Native American Essays (Examples)

As the text by Griner & Smith (2006) asserts, "There is a pressing need to enhance the availability and quality of mental health services provided to persons from historically disadvantaged racial and ethnic groups. Many previous authors have advocated that traditional mental health treatments be modified to better match clients' cultural contexts." (Griner & Smith, p. 531)

here Native Americans are concerned, this denotes the need for an outreach campaign that is simultaneously intended to promote better awareness of proper dietary, nutritional, health and wellness strategies while also showing a recognition of the clear conditions of disadvantage which have contributed to the Native American plight. Certainly, evidence suggests that any such counseling will be conducted against the grain of a long-standing cultural adaptation of negative nutritional and lifestyle decisions. According to Huber (2008), "beginning in the 1930s, government commodity programs and other factors led to very poor eating habits by…

Native Americans Transition From Freedom to Isolation

America's history since 1865 to date is a remarkable record of various accounts of despair, hope, triumph, and tragedy. The country's history consists of some compelling transformations with one of these significant accounts being the battle between Americans and Americans in the final period of the Civil War. In its initial years, the United States was politically isolated from the rest of the world but has developed to become the leading world power and beacon of democracy by the 20th Century. America's history revolves around isolation, end of isolation in 1920, and grand expectations experienced by the nation itself and its people. The development of the United States to become a dominant world power is rooted in the beginning of isolation and the struggle to overcome this isolation by Native Americans.

Native Americans Experience of Isolation:

Before the end of isolation period, Native…

Native Americans

A strong connection between the Iroquois and the framers of the U.S. Constitution is now considered to be a historical fact. While many Americans still believe that the U.S. Constitution was based on Christian beliefs and tenets, leading founding figures like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were closely associated with the Iroquois, which makes sense considering how closely the U.S. Constitution is to the Iroquois Constitution -- also called the Great Law of Peace. This fact proves that the Iroquois Confederacy had a major impact on the forefathers of this country and the U.S. Constitution.

The Iroquois Confederacy impacted the U.S. Constitution in one major way which can be seen in the way that the framers of the U.S. Constitution adopted the democratic ideals held by the Confederacy. The Confederacy believed that states were to be left to their own device when settling any kinds of problems and…

American Indian Studies

Native American Storytelling

The group of people known as the Native Americans or American Indians are the native residents of the Northern and Southern American continents who are thought to have traveled across the Bering land bridge from Asia. hen the new society and the already established, came together, years of imposed philosophy, domination and rebel warfare were begun. The great impediments of religion, ethics and world-views were the three main issues which lead to the culture conflict between the Puritans and the Native Americans. Religion played a very significant role in both Puritan and Native American society, though their beliefs varied significantly. According to Puritan beliefs, God had chosen a select quantity of people to join him in heaven. On the other hand, the Native Americans believed that everyone was the same and that no one was better than anyone else. The Puritans relied on their…

Native Americans

efore Christopher Columbus discovered the United States of America, and people from all over the globe including Europe, Asia and Africa migrate to inhabit the New World, it was already home to a group of people. This group of people is known as Native Americans or American Indians. These Native Americans lived as hunter-gatherer societies, with tribes living on pieces of lands as a community, using them for agriculture. The migration of Europeans into the New World changed the cultural dynamics of the land. There were arrays of differences between the European and Native American cultures were subsequently led to immense political tension as a result of ongoing contradictions between the two groups along with shifting of alliances of different nations between the two. The increase in the European expansion in America led to a rise in the tension between the groups. In 1830, the Indian Removal Act…

Native Americans: Separate and Unequal

Native American Isolation

Native Americans have continued to represent a marginalized ethnic minority in the United States, despite repeated efforts at assimilation. No one argues publicly anymore that Native Americans are inferior to Whites, but the taint of racism seems to remain embedded in public policy decisions concerning this demographic. Accordingly, Native Americans have attempted to insulate themselves from the influence of what can only be described as the dominant colonial culture. I will argue that the colonial attitudes that first invaded North America over 400 years ago continue to influence how mainstream American society views Native Americans, and vice versa.

A Case Study of Early Cultural Conflict

Spanish immigration into California would have benefitted greatly through the development of an overland route that crossed what was then a major river, the Colorado, because supplying settlements by sea was untenable at the time (Santiago, 1998,…

Native Americans

Dakota and Lakota people

The word 'Dakota' is derived from the seven council fires (Oceti Sakowin) - or in other words, the main political units for the people of Dakota. The word means "ally" also referred to as "Sioux" at times. Historically, the Sisseton, Wahpekute, Wahpeton, and Mdewakanton constituted of western Yankton and Yanktonai who were together referred to as Nakota and the Teton and Eastern Dakota. The Santee Dakota family had their land in the western and central parts of what later came to be Minnesota, during the early 1800s. In the same period, the western Dakota people were living mainly in what is presently known as South and North Dakota (Nabokov, 2010).

