American Indian Community - Case Study Example

American Indian Community The American Indians form a small community which lives in Northern America. They are distinct from the rest of the Americans because of their unique way of upholding their culture and applying it in their day-to-day lives. They are also regarded as the first people to arrive in America and hence are referred to as the indigenous Americans. The paper scrutinizes a number of concepts and theories to explain the relationships between the American Indians and the rest of the modernized and the majority of Americans. This includes their culture, religion, business and other aspects of their lives. The paper is a comprehensive explanation of the mode of interaction between the American Indians and the rest of Americans. American Indian Community The American Indians are the indigenous inhabitants in the United States of America. They are distinct from the rest of the Americans because they preserve their traditions and are not easily influenced by the modern technology. California in 2000 had the largest population of American Indians. The census report of that year indicated that there were 628,000 American Indians in total. The American Indians are composed of numerous distinct tribes and ethnic groups whose migration happened over thousands of years ago. It involved different groups which are usually referred to as Native Americans or the American Indian. These people crossed over from Asia through a frozen land bridge to the modern day Russia which was by then still part of northern America. They later migrated to Alaska as the ice began to decline thus making them move even further to the southern part. These migrants eventually settled in the modern days United States. Due to their conservative nature, American Indians are regarded as uncivilized by majority of the rest of Americans. But they value their practices since they attach them to identity and unity symbols. Just like all the other communities, they adhere to various social concepts and theories. This is because they have to interact with the rest of the Americans thus making them venerable to internal and external influences. The social concepts and theories apply in various levels and aspects of the American Indians’ lives just like in other social units. Amongst the theories affecting American Indians is the conflict theory. The theory argues that in any society, people do not coexist in pursuit of equilibrium where everybody receives an equal share of resources. It further states that people live competitively with everyone trying to outdo the other with the weakest losing out while the strongest survives. The theory develops from the fact that there are no enough resources for each and every one. Hence, competition develops with the strong/fittest taking the biggest portion while the rest sharing the remainder. This results to inequality with the powerful striving to maintain their advantage in resource allotment. On the other hand the less fortunate fight back in trying to reclaim their rightful share. Consequently, conflicts arise between the powerful and weak members of the society. This culminates to revolutions and revolts as different categories struggle to take a fair share of the resources. The conflict theory has been an integral part of the American Indian people because they have limited resources. They notably strive amongst themselves with different tribes disagreeing. As a result, each tribe forms a group to safeguard its interests and against any oppressor. Beside the internal conflicts, the American Indians also regularly differ with the rest of the Americans because they are looked down upon as primitive and backward. This notion against the American Indians results to seemingly unfair treatment from the federal government and the rest of the Americans (Hutchison, 2010). However, the American Indians put up struggles and rebellions so as to air their grievances to the relevant authorities. Another theory that significantly affects American Indians is the role theory. This theory argues that humans in any society play structured roles as individuals and per society’s expectations. The theory is based on daily activities of individuals in any given society. For instance, a father is assumed to be responsible for bringing up the family; a religious leader is assumed to be responsible for uplifting members of the society spiritually while a politician is assumed to take the role of championing for people’s rights and freedoms. According to the theory, every individual has a distinct position in the society and thus has separate roles to play. The roles can be unified with those of others thereby forming a group of people playing common roles in the larger society. For instance, a school with one teacher and one student may not be that effective, but when a number of people play teacher role and several others play student roles, the schooling will be fully established. In the American Indian society units, each person has their distinct roles to play both for their own benefit and society’s. The American Indian society is comprised of diverse levels of hierarchy with the father being the head of the family. There are leaders who guide the society as decision and policy makers thereby maintaining a cohesive society. The others are the spiritual leaders who assume the role of giving spiritual encouragement and provide hope to the hopeless. Besides these leaders there are blacksmiths, teachers, secretaries, hunters, shepherds, farmers, doctors and drivers among many others whose roles and contributions ensure a smooth running society (French and Foiz, 2007). Another theory practiced in the American Indians society is the integration theory. This theory argues that members of a society cannot survive as individuals. Hence, they need to integrate with other people, even with those they dislike or have differences with, for the sake of survival. The theory insists that every person finds themselves in positions requiring assistance from other people. It also states that, in every society, there are many reasons for integration. These include companionship, raising a family, cultural practices, battles, schooling, religious practices and common problems among others. When people integrate, they collectively engaged in activities that are not necessarily for their own benefit. For instance, a wedding ceremony brings people together but not necessarily with an aim of benefiting from the ceremony. Hence, there are many aspects in the society that pull people together and which result in societal integration. In the American Indian society there are diverse factors that bring people together. Some of the factors that pull them together include calamities, religious practices, oppression and happy moments among others. The integration amongst the American Indians is crucial for their survival in the US since they are not quite compatible with the rest of the Americans (Dorsey, 2003). The American Indian society is increasingly being influenced by the concept of assimilation. This concept makes people