Pow Wows: Gathering Animals In Native American Culture

Different aspects of dances all represent something special and meaningful to each specific tribe. Firstly, the purposes of the Native American’s dances are for entertainment, religious rituals, successful hunts, harvests, to give thanks, prayer, victory, mythology, along with many more. (Weiser- Alexander and Alexander) In the video Native American Indian

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 Catholicism, Christians attend worship service to practice their faith. During church, they do a variety of traditions, which include, “prayers, scripture readings, the singing of pslams from the Old Testament, the consecration of bread and wine, [and] communion” (Quinlan 275). Evidently, the liturgy is organized on the basis of strengthening one’s faith, by practicing on a weekly basis. Even more so, the church exhibits its faith by involving the community to celebrate the Lord together. In comparison, a powwow is very similar to a weekly Christian worship service. During a powwow, the participants celebrate through song and dance, prayer, ceremonies, and acts of hospitality and unity (“The Powwow”). Similar to the Holy Communion, powwow end their ceremony with a feast as an act of honor. Moreover, powwows are a form of community and are considered social gatherings in the Native American culture. Thus, the Christian Worship Service and an Aboriginal powwow have common qualities. However, these ceremonies are not the only way they practice their religion

Both religions take part in some kind of ritual for the gods. In Hinduism, people preform pujas to worship the gods with burned incense and lamps that are lit. People use small objects to represent the gods and they are called murtis. Pujas can be done in the home and in Hindu temples. When pujas are performed at home food called Prasad is offered to the gods, but in temples the food is passed out after the puja to the devotees and is blessed. However, in Native American religions people use dance as a way to contact the Spirit World. During these dances, people will play sacred flutes and beat on drums that are made of deer skin. Rituals are also performed

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, 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.

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.

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

“One general truth that threads throughout the Native American spiritual beliefs is the belief of the Mother Earth spirituality” (Coll). They often called earth their mother and called father the air. The earth to the Natives is very sacred to them and is the most important thing to them. Most of the ceremonies were in some way revolving around the earth and they called earth “home.” Most of the ceremonies were practiced for many years and were passed down through generation to generation. The Native Americans didn’t have a book like the bible or any language that was written. One big thing they had was Totems. These were everywhere in their tribes and it was supposed to represent people and the animals that represented them. The Indians were supposed to have 7 spiritual animals and the many animals on the totems were supposed to represent all the person’s spiritual

Human beings, desire to maintain a connection with the past is achieved through the languages spoken, the various cultures practiced, and sadly through acquiring of cultural property by the means of grave robbing. Native Americans wanted justice for these past mistreatments and control over their history. According to Chip Colwell, campaigning, repatriation of indigenous artifacts began in the 1960s by indigenous activism. Finally, on November 16, 1990, The United States Government passed The Native American Graves Protection and Reparation Act. NAGPRA summarizes that museums must conduct an inventory of all native American cultural artifacts and remains. (Native) In addition, Museums send the inventories to federally recognized tribes, in

Attending my first Native American powwow was a very intriguing cultural experience to be apart of, and that I was grateful I was able to attend. This was an event that I would not have attended if it were not for this project and I ended up learning a lot about this culture that is around us. Every Native American tribe has their own version of this culture, however, all tribes gather in a powwow, a cultural event that strengthens the unity of the tribe. My informants name is Gary Watson, an elderly man, who has attended powwows for many years. He and his wife were participants in the powwow this year and were also there to watch their grandchildren participate for the first time. I

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.

Nowadays, “Pow-wow” is a traditional celebration for the Native Americans, which they dress up in traditional way, dancing and singing. “Powwows are famous for their pageantry of colors and dance which have been adapted and changed since their beginnings into a bright, fast, and exciting event geared towards Native Americans and visitors alike.”

The first beginning we had hunter and gatherers, and that became something that everybody started doing. People would use resources around them, and they would not stay in permanent settlements. Than a new life began and it was called Emergence of Agriculture. People know started having permanent settlements, the population has became bigger, and their health might be becoming shaky. These changes might have been better or worse.

The clothing of the deer dancer is also ritually and symbolically significant. The rattles that the deer dancer wears around his ankles are made from the cocoons of butterflies. The rattles are used to represent the sounds of the insect world. The rattles that the deer dancer holds in his hands are made out of gourds and they represent the plant world. Deer hooves on the deer dancer’s