Native_Americans_and_European_Cultures

Cultural Values Amongst Native Americans & European Settlers Much has been said of the want of what you term "civilization" among the Indians. Many proposals have been made to us to adopt your laws, your religion, your manners, and your customs. We do not see the propriety of such a reformation. We should be better pleased if we could actually see the good effects of these doctrines in your own practices rather than hearing you talk about them, or reading your newspaper on such subjects. You say, for example, "Why do not the Indians till the ground and live as we do'" May we not ask with equal propriety, "Why do not the white people hunt and live as we do'" -Old Tassel (Cherokee) The above quote was said by a Cherokee Indian and I found it to be a perfect depiction of the different values amongst Native Americans and European settlers of the early twentieth century. I’ve had previous education in this area throughout high school and somewhat in college. Although I can say that I have never focused on cultural values as a determining factor of what is one of the most controversial battles ever on United States soil. I will explain these differences in cultural values putting aside my own biases in hopes to see something more than what I have read in textbooks over the years. The Native American and Settler’s clash was so bloody and distasteful that today it instills a sense of sympathy for Native Americans, who were not only harshly beaten in battle but almost beaten into extinction as a race. It is obvious that this was a true clash of culture and a lack of imitative, understanding and respect of Native American culture. During my research on this topic I viewed two movies that portrayed these times. The first movie I watched was Dances with Wolves which was produced by Kevin Costner in 1990 about a military man who befriends Indians and gains respect for them and their kind. The second movie I watched was Little Big Man which was Directed by Arthur Penn and debuted in 1970. It revolves around a man by the name of Jack Crabb, played by Dustin Hoffman. He is looking back from extreme old age, telling his life story about being white and raised by Indians. In addition I will correlate what I have learned in this Philosophy class. During the 16th and 17th centuries European settlers started migrating to the new world looking for a claim of land and new opportunity as most people were escaping poverty and an economical system in which failed them. Soon they found that the new world was already occupied by Native Americans, a society that was strikingly different to their own. To understand how different these cultures were, one must first compare and contrast some of the very important differences between them, such as their beliefs as far as religion, land ownership, social and family values. The Europeans considered the Native Americans to be “savages” compared to their advanced society.  People of European abstraction and Native Americans had very contrasting ideas of personal wealth and ownership. The Europeans believed that only the rich should own land because owning land in their culture meant a high social status, in which the Indians were not. These settlers practiced individuality and independence with deep core values in economy, power, domination, stimulation, and competition. Their progress in the states and at home was full of conflict, dialectic, and ultimately revolution. Now on the other side of the spectrum all together Native Americans believed that property belonged to no one and that the land was sacred, as it supplied them with the necessities to survive. Everything in their eyes came from the same place Mother Nature and the held her in the highest respect for which was steadfast in their everyday lives. Native American values focused on harmony, community, family and interdependence. They were giving, sincere, sensible and sacrificial for others and their progress was by sacred evolution. Religion was another wall of separation between the Native Americans and Europeans. The Native Americans believed in a higher power known as the Great Spirit who guided them spiritually through their days. They followed four commandments: 1. Respect for Mother Earth. 2. Respect for the Great Spirit. 3. Respect for fellow men and woman. 4. Respect for individual freedom. This alone tells me so much about this culture and how its simplicity was an everyday reminder of what is most important in life. In contrast Europeans practiced Christianity believing that God was creator of both the world and humans alike. They were determined to convert the Native Americans to Christianity and felt that the only way they could live in peace with Native Americans was if they conformed to European ways. Native Americans were amazed at how advanced Europeans were in the way of technology, but not at all impressed with the Settlers value system, which was geared around all the wrong things in their eyes. The Europeans looked down upon Native Americans as “savages,” incapable of advancement in an economical society. The Settlers materialistic ways and values of land as a social status led them to take from the