Tribal Land By Dale Backon: Will My Tribe Forget The Tradition?

The first powwow that Sawaquat went to taught him that people viewed his heritage as a pastime. The powwow featured hobbyist who dressed up as Native Americans and acted like Native Americans would at a traditional powwow. This made Sawaquat feel ridiculous and it made it look like Native Americans were a joke. It was even harder for Sawaquat to see what the hobbyist were doing to his heritage because he was in a time of questioning and searching for his identity and this event was a step back for him. Sawaquat’s search for self-discovery led him down a path of disappointment.

tribal members profess their dedication to their traditions and beliefs. "The feast of the New Yam

When the settlers colonised Australia and forced the indigenous people off the land they had thrived on for thousands of years, the results were catastrophic. The dispossession of their land hugely impacted the aboriginal population as they survived only on natural resources and had strong religious beliefs regarding the land. The settlers believed that forcing the indigenous people to move would not disrupt their nomadic lifestyle, but little did they understand that the aboriginals let the land replenish for they respected and valued it as their source of life.When the aboriginals took the land from the indigenous people of Australia, the consequences were far deeper than they understood, the apathetical actions of the first settlers still affects aboriginal people today.

“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.

The way we live defines us, tradition defines us. Tradition is a very important thing. It is something that spans many generations and is a part of one's identity. Tradition can define us. Therefore when tradition is forcibly taken away it can hurt a lot of people and generations. An example of a people who have had many of their traditions suppressed and taken away are the original inhabitants of the Americas. Their tradition was taken from them and they were either killed or forced into following a new tradition which erasing all of their identity. The effect this has on the newer generation is bad because they will feel like a part of them is missing because their tradition was taken and it can cause a trauma called generational trauma. The book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in heaven, focuses on a Native American named Victor in order to describe how generational trauma causes a weakening of tradition because it becomes replaced with alcohol and isolation. In addition, Alexie presents how a rekindling of old traditions is a way out of this harmful circle.

The days of living off the land have long since passed. Junior says, “… my mother stood in line to get us commodities. We carried them home, happy to have food, and opened the canned beef that even the dogs wouldn’t eat” (Alexie2). The Spokane reservation doesn’t provide any means for them to provide for their families on their own. They rely in large part on the government to supply their basic living necessities. This type of reliance doesn’t allow for other traditions such as the quilting Junior references or other traditions such as basket weaving. Perhaps the lack of traditions that are left is what brings us full circle to why the class reunions are held in the local

The Aboriginal culture believes that their land was was created by the ancestor spirit of the dreaming, and people were formed by that land and are connected and linked to it. This relationship to their land gives them their social identity and connects them within their clan. The loss of their language and mother tongue has made it extremely impossible to pass on beliefs and traditions in an authentic way.

A Native Americans identity is deeply rooted in his culture, “it’s a particular way one feels about oneself and one’s experiences as an American Indian or tribal person” (Horse 65). Without his Native American culture, a person can feel lost in the world, disconnected from everything. Throughout history, there have been moments where Native Americans were forced to lose part or all of their culture, of their identity. There was the termination era in the 1950’s and Indian boarding schools that both were ways to strip Native Americans of their culture. In Joy Harjo’s poem, The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window, the woman hanging experiences the termination era. In Sherman Alexie’s book, Reservation Blues, Junior Polatkin experiences the lasting effect boarding schools have on Indians. In LeAnne Howe’s book, Miko Kings, Lena learns that you can always come back from to your Native identity.

They lost much of their traditional heritage and the way they or their Ancestors lived, it became only a memory (Berndt, R.M. & C.H, 1981. p.499).

Native Americans make up less than .9% of the United States population. With this trivial number, it is difficult to keep its culture and traditions alive as generations progress. In the short story “War Dances,” author Sherman Alexie morns the loss of Native American identity through a deprecating tone which illustrate a divide between generations.

The idea that Prehistoric Aboriginal culture is averse to change or is static is a belief shared by the minority. Although it can be said that Indigenous culture and our ancestral peoples share many similar or unchanged basic behaviour patterns, each society or culture can be distinguished from others by the certain configurative patterns or directives for why the Prehistoric peoples did or did not achieve things and how they were or were not achieved. This willingness to change and not be opposed to innovation and holding traditional values all the time, suggests that Prehistoric Aboriginal Culture was constantly changing. This essay discusses the concept that Prehistoric Aboriginal culture adopted a willingness to learn, change and grow through forms of art and culture, for both aesthetic and useful purposes. Secondly, the developing cultural intricacies will be deliberated, how hunter gatherer societies affected Prehistoric Aboriginal culture and how these complexities are the source of change for many Indigenous peoples through time.

In addition to the loss of culture and language for indigenous people, they are also experiencing the loss of their traditional lands and native environment. For indigenous people, much personal and group meaning comes from the natural environment and as a result, their religious practices are deeply rooted in the environment in which they live. When the environment that they rely on is taken away for development, both their cultural and religious identity suffers.

The roots and customs of Native American tribes run deep. A feeling of respect and tradition is in the air. Every little detail has meaning and a certain level of pride and of importance to each individual taking part in the ceremony. According to Access

Traditionally, the kinship system by which aboriginal society follows is one based highly on collectivism. Geert Hofstede defines a collectivist society as one that prefers a “tightly knit framework” in which individuals can expect “unquestioned loyalty” (The Hofstede Centre, 2013) from relatives and members of the group.

Cultural Retention, I would not describe as a process but more of a conscious action or attempt to not only preserve, but improve upon certain practices and customs. This will occur when a tradition not only links to a major segment of a society’s history, but when it functions as a source of identity and pride. It also works to the tradition’s advantage when it is enjoyable and/or entertaining. A very prominent example of cultural retention in the Caribbean is Independence Day celebration. All across the region, no matter the island, the anniversary of its independence is seen as a special occasion. It is an event where the entire island takes a moment to remember its history and where society recalls its roots. It is important to note that this is a period where several cultures, both new and old are observed and analysed to see how they link to the island’s history. In the island of Barbados, Independence Day is recognised yearly as a time where the all