The Lakota and the Dakota prophesized and envisioned the ghost dance which began in their minds. As a vision, the leader of the dance passed away before enacting the vision. People believed that this…

Native American's With Alcoholism And Diabetes

The health situation with regard to Native Americans is shown in numerous studies to be seriously below the standard and average of other groups in the country. This fact is underscored and emphasized in research studies such as Richardson's, The Need to Empower Indian Tribes, in which he states that,

As the nation reviews its health needs, it can look to American Indians as the ethnic group in the poorest health, with the highest rates of diabetes and tuberculosis. Recently, the Indian Health Service reported that tuberculosis rates among Native Americans exceeded all other ethnic classifications by 400%. Indians die younger than other groups, from a variety of illnesses. A 1992 report from the University of Minnesota noted that the suicide rate of Indian teens is four times greater than any other ethnic group. The accidental death rate of American Indians is 295% greater…

Native American Culture

The Native American people occupied the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th century and have long been known as Indians because when Columbus reached the shores he believed he had landed in the Indies (Natives Pp).

It is generally agreed by most scholars that the Native Americans came to the estern Hemisphere from Asia via the Bering Strait or along the North Pacific coast in series of migrations spreading east and south (Natives Pp).

It is believed that these waves of migration account for the numerous native linguistic families while the common origin explains the physical characteristics that Native Americans share, such as Mongoloid features, coarse straight black hair, dark eyes, sparse body hair, and skin color ranging from yellow-brown to reddish brown (Natives Pp).

The majority of scholars believe that they arrived approximately 12,000 years ago, while other accept evidence that they…

Native Americans are the indigenous people of Northern America. They are composed of numerous distinct ethnic groups and people from varying origins. They are found within the boundaries of continental United States, parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii.

Lewis and Clark (2011) note that there are nearly 50 native American tribes including Arikaras, Assiniboins, Blackfeet, Chinooks, Clatsop's, Hidatsa, Mandans, Missouris, Nezperces, Otos, Shoshones, Teton, Sioux, Tillamooks, Walla wallas, Wishrams and Yanktons (History on the Net, 2010).

Stratification forms the basis of the division of society and categorization of people. Americans are grouped into 3 categories which include: Capitalists (own the method of production and employ others to work for them), Small capitalists (own the method of production but do not employ people to work for them) and Workers (work for capitalists). In America power is not in the hands of the few but rather it is widely…

Native American and European Cultures

Native American European Cultures

It is generally thought that humans first entered the New World during the last ice age and quickly spread over what is today North and South America. When the ice age ended some 15 thousand years ago, the human population of the America's was isolated from the rest of the world. It would not be until the 15th century, when the Spanish sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, that the peoples of the Old World and New World would again be permanently connected. However, in the thousands of years that had passed since the Americas had become isolated, the Native Americans independently developed their own cultures. When the Europeans arrived in the New World at the end of the 15th century, the two cultures that met were very different from each other. While there were a few similarities, the cultures of the…

Native Americans

Describe what is known of the tribe's pre-Columbian history, including settlement dates and any known cultural details.

Before Columbus came to the "New World," the pre-Columbian era, the Cherokee occupied an area that today is western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and northern Georgia (Waddington 2006). The Cherokee traveled even further past these areas, however, to hunt and to trade their wares. The Cherokee had occupied this area for a good 1,000 years before Europeans set foot in the area in the beginning of the 16th century; however, the initial contact with the Europeans was quite scant and for about 300 years after the first contact the Europeans the Cherokee culture really didn't change at all (2006).

The Cherokee Indians were considered to be great hunters as well as farmers; they grew great crops and harvested both nuts and berries, which were considered staples in the daily diet (Native-Net…

Write a new legend concerning the further adventures of the Frog

Bruchac, James, Joseph Bruchac and Stefano Vitale (ill.). The Girl Who helped Thunder and Other Native American Folktales. New York: Sterling, 2008.

ISBN: 9781402732638 1402732635. 96 pages, color illustrations. Juvenile literature.

Retellings of twenty-four different Native American folktales and myths. Covers a wide array of different tribal beliefs/cultures. Accompanying illustrations also hint at different native American styles of visual design and aesthetic appreciation. Generally light-hearted folktales; few heavy myths.

-Illustrations somewhat simplistic, and not entirely (or even mostly) Native in style

-Stories retold in an entertaining and fast-paced fashion

-Very little additional cultural material; could be expanded

Write your own myth concerning one of the phenomena addressed in these tales

Act out a script based one a legend from the book

Create a single poster that incorporates elements form many tales

Research the relationships between different Native American tribes…

Native Americans

The Age of Exploration and Discovery enriched Europe, but it decimated the populations of both North and South America. From Christopher Columbus onward, European explorers and settlers encountered Native Americans when they arrived. Some of the encounters were relatively peaceful, but many turned violent. Even when the encounters were peaceful, Native Americans did not fare well after contact with the Europeans. There are several reasons why the Europeans were able to conquer the Americas and nearly wipe out the indigenous population. The three main reasons why Native Americans were vulnerable to conquest by European adventurers include their susceptibility to foreign diseases; their inferior military technology; and their lack of tribal unity.

Native Americans were vulnerable to diseases that the Europeans unwittingly carried or already had immunity against. Vulnerability to disease meant that the native communities were physically and psychologically weakened and unable to defend themselves. For example, "The…

The earth,' they say, 'is a great island floating in a sea, and suspended at each of the four cardinal points by a cord hanging down from the sky vault, which is of solid rock. hen the world grows old and worn out, the people will die and the cords will break and let the earth sink down into the ocean, and all will be water again.' Originally the animals were crowded into the sky world; everything was flood below. The ater-Beetle was sent on an exploration, and after darting about on the surface of the waters and finding no rest, it dived to the depths, where it brought up a bit of mud, from which the Earth developed by accretion."