abandon their ways and embrace those of a dominant group. This implies that people become closely knit with members of the dominant group by practicing and behaving like them. As a result, the absorbed group loses its way of life. Majority of American Indians still practice and cherish their rich traditional values which have been passed on for generations. This is despite the increasing pressure from the rest of Americans who enjoy advanced technology that makes their lives much easier. However, some of the American Indians are increasingly becoming assimilated into the general Americans society where they abandon their cultural practices and embrace the modern American lifestyle. This has been contributed by the fact that the Indian Americans need to join the modern American schools, hospitals, jobs and religious gatherings among other points interest. The American Indians also have deviance as one of the concepts in their society. This concept represents the notion of refusing and defying what is asked of a person or a group of people. The concept comes about when the set regulations are deliberately ignored. The deviance may be as a result of oppression where the set rules and regulations infringe on a person’s or a group’s freedom and rights. Most American Indians’ deviance instances are as a result of rebellion against oppression or denial of rights and freedom. This is reflected on their defiance against the modern American practices. The defiance is as a result of the Indian Americans wanting to maintain a moral and upright society without the contamination of the modern American practices. Their rebellious nature has also been portrayed by the fact that some of their practices are legally recognized and respected by the constitution. Hence, they are not subjected to the general rules that govern every other American (Dorsey, 2003). Another social concept practiced in the American Indian society is ethnocentrism (Paige, 2007). In fact it is the main reason behind the American Indian practicing just their own traditional practices with heavy resentment of those of other. As a result, they have been able to maintain a traditional oriented lifestyle despite the numerous pressure and influence from the modern American lifestyle. Acculturation is another widely practiced concept by the American Indians. The concept describes the process of contacts between cultures. This involves direct social interaction or exposure to the other cultures through mass media and technology. As a result the diverse cultures are interchanged and they intermix with the most affected cultural group becoming inferior. In the American Indian society, the culture of acculturation is unavoidable because they are just a minority when compared to the rest of the Americans. The concept is practiced since the American Indians have access to the media whose content is prepared and presented by the majority Americans. Hence, the influence of such mass media is reflected in the behaviors and practices of the American Indian people (Paige, 2007). The American Indian society is also affected by cultural lag concept. This concept describes the time between the invention of a material and the time of making adjustments to the already existing and ineffective component. The concept describes a society which takes a lot of time to evolve to new and more efficient ways of live as a society being affected by cultural lag. The American Indians in the United States comprise a perfect example of a society suffering from cultural lag. This is despite the rest of the Americans adopting and embracing modern and efficient ways of life. The American Indians still cling to the outdated and ineffective traditional practices. This is also despite the obvious advantages of modern equipments and appliances which make people’s work simple (Hutchison, 2010). The American Indians social system is, to some extent, influenced by race, ethnicity and social status. An American Indian is easily recognizable when in the midst of other people hence making them venerable to racial, ethnicity and social discrimination. Their religious practices are also viewed as inferior as compared to the contemporary religions. It is a biological and psychological fact that an average American Indian has equal physical and mental abilities just like and average American. This means that when offered the same opportunity a Caucasian and an American Indian will either succeed or fail based on their personal competences, but not on their racial backgrounds. This is what many do not understand when viewing American Indians as inferior people who are also not bright, especially in education. This notion is refutable from the fact that American Indians comprise the population with high class degrees from prestigious universities. In matters of sex, men are taken to be superior and capable to perform harder and sophisticated tasks. Women on the other hand are respected and are important members of the society. The social systems promote the achievements and well being of the American Indian people. This is because of the strict and reserved traditional settings which make it possible to stay away from unhealthy practices like eating junk foods, alcoholism, smoking and drugs. These are the unhealthy habits practiced by modern and civilized Americans. As a result, the risk of contracting diseases and conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity among others, caused by such habits is relatively low in American Indians. Furthermore, American Indians consume indigenous foods with low or no levels of chemicals which are quite harmful to the short or long-term health of a person (French and Foiz, 2007). On the other hand, the traditional oriented social settings have negative consequences towards the American Indians. They include the denial of modernized ways of preventing and curing diseases. This is because in the other parts of the US there are ultra modern machines which are capable of detecting various ailments at early stages e.g. cancer. As such, diseases can be easily cured or managed. However, due to their deep rooted traditions, Americans Indians are not able to enjoy high-end facilities since they prefer their traditional ways of doing things e.g. treatment. Hence, it is paramount to at least intermix the traditional ways of the American Indians and the modern ways practiced by the rest of the Americans. This is for the long term benefit of the American Indians. References Dorsey, L. K. (2003). African American female small group communication. Retrieved from http://www.cios.org/EJCPUBLIC/013/2/01325.html French, E., & Foiz, D. H (2005). Managing America’s small communities. Retrieved from http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Searchanddb=^DB/CATALOG.dbandeqSKUdata=0742543382 Hutchison, E. D. (2010). Dimension of human behavior person and environment. New York, Sage Publications. Paige, J. (2007). Basic sociology concepts: Society, culture and social structure. Retrieved from: http://www.helium.com/items/660048-basic-sociological-concepts-society-culture-and-social-structure Read More