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Native American culture and western culture
Native American influences on modern U.S. cultures
Native American culture and western culture
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Native Americans possess a greatly different spirituality than our culture has today. We have varying beliefs, values, and traditions that we deem as normal. If the current generation had to change its way of life to mimic the natives, there would be several potential benefits for ourselves and Mother Earth. There would be considerable changes in role of nature within our lives, the foundation of relationships, and the meaning of connotation of power that would be the cause of a complete paradigm shift throughout the population. If a complete transformation was made throughout North America to implement native culture, we would view nature differently. Native Americans believe that Mother Earth is sacred and that it is the ultimate sin to …show more content…
Natives take relationships seriously, whether it be with another person, an animal, a spirit, or to nature; our culture is more lax about what a relationship entails. We do not have the same closeness that the natives do. If we endured a paradigm shift, we would not throw around words like friend. In the film Two Rivers, Glen Schemekel casually calls John GrosVenor his friend and it really impacts GrosVenor. He explains that in his culture, that friend is only used when someone really means it and he is ecstatic that Schemekel believes they have reached that level. In a change of perspectives, we would also have relationships with the animals. All animals are seen as kin because everyone possesses a part of the Great Creator within them. This bond with animals and spirit would benefit us because it would help us respect other living things, which could lead us to stop abusing our power over others and help save the Earth. By limiting our much we take from other people, the animals, and Mother Earth we could slowly begin repairing the damage we have done so far on the planet. These relations could also benefit our mental and emotional health. By realizing the affiliation between every living thing on Earth, we find out that we are never alone in this world. There are spirits within the hundreds of living things someone passes in a single day that want to support people, we just have to accept the opinions of …show more content…
In our culture, power is something that is constantly fought over and it causes struggles in all social classes. We see power as economics, military, and religion, but in reality, these are all systems of authority (John Trudell). The natives see power as something that is only trusted with the Creator. Focusing the power within the Creator allows everything else ranging from a little mouse to a human being to be equals. This is a benefit of having the Creator or Great Mystery instead of a dogma like most religions. The Great Mystery makes it so a person has to worship everything that surrounds them so they cannot focus on pleasing a certain set of rules. Also, since everyone is equal in their beliefs, taking the native view regarding creation could diminish the amount of wars and problems throughout the world. In common creationism, God created two people and there is a separation of power even between man and woman from the very start. The natives also do not believe in having a “holy book” and pass their stories on through oral traditions. They believe the books take away a personal level from the stories; by passing them down orally, people are able to add their own twists and make it more relatable to the time it is needed. Having the cultural change would make people communicate more about important things than having pointless conversations. This would force
The Native American’s way of living was different from the Europeans. They believed that man is ruled by respect and reverence for nature and that nature is an ancestor or relative. The Native American’s strongly belie...
... many setbacks and problems for the Natives, including poverty, alcoholism, and underperformance in education. With better acceptance of the Native culture, and aid from America as a whole, the Native American idea of freedom to self govern, roam freely, and preserve the Native culture can greater be aligned with that of American Freedom.
In the Light of Reverence is a film about the destruction and exploitation of the sacred lands of the people who have worshipped them for years: the Native Americans. Freedom of religion is something Americans take pride in. However, many religions are still looked down upon for their practices which is displayed clearly in this film. It upsets me greatly to hear how ignorant many people are about the Native American religion. They call the prayer bundles “dirty laundry” and say nature has no “similarities with the church at all” (In the Light of Reverence). Religion has never had a specific definition. All religions have different practices and themes. It just so happens that Native Americans practice their religion in regard to nature. Nature is sacred land to Native Americans and as one women said in the film, “you can’t have a religion without the land” (In the Light of Reverence). Native Americans have always believed that natural world is holy. Destroying the Earth will never lead to world peace (Lyons 11). I agree with the Native Americans that we need to have more respect for the Earth we live on. Chief Oren Lyons said in his essay, “we need to learn how to respect nature” (Lyons 6). If we keep treating the
Duane Champagne in Social Change and Cultural Continuity Among Native Nations explains that there has never been one definitive world view that comprises any one Native American culture, as there is no such thing as one “Native community” (2007:10). However, there are certain commonalities in the ways of seeing and experiencing the world that many Native communities and their religions seem to share.
