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Effect on the native american lives
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Part One (192 words) This documentary talks about the land of the Native Americans and the economical, political, and cultural effects that caused their deprivation of religious freedom. This documentary also introduces three different stories that show how white Americans play a role in stripping the Native’s land away for lucrative and recreational purposes. This involve the Lakato’s Devils Tower, the Hopi’s Colorado Plateau, and the Wintu’s Mount Shasta who all struggle for the right to practice their religion in their sacred land that they originated from long ago. The idea of not allowing these indigenous communities from practicing their right of the First Amendment essentially prevents them from connecting the natural world with …show more content…
the spiritual world. These Natives conduct their prayers and ceremonies within the reservations, however, business owners, construction workers, and tourists obstruct the purity of nature and their way of life. Many Natives feel devastated that they are not able to celebrate their culture and religion so they end up either protesting or negotiating. Although this predicament is still ongoing, the Natives have hope that one day they will have their land to themselves and to pass their tradition to the next generation. Part Two (207 words) This documentary was sad yet interesting because the Natives Americans have gone through many historical adversities and present day issues. This really shows the dark history and corruption of industries and business owners and how they have no respect for culture and religion. One Natives American in the documentary talked about how you have to know the culture in order to identify what you see and if you do not, then you do not see anything. This phrase resonated with me because there are many people today that take people of color for granted and think they know what it is like to be a different ethnicity. It is shameful that a religious landmark, such as the Devils Tower, is reduced to a recreational spot for tourists and outsiders who do not know the significance of the sacred land. There are also some people who understand the Native’s traditions so they banned any other recreational activities during the month of June. Some even try to educate tourists about the traditions which gives people more an understanding of how to respect the Natives Americans. I learned that other religions that are considered as “minor religions” are looked down upon and can be disregarded easily with money and power. Part Three (266 words) In the documentary, the Natives Americans show that the land they live in is considered as their own church.
They use natural resources in order to pay tribute to the gods that watch of the land and their ancestors that gives them guidance. Some Natives use the mountains as place to worship and visit their shrines. Due to the construction of a federal project, the Natives’ shrines were torn down and corrupts the sacredness of the mountain. The springs and meadows are also a symbol of serenity and healing. The Natives incorporate the land into their rituals and prayers. A location of worship is not limited to a building with walls or how many people attend. Nature is the center of their practice because the animals, trees, rivers, mountains, and more are all factors that make up the “church”. There was an environmentalist in the documentary who tried to help the Natives, but the only option that she could provide was to completely ban the landmarks from all people. This essentially would bring the location back to the wilderness which means that would be no more human interactions. However, the Natives need the interaction with nature in order to carry out their religion. It is within their tradition to climb the mountains, pray in the fields, and feel the soil of the earth so that one day they could pass the tradition to the next generation. Their spirituality grows with nature and without it, there would be no culture or reason to live out their
beliefs.
Through Laws, treaties and proclamations it becomes clear of the transfer of power between Native Americas and colonizing powers within the US and Canada. One significant treaty was Treaty NO. 9 in which Native Americans gave up their aboriginal title and land for money, hunting right, entrance into the christian school system and a Canadian flag presented to the Chief. The treaties described define the cascading effect of how western powers came into control of land at which Native Americans resided in. Specifically converging on the using Native Americans “elites” to influence other Native Americans into adopting western cultural beliefs, overshadowing the diverse Native American cultural practices. The overshadowing and belittling of Native American culture is not only expressed through the several treaties presented to Native Americans across history but also through real life accounts of Native American children adopted into the western school system. This sections places into the prospective the monopolization of Native American land and
In George E. Tinker’s book, American Indian Liberation: A Theology of Sovereignty, the atrocities endured by many of the first peoples, Native American tribes, come into full view. Tinker argues that the colonization of these groups had and continues to have lasting effects on their culture and thus their theology. There is a delicate balance to their culture and their spiritual selves within their tightly knit communities prior to contact from the first European explorers. In fact, their culture and spiritual aspects are so intertwined that it is conceptually impossible to separate the two, as so many Euro-American analysts attempted. Tinker points to the differences between the European and the Native American cultures and mind sets as ultimately
Professor and poet Deborah A. Miranda, pieces together the past and uncovers and presents us with a story--a Californian story--in her memoir, “Bad Indians.” Her use of the Christian Novena, “Novena to Bad Indians,” illustrates the irony of using the form of her oppressors as a call out for help, not to God, but to her past ancestors. We tend to think of religion as a form of salvation and redemption of our lives here on Earth, in which we bare down and ask for forgiveness. But by challenging this common discourse using theological allegories and satirical terminology, Miranda turns her attention away from a Deity to call the reader out for help. It is crucial to recognize the struggles that the Native community currently face. Californian Indians are often not given recognition for their identity and their heritage, and are also repeatedly stereotyped as abusive, alcoholic, uncivilized, and “freeloaders” of the United States government. Such generalizations root back from European colonization, nevertheless still linger in our contemporary society. Miranda has taken the first step forward in characterizing few of these stereotypes in her Novena, but she’s given her story. Now what are we going to do with ours? It’s up to us to create our
The depiction of Native Americans to the current day youth in the United States is a colorful fantasy used to cover up an unwarranted past. Native people are dressed from head to toe in feathers and paint while dancing around fires. They attempt to make good relations with European settlers but were then taken advantage of their “hippie” ways. However, this dramatized view is particularly portrayed through media and mainstream culture. It is also the one perspective every person remembers because they grew up being taught these views. Yet, Colin Calloway the author of First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History, wishes to bring forth contradicting ideas. He doesn’t wish to disprove history; he only wishes to rewrite it.
