The Importance of Indigenous Cultures Indigenous cultures have been an integral part of the world since, well, the very beginning. Having maintained their culture and rich history, indigenous peoples live in harmony with the community and world around them. Although many cultural Darwinists believe otherwise, native cultures are important and hold a place in this world. Indigenous cultures should survive because of the way they hold knowledge and wisdom, contain valuable members of society and there have been many negative results in assimilation already. Native cultures can teach us many things, from the true meaning of happiness to the best and most efficient way to collect water. One of the main things indigenous cultures teach is the …show more content…
People would visit each other in the evenings, to converse, socialize and tell stories. During the day, while the adults were out working, doing tasks such as fishing, trading or other business, the children would sit with the elderly, listening to stories that taught morals or contained exciting heroes and adventures. However, in the case of the North American Inuit’s, when the television arrived in their villages, the whole dynamic changed. Culture can teach us much history, from where people originated and came from. Taking the example of the Native Americans, they also originated in North America, using the land in resourceful ways and living with each other, however, not always in harmony. Later on they were enslaved by the ‘white men’, which lead to where they are today. On the subject of Native Americans, and other indigenous cultures, the self – sustenance that is taught is essential, however it is something most ‘modernized’ cultures have forgotten. The Native Americans would use all of the meat and hide and resources from any animals they killed. If they killed a buffalo, they would use all the meat for food,
Ceremony and rituals have played a vital and essential role in Native American culture for a long time. Often referred to as “religion,” most Native Americans did not think their spirituality, ceremonies, and rituals as “religion,” the same way that Christians do. Instead, their beliefs and practices form an integral and seamless part of their being. Like other aboriginal people around the world, their beliefs were heavily influenced by their ways of getting food, – from hunting to agriculture. They also did ceremonies and rituals that gave power to conquer the difficulties of life, as wells as events and milestones, such as puberty, marriage, and death.
The Inuit. New York: Children 's Press, 2001. Print . “Wikipedia.” Wikipedia.
Aboriginal people taught their children the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) about the area they lived in and how to live off the land. They also taught important morals through fictional stories they made. The First Nations people taught everything orally. They had no form of writing. Most people at the time thought of the First Nations as primitive for their nomadic lifestyle and way the First nations were taught.
As the Europeans settled, they focused on entitling the land to themselves. The Indians began to shift their view as the Europeans started to do whatever with “their” land plots. Animals began to be seen as property as well. They used to, “pray for the spirits of the animals they hunted,” and had close relations to the spirits that embodied them. These relations rapidly changed native culture and soon enough, “they had forgotten most of their traditions because ‘their Old Men are
The coming of Europeans disrupted and changed the world of Indigenous
The United States sent armies into the Native American lands, mistreating the Native Americans, and caused trouble against them by sparkling conflicts and wars. “It is not, of course, to be understood that the government of the United States is at the mercy of Indians; but thousands of its citizens are, even thousands of families. Their exposed situation on the extreme verge of settlement affords a sufficient justification to the government for buying off the hostility of the Savages, excited and exasperated as they are…by the invasion of their hunting grounds and the threatened extinction of their game.” (Document 4) The United States government introduced policies for Native Americans to have a better life, but in fact, they kept them in
The development of agriculture and the rise of industrialization generated new cultures and innovations in the new world. Native people in early America developed cultural distinct , men were in charge of the fishing, hunting, jobs that were more exposed to violence, and the women stayed closed to the village, farming, and child bearing. The way of life possessed by natives Americans did not compel them to conquer and transform new land. As opposed to European colonizers, Native Americans subscribed to a more “animistic” understanding of nature. In which they believed that plants and animals are not commodities, they are something to be respected rather than used.
Native Americans Native Americans are very different from other tribes. They eat, live, dress and do many things differently. The things I’m going to be talking about in my interesting paper is What they eat? What they wear? Where they live?
Because of the introduction European steel, weapons and cloth many traditional craft skills were lost over a generation. The result was the loss of a culture and yet another tool for Colonial America to control Native Americans. The French and English war early on and then the American Revolution are good examples of how Native American dependency on trade goods and competition for said goods, were utilized in order to manipulate them into battles for both European powers. The fact that the Native American’s allowed themselves to be abused in such manner gives credence to the fact that they were too dependent on European customs assimilated into their lifestyles.
America 's culture is woven by the culture of the people it contains. Native Americans are another chapter of the story that can be honored and
Respect is a big part of our lives still. Although the presence of many of the virtuous Native American values is very meager today, this one still exists as a miniscule glimmer across our lives. One must have respect for others to first have respect for themselves. You make a choice of how people will see you: as a incorrigible person, or as a respectful person. People will usually treat you accordingly.
Native americans were not able to adapt to western customs and integrate themselves into US societies. Although it is true that American Indians had little influence on modern technology and they have their own history and beliefs, their adaptation in modern US society has not flourished as much. In some cases like shown in Source 4, an American Indian woman is seen smoking from a cigarette. This could be evidence of American Indians adapting to the western world, but it is merely a photograph taken for a photographer's album. Another rich source of misunderstanding between Native Americans and modern society’s cultural analysis is the different attitude of most Native Americans to such concepts as Nature, the environment, and social values,
Respect is given to the ones who gain it, not those who insist it. Respect is still a very tremendous virtue followed by a variety Native Americans. In my family being respectful and told you are is a idolization. Native Americans were always told to be respectful to their elders. Respect isn’t always asked for but if you acquire it and or provide it, you will receive it.
"Reconciliation will not work if it puts a higher value on symbolic gestures rather than the practical needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in areas like health, housing, education and employment." Warren Mundine AO Reconciliation is the action of making one view or belief compatible with another according to the Oxford dictionary of English. The term reconciliation was used as a symbolic gesture in an address made on February 13th 2008 by the former Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd. Kevin Rudd was the first political figure to speak out and seek reconciliation for the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders after being elected as prime minster in 2007. He spoke out after many generations of mistreated Indigenous Australians that had their rights and equality continuously ignored, but after all that has happened, including the effect of broken families, which still in 2018 have the aftermath of "The stolen generation", there was only one public apology and no compensation for the damages caused to the native people of this country.
The colonization of Indigenous peoples has dramatically affected their health, and health-seeking behaviours, in a myriad of ways. The Indian Act of 1876 was, in essence, created to control the Indigenous population. The Indian Act laid out laws and regulations that tightly regulated the lives of natives economically, ideologically, and politically. This included a wealth of ways in which their identities were stripped away, and in which they were taken advantage of by the Government of Canada. This has resulted in a reduced quality of life for Canada 's indigenous population, as well as adverse health problems, and prejudicial perceptions that we still see the impact of today.