Carmody, and Carmody 23)

The simple idea that the water-beetle created the earth was certainly not in line with the Christian creation story and has to some degree been…

"

Thus, as the British gained ground in merica, their need for support from the native peoples grew less important, and the parties' relationship began to erode. The natives had land the British wanted, and began to seriously fight back when their territory was threatened, due in part to the firearms they gained from trading with the British. The relationship continued to erode past the 1700s, and became more contentious as more Europeans came to settle in merica.

References

Bartruff, Dave. "British Beginnings: English Seeds for merican Harvest." World and I, November 2003, 184.

Eliot, John. dialogue between Piumbukhou and his unconverted relatives. Native merican Theological Debate. 46-49.

Howard, Susan Kubica. "Seeing Colonial merica and Writing Home about it: Charlotte Lennox's Euphemia, Epistolarity, and the Feminine Picturesque." Studies in the Novel 37, no. 3 (2005): 273+.

Maydosz, nn. " Study in Red and Black: Ethnic Humor in Colonial merica." The…

Native Americans in Film

Prompt #1:

The difference between Smoke Signals and Dances with olves is striking. The former is more about what life is like for people who are of Native American descent. They are not different from the white population except for their traditions and heritage. As people, they are not at all different. Dances with olves on the other hand portrays Native Americans as a group of people completely different from the white population. Besides having a different language, they have altogether different customs and an essentially different way of life. It is as if the first film is intent on showing the similarities between Native Americans and Caucasians and that the second movie is about how different they are and how hard it is for the two societies to intermingle. The media as a whole plays on the preconceived notions of people and does little to…

The town of ounded Knee is located on the present day Pine Ridge Reservation. The leaders of the resistance purposefully chose ounded Knee as the site for their protest, as it is loaded with spiritual and political significance for Native Americans.

The United States government and military responded immediately to the Indians' occupation. The United States military's force by far exceeded that of the Indians. The government attempted to block food and medical supplies, aiming to starve the occupiers out of ounded Knee. During the course of the stand off, two Native American Indians were fatally shot. By the fifth of May, the occupiers reached an agreement with the United States government to disarm. The siege would come to an end three days later, and the town was evacuated, at which point the United States government took control of ounded Knee.

The United States' stance against anyone who poses a…

Native American Gaming

In February, 2004, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty stated that he wanted Minnesota's Indian tribes to share their casino profits with the state (Sweeney Pp). However, according to a legislative analyst speaking before the Minnesota House committee, Governor Pawlenty may have to "give the tribes as much as he gets from them" (Sweeney Pp).

John illiams of the nonpartisan House Research staff presented members of the House Governmental Operations and Veterans Affairs Committee as "detailed look at the negotiations fifteen years ago that set ground rules for the tribes' gambling operations" (Sweeney Pp). illiams was doubtful that officials in the federal Interior Department, which approves Indian gaming compact, would accept any effort by Governor Pawlent or Minnesota lawmakers to force the tribes to make gaming payments against their will (Sweeney Pp).

The federal Indian Gaming Act forbids state taxes on Native Americans' casino profits" (Sweeney Pp).

Although a…

However, he does draw one conclusion from the historical studies that he overviewed with which I cannot agree. He describes that Native American population as having incredible adaptability and perseverance (Edmunds, p. 728). I fear that this conclusion is an attempt at trying to avoid sounding disparaging about a minority group that ignores some of the harsher realties of modern life for the vast majority of Native Americans in the modern United States.

Yes, his conclusion that the numbers of Native Americans in the United States have increased dramatically from their all-time low is true. However, judging the robustness of a civilization based only on its population numbers seems to be a very reductionist approach. Moreover, it lumps Native American populations together in a way that seems inaccurate. Modern Native American populations are "in all stages of development, from the most primitive to the most sophisticated. In the United States,…

Such a confrontational strategy represents a subversion of the Modernist paradigm that supposedly views the work of art as being separate from the viewing experience. When dealing with a live human being presented as an "object," however, one is forced to question that stance of critical distance, as it dissolves in front of our very eyes.

Of course, a history of Native Americans' engagement with Modernism would require a much longer essay - probably even an entire volume. Instead, what we hope to have managed in this short piece is to provide some insights into the ways in which the Modernist paradigm has constantly been challenged by the work of Native American artists throughout the post-war period. The ironic thing is that a lot of this work would fit quite comfortably into the Western canon, as it has been traditionally constructed by Euro-American discourse. At the same time, these artists…

He uses her head for the sun and other body parts for the moon and other heavenly bodies (Cusick, n.p.). Tapahonso's poem connects the newborn female infant with an August sunset, steam, and hot rocks. That Tapahonso chooses to describe the birth of a female infant is significant. Through this choice, in addition to her references to both mother and daughter in terms of natural occurrences, Tapahonoso establishes that the earth is not only born of a female, but is a female. Thus, in her poem, the earth is both the mother and the daughter, but is always feminine, just as in Cusick's creation myth the earth is made from the remains of a dead mother who died birthing its creator.

