Essay On Native American Identity

Long before the United States became a nation in the Americas, Empires had risen and fallen, tribes had made their homes, and of course, established their culture. As foreigners settled their “new world,” Native people were pushed away from the homes they had long since known. Going back much farther back than this however, there were other foreigners, that came not from the sea, but from the land, from the north. Most likely coming in waves through the Bering Strait from East Asia and Russia. Such ancient cultural ties; shared history, religion, land, and especially languages, are instrumental in retaining strong identity. With these connections being threatened by cultural suppression and an unfriendly, changing world, tribal identity is
What we know of the history and movement of groups comes from science. Migrations and events are widely unknown, so more scientific approaches are used to uncover the history. Whether using geology, biology, or genealogy, records of habitation and movement across the Americas are visible. Another important tell comes from simply observing where tribes lived at the point of contact, or the physical reminence of inhabitations and villages. As people traversed across the Bering Strait, temporary settlements were set up, and have deteriorated, others set up permanent villages that we can still see today. Analysis of bones recovered in Montana showed that, “...Native Americans share up to 35 percent of their DNA with people in Eurasia, the Middle East and Europe” (Aljazeera America), yet none of the oral history of these travels survived the test of time. Although this ancient migration has no bearing on contemporary ideas of identity, it does have ability to connect groups of people through shared past. When look for proof of this, look no further than the Jewish people, a story of exodus is able to connect millions under one community. Their history very much parallels that of Native Americans from the 1500s