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Women in Indian society
Womens role in the indian families
Women in Indian society
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Indigenous people view water as a sacred while scientists see it as a necessity to survival. For the Indigenous people, water represents the interconnectedness of all life and view water as the giver of life. They have many traditions that incorporate water and rely on water for a source of food, income, and hydration. A tribe by the name of Blackfeet believes that existence is separated into Earth, sky, and water. Each section sacred and protected as nothing within the realm was allowed to be killed, disturbed, or polluted. To Native Americans, women are especially important in protecting water as children are born in amniotic fluid. The women care for the water through ceremonies, songs, water walks, talking circles, and protecting the water
In the text “Seeing Red: American Indian Women Speaking about their Religious and Cultural Perspectives” by Inés Talamantez, the author discusses the role of ceremonies and ancestral spirituality in various Native American cultures, and elaborates on the injustices native women face because of their oppressors.
The Pueblo culture contended many fragments to their culture that varied from the Spaniards Culture. The Native Americans were nature reliant they received all their necessities from the earth. They not only used the land but also thanked the earth. They included over three hundred spirit or gods that the pueblos prayed to for various different reasons, they called them Kachinas. Some of the spirits were Sun god, the rain god, star gods, the wind god and many other divinities. The Natives adore the Kachinas with praise for good crops, good health, family, homes, protection and various other things every day. Customs for the pueblos included rituals to heal problems such as disease in people who are sick, women who are not infertile and many other issues in the tribe. They contained Kivas; kivas were an underground compartment custom for secretive ceremonial practices. The purposes for Kivas were for the Pueblos to get closer to the spirit world. They thought that everything living came from the inferior part of the land. Pu...
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.
The Eskimo hold an annual Bladder Ceremony which demonstrates all of these things previously mentioned. To explain the complete meaning and symbolism behind this Bladder Ceremony in its entirety, is very difficult because every act that goes into this ceremony is meaningful and of concepts not easily understood. In the Eskimo society, the Kwakiutl men go hunting. To go and kill an animal is to kill the fleshed body of an ancestor's soul that is temporarily occupying it. So it is clear that this source of food (hunting of animals) connect the people to the ancestors or spirits of their pray. Therefore, extra care needs to exist in the approach and killing of the animal because each animal has the soul of an ancestor. The ideology of animals having souls runs much deeper. In fact, these souls are powerful forces in the Eskimo's lives and they determine the future's prosperous gain of game or the lack there of. For that reason, the hunters of Eskimo treat the physical body of these animals with the up most respect in order to keep harmony. The bladder of each hunted animal is hung in the Men's house because it is believed that the souls of these powerful forces are held within them (Gill, Native American Religion, p.122). During the ceremony, the men must become purified.
By analyzing the Kawaiisu, a Great Basin Native tribe, I want to explore cultural wonders and observe their society as I compare an aspect of interest with that of another culture in the world, the Chuuk. Comparing different societies of the world will allow me to successfully learn about the Kawaiisu people in a more detailed and open minded manner. Populations all around the world throughout time have had different views and traditions of beliefs. Through this project, I hope to unravel and gain an understanding of different perspectives and ways of life.
People have been living in America for countless years, even before Europeans had discovered and populated it. These people, named Native Americans or American Indians, have a unique and singular culture and lifestyle unlike any other. Native Americans were divided into several groups or tribes. Each one tribe developed an own language, housing, clothing, and other cultural aspects. As we take a look into their society’s customs we can learn additional information about the lives of these indigenous people of the United States.
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.