Though both Cusick and Tapahonso's works identify an important trait in Native American folklore, the existence of a female and motherly earth, the works do this in very different…

' The path however was now blocked by a symbol 'representing the White people.' Along the side of the chart were many 'Strokes' representing the vices brought by the Europeans. " (Kupperman 2000, 431)

This spiritual resistance was blended with a political form of resistance as well: for them to preserve their identity as a people, as God had ordained it, the Indians had to be purified of all the vices of the Europeans, among which the drinking of alcohol was most often blamed.

But, Dowd makes it clear that it was not only the vices as such that the Delaware people wanted to give up, they actually wanted to renounce any kind of exchange of goods with the British and to rely exclusively on their own means of subsistence and on their own knowledge about the world.

This fact once more emphasizes the notion that the resistance of the…

Most Native Americans would demonstrate exceptional tolerance to other religions but their own religious beliefs are based on nature.

Even though years of assimilation had initially damaged the cultural roots of Native Americans, there is now a new kind of cultural and social change that we notice in this group. People are working hard to reclaim their cultural identity, which has triggered a gradual process of cultural renewal. This cultural renewal is grounded in the belief that white culture is no longer better or dominant. In other words as new generation of Native Americans have gained the language skills they required to become part of the mainstream culture, they have also found the ability to express their dissatisfaction with the way dominant culture tries to suppress minor ethnic societies. Heaps of literature by Native Americans has opened their eyes to the injustices committed by the white culture and this has…

"For Koreans, there exists a strong belief in filial duty - treating parents with respect and obeying them, caring for them when they are old, giving them a proper burial, and even worshipping them with ceremonies after death. All of these are incorporated into the fundamental ideas of strong kinship values and family ties from Confucianism." (Beller, Pinker, Snapka, Van Dusen). As much as the Koreans transmitted their strong belief in the role of education, proving to have possessed the secret for certain development ahead of many modern society, they also took along the traditional gender roles in the family and society. Their society was fundamentally patriarchal. The father and the sons were making the rules inside the family. Women obey completely to the male members of the family and are responsible for the activities concerning the family life inside and around the house exclusively. There are strict rules that…

Instead, children were allowed to roam freely throughout the community and were free to ask questions when and where they pleased (Indian Treaties, 1999). Children worked alongside adults, learning life skills through pay and imitation.

In addition, grandparents played a pivotal role in educating children. Grandmothers taught their granddaughters the tribal traditions and how to engage in the subtleties of daily life. Grandparents were frequently responsible for teaching children about a tribe's traditions, the tribe's place in the world, and the child's place in the tribe.

Finally, in Native American cultures, children were generally treated with respect and dignity. They were allowed to ask questions of most adults, and welcomed to work alongside adults. Furthermore, physical discipline was rare and not severe.

Given that cultural differences may contribute to the poor quality of education on many Native American reservations, it comes as no surprise that tribes that have taken control…

" It is this prism that Musher attempts to elucidate and appreciate, and the author does achieve those goals.

The showdown incident in Mean Spirit represents a confluence of cultures, just as it reveals the "clear bands of color" in a prism. The diverse group of individuals that gather at the Sorrow Cave are prisms as well: windows into different worldviews. The core characters do come together in a spirit of mutual understanding and agreement about ethical righteousness. Each of these characters represents strength and courage in the face of formidable obstacles.

For Musher, Hogan's point-of-view makes perfect sense. Indeed, it would take a radically conservative Christian to disagree with Hogan's assessment of the colonial experience. Father Dunne, and Musher's analysis of his character, become more important in light of the lack of Christian perspective that Musher represents. Hogan seems to understand that the Indian experience was a fundamental clash…

Native American Comparison

Native American literature is interesting in and of itself but also when the reader understands the cultural perspective of that population. Part of this interest comes from the fact that the Native Americans were the indigenous people of what would become the United States. hen European colonists arrived, the Native Americans were put in the position of having to either assimilate to the new culture or to resist assimilation. Many of the texts that come from Native American literature discuss this question, but also make it understood that there is no clear answer. Part of the individual person will want to associate themselves with the majority in order to prevent themselves from being labeled as something other or outside of the norm. Yet, the other part of that same person will feel at least partially pulled towards taking up the cause of their heritage. By keeping the…

While the people on the American continent had to start a Neolithic revolution on their own, it only took them one thousand years more than it took the people in the Middle East to devise farming concepts.

Whereas the Eurasian Neolithic revolution took place about eleven thousand years ago, the one in America is believed to have taken place ten thousand years ago. There is insufficient information to determine the exact time when the first technologically complex culture appeared in America, but most sources point sometime around 1800 B.C.

In a climate considered to be unfavorable for most Europeans, Native Americans around the Titicaca Lake managed to build one of the greatest civilizations on the continent. People in the polity of Tiwanaku took advantage of the numerous resources in the territory and developed their community rapidly, experiencing notable successes. Tiwanaky was located in a strategic position, with people in the…

While this right applied to American settlers, who engaged in a variety of religions, from Puritanism to Deism, and spoke freely about them in publications and public forums. Native Americans, on the other hand, were denied their freedom of religion. American settlers saw Native American religions as uncivilized, so they encouraged missionaries to convert the tribes. Missionaries can be both beneficial and harmful to a culture. Some come excited to help the people through manpower and certain forms of scientific, academic, or medical knowledge, presenting their religion with love, and allowing the people to choose whether or not that religion is acceptable. Most of the American settlers, however, did not treat the Native Americans this way. Instead, they forced them to assimilate into European culture, even taking children away from parents, assigning missionaries to the reservations where the Native Americans had been forced, and often punished those who wavered from…