Natives with any force necessary. Needless to say the two different aspects of culture made it impossible to come to any conclusion about the land. With no compromise in sight each side defended what they deemed as the proper value system. The only difference is the Native Americans never forced conformity on the Europeans as did the Europeans on the Native Americans. The Natives respected the settlers regardless of their ways and views on life. This of is quote paints the picture of what the Indians endured | “The Indian [was thought] as less than human and worthy only of extermination. We did shoot down defenseless men, and women and children at places like Camp Grant, Sand Creek, and Wounded Knee. We did feed strychnine to red warriors. We did set whole villages of people out naked to freeze in the iron cold of Montana winters. And we did confine thousands in what amounted to concentration camps.” | | —The Indian Wars of the West, 1934 | In both Dances with Wolves and Little Big Man you see the Indians open their culture up to European settlers; sharing family values, generosity, cooperation, and overall the effort to live in harmony with the new settlers. Another aspect that I noticed in both films is the label that was placed upon Native Americans and spread to settlers who had not even laid eyes upon an Indian yet. In the beginning of Little Big Man Jack Crab and his sister run across some Indians and seem surprised when they’re invited to smoke a peace pipe in a tee-pee, are unharmed. In fact his sister said after sitting in a tee-pee and smoking with the Indians “They didn’t know I was a woman that explains why they didn’t rape me!” This just shows that these settlers were raised with a certain impression of the Indians. These two movies illustrate a misunderstanding between both settlers and Native Americans. But the misunderstanding between cultures is not what led to the blood bath that almost concluded with the extinction of Native Americans all together. It was European settlers dominating trend and their views of the land in the United States as a claim to power and social status. It was greed and the inability to compromise and merge the two cultures, it was the blindness and lack of respect of what seemed to be a race that was inferior to Europeans. This assignment has opened my eyes to the Native American culture. This is truly sad considering the fact that my Grandmother was adopted from a Cherokee reservation in Oklahoma. The research for this project has showed how diverse these two cultures where it’s as if it would have taken a miracle for the two too conform. Instead, the settlers didn’t make the effort to understand this unknown culture. Ignorant in every way what they did was used their technological advancement to ensure the outcome was to their favor. It disgusts me to think we put the Indians through what the Jews went through in Germany because they wouldn’t adopt the life of a European. It leads me to wonder how different would the world be today if the Indians would of prevailed against the settlers' Fact is today we have the value system of that time period only a little less aggressive. Today we are just realizing the importance of Mother Nature with global warming, the dissipation of fresh water and our rainforests. This is just a fraction of what Eagle Man spoke about in our text book he also expressed the fact that the Native Americans lived on this cotenant for a thousand years, look at the damage we have done in just the past 150 years. Do we value you Mother Nature' Do we understand that without Mother Nature we are nothing' I haven’t valued Mother Nature nor understood how important it is to care and respect one of the most amazing things life has to offer. In fact I often have said “don’t think I will be here to see it so who cares'” Eagle Man says as he concludes his paper; “Our survival is dependent on the realization that mother earth is truly a holy being that all things in this world are holy and must not be violated, and that we must share and be generous with one another.” He goes on to say “Think of your fellow men and women as holy people put here by the Great Spirit. Think of being related to all things!” In conclusion I admire the Native American value system and believe the world would be a far more peaceful place if we just instilled a fraction of values that they did. Approximately seven billion people accommodate earth, and the number only grows. It’s important that we respect Mother Nature for the beautiful and powerful place in which we call home. Furthermore we must respect each other and all creatures who accompany us here. This is by far one of a few classes in which I have gained so much knowledge about the world around me but even better I have discovered a lot about myself. With that I say to you thank you and remember as Eagle man said “Mitakuye oyasin,” which means we are all connected, we are all one.+ Works Cited 1. Hallman, Max O. Traversing Philosophical Boundaries. 3rd ed. Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007. 380-84. Print. 2. Dances with Wolves. Dir. Kevin Costner. 1990. DVD. 3. Penn, Arthur, prod. Little Big Man. Perf. Dustin Hoffman. 1970. DVD.