With the dwindling population of Native Americans, it is fair to assume that most do not want their culture to die out. The falling rate of Native Americans could be the fire needed to get them active in their heritage. It is the perfect opportunity to learn more about their own culture and pass along the knowledge, discovering new art, stories, and history through their elders and oral traditions. From another view, their role is to also gain a voice in politics to help preserve their tribes and reservations, as well as try to keep unemployment and poverty rates
Throughout ancient history, many indigenous tribes and cultures have shown a common trait of being hunter/gatherer societies, relying solely on what nature had to offer. The geographical location influenced all aspects of tribal life including, spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices. Despite vast differences in the geographical location, reports show various similarities relating to the spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices of indigenous tribal cultures.
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.”
I have decided to discuss the topic of Spirituality in Native Americans. To address this topic, I will first discuss what knowledge I have gained about Native Americans. Then I will discuss how this knowledge will inform my practice with Native Americans. To conclude, I will talk about ethical issues, and dilemmas that a Social Worker might face working with Native American people.
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
Benjamin Franklin describes the culture of Native American in such a way so that it looks like ideal for everyone. Despite with the use of word “savages”, Franklin had an undeniable respect for the people of Native Americans. Franklin tried to explain that Indian men are the backbone of the culture of Native Americans. Franklin has huge admiration towards the Indian men because they were hard worker and disciplined. “The Indian men, when young, are hunters and warriors; when old, counselors; for all their government is by counsel of the sages, there is no force, there are no prisons, no officers to compel obedience, or inflict punishment.” (Franklin 468) Franklin had huge admiration towards the culture due to fact that there are no prisoners, no force and no police officers to impose obedience. Just imagine this country without law enforcement, prisoners and prisons? What would this country be similar, to those of the Native Americans? Would our behaviors be comparable, to those of the Native
Community takes high precedence over self in Native American culture. They are a collectivist culture which means the tribe members will work as a whole to raise children and help one another (Hodgins & Hodgins, 2013, p. 449). Native Americans view many tribe member s as close family. The concept of family “stretches far beyond the concept of the traditional nuclear family in Western culture” (Lettenberger-Klein, Fish, & Hecker, 2013, p. 149).
People have been living in America for countless years, even before Europeans had discovered and populated it. These people, named Native Americans or American Indians, have a unique and singular culture and lifestyle unlike any other. Native Americans were divided into several groups or tribes. Each one tribe developed an own language, housing, clothing, and other cultural aspects. As we take a look into their society’s customs we can learn additional information about the lives of these indigenous people of the United States.
McGaa, Ed. Mother Earth Spirituality: Native American Paths to Healing Ourselves and Our World. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1990.
I felt it was a good idea to ask my next question when I did because of the interest I got in Native Americans in a previous question. “Do you know anything about the religious beliefs of Native Americans?” For this question, I felt everyone had the same general idea about Native American beliefs. Many of them believed the Native Americans worshiped nature and had a deep respect for it. Lynne had said “I know they believed things had a spirit, everything is alive and that everything worships God. What I loved about them when I was younger was that if for example, if they were to hunt and kill something they would thank it for feeding them.” Very similarly Frank said, “They would thank nature, like if they had to kill an animal for food they would thank it for its services.” Marie had said “I think they believe in the sun and the seasons, I
Indigenous Knowledge (IK) can be broadly defined as the knowledge and skills that an indigenous (local) community accumulates over generations of living in a particular environment. IK is unique to given cultures, localities and societies and is acquired through daily experience. It is embedded in community practices, institutions, relationships and rituals. Because IK is based on, and is deeply embedded in local experience and historic reality, it is therefore unique to that specific culture; it also plays an important role in defining the identity of the community. Similarly, since IK has developed over the centuries of experimentation on how to adapt to local conditions. That is Indigenous ways of knowing informs their ways of being. Accordingly IK is integrated and driven from multiple sources; traditional teachings, empirical observations and revelations handed down generations. Under IK, language, gestures and cultural codes are in harmony. Similarly, language, symbols and family structure are interrelated. For example, First Nation had a