Native American DNA

Social and cultural definitions of relatedness are more consistent with the traditional notions of tribal membership; however, the U.S. government has long imposed its needs on tribal traditions (p. 55-61). The Dawes Act of 1887 effectively dispossessed Native Americans of communal land holdings by conferring land allotments to Native American male heads of households. Persons believed to be full-blood Native Americans were given an allotment, but it was held in trust for 25 years, with the hope that the Native Americans would eventually assimilate into the capitalist economic system. By contrast, persons deemed to be half-blood or less were immediately given their land allotment under the assumption that they were culturally-advanced enough to successfully manage their holdings. This 'blood quantum' strategy for managing tribal lands has remained in place since the Dawes Act became law, but this paternalistic approach moderated somewhat during the 20th century.

Enforcement of…

It was suggested in Coladarci's piece that teachers try hard to "demonstrate more caring" and that more research needs to be done into whether the perceived lack of caring involves "insensitivity to Native American culture..." The second implication for practice also asks as to whether or not there are "adequate support systems" for students who are at risk, and who don't have an easy time with their homework.

The third implication for practice that the Coladarci article addresses is that "over a third of the dropouts" interviewed "reported that the desire to be with other dropouts was a salient factor in their decision to drop out." So, since that dynamic involves peer pressure, Coladarci reports that perhaps students who did indeed drop out could help those considering dropping out to stay in school. Some of the recommendations from the dropouts included the possibility that the school administration "arrange" discussion groups…

If items from both areas continue to be found throughout the archeological record over an extended time, then it would indicate trade. However, if the archeological record indicates one massive wave of articles from the Roanoke area and then stops, it would be more indicative of a migration.

This approach was not considered in the literature found. However, it would be an excellent tool for supporting or disproving the theories proposed by Torbert. The language of the Lumbee is important in understanding how language exchange flowed in each direction. It tells us much about the early contact between culture and how these cultures began to communicate. Torbert was the only major researcher to have explored the Lumbee language for its ancestral connection. However, this work presents many more questions than it answers. For instance, why did the Lumbee transition to English. Torbert provides pervasive evidence that this transition occurred many…

Native American Literature

The themes in Power by Linda Hogan are centered around nature and the unity of nature and human beings. These are also themes that are touched upon in Sacred Hoop by Paula Gunn Allen. For the Native American, all creatures are united in a "sacred hoop," and all events are cyclic. Thus the symbolism used by Hogan focuses on images from nature. Most prominent among these is the panther, the snake, the tree called Methuselah, and the storm.

The Panther

The panther is seen not only as a symbol of the Taiga tribe, but also as the tribe's ancestor. But the Florida Panther that plays a part in the lives of Omishto and her aunt Ama, is ill and dying. The first appearance of this panther is in Omishto's dream, where she sees the panther in its illness. She relates this dream to Ama. Eventually the women…

Wile human beings have always exploited one another, and even looked down upon the so called "other," never before was it possible to claim as a matter of objective scientific fact, that other peoples were simply not "human" and thus could be treated as little more than farm animals. Of course looking back now, it is clear that these racialist theories were nothing more than pseudoscience, and justifications for exploitation, yet they illustrate how powerfully seductive the new science was to human beings. Further, it can be argued that the project of modern science as illustrated by Bacon, meant not only the harnessing of nature for human ends, but also seeing other peoples as mere fauna to be similarly harnessed. In essence, the whole world was to be turned into a "New Atlantis" where everything would come under a monolithic civilization of machine like efficiency and precision, all to the…

Prior to the landing of the Spanish, the population was estimated to have been upwards of 20 million, making these Mesoamerican cultures some of the most advanced in certain areas with the ability to sustain a large population (Hamnett, 1999).

The geographic area now known as the West ndies, Caribbean slands, Mexico and Central America were very different places just a few short years prior to 1492. Central to the vast cultural and ecological changes in this area were the ways in which the European explorers impacted the native civilizations, decimating many through disease, and the manner in which the native cultures molded, mediated, and refracted into a new world order, creating a hybrid culture that is neither European nor Amerindian.

For historians, anthropologists, and ecologists alike, the widespread exchange of plants, animals, food, human populations, communicable diseases, and ideas that occurred between Europe and the so-called "New World" after…

A lot of the written language comes from records about people's conversion experiences.

Slide One: The Wampanoag language is the eponymous language of the people of Southeastern Massachusetts, the area that includes Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and the adjacent land. Prior to the arrival of the Pilgrims, the people had lived as far north as Cape Ann and throughout New England but were mostly wiped out by a yellow fever epidemic. After that English arrived, they began publishing Bibles in Wampanoag in order to hasten the conversion process. Through the 17th and 18th centuries, there were extensive written records in the language including both civil documents and stories about issues of the day, including conversions. This gives Wampanoag the largest written corpus of any native language in North America, something that has proven beneficial in reviving the language. The language would eventually be discouraged and the last fluent speaker died…

Other Native American tribes did not capitulate so quickly or so easily to the white Settlers, fighting bravely to retain their ancestral territories after the white Settlers had repeatedly and systematically broken treaty after treaty, eventually dispensing altogether with the fiction of "negotiations" and implementing the forced removal of the remaining proud Native American tribes from the "Indian Country" that would soon become known as the "Great Plains" (Anderson, 1986; Stannard, 1993).

