Christian Versus Native American Perspective

Sharing: Christian Versus Native American Perspective
The phrase “Don’t be an Indian giver!” may sound innocent to someone who is not Native American. However, setting aside the racist undertone, that phrase underlines a difference between Native American culture and Christianity about what is considered giving and sharing. The Account of Mary Rowlandson and Other Indian Captivity Narratives was a book that primarily addressed captivity. However, it was also a telling of Native Americans customs from a Christian point of view. In most stories, sharing was a constant among natives sometimes including the captives, but this makes one ponder: are there any differences in the word sharing between Natives and Christians? the way Christians despise the reckless tendencies of Natives to share all they have with others while Natives consider sharing an honorific custom may be attributed to a cultural difference.

In scenarios where natives share with others, the Native does not care if the person is a family member or not. Taking this into account the generally accepted way of doing this in a Christian setting could easily be considered alms. The word “alms” is defined as giving to the needy without expecting anything back (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). The underlying theme here is “whatever is left, you can give away”. On the other hand, Natives look at sharing with others as more of a “while there anything left, one has to share” attitude. For example, James Smith explained how people would go more than once a day to the same house and they would be “invited to eat the best” (Rowlandson 19). It is a point of pride for Natives to be able to share whatever is abounding at a set time. Doing anything less than that and one is considered a failing participant of the tribe. This is a surprising lesson James had to learn while learning to live as a