Native American Religious Inequality Essay

In the United States, there are many holidays that are celebrated by its citizens. Some of these holidays consist of individuals taking the day off from work and school, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s Day. During these days off, individuals have the chance to reflect on the day itself, and rejoice on the purpose of the holiday. Every holiday has a distinct and positive meaning towards the United States and its people, but there is one holiday in particular that is controversial in this aspect- the celebration of Christopher Columbus- Columbus Day. This controversy is JJJJJJ because even though Christopher Columbus had a big role in discovering America, he also was a terrible human being who tortured many. In my opinion, I believe that the celebration of discovering America should continue to be celebrated. Although, the holiday should be shifted from honoring Columbus, to instead celebrating the discovery of the United States of America by the indigenous people who were already settled in our land.

To start of, why do we celebrate Columbus Day? Americans have created many pros to why we should celebrate Columbus Day. One of these pros is up until Columbus’s voyage to the Americas, the overwhelming majority of the seafaring community was more than a little bit nervous about sailing West – so much so that the ships would make terribly dangerous voyages through some of the rough seas just to avoid “falling off the edge of the world”. Columbus showed that not only could you sail West without falling off the edge of the planet, but that there was an entire new section of the world open and available for exploration. Although some might say that he helped advance trade, others say it is impossible to downplay the brutality that Christopher Columbus and following Europeans inflicted upon the indigenous people of the Americas when they came over. This wasn’t an idyllic relationship between the indigenous people and the Europeans, and Columbus landing on this new continent really led to genocide. As you can see, many people say that Columbus advanced trade, but he was very brutal to the Native Americans, which brings up the main question of this essay: do you think we should be celebrating Columbus Day?

Current American society is constantly affected by events from the past, but sometimes what society thinks is in the past is not so far behind. The way Native Americans were treated historically continually plays a part in current American society. Due to the racism and stereotypes carried throughout society the Native American cultural circle is constantly under fire.

Although Columbus Day is used as the celebration between two sides of the world merging and creating an entire empire, it is also widely looked down upon for the way the merge was completed. “Upon arriving in the Bahamas, the explorer and his men forced the native peoples they found there into slavery.” This not only started the transatlantic slave trade, but also started a genocide that lead to the death of millions. Europeans also brought with them new diseases that they had no idea they were carrying, these diseases are but are not limited to smallpox and influenza. The natives feel the need for a new holiday knows as Indigenous Peoples Day. For the Native Americans, “‘Indigenous Peoples Day’ reimagines Columbus Day and changes a celebration of colonialism into an opportunity to reveal

What if everyday in America there was not an action someone could take because someone of an opposite race sexually assaulted or domestically abused that person? Often news outlets only focus on major even in cities or towns, but never the reservations. With the lack of awareness of the number of rapes and domestic abuse victims on reservations, at large society is saying America doesn’t care due to reservations having sovereignty. Even with new laws signed into place by President Obama to deal with the rape and abuse problems to Native American women, that come from non Native Americans, the problem with this is it’s a pilot only on three tribes (Culp-Ressler,1).It is said it will expand soon, but how soon? America is not known for being

In modern day society, we often overlook key points in history. For example, Columbus Day, why do we celebrate it? Well, from one’s point of view, we celebrate this holiday for several reasons, one of these reasons are because it recalls Christopher Columbus' entry to the Americas on October 12, 1492. This occasion is questionable on the grounds that the European settlement in the Americas prompted the downfall of the history and culture, of the indigenous people groups. What are some of the pros and cons from naming Columbus Day to Indigenous Day? That is what you will learn in this essay.

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

Due to the wide range of habitats in North America, different native religions evolved to match the needs and lifestyles of the individual tribe. Religious traditions of aboriginal peoples around the world tend to be heavily influenced by their methods of acquiring food, whether by hunting wild animals or by agriculture. Native American spirituality is no exception. Traditional Lakota spirituality is a form of religious belief that each thing, plant and animal has a spirit. The Native American spirituality has an inseparable connection between the spirituality and the culture. One cannot exist without the other.

The second Monday in October is celebrated across America as Columbus Day. It is a celebration of the man who discovered America. In school, children are taught that Christopher Columbus was a national hero. In actuality, the man was a murderer. It is true that he found a land that was unknown to the "civilized" world, yet in this discovery, he erased the natives inhabiting the land. With slavery, warfare, and inhumane acts, Christopher Columbus and the men who accompanied him completely destroyed a people, a culture, and a land. These are not actions that should be heralded as heroic.

Many Americans believed that God blessed the growth of the American nation and demanded them to work on it. “Since they were sure of their cultural and racial superiority, they felt that their destiny was to spread their rule around and enlighten the nations that were not so lucky. Many Americans also believed that it was up to them to further develop the lifestyles of Native Americans. They also believed that the other races were incapable of technologically and spiritually advancing into the near future.”

Today the United States is known as a land of freedom, and as elegantly stated by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…” Unfortunately these words have not always been a reality for Native Americans, who were treated not as equals, but as subhuman by early white European settlers.

When America was first created, Native Americans were believed to be less than the White Men that were in charge of the American takeover. They were stripped of their rights and forced to make room for their intruders. As Chief Seattle’s Treaty Oration says, “the Red Man no longer has rights that [the white man] need respect”. Many Early Americans tried to justify this takeover. Thomas Hart Benton writes in his essay The Destiny of the Race, “civilization, or extinction, has been the fate of all people who have found themselves in the track of the advancing Whites.” Along with the argument of the White Man being the “dominant race”, people believed that God had given them this land, and that they had a right to take it because of this. Again, as Chief Seattle writes, “you God is not our God! Your God loves your people and hates mine!” None of these supposed “justifications” were an excuse for the pain and torment the Native Americans were put through. In other words, though the Colonists tried to justify the removal of the Native Americans, they had no good reason to uproot these people from the only home they have ever

When Europeans first set foot upon the shores of what is now the United States they brought with them a social structure which was fundamentally based around their concept and understanding of Western European Christianity. That the indigenous peoples might already have a thriving civilization, including religious beliefs and practices, that closely paralleled the beliefs and practices of European civilization, was a concept not considered by these early explorers and settlers. This European lack of cultural understanding created tensions, between Native Americans and Europeans, and later between Native Americans and Euro-Americans, that eventually erupted into open warfare and resulted in great bloodshed between cultures. For the Lakota

Columbus Day is a widely celebrated day each year to recognize our country being found. Little do most people know, it is hardly an occasion to be celebrated. Columbus didn’t stumble on vast empty land, he stumbled upon the home of millions of Indians. He had two objectives: slaves and gold. He was willing to do anything to get it even if that meant enslaving, killing, torturing, and spreading disease upon the people there. The Indians greeted Columbus with great kindness and generosity, rescuing his boat and offering him what he pleased. He took advantage of their kindness and used it against them leading to their demise. Most people know none of this or only a scratch at the surface of the horrors that really took place to form what is now a Super Country. Since most people don’t know, in a sense means that they are celebrating this day innocently. It’s almost like wearing a band shirt to signify that you listen to the band but in actuality if someone were to ask you the name of the lead singer you would have no clue. Aside from the fact that the person usually wears the shirt to appear

Between 1790 and 1920 it was a tough time for the Indians. During that period Native Americans were forced to convert to the European-American Culture. Their whole life changed, the way of living, religion, and especially their children’s future. It was wrong of Americans to convert natives into a different society that they saw fit and not letting them express their own culture and treating them as an unworthy society.