same time the Act protected them from tax exemptions in the reserves. The

In the early 1880’s, the media played off western Euro-Canadian’s fears of a First Nations uprising, reinforcing and supporting negative stereotypes of First Nations. It was widely believed by Euro-Canadians that the First Nations people had joined the Metis to collapse the North-West government authority.[1] In an editorial written by in the Saskatchewan Herald on April 23, 1885, as cited by Blair Stonechild in his book “Saskatchewan[FK2] Indian and the Resistance of 1885: Two Case Studies”, it states, “the petted[FK3] Indians have proved the bad ones, and this gives weight to the old adage that the only good Indians are the dead ones.”[2] Euro-Canadians[FK4] held many misconceptions regarding the First Nations people, their treaties, and their political efforts, and the media’s extreme hostility

It was under Prime Minister Sir John A MacDonald, in 1880, that the plan to assimilate was first launched. Indigenous people were commonly disregarded and referred to as savages, and considered to be uncivilized. During 1913-1934, Duncan Campbell Scott was the Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Scott, now considered to be one of the worst Canadians of all times, declared in 1920 - “I want to get rid of the Indian problem (…)” at which time it became mandatory for every aboriginal child to attend residential school.

Back in time the indian people were the first nation people to arrive on his land, some aboriginals entered into a treaty negotiation in the late nineteenth centry because they were told they will be given specific amonts of land which in their view was known as the promise land. The promise for the “Promise land” was not kept rather it was a profound and dispossession time for the aboriginal people because, the land they were promised were rendered to other immigrants. “ aboriginals needs to understand that everything the whites have done was for their own good” this statement is harsh but true what the white people did was better then what the aboriginals could have done. We all agree that the aboriginal people were here before the white

In Canadian history courses, we studied how the Europeans established in Canada to start a new life. We also learned that Christopher Columbus was the first explorer to discover this empty land, but in contrary, the native Canadians were already living in Canada even before it is discovered. Notwithstanding the European settlers moved in and took over the place. They brought their own Government, they called themselves as the “majority” and they also took the lands of the aboriginal people. Indigenous people are seen differently from the societies, which is running those states. In other words, the Colonists when

Throughout the years, there have been many fights for Aboriginal land claims and treaties. As the English settlers didn’t see the First Nations people as ‘people’, they were usually overlooked when treaties were being signed, or when decisions were being made about them.

For example, the discovery of corn in places such as Southern Ontario proved the complexity of trade routes as corn had originated in Mexico. Also, the Iroquois Constitution written somewhere around 1400, included rhetoric about land-ownership, freedom of religion and the rights of women. To quote Dr Poutanen, "Aboriginal peoples before European contact were dynamic, complex, and culturally rich as well as diverse." . The first Europeans had contact with Aboriginals around 1000 AD with the landing of the Vikings in Newfoundland. However, long-term settlement and engagement first appeared when Jacques Cartier claimed areas of the St. Lawrence for France in 1534 under Francis I. There were many different types of encounters including contact, collision and relationship. Initially, settlers and indigenous tribes were peaceful, sharing gifts and culture. As time progressed however, natives began to lose face with Europeans. Disease burdened the Natives as their bodies were not immune to European disease. Many thousands of people died and those who didn't were forced to abide by European rule. Even after fighting hard on the side of the British, the emergence of new settlers after the War of 1812 pushed Aboriginals to the brink of society. New settlers needed the land to colonize and farm. Some natives such as Louis Riel tried to resist; however it was futile. Europeans took control of the land and granted natives only a small portion of their rightful

American culture refers to the traditions and practices of the people of the United States. Culture comprises of the nature of buildings, religion, music language and marriage. The population of the United States is more than 320 million people making it the most culturally diverse country in the globe. Books such as Crabgrass Frontier, Manifest Destination and Muscular Christianity are important sources of information about American culture. This paper is a reflection on the methods that these books use in providing information about the evolution of the US culture. The paper examines the relationship between these three sources and ways they challenge or inform an understanding of the American society during the late 19th and early 20th century. There is an analysis of the efficiency of the issues tackled by these books in influencing the contemporary discourse surrounding American culture. The major argument of this paper is that Crabgrass Frontier, Manifest Destination and Muscular Christianity provide reliable information about the evolution of the US culture and they supplement each other through the use of relevant examples.