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Native American Traditions And Beliefs

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The Indians respect for nature reflected the long-held customs and beliefs of their culture, whereas the Europeans viewed nature as an obstacle to their desires. The religious beliefs were diverse among several Native American tribes but all had faith in the Great Spirit who provided everything for them. The Europeans demeanor towards nature conflicted with that of the Native Americans. The Europeans seemed determined to eradicate not only the indigenous people but the land they occupied as well. For both societies, the impact of two worlds questioned old concepts and designed new ones. In the early years, Native Americans did not have scientific explanations to explain natural phenomenon so they developed myths and legends that are known as "Oral Traditions". Their legends/myths reveal their faith in Nature and their bond to it. Various tribes had their own versions of how the earth started such as The Iroquois Creation Story by the Iroquois tribe. In spite of the tragic events that took place after the Europeans entered, their pride for their heritage and love for nature still remained. …show more content…

The Iroquois, for example, considered animals as acquiring human-like traits which to them seemed essential to the creation of human race. The creation story illustrates this by stating, "The woman was yet descending from a great distance. The turtle executes upon a spot, and a small quantity of earth was varnished on the back of the turtle. The woman alights on the seat prepared, and she receives a satisfaction"(p32-33). The texts explain how without the assistance of the animal, Earth’s creation would not have

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Each tribe had different views of the natural world, the supernatural and how they relate to each other. One thing that was concluded in the summary by David Ruvolo was that nature played an important role in each tribe’s religious thought patterns. The Iroquois lived in an area of the world where natural resources were plentiful and survival was not difficult, so this created more time for religious ideas, as they are the tribe who had the most similar religious views compared to that of most developed societies. The Sioux lived a lifestyle centered around their relationship with the buffalo, and their religious views concerned the unity and interconnectedness of all things. The Apaches had spent the most time and energy on survival due to their harsh environments, and didn’t have much time for other things, therefore causing them to hold the least complex view of the supernatural: that there indeed existed the supernatural forces, but it was solely an individual’s decision to entertain these ideas themselves.

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Despite different historical context and cultural codes- the Lakota’s, Seneca’s, and Hebrew’s emergence stories are comparable. The significance of their comparability demonstrates the capacity of human nature. Firstly, the majority of the Europeans thought of Native Americans as one people, but that was an incorrect assumption. Within the different Native American nations followed different practices, rituals, and beliefs.

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1. The pioneers of America believed it was their duty to expand America toward the Pacific Ocean where anything could happen. The belief in America was that they were better than other races, this caused them to believe they could do whatever they wanted like take land that wasn't theirs. On the other hand the Native American's were completely opposite, they wanted to be a nonviolent and peaceful culture. Native American's believed in the Ghost Dance which was suppose to get all of the white people that were causing destruction to go away and take their evil with them.

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They exchanged many things, such as physical items and information, and cultural exchanges. These exchanges were everywhere, and there is no specific event or person involved. These contributions include the areas of agriculture, food, language, and also government. In the areas of agriculture, the Natives being skilled farmers, have taught valuable farming techniques to the early newcomers on many crops.

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In the acting community, there are many actors and actresses. Most are very well known for a copious amount of reasons. However, two very renowned thespians are both alike and different. These two are Robin Williams and Marilyn Monroe. While both people affected the general public and some diehard fans with their incredible films and TV shows, they did have personal lives including marriages and divorces.

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The development of agriculture and the rise of industrialization generated new cultures and innovations in the new world. Native people in early America developed cultural distinct , men were in charge of the fishing, hunting, jobs that were more exposed to violence, and the women stayed closed to the village, farming, and child bearing. The way of life possessed by natives Americans did not compel them to conquer and transform new land. As opposed to European colonizers, Native Americans subscribed to a more “animistic” understanding of nature. In which they believed that plants and animals are not commodities, they are something to be respected rather than used.

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The Native American Literary Movement was a period in which folktales, myths, and other stories were composed, based heavily on the culture of the area, commonly, depicting animals as spiritual beings set in the past. During the epoch in which Native American Literature prospered, the culture of the individuals was based heavily on myths and folklore. Typically, folklore is different from myths, as myths are set in the distant past when the world did not yet exist, and folklore is a type of story about the present. Native Americans would often tell stories to express their beliefs on certain incidents and events that occurred.

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There are many known creation stories of Native Americans, some may be factual and others may be myths. These indigenous people were known to be very nature-savvy. When hunting they take only what they need, leaving behind supplies for other people or other animals to feed on. This really helped with building Earth year after year. They were not like this way for no apparent reason.

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I have decided that I will be will be working on how and why Native American religious acts. I want to discover what the religious tradition were sacred and why the white men wanted to erase these traditions. Were these traditions rebellion of the white laws or were they truly sacred. How did they make religious restrictions when the country was built on religious

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Native Americans and Africans were spiritual people. Native Americans and African believed in different gods compared to the monotheistic Europeans. Both Native Americans and Africans believed that spirits were present in everything, including natural objects. This led them to treat nature with a great deal of respect. Europeans, on the other hand, believed that nature was to be exploited.

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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.

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The Native Americans wouldn’t destroy nature if it wasn’t for survival purposes. They cared about the Earth and respected it. This is something that humans should learn from

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They are often labeled as uncivilized barbarians, which is a solely false accusation against them. This paper aims to address the similarities between Native American beliefs and the beliefs of other cultures based on The Iroquois Creation Story in order to defeat the stereotype that Natives are regularly defined by. Native Americans are commonly considered uncivilized, savage, and barbarian. Nevertheless, in reality the Natives are not characterized by any of those negative traits, but rather they inhabit positive characteristics such as being wise, polite, tolerant, civilized, harmonious with nature, etc. They have had a prodigious impact on the Puritans

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Ranging from the south Alleghenies mountain range all the way down to the south of Georgia and far west of Alabama, lived the Cherokee Indians. They were a powerful detached tribe of the Iroquoian family and were commonly called Tsaragi which translates into "cave people. " This tribe was very prominent in what is now called the U.S, but over time has been split up or run out of their land because of social or political encounters with the new settlers from Europe. Despite the dispersion or the split amongst this tribe, they still obtained their core religious beliefs, practices and ceremonies. Their detailed belief system, fundamental beliefs, significant meanings, and their connection to song and dance make up their religious system.

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Their beliefs were rejected by the white-american culture which made it difficult to assimilate or control the tribes by the United States. The U.S. was trying to convert the plains tribes from hunter-gatherers to farmers in the the European-American tradition. Native Americans tends to focus around nature. Their religion includes a number of practices,ceremonies and traditions. Their religion ceremonies included feasts, music, dances, and other performances.

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