NATIVE AMERICAN INDIANS

Native American Indians

Native American Indians

Introduction

The original peoples of North America collectively have been called Native Americans, American Indians, or Amerindians. These terms are European American inventions that obscure the diversity of peoples indigenous to the Americas. Members of many tribes, or First Nations, often embrace these terms but prefer their tribal names, such as Nee-Me-Poo (Nez Perce), Anishinabeg (Chippewa), or Tohono O'odham (Papago).

There are as many different Native American traditions of marriage as there are Native American tribes. Each tribe has its specific customs and rituals that are particular to that tribe only, however there are many aspects of Native American wedding rituals and marriage processes that they share in common. While each tribe differs they all share a common belief in the Great Spirit and the four elements of earth, sky, fire and water.

Discussion

In history, each native american indian tribe had its own ways but in general courtship was able to begin after a girl had reached puberty and had gone through her particular tribe's adolescent rituals. Once they were ready to receive courtship, males could make offerings or leave symbolic gifts as an indication of a desire to marry. In some cases the girl could offer a gift such as cake to a male and if he accepted it meant he accepted marriage. Sometimes the union was arranged by the parents and involved gifts and bargaining. In most cases chastity was highly valued in girls before marriage. (Champagne, 2004)

Prior to the European conquest North America was characterized by an immense variety of languages, of material culture, of religions, of governance, and of economic relations. Originally there were close to three hundred distinct aboriginal languages spoken in North America, many more languages than in Europe. Linguists have organized these languages into fifty-seven families, further classified into six phyla, plus isolates. Most of these languages have become extinct or now lack communities of fluent speakers. The Diné (Navajo) have the greatest number of fluent speakers, with more than one hundred thousand who speak the language. (Gourse, 2005)

Culture areas are broad regions with generally similar ecological conditions and common characteristics in the economy of food production. They offer a familiar organizational scheme for anthropological works, histories, academic texts, and reference books. This scheme's strength is its emphasis on the interrelations of economy, politics, religion, and material culture. Its chief weakness is the tendency toward overgeneralization. The narrative that follows, which largely adopts this scheme, suggests some of the larger patterns through selective examples. The culture areas are California, Great Basin, Southwest, Southeast, Plateau, Northwest Coast, Subarctic, Arctic, Prairie and Plains, and Northeast. Each of these areas can be subdivided along such lines as geographical features and language families.

As with all other aspects of their spiritual life, different Native American groups have different ceremonies and traditions associated with the important milestones of life. For example, the Hopi see corn as a life-sustaining gift that comes about from the joint efforts of a motherly earth and a ...