American Indian culture studies research paper - Essay Example

? American Indian Culture Introduction The American Indian culture is one of the distinctive cultures in the worldthat deserves high level of preservation and enhancement. Preservation and promotion of the Native Americans culture is very important particularly for history purposes and therefore requires much attention. Many organizations have strived to preserve the Indian culture, laws and other vital issues such as encouraging public participation in politics and enhancing professionalism amongst the Native Americans. This article looks at the decline of the traditional Native American culture and the rapid emergence of the contemporary culture that is greatly suppressing the Indian culture hence making some Native Americans to be bi-cultural due to assimilation of substantial components of the prevailing society. Importance of the Native Americans’ culture The Native Americans way of life and culture is very much adored by most people around the world. Everyone is eager to understand the culture and the nature of people who initially occupied the most powerful country in the world. The Indians greatly influenced the shape and environment of the current America in several ways because they lived and carried out their human activities on the land particularly their habit of shifting seasonal subsistence that was conforming to the changing seasons. Everyone particularly is concerned about the decline of the culture of the American natives. These people clearly shows the evidence of North American life such as the discovery of a hunting lookout in Northern Alaska and the various finely crafted spear points found near Clovis, New Mexico. All these discoveries show the culture and the lifestyle of the first Americans who also believed to be more hospitable and had strong belief in sharing (Teicher 2006, 14). It is unfortunate that some of these traits have been overridden by the contemporary culture. The decline of the Native Americans culture has largely been contributed by assimilation, exploitation and the change of purpose as well as the rich number of alternatives that are assumed to be modern by the contemporary society. Luckily, there are various institutions that have strongly come out to protect and enhance the Native cultures such as the introduction of culturally based education that involve introduction and re-establishment of native language as well as culture. Introduction of cultural based education has been very vital in pres4rvation of the native culture and most tribes with almost over 500 distinct cultures have strived to survive by trying to regain practices that defined them as people. Preservation of the native culture Preservation of the native culture has involved tireless practices such as creation of dictionaries for many tribes, connecting present and the past as well as introduction of tribal colleges and public schools that restore the rich knowledge of different native cultures. Outstanding teaching force has been introduced to the Native Americans and the students have been culturally empowered by making their schools more culturally relevant for them. However, it is still very clear that the Indian continuity and survival is not part of the cultural preservation and continuation (Shaull & Gramann 1998, 49-55). Modern society has greatly influenced the current youth thus leaving them in dilemma. The current young people are not sure of what is best for them because they cannot choose between their native cultures and the current cultures. For instance, in the modern society, a young man may put emphasis on exercising of individual freedom and rights even if it is against the people’s will unlike in the native culture where an individual would look to the extended family and elders for guidance and direction. The group decisions are more important and an individual is required to avoid conflict and be very loyal to the group unlike in the contemporary society where an individual’s independence is more important than the group (Shaull & Gramann 1998, 49-55). . The Native Americans’ Art history The Native Americans were gifted in various art fields yet they have never received credit for this. They brought with them very beautiful sculptures, architectures and other forms of esthetic that depicted their naturalism. Art history amongst the native Americans grew over many years where each tribe had a unique history that were deeply connected with spirituality and nature which has been a way of life for many tribes (Kuiper 2011, 11-15). The artwork can be traced back to cave painting, stonework and earthenware that were accompanied with evolution of materials from rocks, feathers and fabrics to cloth, clay, glass and fabrics Artistic work of the Indians has presently influenced the current culture in various ways particularly their ability to build up and maintain the social illusions of splendor. Their ultimate influence of the creative work has resulted into accumulation of artistic works that leading to a communal expression of the cooperative life (Brustein 1997, 29). All the artists from different tribes of the Native Americans were architects of mass illusion because of their highest purpose to which supreme abilities were devoted which was steered with a sole intention of winning invisible empires. The Native Americans acted collectively in spirit with single psychological attitude while performing their work despite having dissimilar abilities. Poems were expressed in an aesthetical manner to express feelings and other phenomena and great ideas while coordinating it with rhythms of musical accompaniment with methodical dancing and ceremonial dramatization. Music also played an important role in the Native Americans culture. Art history of the Indians was associated with symbols such as moon, sun, bears that were linked with nature and every artwork was done with time and care such that even regular utensils are regarded as pieces of art (Gochfeld & Joanna 2011, 58-63). The Causes of Culture Decline Ever changing and sharing of cultural information has led to interactions and cooperation between the Native Americans and the early settlements thus limiting diversity amongst different cultures. Different and diverse cultures have evolved amongst various species thus resulting into decline of most cultures. Complex societies and ever increasing social interactions have made it difficult to quantify cultural diversity. Assimilation has played a major role in decline of the Native American cultures so that they can find it easy to negotiate the monolingual institutions of the Anglo-American culture. Conformity to the dominant American culture made the Native Americans to give up some of their traditions as a precondition to acceptance and admittance to nice jobs, better educational institutions as well as avoiding conflicts, anxiety and demoralization (Dalton 2005, 1559-1619). Native Americans cultures were swallowed by the social structure of the larger dominant societies especially in public places such as schools and workplaces. Other human factors such as intermarriage have further declined the culture due to emergence of mixed cultures from different people. Industrialization and urbanization has immensely led to emergence of the mixed cultures amongst the Native Americans. Industrialization has contributed to emergence and improvement of technologies such as uses of tools and other weapons that may be used. Revolution has led to transformation of labor from labor intensive to capital intensive which has also been accompanied by an immense increase in food production. Variety of people moved to cities to search for jobs thus forcing them to adopt dominant culture in the cities. Eurasian diseases were introduced to kill most of the Native Americans thus reducing their population. This made them adopt the European culture which is different from theirs in fear of being killed. Other European policies such as genocide, war, epidemic and religious persecutions greatly led to death of many Native Americans. The Indians were then forced to join the Europeans and give in to their demands as a way of stopping atrocities. Conclusion Conclusively, it is clear that unless we take serious note on our own cultures, we may end up in very different and devastating culture that is provoked by the need to appear new and modern. Our focus should be diverted to our heritage and culture. The government, other institutions and individuals should strive to defend, promote and preserve our cultures. We should jealously defend our culture since it reflects our origin even as we adopt the new information technology and fashions. In fact, our culture and heritage promoted conservation of the environment by only emphasizing on the need to subsist and survive. Our history is our culture and therefore preservation and promotion of the Native Americans culture is very important particularly for history purposes and therefore requires very high degree of attention. Bibliography Brustein, Robert. "The Decline of High Culture." The New Republic, (1997): 29. Dalton, James R. "There Is Nothing Light About Feathers: Finding Form In The Jurisprudence Of Native American Religious Exemptions." Brigham Young University Law Review, no. 6 (2005): 1575-1623. Gochfeld, Michael and Joanna, Burger. "Disproportionate Exposures in Environmental Justice and Other Populations: The Importance of Outliers." American Journal of Public Health 101 (2011): 53-63. Kuiper, Kathleen. Native American Culture. New York, NY: Britannica Educational Pub. In Association with Rosen Educational Services, 2011. Shaull, Sandra L. and Gramann, H. "The Effect of Cultural Assimilation on the Importance of Family-Related and Nature-Related Recreation among Hispanic Americans." Journal of Leisure Research 30, No. 1 (1998): 47-63. Teicher, Stacy, A. "Nurturing Native Americans On Campus; Indigenous Studies Programs Aim To Reduce Culture Shock and Improve Graduation Rates of Native American College Students." The Christian Science Monitor, (2006): 14-14. Read More