Contrasts in Two Native American Tribes - Essay Example

Contrasts in Two Native American Tribes From even before the United s federal government decided to solve the Indian Problem by creating one large reservation out of the state of Oklahoma, it was common practice to think of all Native Americans as one cultural group united by the simple idea that they all lived on the new common continent before the coming of the Europeans. Looking at it from the perspective of a much-removed future, this idea seems ludicrous, especially when compared with the strong diversity and cultural differences that exist among the people of Europe in much smaller geographical space. Just like the Europeans, though, Native American tribes found on the continent when the first explorers arrived were often very different from each other. Tribes such as the Apache and the Ottawa were very different from each other based not only on their geographic homeland, but also in their lifestyles and connections with Europeans. While both the Apache Indians and the Ottawas were established Native American tribes since well before the Europeans came, they had organized themselves differently based to a large degree upon their locations. The Apache Indians lived in bands primarily on the North American plains of the Southwest, ranging “from southern Colorado to the Texas border and the Chiracahua also extended into Arizona. Other bands, collectively known as the Western Apache, lived in east-central Arizona, where they grew far more like the Navajo than the eastern Apache did” (Garbarino, 1985: 233). This was a harsh, dry land with less diversity of wildly growing plants and greater numbers of large, roving herd animals, which would have great influence upon their lifestyles as a result of these living conditions. Contact with other tribes was often hostile as each tribe competed for survival (Garbarino, 1985). In addition, this placement put them in close connection with the Spaniards that began arriving in the 1500 and 1600s, which would have an impact on their later assimilation and development (Scott, 2006). The Ottawas, on the other hand, lived primarily on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron far to the north (Sultzman, 2006). This location continues to boast of itself as the largest freshwater island in the world with a four-season yearly cycle and plenty of natural forest and wetlands (Pearce, n.d.) as well as providing the early Ottawans access to a quick means of travel in the form of birchbark canoes. Like the Apache, the location of the Ottawa placed them in direct contact with the arriving Europeans, who would have a great deal to do with the shaping of their nation, but the Ottawa were aligned with the French rather than the Spanish. Because of these widely different homeland climates, the livelihoods practiced by the two tribes were also very different. The Apache were nomads who followed the trail of the bison as their chief source of food, clothing, shelter and fuel (Carlisle, 2001). The women traditionally held the property because it was their responsibility to move it as the tribe followed the herds. This arrangement required the men to move in with his wife’s family and gave the women a certain degree of power within the tribe. Because of their need for easy transportation across the vast plains in their pursuit of the ranging buffalo as well as their closer association with the Spaniards who brought them, the Apache were also among the first tribes to learn how to ride the horse. The Ottawa gained easy transportation early in their development with the use of birchbark canoes to travel the lakes and rivers of their homeland (Sultzman, 2006). They used this ability to travel to develop an extensive trade network with other bands and tribes in their region. When they came into contact with the French, they simply expanded their trading enterprises to include this new tribe of man (Sultzman, 2006). The location allowed communities to become more stable than the Apache, with men building homes out of birchbark and women practicing farming while they raised the children (Redish & Lewis, 2006). Although both men and women were able to practice professions such as storytelling, art and medicine, men were dominant in the tribe. As can be seen in both their locations and their historic associations with other tribes, the way in which contact with Europeans affected the Apache and the Ottawa were quite different. The Apache tribes were only loosely connected with each other, which “caused problems in relations with the Spanish, and later with the Mexicans, Texans, and Americans. One Apache band, for instance, might make peace with its enemies, while another would remain at war” (Carlisle, 2001). The Spanish provoked a break down in communications between the Apaches and the Pueblos, with whom they had enjoyed peaceful trade associations. At the same time, the Apache had conducted several raids upon the Spanish. This was the start of a long and bitter relationship between the two peoples which would last until the Mexican government took over the area in the early 1800s. The Ottawa, already accustomed to trading with other tribes settled along the waterways of their northern home, fell easily into trading with the French upon their arrival on the new continent. With trade routes and convenient transportation already available, the Ottawa quickly gained power and prestige among the French and the other tribes as they became the distribution network so necessary to the development of business (Sultzman, 2006). Although their close association with the French benefited them tremendously throughout the 1600 and 1700s, this same association contributed to their downfall into near obscurity by the time the Midwest began to be settled by British colonists (Sultzman, 2006). When Englishman became the dominant culture in the Ottawa region, this French connection further handicapped them in the new regime. Everything from how they associated with others to how they associated with themselves to how their environment affected their lives is fundamentally different between these two tribes although they are both connected under the grossly generalized label of Native American. The Apache were nomadic, hostile, loosely connected bands of individuals in an equally hostile, unforgiving land who were negatively affected almost immediately by their first contact with Europeans. The Ottawa, on the other hand, were friendly, settled, highly organized tribes living in an abundant forested land who were able to profit greatly from their first association with Europeans. The fundamental family structure was as different as the types of homes they built as the Apache, with their transportable buffalo hide teepees belonging to the women who must transport them, were required to respect their women to a great degree while the Ottawa, with their more permanent birchbark homes constructed, maintained and protected by the men, were able to focus on the power of the male in their society. Although there are some similarities between the tribes, the responsibilities of the woman for instance, their differences are far too great to be considered under a single umbrella culture and too complex to be shrugged off as fitting into a single stereotype. Works Cited Carlisle, Jeffrey. “Apache Indians.” Handbook of Texas Online. (June 6, 2001). The Texas State Historical Association. October 16, 2006 Garbarino, Merwyn. Native American Heritage. (2nd Ed.). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1985. Pearce, Jean. Manitoulin Island. (n.d.). October 17, 2006 Redish, Laura & Lewis, Orrin. “Ottawa Indian Fact Sheet.” Native Languages of the Americas. (2006). October 16, 2006 Scott, Jeff. “Apache Indians.” Arizona History. (October 2006). October 16, 2006 Sultzman, Lee. “Ottawa History.” First Nations Index. (2006). October 16, 2006 Read More