Native Americans: The Beginning Junior English Mountain Pointe High School

The First Migration: Ice Age Travelers · 20-40K yrs ago, Ice Age hunters traveled with dogs crossing the Bering land bridge (now under the Bering Strait) from Siberia to present day Alaska ·   Others followed their route throughout the years ·   By 1490—great European exploration—numerous groups of Native Americans scattered throughout the continent

Native Americans categorized into eight geographical groups: 1.  Northeast Coast: Coastal dwellers; fishers; developed complex culture 2.  Plateau: River valley dwellers; primarily fishers; relatively small population 3.  Great Plains: grassland dwellers; nomadic buffalo hunters after introduction to the horse 4. Northeast: forest dwellers; primarily hunter-gatherers, also farmers and fishers

Native Americans categorized into eight geographical groups:   5.  Great Basin: Desert basin dwellers; primarily gatherers because of barren surroundings; small population  6.  California: Desert, mountain, river, or coastal dwellers depending on location; primarily gatherers and fishers  7.  Southwest: Canyon, mountain, and desert dwellers; either farmers or nomadic hunters  8. Southeast: River valley dwellers; primarily farmers, but also hunter-gatherers and fishers

Native American Literature Native Americans did not use written language Stories were passed from generation to generation through story and song Stories centered around a particular character, event, or element Most common stories center around the trickster, the gambler, the creation, abduction, and migration

The Oral Tradition These stories were reliant upon repetition Used in ceremonial situations Repetition aided in memorization Provided narrative cohesion Participatory Powerful and unifying

Creation Stories Similar to the account in The Bible Similar from tribe to tribe Used to explain how the world/universe was created Explained the origin of man Sometimes had animal characteristics Sometimes non-gender, or only one gender (usually female—mother earth)

Creation Stories Contained what the tribe generally believed the relationships between people and people and nature Contained origins of tribal customs and structures The creation stories’ aim is to integrate the listener into its community and its worldview. Creation stories describe how some familiar characteristic of the world came to be. Often the particular landscape and environment of the tribe enters into such stories; sometimes the location of the tribe is identified as the center of the world. Similar to the biblical account in Genesis, creation stories tell about the beginning of the world and how the people first came to be.

Creation Stories Creation occurs primarily in one of five ways: From chaos or nothingness From a cosmic egg or primal maternal mound From world parents who are separated From the process of earth diving From several stages of emergence from other worlds, or states of being In every case, there is a sense of birth—both of the world and humans The creation stories’ aim is to integrate the listener into its community and its worldview. Creation stories describe how some familiar characteristic of the world came to be. Often the particular landscape and environment of the tribe enters into such stories; sometimes the location of the tribe is identified as the center of the world. Similar to the biblical account in Genesis, creation stories tell about the beginning of the world and how the people first came to be.

Creation Stories Characteristics Characteristics include: A Creator, and the medium for creation, such as clay, fluids, and a supernatural power The trickster, sometimes a negative force, sometimes a cultural hero who dives to the depths of nothingness to find form The first man and woman whose job it is to continue to create both offspring, and plants and animals The flood hero who saves mankind from the great waters and begins again

Trickster Tales One form of creation story Vary from tribe to tribe, but contain the same basic qualities: Trickster are more than deceivers who make us laugh By crossing social boundaries, they both break rules and show how important rules are Tricksters are creators in their own rights Tricksters are creators in their own right. Navajo storyteller Yellowman explains that he must tell about the trickster Coyote because, as he says, "If my children hear the stories, they will grow up to be good people; if they don't hear them, they will turn out to be bad. ... Through the stories everything is made possible." Consider the presence of traditional elements, such as animals (e.g., buffalo, coyote, spider, salmon), vegetables (e.g., corn), minerals, landscape, weather, colors, directions, time, dances, and the supernatural.

Trickster Tales Presence of traditional elements, such as: animals --buffalo, coyote, spider, salmon vegetables –usually corn minerals—clay, obsidian landscape—a holy mountain, a vast sea, weather–storm supernatural—spirits, etc. Also, colors, directions, time, and dances

Native American Mythology “A myth is a narrative projection of a given cultural group’s sense of its sacred past and its significant relationship with the deeper powers of the surrounding world and universe. A myth is a projection of an aspect of a culture’s soul. In its complex but revealing symbolism, a myth is to a culture what a dream is to an individual.”

Native American Religion Commonalities At the time of European contact, nearly all indigenous cultures in North America had developed coherent religious systems that included creation myths Most native peoples worshiped an all-powerful, all-knowing Creator or "Master Spirit" as well as numerous lesser supernatural entities, including an evil god The members of most tribes believed in the immortality of the human soul and an afterlife The Indian systems of belief and ritual were as legion as the tribes inhabiting North America. However, there were similarities: First, at the time of European contact, all but the simplest indigenous cultures in North America had developed coherent religious systems that included cosmologies--creation myths, transmitted orally from one generation to the next, which purported to explain how those societies had come into being. Second, most native peoples worshiped an all-powerful, all-knowing Creator or "Master Spirit" (a being that assumed a variety of forms and both genders). They also venerated or placated a host of lesser supernatural entities, including an evil god who dealt out disaster, suffering, and death. Third and finally, the members of most tribes believed in the immortality of the human soul and an afterlife, the main feature of which was the abundance of every good thing that made earthly life secure and pleasant.

Religious Similarities with Europeans The three beliefs common to Native American tribes All had developed a religion; creation myths, origin myths, etc. Worshipped an all-powerful “Great Spirit” Immortality of the human soul; an afterlife Sought assistance of their deity with prayers and offerings Called upon specially trained clergy, such as a Shaman, to assist them, particularly during times of crisis

Religious Differences Between Native Americans & Europeans Native Americans did not distinguish between the natural and supernatural as the Europeans did Native Americans perceived the “material” and “spiritual” worlds as one Protestant and Catholic traditions were more inclined to emphasize the gulf that separated the pure, spiritual beings in heaven from sinful men and women Important as it is to appreciate the affinities between the religious cultures of Indians and early modern Europeans, there were real differences that must be kept in mind. The most important is that Indians did not distinguish between the natural and the supernatural. On the contrary, Native Americans perceived the "material" and "spiritual" as a unified realm of being--a kind of extended kinship network. In their view, plants, animals and humans partook of divinity through their close connection with "guardian spirits," a myriad of "supernatural" entities who imbued their "natural" kin with life and power. By contrast, Protestant and Catholic traditions were more inclined to emphasize the gulf that separated the pure, spiritual beings in heaven--God, the angels, and saints--from sinful men and women mired in a profane world filled with temptation and evil.

Conclusion It is important to remember that when the Europeans arrived in the 15th century, there were people already here The Pequot War in 1636—friction between the Puritans and the Pequot Pequot defeated in 1637 massacre Survivors were beheaded or sent into slavery “We had sufficient light from the word of God for our proceedings”—the Leader of the Puritan raid on the Pequot

Works Cited Lewis, S. “Native American Literature” “Native Voices” unit, American Passages website Unit Overview www.learner.org/amerpass/unit01/instructor.html Authors: Stories of the Beginning of the World www.learner.org/amerpass/unit01/authors-8.html Divining America: Religion and the National Culture Native American Religion in Early America www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/natrel.htm