Those Indian tribes that remained in the disputed territories have been portrayed ever since as ruthless savages who wantonly raided and massacred innocent white settlers, thereby justifying overwhelming retaliation by the U.S. Army (Anderson, 1987; Stannard, 1993; Takaki, 2008). However, those historical narratives conveniently omit the corresponding atrocities committed by the white man against the Indian tribes as well as the degree to which the Indian tribes rather than the white Settlers were actually the victims of atrocities…

Native American History In the Twentieth Century focuses on the famous novel written by Erdrich Louise called Tracks. This paper focuses on the theme of the novels and links them to the following novels namely, Talking Back to Civilization by Frederick Hoxie, Boarding School Seasons by Brenda Child and Major Problems in American Indian History by Hurtado and Iverson. This paper also highlights the problems, which the Native Indians had to face after the coming of the Europeans.

Native American History In The Twentieth Century

After the Europeans first encounter with Native people living in the New World to the recent years that have followed, the United States Government is trying to serve the Native American population with the best of all needs. Tribal lands, money for better health services, education, good medical facilities, funding programs to fight poverty are all being provided to the Native Americans by the government.…

The Navajo traded and the Apache raided. Maslow's second level -- security needs -- relates well to those tribes whose culture was in growing corn, squash, and beans. They needed security and safety from the tribes like the Apache that raided Indian camps for food. They didn't need everything on Maslow's list (health insurance, steady employment) of course, but they did need "shelter from the environment" and their environment included marauding tribes like the Apache (Pritzker, pp. 4-5).

The Southwestern tribes' cultural ritual of trading wives, dancers, a shaman or a ritualist (one who channels the power of the dead) was an early Native American example of Maslow's "social needs" concept. Love, belonging, affection, friendships, and romantic attachments are among the social needs Maslow talked about and psychologically the Southwestern tribes had their own psychological approaches to meeting those needs.

Meanwhile Brendan January's book Native American Art & Culture portrays…

Kevin Gover, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, made at the Ceremony Acknowledging the 175th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Bureau of Indian Affairs on September 8, 2000 were long since overdue. In his statements, Gover admitted to the BIA's harsh mistreatment of Native Americans over the past one hundred seventy-five years. This public apology was one that had been necessary long since it was made. However, the fact that it was made gives hope that reparations can be made to the injustices committed to the Native American people throughout the years. It may not erase all that has happened, but the BIA's acknowledgement of the problems is a starting point in making sure history doesn't repeat itself.

In his speech, Gover made note of the Dawes Severalty Act, passed in 1887. This act was just one in a long line of examples of the…

Indian Removal and the Seminole WarsThe Indian Removal between 1830 and 1847 was part of the U.S. government policy that forced the displacement of Native Americans from their ancestral lands. The policy paved way for the removal of self-governing tribes from the eastern U.S. to the west of the Mississippi River. In this regard, self-governing tribes of Native Americans were moved from the eastern parts of the country to west of the Mississippi River. While the policy was implemented between the 1820s and 1830s, it was a culmination of earlier discussions on solutions to the issue of what to do with Indians in the eastern part of the country (Calloway p.12). Americans considered several options including assimilating Indians into American society, safeguarding them in their ancestral homelands, or moving them to more distant lands.The Seminole Wars were essentially military conflicts that took place in Florida during the early 1700s. These…

Interactions Between Native American Peoples and Black Slaves

Black-Indian crossing points can be investigated in seven different classifications: [1] the pilgrim and servitude encounters; [2] the early advancement of the Indian Territory that is presently in Oklahoma; [3] the United States westbound extension; [4] the interracial education between the blacks and the Indians; [5] the sociology development and the anthropological assault on "race"; [6] the Progressive Era; and [7] the racial patriotism in the course of post-orld ar II (Leiker 9). Fascinating and crucial angles on verifiable data given depict the immigration patterns, as well as the discourse(s) on the substantive topics relating to this nation's multiculturalism and racial aspects. A factual instance would be the time period between the 1880s and 1945 and the ethnic strains and clashes (Morales-Diaz 285). From the earliest starting point of the U.S. history, African and American Native populations have had a verifiable relationship…

Native American Beliefs Essay Outline

I. Define religion

A. Cosmology

B. Epistemology

C. Western religious principals

1. Religion is a relationship between worldly things and a supernatural entity

2. Humans are not inherently divine

D. Native religious principals

1. Religion is the relationships between worldly things

2. Deity, when it is found, is found in nature

II. Indigenous worldviews

A. No separation between the natural and the supernatural

B. Permeable boundaries when they are separated

C. Connection between land and sky

III. Sacred and profane

A. Most native religions do not label things as profane

B. The duality is sacred and more sacred

IV. Divine Beings

A. Not all Native American groups recognized divine beings

B. Creator gods

C. Trickster gods

1. Coyote is present in many Native American religious traditions

D. Transformer gods

E. Nature spirits

F. Monster gods

G. Culture heroes

H. Gods of the dead

V. Conclusion…

Because written accounts of the pre-contact Americas are limited or nonexistent, it is difficult to ascertain exactly what the continent would have been like had a traveler traversed every portion of its diverse terrain. The landscape, ecology, and climates were as diverse as its people. While there were some large nations of Native Americans with some small-scale urbanization in North America, the region was not densely populated. The more urbanized regions of Central and South America belie the fact that these were also mainly rural regions with disparate and scattered populations. Therefore, it is impossible to definitively answer the question of what the Americas were like before Columbus’s arrival.
It is possible, however, to consider what the Europeans did bring with them when they arrived. Diseases were of course the most devastating thing the Europeans brought, perhaps even more so than their advanced weapons. In some areas, almost the entire…

Black Elk utilizes his visions to create understanding of nearly all things he is later exposed to. The discussion in closing will further illuminate his utilization of vision, to ask for help for his people in a time of crisis.

