Moral Lessons Of Native American Culture

When European explorers arrived in our hemisphere about five hundred years ago, they were not alone. American Indians had been living here for thousands of years before the first Europeans encountered what they called the New World. (“Native Cultures Thrive in America” 5). These societies, each of which was usually made up of a few thousand people, had extensive histories and diverse cultures. The Native American characteristics are, Native American Literature is rooted in oral tradition, myths and origins of the world and place of humans and animals within, often teach moral lessons, and symbols.
The time period for the Native Americans is huge, they have been here from and unknown time all the way up to now. Three of the biggest historical
“Throughout history Native Americans have used storytelling for more than just entertainment purposes. It has been used as a way to pass traditions in culture and faith onto the younger generations. They are often used to teach children the difference between right and wrong and instill values that will stay with them into adulthood.”. (“Native American Legends”). Using stories to teach lessons and moral values is one of the biggest ways that the Native Americans taught and still do. Most if not all Native American tribes teach lessons with their stories. One of them is the Cherokee tribe, “Long ago, when the world was new, there were seven boys who used to spend all their time down by the townhouse playing the gatayû'stï game, rolling a stone wheel along the ground and sliding a curved stick after it to strike it. Their mothers scolded, but it did no good, so one day they collected some gatayû'stï stones and boiled them in the pot with the corn for dinner. When the boys came home hungry their mothers dipped out the stones and said, "Since you like the gatayû'stï better than the cornfield, take the stones now for your dinner." The boys were very angry, and went down to the townhouse, saying, "As our mothers treat us this way, let us go where we shall never trouble them anymore." They began to dance, some say it was the Feather Dance and went round and round the townhouse, praying
“Many Symbols and Meanings were spiritual in nature conveying various religious beliefs. Other Symbols and Meanings conveyed immediately identifiable secret messages to other tribe members. The Symbols and Meanings used by Native Americans also had practical purposes such as recording important events, providing directions, indicating good hunting areas or as warning signs and meanings.” (Symbols and Meanings”). Symbols was the biggest way that the Native Americans communicated with each other. Symbols are a very sacred and special thing for the Native Americans. They use them for many different things, war, speech, stories, etc. Symbols was a very popular thing with the Native Americans, not because everyone was doing it, but because it was so necessary. All tribes, if they wanted peace and harmony and wanted to run well needed to use some type of symbols. We do this in our world a lot too, we all feel the need to use emoji’s. Why is that? Nobody can really tell, it’s just what we