In George E. Tinker’s book, American Indian Liberation: A Theology of Sovereignty, the atrocities endured by many of the first peoples, Native American tribes, come into full view. Tinker argues that the colonization of these groups had and continues to have lasting effects on their culture and thus their theology. There is a delicate balance to their culture and their spiritual selves within their tightly knit communities prior to contact from the first European explorers. In fact, their culture and spiritual aspects are so intertwined that it is conceptually impossible to separate the two, as so many Euro-American analysts attempted. Tinker points to the differences between the European and the Native American cultures and mind sets as ultimately …show more content…
They are spatial versus temporal in orientation; attachment to versus ownership of particular lands or territory; community focused versus individual gain; and a consistent notion of the interrelatedness of humans with versus stewardship over the rest of creation. (p. 7) Tinker states, “these four cultural identifiers are so interconnected that any damage to one cultural aspect extends the damaging effect to the other three.” (p. 9) His focus is obviously on the first peoples, although this phenomenon can arguably be true for both cultures. In fact, it is the clash of these bi-polar stances that have inflicted the most genocidal damages. For instance, the temporal view of Euro-American culture kept greed, in all its forms, alive. Ownership of lands and territory took center stage due to a combination of the theology of stewardship over the untamed west and the need for more land and resources becoming more obvious in the eyes of the colonizing. Thusly, the individual attainment of land followed suit. These cultural elements of the Euro-Americans led to years of genocidal attacks on the Native …show more content…
One example was the forced European ideals on male hierarchical structuring as it disrupted the inner workings of tribal council. Traditionally, the clan mother appointed male chiefs, “[serving] at her pleasure.” The clan mothers’ ratification was necessary on all council decisions as well. (p. 32) Shaking the community basic structures would undoubtedly affect all other aspects within their culture as well. Another example was the individualization of spirituality that came with the various denominations of Christianity, forced by missionaries. Traditionally, their spirituality was community driven in relation with not only humans but with all “relatives,” such as mountains, rivers, animals, etc. While this example has religious implications as well, it also illustrates the cultural shift from community focused to individual salvific gain which takes away from the connection with
The article “The Founding Indian Fathers” by Jack Weatherford is about how the Indians contributed to the American Government and how we went off the Indians system. We see how they had a council of each of the separate nations just how we do now. We also followed how one person wasn’t allowed to hold one position and hold another so they wouldn’t be so powerful. Another thing was that in their meetings there were no interruptions when someone was speaking. The caucus was another thing that was copied. One thing that I learned was that the Chiefs of the Indians had nothing to do with the government he was to perform rituals and other ceremonies. I think the authors main point was to show how the American government derived from that of the
The English took their land and disrupted their traditional systems of trade and agriculture. As a result, the power of native religious leaders was corrupted. The Indians we...
Modern day Native American are widely known as stewards of the environment who fight for conservation and environmental issues. The position of the many Native American as environmentalists and conservationists is justified based on the perception that before European colonists arrived in the Americas, Native Americans had little to no effect on their environment as they lived in harmony with nature. This idea is challenged by Shepard Krech III in his work, The Ecological Indian. In The Ecological Indian, Krech argues that this image of the noble savage was an invented tradition that began in the early 1970’s, and that attempts to humanize Native Americans by attempting to portray them as they really were. Krech’s arguments are criticized by Darren J Ranco who in his response, claims that Krech fails to analyze the current state of Native American affairs, falls into the ‘trap’ of invented tradition, and accuses Krech of diminishing the power and influence of Native Americans in politics. This essay examines both arguments, but ultimately finds Krech to be more convincing as Krech’s
Professor and poet Deborah A. Miranda, pieces together the past and uncovers and presents us with a story--a Californian story--in her memoir, “Bad Indians.” Her use of the Christian Novena, “Novena to Bad Indians,” illustrates the irony of using the form of her oppressors as a call out for help, not to God, but to her past ancestors. We tend to think of religion as a form of salvation and redemption of our lives here on Earth, in which we bare down and ask for forgiveness. But by challenging this common discourse using theological allegories and satirical terminology, Miranda turns her attention away from a Deity to call the reader out for help. It is crucial to recognize the struggles that the Native community currently face. Californian Indians are often not given recognition for their identity and their heritage, and are also repeatedly stereotyped as abusive, alcoholic, uncivilized, and “freeloaders” of the United States government. Such generalizations root back from European colonization, nevertheless still linger in our contemporary society. Miranda has taken the first step forward in characterizing few of these stereotypes in her Novena, but she’s given her story. Now what are we going to do with ours? It’s up to us to create our
The article, “Native Reactions to the invasion of America”, is written by a well-known historian, James Axtell to inform the readers about the tragedy that took place in the Native American history. All through the article, Axtell summarizes the life of the Native Americans after Columbus acquainted America to the world. Axtell launches his essay by pointing out how Christopher Columbus’s image changed in the eyes of the public over the past century. In 1892, Columbus’s work and admirations overshadowed the tears and sorrows of the Native Americans. However, in 1992, Columbus’s undeserved limelight shifted to the Native Americans when the society rediscovered the history’s unheard voices and became much more evident about the horrific tragedy of the Natives Indians.