To discuss the vertical model of artistic communication it is difficult to narrow the filed to just one example, as Native American literature, and to a lesser degree film have become somewhat prolific as genres. Two authors who build upon this tradition are Scott Momaday and Alexie Sherman as they are significant and prolific writers of Indian tradition. Each has written and published several works, including a variety of genres, that all attempt to translate the oral traditions of their nations into a written form that contains the expression of the oral tradition.

In Alexie Sherman's collection of short stories, the Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven he offers…

While I understand the journalistic merit of your entry, I object to your having observed such atrocities while standing idly by and doing nothing. Therefore, I consider you complicit in these acts.

It seems as if those colonists that you observed took great pleasure in babies "hacked to pieces in the presence of the parents, and the pieces thrown into the fire and in the river." You, too, may have believed such practices crucial to the survival of the colonies. What hypocrisy, that the settlers would travel so far to flee tyranny only to dole it out to others -- let alone to babies. That you could bear to write down the events in your personal journal without a shred of remorse spilling onto the page is remarkable and suggests you and your fellow settlers may be truly…

Native American trickster tales "Coyote, Skunk and the Prairie Dogs," and "Owlwoman and Coyote" and "Walden," by Henry David Thoreau. Specifically it will look at the depiction of the interactions of humans and nature, their similarities and differences, and what relevance the depictions have for Americans today.

HOW HUMANS INTERACT WITH NATURE

Walden" is often called Thoreau's ode to his beliefs - he wrote in while he spent over two years in a cabin on Walden Pond, about a mile away from Concord, Massachusetts. He did see friends and go into town occasionally during his solitary life, but for the most part, he lived apart, wrote, and philosophized.

His time there was serene, and he said, "Both place and time were changed, and I dwelt nearer to those parts of the universe and to those eras in history which had most attracted me. Where I lived was as far off…

Mary Rowlandson, Hannah Dustin, and Mary Jamison coped with captivity in their own way. The stories of their captivity revealed the great variety of customs among native American through the greatly different treatment afforded to the three women. Depending on the customs of the tribe that they encountered, or the specific political situation, each of the women was treated differently as either prisoners of war, slaves, or adopted as family members. Natives took captives in order to show their resistance to the settler's occupation of their land, as a custom to increase the members of their tribe, or even for monetary gain.

Mary hite Rowlandson, wife of Puritan minister Joseph Rowlandson, was captured by native Americans in February of 1676. During this time, King Philip, the leader of the ampanoag tribe of southern Massachusetts organized a rebellion against the incursion of white settlers on native land. In total 23 settlers…

The politics were simple. The Government and the settlers had all the power, ultimately the Natives did not, and so, the settlers and the government subjugated the Natives and forced them into treaties that only served the European settlers. Another writer notes, "In 1983 ichard White argued in the oots of Dependency that Euro-Indian relations in various parts of North America had in common the 'attempt... By whites to bring Indian resources, land, and labor into the market.'"

Of course, they brought them into that "market" on their own terms most often, rather than that of the Natives.

Joseph Brant - Mohawk leader - British Army officer - Studied at "Moor's Indian Charity School - Translator for Department of Indian Affairs - esponsible for restoring lands to the Mohawk people.

Wampum belt - Fashioned from seashells - Used as money or for trade - Given during times of peace making…

Visits home were frowned upon and discouraged, and most Indian families could not afford to pay for the long journey home from the schools, so children remained there year-round until their schooling was complete in many cases.

However, many families did see the worth of a formal education for their children. Author Child notes, "Still, many Ojibwe parents, persuaded of the importance of an education or learning a trade for their child's future, would have agreed with the North Dakota father whose son and daughter attended Flandreau when he expressed his desire for their success in school and wish to keep them there, 'as much as we can stand it'" (Child 54). These parents often hoped their children would receive an education, but also learn a trade, so they could make their way in the world as adults. In theory, children attended school for half the day, and then learned…

NEGPAInsights on Native American Graves Protection and epatriation Act (NAGPA)What it isOne of the crucial issues that Messenger and Bender (2019) highlight relate to the Native American Graves Protection and epatriation Act (NAGPA). From the onset, it would be prudent to note that this happens to be an instrumental federal law in efforts to ensure that fairness, respect, and dignity is observed in the treatment of any ancestrys human remains and various cultural items. Indeed, as the National Park Service NPS (2019) points out, one instrumental/pivotal aspect of this particular statute happens to be the acknowledgement that human remains and other cultural items removed from Federal or tribal lands belong, in the first instance,tolineal descendants, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations.elevanceAccording to the NPS (2019), one of the greatest benefits of this particular federal law is that it facilitates respectful return. This, as the NP further points out, enhances understanding…

......starting around noon, I visited the art gallery at the Woolaroc property. The property itself is a sprawling celebration of the landscape and wildlife unique to this part of North America: there are herds of buffalo on the property although we did not get to see any when we arrived. I headed straight to the gallery, which is locally renowned for its collection of paintings from the Taos group. Many of the artists on display I had heard of before, and was eager to encounter first hand and was not disappointed. Although I relished the paintings themselves for their objective aesthetic beauty, I came away from the experience with profound mixed feelings about the way Native Americans have been appropriated for use as subjects by white artists.

