Elk: Magnificent Animals

Have you ever wonder how the world was created from another culture’s perspective? Native Americans used creation myths to explained to their people how the world was developed overtime. Creation myths are a big part of the Native American culture. they have been passed down from generation to generation. In the creation myths, harmony with nature, rituals, and strong social values are shown in each myths. The purpose of having strong social value in these myths is to teach younger Native Americans valuable lesson if they ever do something bad. These myths reveals how the rituals were created and their intentions for doing it. Creation myths has harmony with nature in it to show a very close kinship between them

In 1883, the last of the bison herds were killed. Black Elk could not understand why the Wasichus would kill animals without using everything it had to offer. That year Black Elk said, "All our people now were settling down in square gray houses, scattered here and there across this hungry land, and around them the Wasichus had drawn a line to keep them in. The nation's hoop was broken, and there was no center any longer for the flowering tree. The people were in despair.” (BES, p. 213-214) In 1886, as part of a show, Black Elk traveled to London to study the Wasichus and their way of life. By studying

There are many cultures throughout the world, and each has its’ own creation story, and many of them are very similar; however the creation stories of the First Nations’ People are some of the most magical. These stories not only tell how the world was created, but give a glimpse into who the Cherokee and Lakota were, and their views of the relationship between human beings and creation, and human beings and animals. The Cherokee and Lakota creation stories are similar in many ways, but each has

Native Americans have great respect for the natural world. They believe that each creature has its own power by which it maintains itself and affects others. Each Native American culture has its own name for this power, but many Native American cultures recognize a Great Spirit- an invisible power that is the source of life and good for humans. Many of the animals that helped feed and clothe the Native Americans are also highly revered. Native American folklore, much of which portrays animals, reflects this great respect.

The Native American’s way of living was different from the Europeans. They believed that man is ruled by respect and reverence for nature and that nature is an

Within the two passages, two Native American writers, N.S. Momaday and D. Brown, deliver two contrasting views on the Native American landscape and experience. Momaday’s awestruck diction and peaceful imagery revel in the seclusion of a scenario which promotes creation. On the other hand, Brown’s forlorn diction and passive tone mourn the lifeless landscape and loss of people forcibly detached from their land. While Momaday writes to explain the admirable beauty of Rainy Mountain, Brown writes to mourn the loss of life stripped in the barren landscape.

The buffalo were evidently everything to the Native Americans, hereby causing the defeat of buffalo to fall hand in hand with theirs. The plains Indians used bison as not only food, but in religious rituals, for clothing, for hunting, for shelter, and more. The buffalo were an integral part of the native’s lives. In the aftermath of the increasing killings of bison, the lives of countless Native Americans were destroyed. The said 30-60 million buffalo which had roamed freely upon the Great

As humans, one of our most important natural instincts is survival. The Indians were an ancient people who were developed important survival skills and pass them down to the next generations. They were mostly hunter-gatherers with simple yet efficient lifestyles usually supported by the agriculture and wildlife. They were able to conserve water from streams, springs, and rainfall for irrigation, weave baskets to store foods derived from wild plants, and eventually create pottery, a more efficient way to store or retrieve resources. They did not wear a lot of clothing, but what clothing they had was from the hides of animals, woven from plant fibers. They were expert hunter-gatherers and created their own weapons such as spears, bows, and arrows. Some tribes were known to have tracked their prey and

N. Scott Momaday is the author of the memoir The Way to Rainy mountain. The Way to Rainy Mountain is about Momaday recollecting and remembering his childhood and culture memories while he is on his journey to a ridge that is located northwest of Wichita Range in Oklahoma that his people gave the name “Rainy Mountain” (Momaday 5). His people were the Kiowa people and they are a Native American tribe. The Kiowa people believed “that they entered the world through a hallow log” (Momaday 3). They are also a small tribe because “there was a woman whose body had swollen up with child, and she got stuck in the log”, so no one else could exit the log and enter the world (Momaday 16). Long before the Kiowa people began to reside in Oklahoma they resided near Canada. Momaday tells the story from a mythical view, historical view, and a personal view. Through the mythical view Momaday’s father is telling the myths of his people. The historical view are historical commentaries. In the personal view he tells the memories of his childhood and relates them to the myth his father has told. Animals, landscape and the seasons of the year kindle the Kiowas relationship with nature in which in turns helps the reader better understand and respect the Kiowa culture.

The Omaha Chief Big Elk commented on the effect of the white migration to the West across the Overland Trails while visiting Washington D.C. He stated eloquently, “there is a coming flood which will soon reach us, and I advise you to prepare for it.” An estimated 500,000 people made the journey West to California and the Willamette Valley between the years 1840 – 1870. However, much like the first rains in a wet season, benefits were found in the first storm of white emigrants heading west. Native people were able to cooperate with white emigrants and benefit from trading with them. But the storms continued, emigrants as plentiful as rain drops came through the Indian lands and eventually, the prophecy of a great flood Chief Big Elk spoke of came true. Overtime, whites used up the limited resources of the plains tribes, depended on one another instead of Indians for help, and used force rather than compromise to clear the way for the expansion of the West.

The Grizzly Bear is one of nature’s last keystone species that is contributing to the Western United states and Southwestern Canada. The Grizzly Bear is thought of as a vicious beast who kills people without intent. Grizzly Bears are actually important to the environment and ecosystem that they live in. This Bear is an intelligent animal, which serves a role of preserving a plant’s way of life. It creates soil disturbance which causes more nitrogen to be produced to generate more nutrients for plants.

The Lakota Indians had the sad and unfortunate luck of becoming personally acquainted with the westward thrust of American development when the Americans’ attitudes toward Indians had grown cynical and cruel. This interaction caused the Lakota culture to change a great deal during the nineteenth century. Horses and guns brought about a dramatic change in the Lakota’s culture. They “enabled them to seize and defend their rich hunting grounds, to follow the great migrating herds of buffalo that shaped their distinctive way of life, and by the middle of the nineteenth century to evolve into the proud and powerful monarchs of the northern Great Plains (R6).” They acquired their first horses and guns, along with the knowledge of how to handle

With the hopes that it wouldn't snow, I traveled to Silverton Colorado with my dad in October. My dad and I had six elk tags for the very first rifle season. We pulled our camp trailer down to a nice wooded area about five miles before you get into town. The camp sight was about a quarter mile off of the highway. There were trees all around the camping spot; the only break in the trees was where the road came through.

“Give me knowledge, so I may have kindness for all,” was said by a Plains Indian. This seems to greatly reflect the point of most Native American stories. They teach you valuable lessons through fables and myths. This essay will analyze the similarities and differences of “The Coyote, “The Origin of The Buffalo and The Corn”, and “The First False Face”. Some similarities in “The Coyote”, “The Origin of The Buffalo and The Corn”, and “The First False Face” are as follows.

Deer were clearly ritually significant to the Maya based on both their prominence in Maya religion and in the zooarchaeological record. Moreover, deer are an excellent example of how zooarchaeological data can substantiate claims based on the ethnohistorical record. For example, the claims that juvenile deer were specifically sacrificed based on legends from the Popol Vuh and first-hand accounts by the Spanish are strengthened by the zooarchaeological record which also shows the preferential use of juvenile deer.