American Indians shaped their critique of modern America through their exposure to and experience with “civilized,” non-Indian American people. Because these Euro-Americans considered traditional Indian lifestyle savage, they sought to assimilate the Indians into their civilized culture. With the increase in industrialization, transportation systems, and the desire for valuable resources (such as coal, gold, etc.) on Indian-occupied land, modern Americans had an excuse for “the advancement of the human race” (9). Euro-Americans moved Indians onto reservations, controlled their education and practice of religion, depleted their land, and erased many of their freedoms. The national result of this “conquest of Indian communities” was a steady decrease of Indian populations and drastic increase in non-Indian populations during the nineteenth century (9). It is natural that many American Indians felt fearful that their culture and people were slowly vanishing. Modern America to American Indians meant the destruction of their cultural pride and demise of their way of life.
Since the beginning of time, mankind began to expand on traditions of life out of which family and societal life surfaced. These traditions of life have been passed down over generations and centuries. Some of these kin and their interdependent ways of life have been upheld among particular people, and are known to contain key pieces of some civilizations.
Throughout our country’s history there have been several groups who have fared less that great. Every minority group was treated unfairly, Indians were uprooted and had no control, I can’t imagine for a second being a soldier in combat, women struggled for basic rights, and many people fell victim to the changing ways of our economy, losing their jobs and fighting to survive. It seems wrong to pick one group over another, as if to say some people who were treated horribly or who faced mounting obstacles didn’t actually have it as bad as another group. But throughout all the years we’ve studied, one group that stood out to me who were dealt a horrible fate were Native Americans living in the west during the 19th century. When Americans began to expand westward, Indians unwillingly had their lives flipped upside down and changed drastically. After years of displacement, they were being forced to live in certain areas and follow certain rules, or risk their lives.
We know the outcome of the story of Native Americans and the settling of North America. Can we delegitimize the spiritual aspects of the story from any objective point of view without doing the same to today’s popular religions? The only logical answer without doing so is a sort of suspension of disbelief. Major religions today generally tolerate each other, and if that is possible the stories of colonized people like the Native Americans are logically no different. The only difference is the effect of colonialism, which marginalized these stories to begin with by controlling, assimilating, and eliminating much of the population that held such beliefs. The battle of stories here is with the dominant (and dominating) culture that is the Western world today. Though the colonialist skew on history is tempting, I would argue that the contemporary world, with its popular tolerance of multiple religions, cannot discount the stories of Native Americans and maintain any claim of
American Indians once lived a prosperous and full life, relying on the bounty of land and nature. Colonization by white settlers disrupted this peaceful existence, uprooting tribes from their land and forcing them to assimilate to new cultural and religion views. Years of mistreatment and abuse led to the organization of the American Indian Movement to fight for their rights and liberty. Through the AIM, Indians attempted to gain recognition and spread knowledge of their culture and heritage to American citizens in order to attain a place in society. Leaders of the AIM created a manifesto of change in 1972 which listed goals they wanted to meet under three broad categories: economic, social and political. While the AIM was organized in response to the lack of basic rights and oppressive nature of the US government, their goals have yet to be met with any long term success.
The American version of history blames the Native people for their ‘savage ' nature, for their failure to adhere to the ‘civilized norms ' of property ownership and individual rights that Christian people hold, and for their ‘brutality ' in defending themselves against the onslaught of non-Indian settlers. The message to Native people is simple: "If only you had been more like us, things might have been different for you.”
Over the history of our country Native Americas have long since been oppressed in trying to practice their Native Religions freely, and openly. It wasn’t until the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) of 1978, which “acknowledged the unique nature of Native spirituality” (Limb & Hodge, 2008, p. 618). This law stated that the policy of the United States would be to protect and preserve the right of Native Americans to believe and practice their traditional religions. This was the first major step in the United States history that sought to protect Native Americans and their rights to self-expression of spirituality.
Pages one to sixty- nine in Indian From The Inside: Native American Philosophy and Cultural Renewal by Dennis McPherson and J. Douglas Rabb, provides the beginning of an in-depth analysis of Native American cultural philosophy. It also states the ways in which western perspective has played a role in our understanding of Native American culture and similarities between Western culture and Native American culture. The section of reading can be divided into three lenses. The first section focus is on the theoretical understanding of self in respect to the space around us. The second section provides a historical background into the relationship between Native Americans and British colonial power. The last section focus is on the affiliation of otherworldliness that exist between
Native American’s place in United States history is not as simple as the story of innocent peace loving people forced off their lands by racist white Americans in a never-ending quest to quench their thirst for more land. Accordingly, attempts to simplify the indigenous experience to nothing more than victims of white aggression during the colonial period, and beyond, does an injustice to Native American history. As a result, historians hoping to shed light on the true history of native people during this period have brought new perceptive to the role Indians played in their own history. Consequently, the theme of power and whom controlled it over the course of Native American/European contact is being presented in new ways. Examining the evolving
One point of collision was seen in the differences the religious practices by the Native Americans and the Europeans. For instance, the native inhabitants of Savannah in Georgia were continuously urged to accept Christianity as a true faith and to apply the gospel of Jesus Christ in all that they did (Whitefield par 4). At one point the Native Americans were promised eternal life in Christianity, but at the other point they were warned of existing eternal death if they continued practicing their “earthen” religions. This was confused them more as the missioners argued to have been taken by the natives for granted (Whitfield par. 10). Christianity was not