Chapter 8 American Indians

Symbol – American Indian Woman

Symbol – American Indian Man

SAA 8.2 What do you know about American Indians? 1. Sports team mascots and logos pay tribute to their place in history 2. All who enroll get a monthly check from the government 3. Population is decreasing rapidly 4. Have been on continent nearly 5,000 years 5. Were great mathematicians & architects

What do you know (cont)? 6. U.S. always accorded Indian nations the rights of independent nations 7. Tribal system was run by warrior- chiefs 8. Basic worldview: all things in natural world are connected 9. Planning tends to be short-range and in-the-moment 10. Key value: maintaining lifelong relationships

Myths & Stereotypes Myth #1. Vanishing relics of the past—redskin savages, warriors, squaws Expanding population. Younger, faster-growing than total American population terms offensive to most American Indians perpetuate media stereotypes Myth #2. Sports-team mascots & logos honor American Indians’ place in history Mock and trivialize American Indian culture. Not accurate representations of American Indians

Myths & Stereotypes Myth #3. Indian theme programs pay homage to American Indian traditions Who controls how a culture is displayed and perceived? Distilling a complex culture into superficial images Encouraging stereotypes Myth #4: Lazy and won’t work Myth #5: An expert on Indian lore

American Indian Demographics Mainland population - almost 1 percent Mainland and Alaskan percent One of youngest ethnic groups Household income= $32,100 All Americans = $42,200 Poverty rate = 26% All Americans = 10% Number of Tribes = 558 Largest tribes: Cherokee and Navajo

States where they live: all states Most populous: California Oklahoma Arizona % of Population 15% (628,000) 10% (392,000) 7% (293,000)

American Indian Worldview Nature: Live in harmony, preserve human-nature balance Who We Are: A stable people, build homes, identify with land Role of Tradition: Conservative, remember the past Knowledge is holistic: Focus on the whole first, parts second web of life means all is connected, related Truth is relative: Many possible truths, grounded in experience, which evolves, is multi-dimensional Holistic Worldview - Experience and relate to a living universe web of life where humans must participate Time: Multi-focus, nature’s cycles

American Indian Values Education: For wisdom in the “why” of things Planning: Consider decision’s impact on 7th generation Future, present equally important & greater than past Expressing Self: Doing first, then becoming, then being Relationships: Collectivist sharing, helping relatives comes first lifelong relationships are common Use of Space - People more important than privacy Borrow and lend things often and easily

American Indian Contributions Architecture unexcelled Astronomy - calendar extremely accurate Math - used the zero before Arabs, Europeans Languages 500 to 1,000 spoken in No. America more than in all of “Old World” Agriculture – world’s greatest farmers, pharmacists Their plants now feed much of world, allowed population expansion Medical system - far superior to European systems Natural pharmaceuticals, sanitation, surgery, other Made possible many modern medicines, drugs Political system - primary model for the U.S. democratic political system in turn influenced U.N. and the world 30,000 years of living in the Americas

Skill Builder Cases 8.1. To Cut or Not to Cut 8.2 Matt, a Chippewa Clerk

Teams Select a reporter (rotate this over time) Report: write names of team members Take notes Report highlights to class Turn in notes to professor – don’t put in stack of homework