Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Beliefs and Morals of the Native American Indians Research the Native Americans focusing on their religious rites and practices. Include a section on moral values.

Satisfactory Essays
752 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Beliefs and Morals of the Native American Indians Research the Native Americans focusing on their religious rites and practices. Include a section on moral values.
Developed a Moral System (Ethics)In the Indian society there are well structured boundaries as to what people should and shouldn 't do. It is similar in many respects to our modern Australian code of ethics; one man should not take the wife of another to be his own or steal from anyone else within their own tribe. Everyone is expected to share what they had for the benefit of the whole region too. So while not everyone likes some of the social law and order that is imposed, they all see the importance and control that it holds and respect the decisions of their chieftains.

Children are expected to follow the commands and teachings of their parents. It is an automatically assumed role of the parents to not only care for their sons and daughters but to bring them up in the code of that tribe and show them how to hunt, track, build and sew.

Reverence towards all gods is also very important to the Indians because any disrespect is seen as being just as bad as killing a member of your tribe; one of the ultimate sins.

These communal roles are common across most Native American tribes which allow them to live in neighboring regions of land in relative peace and mutual respect for one another 's life morals.

Made SacrificesThe Native American Indians do not practice sacrifice to either their leaders or gods. They consider all things sacred, especially animals because the gods are the ones who provide these food sources. Sacrificing an animal would appear somewhat hypocritical in the eyes of the Indians because they need permission to hunt and kill from the gods and to then offer the creature back to a god would be insulting. The gods made all the animals so there is no need for a human to kill them especially for the sake of a divine power.

Self sacrifice isn 't practiced either. Intensive injury and potential death situations are often used for initiation rites; but these rites serve in the aging process of young men, not in a religious sense.

Had Distinctive Religious RitesThe Indians have several religious rites that are practiced regularly; while not all tribes follow the same conventions, the concepts and actions performed are similar in meaning.

Vision quests are when a child is sent out into isolation to fend for themselves and await a vision from a spirit or force in a vision or dream. These visions are interpreted by the child and form the basis for their direction in life. These trips into the wilderness are to create a deeper understanding with the Earth and form bonds between themselves and a certain god, who will play a guardian role in that person 's life until death.

Dances to thank or appease the gods are also a common practice. These rituals are usually but not exclusively performed by specific groups within the tribe i.e. Shamans, hunters, boat makers, adult males or females, children or those about to embark on vision quests. These dancers are often in praise of strong, healthy family growths, sumptuous buffalo herds or fine hunting weather; all things that are essential to the continued survival of Indian tribes.

Close Ties to a Particular Area or LocalityThe Native Americans have roughly bounded regions of land to which they can roam freely without interfering with another group. Within this land there are indeed particular areas which some Indians feel more strongly attached; sometimes the appointment of new clan leaders or good hunting is associated with certain areas or some regions are common for vision quests.

No matter what the special association, the Indians feel bound to some areas far more strongly than others and believe the gods played some role in these spiritual bonds. As a consequence, these expanses of land often held court over celebrations to the gods.

Naturally occurring geographical features are also seen as significant to ancient stories, mainly how the gods shaped and molded the Earth as well as how they punished certain areas with harsh conditions and poor animal herds.

Whatever the reason for feeling connected with areas of land, they are all held high in a tribe 's history and given special names to express their thanks to gods, like: Inini-Nibi (Water Land) or Namito-Nolan (Distant Plain).

Bibliography"American Indians" - History and Culture of Native Australia - Update 21 February 2008 "Indigenous Peoples of the Americas" - Wikipedia - Updated 20 February 2008 "American Indian Resource Directory" - Updated 14 December 2007 Native American Indians - 2006 - By Lisa EvansNorth American Indian Tribes - 2004 - Jason O 'Neil

Bibliography: American Indians" - History and Culture of Native Australia - Update 21 February 2008 "Indigenous Peoples of the Americas" - Wikipedia - Updated 20 February 2008 "American Indian Resource Directory" - Updated 14 December 2007 Native American Indians - 2006 - By Lisa EvansNorth American Indian Tribes - 2004 - Jason O 'Neil

