Preview

Essay About Native American Culture

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1377 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay About Native American Culture
We are who we are because of Native Americans; their history is critical for this generation to acknowledge and understand. Native Americans can teach us many things that are of great worth to us. When we learn about Native Americans, we can understand what values we should have, what to learn from the past, and who we are today as a country and as an individual.

The stories from and of Native Americans can communicate values that are important for the students of this country to obtain. Everyone has heard the stories that Natives have provided us with. They told various stories to explain how something happened, but they also have a deeper message. Some of these stories include “How Thunder and Earthquake Made Ocean” and “How Grandmother Spider
…show more content…
Students of this state need to know that they are capable of incredible things, if they try. How Grandmother Spider Stole the Sun teaches us that you need to give it your all, or in other words, you can’t accomplish anything if you don’t try. Other meanings can be found as well, such as the importance of teamwork. These stories are just samples of many narratives they relate to their children. Although, parables are not the only method they teach by. Native Americans live their own significant story as well that teaches us important characteristics. Natives have shown us that giving up and giving in are not options. Several experiences can be told, but the people from the Plains region have a greater significance which describes what it means to live. Having been forced off of their land by the white explorers they still managed to adapt to an entirely different environment. They strived to become one with the land once again. The tribes in the Great Plains have given us an example of finding solutions to the unfair problems that are thrust upon us. Along with the Plains people, we are impacted by the lives of the brave California tribes. Taken captive by the Spanish

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Native Americans have long been interested in maintaining cultural traditions they inherited from their ancestors. For Native American tribes with strong oral traditions, the primary sense of history comes from the narratives, stories, and accounts told by tribal elders. Indigenous peoples' stories are as varied as the clouds in the sky and yet have many common elements, whether told by the Cherokee in North Carolina, or the Chimariko in California. In the assortment of Native stories, we find legends and history, maps and poems, the teachings of spirit mentors, instructions for ceremony and ritual, observations of worlds, and storehouses of ethno-ecological knowledge. They often have many dimensions, with meanings that reach from the everyday to the divine. The stories fill places with…

    • 1816 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zinn Notes

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The major theme in this chapter was about the Native Americans and their survival due to the Americans taking their land, spreading diseases, and raiding their towns.…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Archetypes In Ravensong

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The book is chock-full of mentors and teachers, from both sides, who help give insights on situations that are too complex to understand in itself. These mentors, the elders, are a precious and powerful thing; that despite the death of an elder their teachings can still be passed down orally as is the tradition of native storytelling.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Not with all the good intentions of all the best American politicians, any policies devised to help a Native American Nation could succeed without the full understanding of the diverse cultures within these Native American Nations. Any Policy made in this era is doomed to failure.…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the late 19th Century, people believed that the Native Americans would not adapt to modernity and die out. Those people were wrong. The Native Americans not only adapted but they survived and endured everything life had to throw at them. The United States Government made life quite hard for the Indians in many ways. The United States expanded its territory in the early 19th Century to the Mississippi River. Due to the Gadsden purchase, this led to US control of the borderlands of Arizona and southern New Mexico, along with authority over Oregon country, Texas and California. During 1830 and 1860 America continued to expand, nearly doubling in size. Settlers began building their lives in the Great Plains along with other parts of the…

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this painting by George Catlin titled “Assinneboine Chief before and after Civilization” it shows a very proud Assinneboine Chief standing straight and proud. His clothing expresses his Indian culture as he is dressed in leggings and shirt made of mountain goat skin, and finished with a pictured robe of buffalo hide over his right shoulder. Moccasins covered his feet and his tribal headdress decorated his head allowing his long hair to blend with the feathers of his headdress. In his left hand is his long pipe which he would smoke with those with whom he would want to make peace. The background which is painted in a lighter hue then the opposite side of the painting reveals a dirt road which leads to the capitol building in Washington, suggesting that the Chief is traveling to there with peaceful intentions. The only green in the painting is the landscape surrounding the Capitol building. Could this be to show the wealth of those who lived there, to depict that the grass may be greener on the other side?…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Native Americans and the Colonists have had a very close relationship throughout history. I’d say that they've had sort of a mutual relationship. In about 1640 the English started building colonies in in the New England colonies in colonial America. Jamestown was a common area where the Natives and the colonists had sort of mixed feelings with each other.…

    • 942 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    From the 1400s to 1877 many historical events have occurred in the growing of the new world. However, some of those occurrences have affected many different groups including women, African Americans, and Native Americans in a negative manner. From the three groups, I feel that the Native Americans have seen the most changes in their lives, but for the worse. I believe this to be true for many reasons such as; the first encounters between many different European colonists and Native tribes and the damage dealt to their land and homes, the Treaty of Paris in 1783 which gave up land for the Native Americans, and also the Indian removal act in 1830, which once again took land away from the Native Americans.…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The narratives are divided into fourteen chapters, which supply historical document and secondary essays placing these documents within their historical context. Each chapter unfolds 1 OUR HEARTS FELL TO THE GROUND to show the tragedy the Plains Indian had to endure from the white settlers and their greed for land and prosperity.…

    • 559 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story is the most powerful tool in Native American culture passed down through generations. Stories connect them to the past, the present and their surroundings. However the world is always changing, and because of this, some Native Americans have lost their connection to their culture. In Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, Tayo is going through this loss, along with many other characters in the novel, and has to use the stories to reconnect with his culture and help others do the same. Leslie Marmon Silko’s characters, structure, and symbols develop the argument that remembering Native American cultural and spiritual roots in the modern world is essential for their culture to survive and for them to achieve inner peace.…

    • 1408 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In most cultures, especially Native Americans, the elderly are responsible for passing down oral traditions and teaching and instructing younger members. By telling stories, myths, legends, and singing songs, the elderly keep their heritage and history alive. Teaching younger members skills and subsistence knowledge is also very important for the existence of a culture. But despite the strengths of elderly Native Americans and their families, conflicts like poverty and immigration are affecting this strengthen roles and considerable outside resources and support are required to get this population closer to the quality of life that many white, middle-class elderly have come to enjoy.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Navajo Culture

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The life of a Navajo Indian had its ups and downs I realize that it is far more strenuous than the modern life that we live.…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Trail of Tears

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Teaching Point: “Big Ideas” – Enduring Understandings – What is important for students to understand about the topic…

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Numerous years before Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas there were individuals living in North America. The Native American individuals, also called American Indians, had been living on the landmass of North America for a long time and the Americas found that there were more than 10 million Native Americans effectively living on the continent. Once the Europeans touched base in America things turned out to be much different. As time passed the Native American deteriorated. They were constrained off their properties and pushed further and further west with several promises being made that were never kept. There were many conflicts that occurred and wound up beginning the Indian Wars. To illustrate this point, the Native American’s…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Introduction: As most of us know, Native American’s have a rich history of struggle and also triumph. Many modern Native American traditions reflect the story and struggle Native American’s experienced. These stories are filled with tradition closely tied to Mother Nature. I’m sure many of you have seen Native American art and objects, such as teepees, totem poles, and moccasins. These are articles that tied together Native American life. I’m going to share with you the meaning behind these symbols and traditions, and how they affect modern…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays