Southwest 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.

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 clothing of the Chippewa Indians was oftentimes made of animal skin. The tendons were taken from the animals and used as thread for the clothing that the Chippewa wore. The men wore a long piece of animal skin or cloth between their legs and belted it at the hips. The flaps then covered the front and behind of the men. Leggings were worn by both women and men and sometimes they were covered with fancy fringe. The leggings were created from animal skin and therefore were quite insulating during the cold winters. Women sometimes wore long skirts over the top of their leggings. Women wore a thin blouse, basically like a poncho, that included a cut out at the neck for the head to go through. Fancy aprons were worn on special occasions.

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 Paiutes are a Native American Indian tribe “made up of several bands throughout the western part of the United States, also known as the Great Basin region” (Ruby 222). The Northern Paiutes populated areas of Oregon, California, Nevada, and Idaho; and inquiries as to how the environment might have affected their interactions, migration, and social behavior is a topic of great interest in Oregon archeology. The Northern Paiutes “who practiced the ancestral lifeway well into the 19th century, were heirs to an extremely ancient cultural tradition” (Aikens 13). Historical archeological studies found that these groups often “made tools, gathered plants, and hunted animals of similar if not identical kinds” (Aikens 13). Through these similar identities,

Native American art is a profoundly expressive culture that has been a way of life for so many Native Americans. Native American art history has advanced over thousands of years and is composed of several idiosyncratic styles from the differentiating cultures of diverse Indian tribes. From Navajo to Hopi, each tribe has a particular history, which consists of many types of Native American arts including beadwork, jewelry, weaving, pottery, carvings, kachinas, masks, totem poles, and more. To truly understand Native American art, we will explore Native American art history, its subjects, and if Native American art has a spiritual connection to it.

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

American culture is made up of many different people, and many of those people come from Indian tribes. The United States Governments Federal Register lists 566 tribes recognized as of August 2012. One of those tribes is the Navajo which can be found primarily in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Navajo culture is one that many people associate with by what is portrayed in movies. People view the culture as land raiding individuals that pillaged and wreaked havoc with anyone and anything they came in contact with.

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.

"Man corn", warfare and atlatls were not the only interesting aspects of the Anasazi culture. The history and lifestyles of the Ancestral Puebloans may have contributed to their mysterious disappearance. Their societies were more complex than most humans realize.

Long before Europeans explored North America, a group of people now known as The Ancestral Puebloans, migrated throughout the four corners region and finally settled in Mesa Verde. For more than 700 years they and their descendants lived and flourished, advancing their build technologies, and material usage. Eventually achieving a clear understanding of their environment, its changing climates, they manipulating their buildings to take advantage of the natural occurrences their communities peeked. Being simple worshippers and having respect for nature their creations left little negative impact on it relative to others of their time. Once reaching their communal peak they suddenly migrated away and disappeared, still today scientist struggle

The Southeastern region was very productive agricultural wise for many of the different Native Americans living in this region. The leading culture in the southwest was Mississippian, which attracted and pulled in great wealth and in turned permitted the tribes of this particular area to build huge mounds while also preparing and building urban centers. The tribes formed chiefdoms which later lead to treaties with the colonists. Therefore many of the tribes in turn became known as civilized socially and economically. The Native American were foremost the first to took advantage of this areas favorable agricultural and farming conditions. Hunting and fishing was also prominent in this region. I believe that one of the most important factors

Where the Sioux tribe lived was in Minnesota, Nebraska, South and North Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Montana, Northern Illinois and South Central Canada.

The Apache are a well-known nomadic tribe that dominate Southwestern colonial America, as well as parts of Mexico. Fighting between the Native Americans and colonials have temporarily ceased. Our chief has sent me, along with a few warriors, to meet with a man named General George Washington in hopes of achieving peace between our people. Our chief describes these colonials as very close-minded, as they rarely see other cultures aside from their own, and may view us as savages. To avoid further conflict, I must show the colonials our way of life and explain to them our culture in hopes of creating a bridge between our people and to possibly create a preverbal bridge of assimilation between us. Surely after viewing our way of politics and studying

Native American art were an essential form that transmitted in their culture. They’re known to have a deep connection with spirituality and Mother Nature. Native Americans used different shapes and geometric designs that represent their tribe and each of them had a purpose for their creation. Most of their art are associated with symbols in which represent nature, these symbols are the sun, the moon, bears, eagles and people. Art has such an important role for Native Americans that it became a way to communicate between them.