Indian Civilization: The Beliefs Of Cherokee And Cheyenne

A common sentiment expressed by early European settlers asserted that all Indians lived as nomadic hunters within a society devoid of any complex infrastructure for agriculture, trade, or communication. Another popular misconception spread at the time claimed that European settlers introduced the Indians to agriculture and the sedentary lifestyle that accompanied it. The truth is that Indian civilizations had begun to flourish long before contact with Europeans was made. In fact, Indian people had been cultivating crops such as maize for centuries prior to the arrival of the first Europeans (31). While nomadic tribes such as the Apache, the Sioux, and the Cheyenne did exist, their migratory lifestyles suited the environment in which they lived.

In stark contrast to most Europeans societies that lived detached from their environment, Cherokees and Cheyennes alike considered themselves to be of nature as a part of nature. Both tribes acknowledged the inherent necessity they had for nature’s resources, but a great spiritual value was placed on what was used. Respect and reverence fueled a system that upheld sustainability based on the morality and conservatism of the people who lived by it. Indians made sure to exist within nature as another cog within a fluid machine and not as great conquerors over the wilderness

These basic essentials were influenced by the region these two peoples inhabited, as well as their choice of lifestyle. The Southeast woodlands where the Cherokees lived would experience a wide range of temperatures and climates. This variation was reflected in the Indians choice of shelter and dress. In the winter, Cherokees would fashion their homes out of woven saplings, plastered mud, and bark. They would dress in thick garbs usually made of animal skins or woven from saplings or hemp, as well as boots made of raw leather, for the men, or raw leather moccasins, for the women. In the summer, Cherokees chose to construct their shelters in a more open design due to the heat and fortified them with bark. The resources used to fashion clothes did not change much in between the seasons, but the clothing was made shorter and thinner as the temperature rose (31-33). The wardrobe of the typical Cheyenne Indian did not vary as much with the seasons and was usually some variation of lightweight deerskin garbs and breechcloths for the men. The clothing worn by the Cheyennes was usually light and easy to move in, which was well-suited for a constantly active lifestyle. Unlike the Cherokee’s permanent lodging, Cheyenne shelters had to be completely mobile to keep up with their nomadic lifestyle, so they were typically fashioned