Native American Tradition Culture Of Native Indians

Native American art forms have been dwindling in the past few years. Even though they have been decreasing, some tribes gather still to continue traditions. Art forms such as dance, pottery, and weaving have been passed down from generation to generation. There are many different types of dances including war dances, grass dances, and rain dances. Each dance has its own meaning and represents something unique. Native American dance is a creative way to tell a story, share values, pass down traditions, and communicate traditions of their ancestors in the 21st century.

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

The war cry – also known as the war dance- is a ceremonial dance that is performed by tribes and groups to demonstrate pride, strength and skill before going into battle or after winning one. The war dance is a cultural practice or a channel to identify yourself with your tribe and display your belongingness. Cultural practices are conducted everywhere in the world and I believe that everyone would be familiar with traditions and customs, such as table manners (examples), shopping behaviours and the well-known styles of greetings (examples!). Yet thinking of one impromptu is not an easy task. This just shows that cultural practices, traditions and customs are invisible to us (lecture). They are natural (lecture) and difficult to point out,

Native American music has many different musical styles. Within every Native American tribe there is a variety of musical styles and instruments. In response to the research that I have conducted, there are three main musical styles that are going to be my point of focus. The Sioux Grass Dance, the Zuni Lullaby, and the Iroquois Quiver Dance are the principal methods which contribute to Native American music.      

In John Smith’s The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles, his portrayal of the Native Americans is that of a tradition-driven people, who were willing to trade and occasionally aid the colonists, but were ultimately considered barbarians. The traditional aspect of the native’s culture can be found in their descriptions of fighting and dancing, with one of Smith’s first hostile encounters describing the Native Powhatan warriors being painted in different colors while “singing

This is clearly a large part of Native American history so some people might find it really odd that there was nothing specific to this tribe about their music and how they performed it. According to the Power Point that my group made on tribes from the Southeast, music was used in this area for ceremonies and Powwows (see group presentation). Our Power Point says that instruments used in the music are mainly water drums, striking sticks, rattles, and cylinder drums (see group presentation). According to the Southeast Native Americans website it says that people in this region generally have the same religious beliefs and that religion is “animism”. Along with the basket making that the Chitimacha tribe takes part in, the people in the Southeast region also enjoyed pottery (Southeast Native Americans).

“The Powwow at the End of the World” by Sherman Alexie appears to be a modern free verse poem with varying line length and no end rhyme. It is actually a ceremony to preserve and restore the Native American land and way of life. The repetition of the beginning of the lines and the strong rhythm suggest the drumbeat and dance of the apocalyptic powwow, or communal dance of Indians at the end of the world when all will be put right again. The speaker is an Indian answering the demand for forgiveness by the audience, who imply the Indians should forget four centuries of the atrocities committed by European settlers. He speaks in authoritative chant-like native rhetoric as though he can actually do what he says, like a medicine man. The poem in a few lines undoes the effects of modern civilization, destroying dams and allowing the waters to flow and the salmon to return.

In the beginning, many native americans were killed, while Omaamikwe was guided by a spirit. Protecting Omaamikwe was the spirit’s task and succeeded. Then, after some time a drum came to Omaamikwe which was the big drum. Omaamikwe was instructed on all the songs and eventually the big drum society was formed. Today the big drum is a powwow drum which is very social to the people. The drum’s purpose is to bring people together at a powwow. Which is a gathering of people to celebrate their heritage. The arrival of the drum allowed people to communicate with spirits and was vital to their own spirituality. Such vitals were pleasure, healing, hunting, war, and ceremony to ensure the spirits were with them. A sound of thunder comes from the drum

A Powwow is a congregation where Native American celebration, singing and dancing take place. Throughout the country there are numerous different powwows; though in this essay I will talk about overall powwows and in details the Jingle Dress Dance which by most accounts has its roots in the northern regions of the United States.

Native Americans celebrate a lot of traditions but one of the most popular celebration is Pow wows. Pow wows are also a time to extend native american culture and preserve the rich heritage of american indians. According to the article, What is a Pow wow, “A pow wow is gathering for many different communities”. Native americans have a diverse culture. Some say that Pow wows stand for an “American Indian medicine man”. Pow wows celebrate people’s way of meeting together, to join in dancing, singing, visiting, renewing old friendships, and making new ones.

Located at the center of the floor was the drum with its performers (all male), and the singers who were the male drummers and female singers. The female singers were seated just behind the male drummers in a circle. Prior to the initiation of the Powwow, many other things occurred. Miss Indian OU was crowned and everyone joined in celebration by dancing around the center drum. Male and female vocals could both be heard during this time. From here the honoring of certain individuals, families, and anniversaries occurred. It was then time for the Grand Entry. It is important to note that a prayer was carried out before this entry and all were asked to rise due to the presence of the Eagle Staff. The drums then initiated the Grand Entry and well over 100 dancers arrived on the floor. Each Plains dance type from Jingle Dress Dancers to Fancy Dancers was present. Regalia varied between each dance group and during the Grand Entry they each danced their own individual dance.

while walking through their main exhibit, there were narratives at the displays and the bird noise audio tracks they play in the front section. The both the customary and current courses in which the Anishinabe individuals incorporate music into their lives. Music is available in services, festivities, and our day by day lives, as well with respect to particular reasons or occasions. Songs include a lot of birds. listen the movie tell about tradition culture in Indian American. the old women talk about her story. Also, when I stopped in one story, I listened running water in the background. Tradition songs apart of there cultural. Drum is the heartbeat. Teaching their cultural to younger generation. The dancing is a part of see and hear. The the seven teaching that lead eath and final prophycy, the eternal fire of peace, will light if they follow the seven teaching :love, respect, bravey, honesty, humility, wisdom, and

When a powwow is held, it gives singers and dancers a time to showcase those to other people. “Language, beliefs, values, rules of behavior, family patterns, and political systems are examples of nonmaterial culture.” (Kendall, 2014 pg. 45) Nonmaterial culture is “the abstract, or intangible human creations of society that influence people’s behavior” (Kendall, 2014 pg. 45). Without our native language, which is rarely spoken anymore, is slowly making its way back and more and more of our younger generation is speaking it due to programs being initiated in our preschools and in our elementary/high schools.

American Indian life in the present time can be characterized as one big melting pot. Some societies try to preserve their own identity, while other groups came together in some way and brought their cultures together. A lot of what is known about their music has come from the past century when technological advancements were just beginning to take place. It was also during this period of time that there was a lot of turmoil between the whites. It was obvious that each tribe had its own musical identity, whether it dealt with style, uses of, or ideas of what music was. At that time there were thousands of groups, all speaking their own language, and each had several songs to accompany ceremonies, dances, and to divide society. Anthropologists have put them into categories according to their ways of life.

“It has often been said that the North American Indians ‘dance out’ their religions” (Vecsey 51). There were two very important dances for the Sioux tribe, the Sun Dance and the Ghost Dance. Both dances show the nature of Native American spirituality. The Ghost Dance and the Sun Dance were two very different dances, however both promote a sense of community.