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Seneca orator known as Red Jacket, for the red jacket the British Awarded to him for his services as a message runner during the Revolutionary War and Benjamin Franklin both made very valid point in their speeches. The Indians had a very peaceful way of life. They had their own governing and civility system and they taught their young the way of their ancestors, never taking what “The Great Spirit” (pg 230) gave them for granted. They always welcomed strangers; giving them clothes, shelter and food without ever expecting anything in return. Even when this visitors broke their most basic of common rules like announcing their presence before entering a village. “We took pity on them, granted their request; and they sat down among us.…

    • 268 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1519 in ancient Mexico, several Native American tribes lived among their friends and family. They all lived under the direction of their chief, and had never encountered the presence of other ethnic groups beyond Native Americans. Indian beliefs were based off of spiritual guidance from mother earth and their elders. They loved and respected the land and their people. Indians appreciated all the land, animals and people they came into contact with for they believed in treating all people equal.…

    • 959 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Family is a big deal when it comes to the Chippewa tribe. “The Chippewas worked hard to care for one another” (Ditchfield 20). The Chippewas strongly believe that each member born into the tribe is a gift. When children were born everyone in the tribe would pitch in and help (18). Elder tribe members were very popular for telling stories. Children and adults would all gather around the fire to listen to these ancient stories (24), as shown in Figure 1…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How they interacted with their kin was determined by many things, including the person’s gender, age, whether they lived in a patrilineal or matrilineal society, clan membership, family connections, and certain well-known demands and taboos.” Many of the Texan Indian societies operated on kinship principle. One was forbidden to marry in their clan since everyone within that clan was kin. This included cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. It was expected of every kin to take care of kin. By this kinship, they could depend on others during time of need. The obligations within this system were very important because to the Indians it meant a difference between “life and death”. A kinsperson duty might be to provide food, shelter and protection, while in some cases, a man might even have to share his wife with his brother and a woman, her husband with her sister. All these obligations had to be done willingly and this system stressed on sharing, family and…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The native American way of life is marked with the adherence to tradition. The tribal system has many aspects of benefit for the members of this group. Such things as fairness, communal assistance, and justice based upon equivalent measures of punishment and mercy.…

    • 2444 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shamans, medicine men, and other religious leaders held high positions of respect and authorities in tribes…

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chapter 1 History

    • 842 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Society was very diverse. Each group had its own political system and set of beliefs. Indian villages held religious rituals. Families owned the right to use land, but didn’t own the actual land itself. Gift giving was essential.…

    • 842 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sacrifice is a universal theme shared among every culture. All cultures believed that there was a higher power…

    • 1593 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Aztec Tradition

    • 2087 Words
    • 9 Pages

    * Aztecs believed that the gods needed to be nourished by humans and therefore sacrifice is an integral aspect of Aztec tradition…

    • 2087 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tribal Deception

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages

    We believe in our family values, those of us that have families. Our society enables us to stay in touch and visit and support one another over greater distances. This is not as great a dilemma as it is in tribal nations where you have to walk everywhere you go. Some of our less advance tribal youths still follow the old ways and pawn their endless string of children onto their parents. Our tribe values individual rights above all else, it is because of this concept that our children can become a…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    zsssc as

    • 259 Words
    • 1 Page

    to teach the young of the tribe the type of values they would have to…

    • 259 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Indigenous Religions

    • 314 Words
    • 2 Pages

    (1) In chapter 2, the textbook author uses various terms for “indigenous religions”: traditional, aboriginal, indigenous, tribal, nonliterate, primal, native, oral, and basic. Select four or five of these terms and discuss why you believe each of those terms is applicable to the religions covered in this chapter.…

    • 314 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Among the rituals and cultural practices that India possess, one of the most unusual and absurd practice is the way the Indians pay reverence to the inhabited cows. The Hindus give more priority to their spiritual beliefs than their own lives. For example, in the famine of late 60¡¦s people were seen begging for food whereas the cows were seen passing by them undisturbed. Hindus have certain devotion for cows, they praise them and worship them. They are reactionary to any discrimination against cows.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Temple of Urfa

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The farmers formed a culture of their own and began sacrificing humans and, to ensure crop growth and sustainability, ritual sex. While the farmers used human sacrifice, the herders used animal sacrifice both to appease God. The hunters took no part, as they disapproved these acts.…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Zulu Culture

    • 2262 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Rituals of sacrificing of animals are also part of the Zulu culture beliefs. Rituals are done when someone has a debt/promise to pay back to the “Lord of the sky” to show their gratitude when someone from the tribe had an illness in the family and recovered from it. The rituals have step by step procedures they…

    • 2262 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays