Native American Cultures And Differences Between North And South America

Prior to European contact, Native Americans lived as hunter-gatherers, living and traveling in groups typically less than 300. These Native Americans had over 400 languages along with a myriad of different religions (The American Pageant). Across the continent, the Natives built homes

The Europeans and the Native American’s come from very different customs and cultures. The colonists had very

Europeans lived a much more modern way of life than the primitive lifestyle of Native Americans. Europeans referred to themselves as “civilized” and regarded Native Americans as “savage,” “heathen,” or “barbarian.” Their interaction provoked by multiple differences led to misunderstanding and sometimes conflict. These two cultures, having been isolated from one another, exhibited an extensive variation in their ideals. Europeans and Native Americans maintained contradictory social, economic, and spiritual practices.

There are hundreds of Native American tribes and millions of people that are within North America that identify themselves as Native Americans. Each tribe has their own unique customs, language, and myths. However, within the confines of this paper I will take a broad view with regards to Native American customs and traditions from a small sample of tribes that were observed prior to the vast expansion of colonizing the west.

The long history between Native American and Europeans are a strained and bloody one. For the time of Columbus’s subsequent visits to the new world, native culture has

Throughout the course of history there have been numerous accounts regarding Native American and European interaction. From first contact to Indian removal, the interaction was somewhat of a roller coaster ride, leading from times of peace to mini wars and rebellions staged by the Native American tribes. The first part of this essay will briefly discuss the pre-Columbian Indian civilizations in North America and provide simple awareness of their cultures, while the second part of this essay will explore all major Native American contact leading up to, and through, the American Revolution while emphasizing the impact of Spanish, French, and English explorers and colonies on Native American culture and vice versa. The third, and final, part of this essay will explore Native American interaction after the American Revolution with emphasis on westward expansion and the Jacksonian Era leading into Indian removal. Furthermore, this essay will attempt to provide insight into aspects of Native American/European interaction that are often ignored such as: gender relations between European men and Native American women, slavery and captivity of native peoples, trade between Native Americans and European colonists, and the effects of religion on Native American tribes.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Europeans started to come over to the new world, they discovered a society of Indians that was strikingly different to their own. To understand how different, one must first compare and contrast some of the very important differences between them, such as how the Europeans considered the Indians to be extremely primitive and basic, while, considering themselves civilized. The Europeans considered that they were model societies, and they thought that the Indians society and culture should be changed to be very similar to their own.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Europeans started to come over to the new world, they discovered a society of Indians that was strikingly different to their own. To understand how different, one must first compare and contrast some of the very important differences between them, such as how the Europeans considered the Indians to be extremely primitive and basic, while, considering themselves civilized. The Europeans considered that they were model societies, and they thought that the Indians society and culture should be changed to be very similar to their own.

Within the Native culture and the Colonial cultures in North America, there are confusion, misjudging, assumptions and conflicts among the two.

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.

The native americans also made diffrent houses depending on the weather, for instance the mojave and cahuilla made their houses out of brush if the weather was hot. If the weather was cold they would make there houses out of oak planks and have slanted roofs.fun fact: did you know the cahuilla also ate beans,corn and squash?anyway, the cahuilla and the mojave lived close together and probably traded lots of things with each other too.fun fact:all tribes sing or yell special ceremonies to honor there tribe or land or there people as well as food or crops.the cahuilla lived in the foot hills of the san bernadino mountains and lived there for hundreads

The Native Americans, at the time of the first encounter, were still very culturally and socially primitive compared to the Europeans. They moved a lot, lived mainly of fishing and hunting, spent their time cultivating and used primitive tools and equipment in their daily activities.

The colonisation of North America by the Europeans became one of the most crucial points for the native North Americans. The differing experiences of contact between both cultures had overwhelmingly disastrous impacts on the normal way of life. From such contact arose the issue of land disputes, in turn resulting in massacres and frontier wars which could have otherwise been unnecessary. The factors stated above provide a suitable stimulus for a discussion in regards to the varying encounters of the Indigenous North Americans.

Native Americans are known for many different qualities they had as a part of their lifestyle. The games and sports they created to play that are now used in today’s society, lacrosse being the most famous. Some of the games played in the early times are either drastically changed or no longer played. There are many different Native American tribes that factor out cultural differences and depending on the tribe, the lifestyle qualities such as sports, games, and rituals differentiate between one another.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the native peoples in the Americas accounted for 2,000+ cultures, several hundred different languages, and all provided a living for themselves differently based on their environment. They where very diverse.