Native American Traditions And Beliefs

136 Words1 Pages
The Native Americans already called the New World home long before Columbus “discovered” America. They possessed their own religion, culture, and language. When settlers arrived in the New World there was an immediate clash of ideas, religion, and cultures. For many European immigrants who came to the New World, the acquisition of land meant wealth; settlers, therefore, were in competition with the Native Americans for land and resources. Moreover, the early settlers were deeply religious and could not understand the Native Americans’ “heathen” practices. They described them as “minions of Satan,” and went as far as declaring that, “Indians were unworthy of becoming Christians.”The colonist viewed the Native Americans as inferior