In The American Indian Mind in a Linear World, Donald Fixico describes the circular method of thinking used by traditional American Indians. Fixico also compares and contrasts this perspective with the linear thinking used by most Americans. As described by Fixico, circular thinking occurs when all things are viewed as related to one another (Fixico 1). This method is described as “more open to truth and facts” (Fixico 9). However, with the linear way of thinking, ideas tend to be considered separately and accepted only in the presence of empirical evidence, such as in cases of cause and effect (Fixico 9). This leads to a more limited view of the world and surroundings. Fixico successfully shows that using circular thinking when approaching …show more content…
While young, tribal members learn from elders how to see and listen to nature and to use all of their senses to observe nature. The mundane daily tasks of tribal members, like working fields, could be used as a way to understand and predict natural events. Even daydreams and visions were widely accepted as knowledge sources. Some tribes, such as the Creek and Oglala, had a person designated to interpret the meaning and information within tribal members’ dreams (Fixico 3). While some would not consider this to be a legitimate source of information or history due to the seemingly primitive nature of the method, it is not so different from the visions or prophecies seen in the Old Testament of the Bible or the dream analysis performed by psychologists today. This information from the subconscious should therefore considered as it has been by many different cultures in the past. This is the beauty of circular thinking: it accepts any kind of information or knowledge to work towards connecting the things around people. As linear thinking only takes into account direct and easily repeated observations, it simply cannot get as wide a scope of information and therefore cannot work well to explain some …show more content…
Although there are similarities between these two perspectives, there are also several major differences, including the linear method’s need for empirical evidence, the types of data that is considered, and the types of conclusions drawn. These differences are not irreconcilable. In fact, the opposite is true. Those who are willing to open their minds will always have two ways to approach any situation that they encounter. In some people, this combination of the two approaches exists, due to an American Indian upbringing and an American education. Others yet have learned to adopt a circular perspective after realizing the limitations of the linear perspective. It seems that this combination of thinking methods in American Indians in modern times may offer the best understanding of our natural surroundings. For certain, circular thinking is a necessary viewpoint to take when observing new ideas or phenomena. Looking for a larger picture or a relationship to previous knowledge often makes understanding new observations easier and can open up new pathways to explore in the seeking of knowledge on a
Pages one to sixty- nine in Indian From The Inside: Native American Philosophy and Cultural Renewal by Dennis McPherson and J. Douglas Rabb, provides the beginning of an in-depth analysis of Native American cultural philosophy. It also states the ways in which western perspective has played a role in our understanding of Native American culture and similarities between Western culture and Native American culture. The section of reading can be divided into three lenses. The first section focus is on the theoretical understanding of self in respect to the space around us. The second section provides a historical background into the relationship between Native Americans and British colonial power. The last section focus is on the affiliation of otherworldliness that exist between
Not only has religion been a leading factor in judging American Indians but has played a role in justifying racial discrimination throughout history. Through Christianity, Native Americans were viewed as having lost their faith, therefore this is why they are uncivilized or savages. Since religion is not enough of an explanation, the idea of environmentalism comes into play with why American Indians were a different color and why they moved like that did. In procession, Carolus Linnaeus created the classification system of four divisions of people, along with “…feral and monstrous people…” (40). Sadly, these terrible names connote that Native American are untamable animals. Due to “monogenetic interpretation,” environmentalism became the best approach to how there can be so many dissimilarities out of one variation as opposed to there being different origins of humans (42). Which leads to progress being a trending subject matter in studying because it helped give a more rational meaning to why there are so many different races of people. As a result, Adam Ferguson explained that Indians are at the basic level of savagery, thus American’s civilization has evolved from savagery to barbarity to civilization. Then Charles Darwin introduced evolution in the nineteenth century. This in turn caused many to use this new
In "On Entering a New Place", Barry Lopez discusses how perception can be deceiving when trying something new that you don't completely understand. Typically, a person would be uncomfortable about the unknown so in their minds they theorize what could be. To continue getting rid of their nerves, they run their ideas through their heads multiple times until they believe that is how it's supposed to be.
The Native American culture revolved around a circle, or what Black Elk called the "sacred hoop". The flowering tree was the center of the hoop. The flowering tree was symbolic of growth and prosperity for all people in the tribe. It is equally shared between all members of the tribe. "Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round" (pg. 150). The flowering tree at the center of the circle was nourished by the seasons, which also occurred in a circular pattern. Black Elk also made references to the sky and the earth being round, the moon and the sun setting in a circle as well as both being round. "The wind blows in circular whirls. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood" (pg. 150).
He makes a point of how American’s place an extreme emphasis on “lineal order”, we take pride in “lining things up, getting thing in line… We have it all neatly separated and categorized” (16). This statement is absolutely true, if we look about our society, the city we live in, the design of our houses, the way desks are arranged in a school, everything is in straight, orderly lines. In contrast, in Native American communities “the reverse is true… instead of separating into categories of the sort, family groups sit in circles, meeting are in circles” (17). These are examples of how the Native American culture places great value on coming together and including people in their traditions. In Toelken opinion, these differences in spatial systems also affect our relationships with
The Native American’s way of living was different from the Europeans. They believed that man is ruled by respect and reverence for nature and that nature is an ancestor or relative. The Native American’s strongly belie...