The Hopi have a highly developed belief system which contains many gods and spirits. Ceremonies, rituals, dances, songs, and prayers are celebrated in year-round. The Hopi believed they were led to the arid southwestern region of America by their creator, because he knew they had the power to evoke rain with power and prayer. Consequently, the Hopi are connected to their land, its agricultural cycles and the constant quest for rainfall, in a religious way. The religious center of the community is the kiva, which is an underground room with a ladder protruding above the roof. The kiva is very important for several reasons. From the kiva, a connection is made with the center of the earth. Also, the kiva is symbolic for the emergence to this world. The room would represent the underworld and the ladder would represent the way to the upper world. In fact, a room is kept in the house to store ceremonial objects. A sacred ear of corn protects the room and symbolizes the ancestry of the family members. Kachinas are also a focal point of the religion. For a Hopi, they signify spirits of ancestors, dieties of the natural world, or intermediaries between man and gods. The Hopi believe that they are the earth's caretakers, and with the successful performance of their ceremonial cycle, the world will remain in balance, the gods will be happy and rain will come. Because they think of their crops as gifts, the Hopi Indians live in harmony with the environment.
The Hopi is an Indian tribe indigenous to Northeastern Arizona and New Mexico. They live in four different villages, those being: the Oraibi, New Oraibi, Bakavi, and Hotevilla. (Brandt, 1954: 17). The villages are located on top of mesas, surrounded by rocks and desert land. The dry land allows them to grow an abundant amount of maize, beans, squash, and primarily blue corn. Hopi men and women are both responsible for different tasks in the tribe. While the men do the farm work, hunting, religious ceremonies, and sheepherding, the women have the authority to own houses, farmlands, and cisterns. Their society is matrilineal; Hopi households revolve around the women of the family. As a result of this, children are always part of the mother’s clan (Nanda & Warms, 2012: 111, 170).
The Native Americans of the southeast live in a variety of environments. The environments range from the southern Appalachian Mountains, to the Mississippi River valley, to the Louisiana and Alabama swamps, and the Florida wetlands. These environments were bountiful with various species of plant and animal life, enabling the Native American peoples to flourish. “Most of the Native Americans adopted large-scale agriculture after 900 A.D, and some also developed large towns and highly centralized social and political structures.” In the first half of the 1600s Europeans encountered these native peoples. Both cultures encountered new plants, animals, and diseases. However, the Indians received more diseases compared to the few new diseases to the Europeans. The new diseases resulted in a massive loss of Native Americans, including the Southeast Indians which had never encountered the new diseases. Three of the main tribes in the southeast were the Cherokee and the Creek. They were part of a group of southeast tribes that were removed from their lands. These tribes later became known as “The Five Civilized Tribes because of their progress and achievements.”
Europeans, Spanish and the French. American Indians had thrived on American soil for thousands of
Indigenous people have identified themselves with country; they believe that they and the land are “one”, and that it is lived in and lived with. Indigenous people personify country as if it were a person, as something that connects itself to the land, people and earth, being able to give and receive life (Bird Rose, D. 1996). Country is sacred and interconnected within the indigenous community,
Chapter 4, “Land and Resources” of Aboriginal Peoples of Canada talks about this reliance by saying, “The land provided early self-governing communities with everything they required to have a good life. As a result, communities came to know their land very well.” The expression, “everything they required,” refers to the food, shelter, medicine, and financial stability that the land has provided Indigenous peoples with. Their relationship with the land exists because it gives them the necessities of life. Without the resources of the earth, they would not live. Thus, there is a deep connection that exists between them and their land. Their vast respect for the land can also be attributed to their spirituality. Chapter 2, “From Time Immemorial,” of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada explains this idea by explaining the concept of interconnection. In summary, their religion says that all things are interconnected. The actions they make which affect the earth, will affect them as well. Therefore, they are called to live in harmony with their
Cultural competence is a skill essential to acquire for healthcare providers, especially nurses. Cooperating effectively and understanding individuals with different backgrounds and traditions enhances the quality of health care provided by hospitals and other medical facilities. One of the many cultures that nurses and other health care providers encounter is the American Indian or Native American culture. There are hundreds of different American Indian Tribes, but their beliefs and values only differ slightly. The culture itself embodies nature. To American Indians, “The Earth is considered to be a living organism- the body of a higher individual, with a will and desire to be well. The Earth is periodically healthy and less healthy, just as human beings are” (Spector, 2009, p. 208). This is why their way of healing and symbolic items are holistic and from nature.