The objectification of Indians in European-American art parallels their subjugation as a people. Caldwell (n.d.) points out the "longstanding history and tradition of…

Native American elder discussed on page 13 in the text is a peculiar one. However, the employment of the five-axis diagnosis provided in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders provides a good deal of information about what sort of issues this elderly man is dealing with. One of the facets of this manual that I would readily utilize is the capacity to use a provisional diagnosis and defer full diagnosis until later, so that I could properly gather more information than that which is provided in the text regarding his ailments.

The first axis is for clinical disorders except those pertaining to personality disorders and mental retardation (APA, 2013, p. 28). Again, based on the information at hand, I would make a provisional diagnosis that the client is suffering from clinical depression, perhaps in some part due to the fact that he was previously an alcoholic. In John…

Indian Education

Although sometimes it goes unrecognized, ethnicity or other superficial prejudices can help to determine an individual's role in a group or community. For example, in a community that is predominately white, those who are among this majority will often receive the most opportunities. Although this does not necessarily guarantee their success, those individuals in the majority will often have the first chance to fulfill the desirable roles. By contrast, individuals within the minority might commonly receive a mediocre education as well as more obstacles to have the same opportunities as other groups; sometimes these obstacles are virtually insurmountable. The feeling of unfairness and inequality can led many students who are disadvantaged to give up or drop out and their futures do not have the same probability for success. In the short story "Indian Education" by Sherman Alexie, the author tells a story in which the stereotypes that people…

Indeed, the period now spanning the so-called Modern Era and the Industrial Revolution has been dependent upon humanity taming and turning nature to our own ends. This has led to a process whereby we downplay the natural world and of native peoples in general who live in a more harmonious fashion with their surrounding world. hile this process, especially during the Industrial Age, has led to dehumanization process and it has also led to a cheapening of human life in general as well. One can therefore see in New Age approaches to nature (and religion) that there is a hunger to rediscover an intra-natural balance that was lost in the last few centuries. By studying and internalizing these myths and their moral lessons, we can recapture this lost balance. The author compared these other approaches and built upon what we learned in class, especially by comparing and contrasting and them…

Symbolism in "The Origin of Stories"

In "The Origin of All Stories" we can see an example of the importance that the Seneca -- a Native American tribe -- placed in their oral tradition, stories, as well as symbolism. Symbolism, especially, figures prominently in "The Origin of All Stories." It is the figurative device through which this story impresses upon readers the importance of storytelling to the Seneca people. Literally, storytelling formed the basis of the sense of history that the Seneca possessed. ithout it, vital cultural information could not have been passed down from generation to generation. The purpose of this essay is to examine some of the usage of symbolism in "The Origin of All Stories" and detail how those examples of symbolism demonstrate the centrality of the oral tradition to the Seneca people.

To begin, I should make it clear what it means that the Seneca had…

Native Tribes and American Identity
It is reasonable to suggest that the United States would not exist in its current form without the contributions and influences of the millions of Native Americans who already lived here when the first colonists arrived. Not only did these early Native Americans teach the new European arrivals how to survive in the New World, in some cases they even freely supported them for years while they awaited assistance from Europe, all with no real expectation of being repaid in kind or turn. Without this assistance, the settlement of the American continent might well have been delayed for several more decades.
In addition, and although many modern Americans may not realize it, the so-called “melting pot” that would characterize the American identity during much of the 19th and 20th centuries was the direct result of the influences of Native American tribes. Moreover, Native American tribes…

Native Americans- evisiting the Struggles of 1680

What were the causes of the Pueblo revolt of 1680?

In the year 1680, Native Americans known as the Pueblo revolted against their Spanish conquerors in the American South West (Calloway, 2003). The Spaniards had dominated their lives, their souls and their lands for over eighty years. The Spanish colonists conquered and maintained their rule with terror and intimidation from the beginning when their troops under the command of Juan de Onate invaded the region in 1598 (Countryman 2013). When the natives in Acoma resisted, Oriate commanded that for all men over the age of 15 one leg should be chopped and the rest of the population should be enslaved, setting the tone for what was to be a brutal rule for the next 8 decades. The Pueblo people then rose as one community united by their resolve to unshackle the chains of…

Natisve Americans

Native Americans and European nations during the seventeenth century lived peacefully in such a manner that it was impossible to believe that this peace coexistence would be disrupted after the end of French and Indian ar in 1763. The ar of League of Augsburg and the ar of Spanish Succession were fought in late seventeenth and early eighteenth century respectively in order to gain power, wealth and lands in the eastern part of North America.

Native Americans in North America after 1763

Native Americans and European nations during the seventeenth century lived peacefully in such a manner that it was impossible to believe that this peace coexistence would be disrupted after the end of French and Indian ar in 1763. The ar of League of Augsburg and the ar of Spanish Succession were fought in late seventeenth and early eighteenth century respectively in order to gain power, wealth…