Morgan Spurlock: Native American Culture

Identity in Native America is directly associated with culture and language. As a result, some of the issues today which are important in shaping the identity of modern Native Americans include: representations of native people by the media in sports and popular culture; how indigenous languages are being revitalized and maintained; and identity reclamation. The Native American lifestyle has changed significantly during the last half of the 20th century and that is because views on the Native people have drastically changed over time. They have had many hardships that have greatly impacted their culture over the past few centuries leading up to today.

One might not understand what makes one keep moving forward day after day. Nobody gets it unless they have lived in the footsteps of another. Ask any Native American. They have lived a life of others judging and misunderstanding and if they haven't their ancestors have. The Native Americans pass stories down generation by generation so surely they have heard what it was like to be misunderstood. They believe differently than other cultures, yet not one is alike. They have a very complicated and hard to understand system when it comes to their views. The way they view, believe and run their system is never fully understood unless one has grown up with the Native American culture. The religious culture of these people is what holds their

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

Popular culture has shaped our understanding and perception of Native American culture. From Disney to literature has given the picture of the “blood thirsty savage” of the beginning colonialism in the new world to the “Noble Savage,” a trait painted by non-native the West (Landsman and Lewis 184) and this has influenced many non native perceptions. What many outsiders do not see is the struggle Native American have on day to day bases. Each generation of Native American is on a struggle to keep their traditions alive, but to function in school and ultimately graduate.

Culture, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is stated as “The integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that dpends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations. The customary beliefs, social forms and material traits of a racial, religious or social group. The set shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterizes an institution or organization. The set of values, conventions or social practices associated with a particular field, activity or societal characteristic.” Of these four definitions, I shall be focusing on the second one to discuss what makes up the culture of American Indians.The culture of the various tribes that made up the Native Americans is one of close knit families, highlyspiritual peoples and living together as one with the land they lived on. They believed in spirits, worshiping and honoring them. Some settled into single locations while others were nomadic, but all had a focus on working with the land around them. Because there are so many varying tribes that make up Native

Native American culture originated in some parts North America. These countries are known as the United States of America and some parts of Canada. In the United States, there are 6.6 million Native Americans, which form about 2.0 percent of the population (Bureau, 2016). Europe had realized there were about 50 million people already living the “new world” and these people were called Native Americans. Native Americans were originally called Indians, but later through history they formed a new name. These people were called this because of them being native to the “new world” and the American part came after the colonist named the United States. Throughout history, Native Americans believed that using raw material in nature was the best way to provide for their people. Their culture thought no part of an animal should go to waste. They would eat the meat, use the skin for clothing, and make jewelry from the bones. Over the years a lot of their culture and customs were lost due to conforming with society. Their languages were referred to as “Indigenous Languages” because of them being extremely complicated and diverse. Some important factors that help understand the foundation of Native American culture are their rituals/practices, death ceremonies, holidays, family, and stereotypes.

As the proverb goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty, as we know it, is subjective to each individual. However, some individuals are primed to perceive beauty as deriving from physique, clothing, and accessories; neglecting more important traits such as honesty and kind-heartedness. Aaron Shephard portrays in his short story, “The Hidden One: A Native American Legend”, that neglecting such traits results in failure. Any woman who makes deceitful attempts at proving they’re capable of seeing the Great Hunter is cast away. Little Scarface’s unpleasant older sister would “hold[] her down and burn[] her arms and face with sticks from the fire” (Shepard 1) and lie to their father about it. She claimed to see the Hunter and lied about that as well. The mistreated little girl is stripped of having appealing clothing and, what some may consider, a beautiful face; yet, only with her pure soul intact, she ultimately succeeds. The image of beauty the author is attempting to paint for you is that physical appearance only gets you to the door; the Hidden One, symbolized as the prize, is obtained with a “good heart”, free from “jealous[y] and cruel[ty]”.

Native American, or American Indians, have a rich culture comprised of struggle, strife and success. For this paper, i will discuss the Native American Culture and it's history.

Every country and nation has they own special festivals and music, and Native American is no exception. First, the native music related many aspects such as ritual, life and work. They like to combine music with dance, and the Native American music always created rich percussion instruments. For example, the hand drum, log drum, water drum and rattle, etc. Powwow is an important festival and ritual for the Native American, and it is a symbol for the tradition culture of Native Indians. Powwow, is a social gathering by the Native American tribes, and they singing and dancing. Powwow is not only a method that the Native American expresses the enthusiasm of the life and peace, but also enhances the sense of identity and cohesion. Hence,

Nunna dual Isunyi, the “Trail Where We Cried,” is what the Cherokees call one of the darkest chapters of American history (Pritzker). Despite the Native Americans adopting a great deal of white American customs and European-style economic practices, yet they were removed from their homelands and relocated to state reserves due to the ideology of manifest destiny and the insatiable American greed. The main victims were the Five “Civilized” Tribes: Choctaw, Seminole, Creek, Chickasaw, and Cherokee.

The documentary shows flint town in current years. After the General Motor factories shut down, Flint has been on a downward slope from prosperity to down-right poverty (Canepari, et al). The water was then later polluted by lead. This furthers destroys Flint. Without clean water, the residents of Flint have no choice but to use water bottles as their main source of water. Even though the residents cannot drink or use their running water, they are still forced to pay a monthly water bill. This further puts the people into poverty (Canepari, et al).

Since the beginning of time, conquering other societies has been a common occurrence. Almost every battle that has taken place has been documented. When stories of past battles are retold, only one side of the tale gets told, the victor’s side. In history, the ones who have been defeated never get to present their perspective of the tragic quarrels. Most never even lived to tell the stories, but the ones who do survive are not thought of as important accounts in history. The Native Americans suffered tyranny far a plethora of years, and still do. When learning about the indigenous people of America, it is taught through the “white man’s” prospective, never through the eyes of the sufferers. By not telling both sides of the story, the facts get skewed, skewed enough to have lies become the truth. So what is the real story behind Native American oppression?

Water has always had significance to the Native Americans through family gatherings, spiritual practices, and everyday life. In “Song of the Sky Loom” by the Tewa Indians, it states, “May the fringes be the falling rain,” as they’re praying to their Mother, the Earth, and

This was a very sad event. This was a very heartbreaking event. The government was only concerned with land and money. They had guaranteed the Indians the Black Hills and once they got word that there was gold located there they went back on their word. In the course book on page 542, it talks about how the government wanted to buy the Black Hills from the Lakota Sioux. It was upsetting to know that when the Lakota Sioux refused to sell the Black Hills to the government that the army issued an ultimatum. I did some research and found and article titled, “Native American Culture and the Black Hills 1874 – 1876 – Part 4” written by Rick W. Mills. This article provides details on the how the government tried to buy the Black Hills. This

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t only took one photograph for Edward Sheriff Curtis to become completely fascinated with capturing the Native American Culture. The photograph in question was taken in 1895 and portrayed Princess Angeline, a Duwamish chief's daughter.