American Indian Community Summary

What constitutes a community? Is it the size? The idea? Or the traditions upheld by its members? A community is a group that has a common cultural and historical heritage. Junger uses these communities in his novel Tribe to prove that being connected in this world is how communities and societies did it before, and how those same communities and societies will do it long after us. Even if the community, Such as american Indian s, who are not as numerous as they were in the 1700’s; can still serve a purpose in exhibiting a sense of connectedness we need in this new and isolated world. Donald, Denise, and Jacobs all bring to the table a factual based look at the close knit american Indian s. They validate that relationships, egalitarianism, and

They were “equal of all the women in the tribe, [they] do what [they] please without anyone saying anything about it”(Junger. Page 15). Even in today’s day and age sexual liberation is still taboo in the united states. Women do not have full rights over their own bodies and are shamed when they try to take control of what is theirs. Women in american indian tribes were able to control their bodies and did not let men have a say in it. I’m not saying they went and slept with every male in the tribe, but they were not raped and assaulted by other men in the tribe because the men knew that they were not allowed to do so. They had respect for the women. The men didn’t look at them as property, but as equals. As people who contribute to a larger purpose. The purpose of surviving. Men nowadays rape, assault, and even kill women for their bodies. Men in today’s american can learn a lot from the men in the american indian tribes. Women deserve respect and

They respected women’s opinions and gave them a seat at the table, so to speak. There was no low, middle, and upper class people in tribes. They all shared everything they had with each other. No one was punished for being a certain gender. No one was put down because they are poor. They all hunted and gathered food and water for each other. Egalitarian means relating to or believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities. This is what american indians are based upon. The tribes “often valued distinct yet non-hierarchical gender roles-a conceptualization of gender egalitarianism that contradicts contemporary understandings of gender equality”(Jacobs). These tribes are not designed like our society is today. They all had one job. To collect supplies for the rest of the tribe. No one was looked down because he got less than another. The only time someone was looked down on was when he kept the food he collected for himself. Because a system like egalitarianism does not thrive when the members of the tribe are greedy. Which is exactly why this type of system would not work in today’s day. American people are too selfish. They’re selfish for food. Clothes. Money. Useless items to prove their wealth so they can shame the less fortunate. American indians did not collect useless knick knacks as we do today. Because they were travelers. They did not have enough