American Indian Life and History - Term Paper Example

American Indian Life and History American Indian History American Indians are also known as “Native Americans” and “Indians” as they are believed to be the first people who have been living in the New World discovered by Columbus. These people have been living in this area even before the initial Europeans arrived in the region which created many problems for these inhabitants. Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1942 to find a much shorter and even faster route to reach India. He landed on a beautiful island located adjacent to the coast of America; at first, he thought he had reached India and started calling people Indians. Later on, he found out that it was not India and discovered United States of America (Ott, 492). Unity and Pursuits American Indians in the United States of America are described as the indigenous people in North America who are residing within the borders of Alaska and within the island state of Hawaii. This group is composed of various distinctive tribes of Native America and ethnic groups who have different languages, cultures, beliefs, religions and lifestyles. Government These people are gradually getting extinct as the U.S. government has showed lack of sympathy to their well-preserved culture. Their languages have started to disappear and some are even at the stage of extinction and only one or two members of the tribe are speaking the native language. The primary reason for such destruction of American Indians is compounded by the continuous reinforcement of the American’s mainstream culture by incorrectly stereotyping these people and making wrong generalizations of their living styles and beliefs (Carson, 923). Early Life and History of American Indian in America At the end of the fifteenth century, there was an immense amount of migration by the Europeans to America and there was importation of the Africans as slaves in the country that headed many centuries of conflicts and adjustments between the societies of Old and New World. Almost majority of the American Indians’ historical record was created by the Europeans when the colonist’s migrated to America. It has been noted by Jobe that most of these Native Americans preferred to live in the form of hunter gathered societies and used to tell their histories to each other by oral traditions (70). The lands were subjugated either for the purpose of agriculture or hunting. In the same period, the Europeans had ‘patriarchal cultures’ which implied that they had well-defined concepts of the individual property rights in accordance to the land which were totally different from the fair and just laws followed worldwide. Almost all of these laws deprived the Native Americans of their rights and there were many conflicts between these people and the lawmakers (Washburn, 710). As a result of a wide variation in the cultures of the established American Indians and immigrant Europeans along with ongoing changes in the alliances among various nations of every culture for many centuries, there was an alarming increase in the tribal violence, social disorder and extensive range of political apprehension. The main people who suffered due to such unfavorable situations were Native Americans and they had to encounter even huge amount of fatalities from getting in contact with the Eurasian diseases that were infectious; these people had not acquired any immunities from the widespread illness. After this European contact, epidemics broke out in the entire region and the American Indians had to face severe loss in their population. It is estimated that at that time the loss was in between one million to eighteen million across the entire region (Merrell, 460). When the colonies appalled against the Great Britain and founded the United States of America, the then President George Washington and Henry Knox considered the concept/vision of starting the ‘civilization’ mechanism of American Indians so that they can be prepared for their integration as citizens of U.S. Every Native American had to comply with the policy of American assimilation (either voluntarily or with force) and it became an important mandate in the country for the indigenous people (Ballas, 11). In the nineteenth century, ‘manifest destiny’ ideology started to become an integral part of the American Nationalist Movement. After the American Revolution along with the expansion of populations of European-Americans, there was an immense pressure on the lands of American Indians and it created warfare among the groups and increased tension among the people. In order to accommodate the expansion regime, the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830; the Act authorized the government to relocate all American Indians from their homelands within the established states to Missisippi River where there were many lands (Ballas, 16). When the European Americans were relocated, the first western interior tribes that were encountered by them were trappers and fur traders. In the Northern Tier, there were many Jesuit Missionaries activities. When the expansion of U.S. reached into the West of America, the minor and settler migrants had to face conflicts from Great Plains, Western Tribes and Great Basin as there were many complex cultures of nomadic on the basis of horse culture along with seasonal bison hunting (Edmunds, Frederick and Neal, 56). Condition of the Indians There was a strong resistance throughout the United States after the American Civil War that resulted in a long series of Indian wars that took place in the period of 1890s to the twentieth century. More non-natives were brought in the state by the transcontinental railroad in the tribal lands of the West; the U.S. government then forced many treaties and land cessions by these tribes and established the reservations in the Western States. In order to ease the lives of Native Americans, they were encouraged to adopt the farming style of Europe and other similar recreational activities. In 1924, the American Indians were granted citizenship by the Congress (Jobe, 70). American Indian Lifestyle In all of the tribes, women were responsible for carrying forward the refined cultivation of the unlimited varieties of the core crops like beans, squash and maize. It has been observed by Strong that there is a wide difference between the culture of these Native Americans and the proto-industrial, agrarian and Christian immigrants of the western Eurasia (255). Almost all of the indigenous people were matrilineal meaning that the people lived in the form of community and occupied lands which could be used effectively for the entire community. Clothing The most common material used in clothing is Buckskin which is the tanned deer hide. The tribe men wear shirts that are loose over the hips along with a breech form of cloth, moccasins