The Culture and History of Native Americans

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

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.

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

My essay will have an outlook of the history of the first Americans “Indians” and how they’ve adapted with their religion, subsistence strategy, social organization, and material culture. Over the years things have change in the history of Native Americans, prior to the reconstruction period, Native Americans knew who they were and what they lived for. Before the Europeans came and changed their living they one with nature and the land they’ve came to know. They believe that America was there’s and they lived free. In today’s history of Native Americans culture was founded in many ways, started in the mid 8200s B.C and before Christopher Columbus discovered America. Living in the Americas they were in touch with nature as well as their

Every country and nation has they own special festivals and music, and Native American is no exception. First, the native music related many aspects such as ritual, life and work. They like to combine music with dance, and the Native American music always created rich percussion instruments. For example, the hand drum, log drum, water drum and rattle, etc. Powwow is an important festival and ritual for the Native American, and it is a symbol for the tradition culture of Native Indians. Powwow, is a social gathering by the Native American tribes, and they singing and dancing. Powwow is not only a method that the Native American expresses the enthusiasm of the life and peace, but also enhances the sense of identity and cohesion. Hence,

The subsections of the chapter efficaciously organize the information on Native American culture; one section titled Native American Diversity and Complexity briefly overviews the similarities in culture among Native American tribes: “…kin-based bands of hunters and gatherers…economic and social systems were adapted to the ecosystems they inhabited…extremely productive farmers…” These lines indicate that Native American societies were very primitive and shared aspects similar to those of early civilizations. Further in the reading, in the section titled Sacred Power, the author includes some religious facts on the tribes. “Most Native North Americans were animists…their rituals appeased guardian spirits that could ensure successful hunts and other forms of good fortune.” This means that the tribes were most likely religion-based societies. For every important event, such as invading another tribe or going on a hunting trip; the Natives would have a corresponding spirit to appease for good fortune. In addition, the reading also includes some information pertaining to the status of women. “Throughout the eastern woodlands, as in most of North America, women tended crops, gathered plants, and oversaw affairs within the community; while men were responsible for activities beyond it, especially hunting, fishing, and warfare.” This

Unfortunately, for Native Americans their experience since initial contact with White Europeans has been a constant struggle. The very existence of Native American’s culture, religion, language, and land, and their form of political organizations have been threatened since the White Europeans began colonization in the regions indigenous to the Native Americans. Evidently, the White European’s misunderstanding of the American Indian has been a motivating factor in the poor treatment administered towards them. Not to mention, the various tribes had warfare amongst themselves, which perhaps gave the Europeans a reason to believe they were violent people and ignore any feeling of guilt for partaking in warfare with them as well. Upon arrival,

“My people are few. They resemble the scattering trees of a storm-swept plain...There was a time when our people covered the land as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea cover its shell-paved floor, but that time long since passed away with the greatness of tribes that are now but a mournful memory.,” Chief Seattle Speech of 1854. The culture of the Native American people has been deteriorating ever since the Europeans arrived in the Americas. The impactful and immense loss of lifestyle that they faced is one that can never be recovered, what the United States has given them are generations of trauma and blatant suffering. However, the U.S. did not stop there, a multitude of cultures have been broken to help keep America pure. For instance, one of the most significant cultures that have been dismantled by the U.S. other than the Natives and their music were the languages and music of the African slaves. The apparent likeness of these two cultures in the ways in which their deconstruction impacted them is in more of an abundance, such as the dominating influence of the Christian religion and the gravely vital role of maintaining what little heritage they could through language. In contrast to this, the two groups had an opposing difference pertaining to how the Natives and slaves tried to compensate the immense loss of their culture through the generations.

All around the world many cultures may find the story of the creation myth, as well as have their own interpretation of it. The Native Americans have rich history and many myths, but the one legend that is common throughout every tribe is the creation myth. The mythology and culture of the Native Americans was influenced strongly by the Creation myth, which was the foundation of many other myths related to various aspects of the natural world. In Native American mythology, Fred Ramen says of the Native American Indians, “Their creation myths are notable for two reasons: the stories explain how people came to this world from some other, magical place, and they detail a close cooperation between animals and humans” (19).

In this painting by George Catlin titled “Assinneboine Chief before and after Civilization” it shows a very proud Assinneboine Chief standing straight and proud. His clothing expresses his Indian culture as he is dressed in leggings and shirt made of mountain goat skin, and finished with a pictured robe of buffalo hide over his right shoulder. Moccasins covered his feet and his tribal headdress decorated his head allowing his long hair to blend with the feathers of his headdress. In his left hand is his long pipe which he would smoke with those with whom he would want to make peace. The background which is painted in a lighter hue then

“Religion was usually closely linked with the natural world on which the tribes depended for sustenance. Native Americans worshipped many gods, whom they associated variously with crops, forests, rivers, and other elements of nature” (Brinkley 6).

By contrast the Eastern European settlers came to America with the mentality that they sought to obtain glory and gold from the seemingly wild New World and convert any peoples they met along the way to their religion. To ensure that these goals were accomplished the initial settlers came with a façade to the Native American peoples in that they presented peace instead of presenting their true motives. With this mentality the Americas changed drastically. Any wars that had been fought between tribes had usually never been genocidal. However, when the Europeans settled the New World, everything changed, instead of small raids over disputes, wars became over religion and the conversion to it. Instead of small skirmishes due to a misunderstanding, skirmishes became battles over language and who’s language should be spoken.7 To the European the Indian was a “savage” an entity that was birthed by Satan and that needed to be “wiped from existance.” Or so they say. These stereotypes were only placed on the Native Americans as a form of justification for the wrongs of the European. After the settlers manage to become self sufficient in the New World, they felt as if they no longer needed the assistance of the Natives any longer. This is by all means true; once the settlers managed to get on their feet, with the help of the natives of course, they no

“The Creeks were rounded up and forced into heavily-guarded, rat infested camps. They were bound in shackles and chains and forced to march from Alabama to their new home in Indian Territory… it is estimated more than 3,000 began the trip did not survive” (“Creek Removal” 1). This is just one of the many examples of torment the Native American peoples faced. Native Americans are the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Tainos were one of the many Native American tribes that were in the Americas before Columbus but were killed nearly out of existence. Some argue that the Native people of the New World and the Americas were victims of genocide, others passionately disagree. A genocide is the killing of many people, usually of a specific race, religion, or political affiliation. A popular example of a genocide is the Holocaust where over 6 million people were killed. The stages of a genocide are: Classification, symbolization, dehumanization, organization, polarization, preparation, extermination, and denial. Indians were victims of genocide because they were dehumanized by the Spanish colonizers, they lost their homeland to the American government, and were forced to assimilate to White American culture via boarding schools.

Native Americans were some of the first people in America and their history has greatly impacted the way we live today. There are five main regions where the Native Americans lived: Northeastern, Southern, Plains, Southwestern, and Northwest Coast/Alaska Natives. Each region lived in different climates and had access to different types of food. Also, each region has multiple Native American tribes within it. This paper will discuss the Iroquois from the North Eastern region, the Cherokee from the Southern region, and the Hopi from the South Western region.