Throughout ancient history, many indigenous tribes and cultures have shown a common trait of being hunter/gatherer societies, relying solely on what nature had to offer. The geographical location influenced all aspects of tribal life including, spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices. Despite vast differences in the geographical location, reports show various similarities relating to the spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices of indigenous tribal cultures.
In his essay, “The Indians’ Old World,” Neal Salisbury examined a recent shift in the telling of Native American history in North America. Until recently, much of American history, as it pertains to Native Americans; either focused on the decimation of their societies or excluded them completely from the discussion (Salisbury 25). Salisbury also contends that American history did not simply begin with the arrival of Europeans. This event was an episode of a long path towards America’s development (Salisbury 25). In pre-colonial America, Native Americans were not primitive savages, rather a developing people that possessed extraordinary skill in agriculture, hunting, and building and exhibited elaborate cultural and religious structures.
The Native American culture revolved around a circle, or what black Elk referrers to as their nation’s hoop. The flowering tree is the center of the hoop. The flowering tree is symbolic of growth and prosperity for all the people in the tribe. It is equally shared between all the members of the tribe. “Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round” (APT 315). The flowering tree at the center of the circle was nourished by the seasons, which also occur in a circular pattern. Black Elk also makes reference to the sky and the earth being round, the moon and the sun setting in a circle as well as both being round. The wind blows in circular whirls. A person’s life from childhood to death is circular (APT 315). The reference to a circle of how Indian’s lived is symbolic because in a circle, everything that goes around comes around. Everything is shared amongst the citizens. Even thought there were members of the tribe that were regarded as chiefs or held high ranks, they still slept in tepees just like every other person. Rank was not granted by how much a person had; it was granted by the ability to help other members of ...
When the history of American Indians come into mind, our minds tend to ponder on teepees, dances around the fire, feathers, and the stereotypical Pocahontas-like features of American Indians. As a matter of fact, American Indians have very rich history. They occupied this land before anyone else did. They are the original people of the United States. In order to survive on this unknown land to the world back then, they must have had to use some mathematics in some way, shape, or form. We will see in this paper that many of the mathematical uses among the
Duane Champagne in Social Change and Cultural Continuity Among Native Nations explains that there has never been one definitive world view that comprises any one Native American culture, as there is no such thing as one “Native community” (2007:10). However, there are certain commonalities in the ways of seeing and experiencing the world that many Native communities and their religions seem to share.
Symbolist mentality is a pattern which can be observed in every Indigenous Religions; it offers an animistic view of the world which helped the tribal cultures to survive and be in balance with nature. Molloy argues that "In a world that is animated by spirits, human beings must treat all things with care. If a spirit is injured or insulted, it can retaliate." (Molloy, Michael. Experiencing the World's Religions: Tradition, Challenge, and Change. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2008. Print.)
For the past 50 years, the United States Government has been conducting disinformation campaigns against minority groups such as the Black Panther Party, Black Liberation Army and the Palestine Solidarity Committee. The American Indian Movement (AIM) was not an exception. Propaganda was only one of the many tactics adopted by the government that AIM encountered. Others include assassinations, unprovoked armed confrontations and "fabrication of evidence in criminal cases" (Churchill 219). I will be evaluating Ward Churchill's article "Renegades, Terrorists, And Revolutionaries" on the government's propaganda war against AIM and will also be analyzing his claims as well as some of his rhetorical strategies within his writing. Were the U.S. government and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) really guilty of oppressing AIM as Churchill claims?
American Indians once lived a prosperous and full life, relying on the bounty of land and nature. Colonization by white settlers disrupted this peaceful existence, uprooting tribes from their land and forcing them to assimilate to new cultural and religion views. Years of mistreatment and abuse led to the organization of the American Indian Movement to fight for their rights and liberty. Through the AIM, Indians attempted to gain recognition and spread knowledge of their culture and heritage to American citizens in order to attain a place in society. Leaders of the AIM created a manifesto of change in 1972 which listed goals they wanted to meet under three broad categories: economic, social and political. While the AIM was organized in response to the lack of basic rights and oppressive nature of the US government, their goals have yet to be met with any long term success.
Shaman are known in many cultures, but are identified by different names: healers, spiritual healers, medicine men, angakok, ganga, mulogo, witch doctors and warlords, just to name a few. However, this does not mean that all Shamans will hold the same beliefs, they may be good or evil, but they do receive their paranormal powers in many forms, some receive them thru visions or trances. Shamanism is humanity's oldest form of relationship to the Spirit. But it is not a religion. Given the various traditions of Native American people, shamanism takes in a diverse range of methods for collecting knowledge.