and leggings. Most of the women prefer to wear a sleeved dress of short size that reaches below the knee which is tied by a belt around the waist. Some of the tribes even wear sandals while others prefer to move around the city barefoot. There is a huge variation in moccasins as there are many designs and decorations available for both men and women. Some other accessories wore by women are necklaces, armbands and various attractive pieces of ornaments. Communication There are many languages spoken by the American Indians but the most common form is the sign language which is spoken by means of hand gestures. The Mayas who resided in Central America communicated via written language and some even use pictographs for expression of ideas. Educational infrastructure After the late 1960s, the activism by the Native Americans had developed many cultural infrastructures along with enhanced recognition as they had successfully founded their newspapers and virtual media tools. FNX is the chief and foremost Native American television channel and they have initiated various tribal colleges, community schools, language programs, American Indians studies programs in leading universities, tribal museums and state and national level museums. For younger generations, the indigenous languages are preserved and taught in the respective educational institutions (Edmunds, Frederick and Neal, 142). Family life, pursuits and beliefs It is believed that American Indians are basically peace loving people who have strong beliefs in family values and follow every ritual with full dedication. They love to live in peace and harmony and do not like to be involved in complexities in any type of living sector. All of the indigenous people prefer to live life in a simple way and they like to have harmony in their everyday routine. They perform their daily activities and move on forward with their life. Due to this attribute it can be said that these people do not compete with the modern city residents. The Native Americans love to spend time with their family members and their favorite leisure activities are praying and indulging in creative activities (Jobe, 72). Religion American Indians don’t have any specific religion but they believe in offering their endowments to the creator of such beautiful nature. Since they love nature, they instantly value the natural things and they believe that it is their responsibility to preserve the origin of life along with its preserving forces; they are strictly against industrial activities and are in favor of earning their livelihood in environmental friendly ways. In order to show their appreciation to God for all the gifts endowed on them, they treat all the natural things with extreme care and reverence. It is also said that all Americans are not the actual residents of that place and they have their origins from various parts of the world like Siberia, Alaska and Hawaii. According to Merrell, they have lived in complete harmony until they were interrupted by the European settlements (465). Food Since their existence in the state, they have been mainly using two main sources of food i.e. agricultural foods and hunting buffaloes and other animals. The main food items that are mainly consumed by the people are beans, maize, squash, camas roots and wild rice along with fishes and buffaloes. Transportation The wheeled figurines and wagons are used by the people to move around the cities and for water transportation the bull boat and canoe are used that are mainly made from the buffalo hide. This is one of their oldest ways of transportation and they still use it today. Government There are tribal councils for each tribe that organizes a meeting to make decision around the council fire. This practice is still carried till date. Each council has a chief whose decision is considered to be final and nobody can challenge it. Every small and big issue is presented to the council who ensures that a right and favorable decision is made that will be beneficial for the concerned parties. The tribal councils listen to the concerned parties and accordingly make their decision which has to be accepted by both the concerned parties. The decisions made also are based upon the facts stated by the people. Conclusion There are many types of people residing in the world and American Indians are one type that has been residing in America since a very long time. They have their own living style and have their specific culture which is highly different from the rest. Hence, American Indians are living a tough and challenging life that does not resonate in any way to their ideal way of living. Looking at their history, it can be said that they have been given unfair treatment regarding their rights and the government has taken every step to ensure that it can hide its wrong doings that it has done with these innocent people. However, Native Americans have ensured that they tackle every problem with courage and move ahead on their developmental path that will help them in protecting the future of their forthcoming generations. This act reflects that they also think about future perspectives of their generation. They believe in their origin and lifestyle strongly and ensure that they follow their specific culture regardless of the comments and their treatment by the state. They have their own identity and the world knows them by this identity. American Indians are mostly observed to be practicing agriculture and hunting and they earn their living through such means of work. Works Cited Ballas, Donald J. “Historical Geography and American Indian Development.” Cascourses.uoregon.edu. University of Oregon, December 2006. Web. 12 February 2013. Carson, James Taylor. “American Historians and Indians.” The Historical Journal 49.3(September 2006): 921-933. Print. Edmunds, R. David, Frederick E. Hoxie and Neal Salisbury. The People: A History of Native Americans. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 2006. Print. Hurtado, Albert L. Reflections on American Indian History: Honoring the past, building a future. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008. Print. Jobe, Margaret M. “Native Americans and the U.S. Census: A brief historical survey.” Journal of Government Information 30 (2004): 66-80. Print. Merrell, James H. “Second thoughts on colonial historians and American Indians.” The William and Mary Quarterly 69.3(2012): 451-512. Print. Ott, Cindy. “Crossing Cultural Fences: The intersecting material world of American Indians and Euro-Americans.” The Western Historical Quarterly 39.4 (2008): 491-499. Print. Strong, Pauline Turner. “Recent ethnographic research on North American Indigenous peoples.” Annual Review of Anthropology 34(2005): 253-268. Print. Washburn, Kevin K. “American Indians, Crime and the Law.” Michigan Law Review 104 (February 2006): 709-778. Print. Read More