Native American’s place in United States history is not as simple as the story of innocent peace loving people forced off their lands by racist white Americans in a never-ending quest to quench their thirst for more land. Accordingly, attempts to simplify the indigenous experience to nothing more than victims of white aggression during the colonial period, and beyond, does an injustice to Native American history. As a result, historians hoping to shed light on the true history of native people during this period have brought new perceptive to the role Indians played in their own history. Consequently, the theme of power and whom controlled it over the course of Native American/European contact is being presented in new ways. Examining the evolving
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...
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.
In the Light of Reverence is a film about the destruction and exploitation of the sacred lands of the people who have worshipped them for years: the Native Americans. Freedom of religion is something Americans take pride in. However, many religions are still looked down upon for their practices which is displayed clearly in this film. It upsets me greatly to hear how ignorant many people are about the Native American religion. They call the prayer bundles “dirty laundry” and say nature has no “similarities with the church at all” (In the Light of Reverence). Religion has never had a specific definition. All religions have different practices and themes. It just so happens that Native Americans practice their religion in regard to nature. Nature is sacred land to Native Americans and as one women said in the film, “you can’t have a religion without the land” (In the Light of Reverence). Native Americans have always believed that natural world is holy. Destroying the Earth will never lead to world peace (Lyons 11). I agree with the Native Americans that we need to have more respect for the Earth we live on. Chief Oren Lyons said in his essay, “we need to learn how to respect nature” (Lyons 6). If we keep treating the
American Indians shaped their critique of modern America through their exposure to and experience with “civilized,” non-Indian American people. Because these Euro-Americans considered traditional Indian lifestyle savage, they sought to assimilate the Indians into their civilized culture. With the increase in industrialization, transportation systems, and the desire for valuable resources (such as coal, gold, etc.) on Indian-occupied land, modern Americans had an excuse for “the advancement of the human race” (9). Euro-Americans moved Indians onto reservations, controlled their education and practice of religion, depleted their land, and erased many of their freedoms. The national result of this “conquest of Indian communities” was a steady decrease of Indian populations and drastic increase in non-Indian populations during the nineteenth century (9). It is natural that many American Indians felt fearful that their culture and people were slowly vanishing. Modern America to American Indians meant the destruction of their cultural pride and demise of their way of life.
Although the work is 40 years old, “Custer Died for Your Sins” is still relevant and valuable in explaining the history and problems that Indians face in the United States. Deloria’s book reveals the White view of Indians as false compared to the reality of how Indians are in real life. The forceful intrusion of the U.S. Government and Christian missionaries have had the most oppressing and damaging affect on Indians. There is hope in Delorias words though. He believes that as more tribes become more politically active and capable, they will be able to become more economically independent for future generations. He feels much hope in the 1960’s generation of college age Indians returning to take ownership of their tribes problems and build a better future for their children.
The American version of history blames the Native people for their ‘savage ' nature, for their failure to adhere to the ‘civilized norms ' of property ownership and individual rights that Christian people hold, and for their ‘brutality ' in defending themselves against the onslaught of non-Indian settlers. The message to Native people is simple: "If only you had been more like us, things might have been different for you.”
Considering historical evidence, the notion: Native –Americans was not the first inhabitant of America is a complete false. For centuries, history kept accurate and vivid accounts of the first set of people who domiciled the western hemisphere. Judging by those records, below are the first set of Native-American people who inhabited America before the arrival of another human race; the Iroquois: The Iroquois of Native Americans was one of the tribes that lived in America before other people came. Based on historical evidence, it is believed that the Native Americans came from Asia way back during the Ice Age through a land bridge of the Bering Strait. When the Europeans first set foot in America, there were about 10 million Native Americans
- - - . Native Religions of North America: The Power of Visions and Fertility. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
George Gustav Heye Center - The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian is a fascinating building at the Bowling Green area of Lower Manhattan. It’s close to Battery Park that displays an elegant view of the water. You can see ferries floating by headed towards Staten Island, since South Ferry Terminal is nearby. It allows you to appreciate the hidden gems of the city located in the outskirts Manhattan. One of those very treasures is the museum mentioned previously.
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.