people." NATIVE AMERICANS: WHAT WE WANT OTHERS TO KNOW ABOUT US by Sysop Liz Pollard While I was at the 64th annual American Indian Exposition this past week, I tried to reach as many individuals as I could to get their answers to one specific question to bring back for all of us. The question was this: What one special thing would you, as a Native American, like for the world community at large to know about you and your people? What is the most important thing you can tell them, in your opinion? I talked with children, adults, elders, people from all roles in life. Some were very acculturated and assimilated to modern American society, while others were very traditional in outlook. Some of the adults had college educations, some had not even gone to school. Most of the answers were very similar, regardless of the person's station in life, and they boiled down to the areas I will discuss below. FAMILY To Native Americans of any tribe, family is very important, not just the nuclear family most of us immediately think of, father, mother, and children, but all of one's relatives. This family is known to sociologists, ethnologists, and other scholars as the extended family, and among Native Americans it is very closely knit. Everything revolves around the extended family unit, and cousins are as close as brothers and sisters. For this reason, adoption is almost unheard of in Indian tribes. When a child is orphaned, someone in the extended family raises it as their own. Perhaps this stems from the fact that in aboriginal times, survival of the tribe as a group was all-important, and the family was the basic unit of the tribe. Perhaps it arises from other factors, but whatever the answer to this, it is a strong influence on their lives. RELIGION Native Americans are very religious people, whether they practice their own original religions or have been converted to Christianity or some other faith. It is very important to them to acknowledge and revere a higher power and follow its guidance. What that power is called is less important, but most tribes originally worshipped a single "god" and still do so. Although the practice of their religions varies widely, that one thread is present for all tribes, an all-powerful creator, a power that oversees all our actions, is our guardian and our guide. NATURE Nature was perhaps the single most important factor in the aboriginal life of Native Americans. They depended on the natural universe for every item they ate, wore, or used. Much of their religion is centered on the effort to explain the seemingly inexplicable in the natural universe. They lived in harmony with nature whenever possible, preserving its beauty and its wholeness. They killed no more than they had to have to survive, and in many tribes they even begged an animal's forgiveness before they killed it. Most felt that Earth was their mother, and they treated her with gentleness and still do. The earth nourished them, the air gave them breath, and the sun and rain encouraged life, so all four were sacred. The Creator provided all of nature for the good of all people, and it belonged to all of us in common. Most of them are still conservationists and environmentalists. Their present attitude towards nature is perhaps best represented by the bumper sticker displayed in many places: "Walk softly on Mother Earth." PRIDE OF ORIGIN This attitude is a little more difficult to explain, but Native Americans are proud to be what they are, even though they acknowledge that in some ways they are very different from other people. At the same time, they are proud of being human like everyone else. They value their heritage and traditions, but they also value what makes them part of the human race. One man said it this way, "We are a peculiar people, distinct to ourselves, but we are people." This man is a Christian, a minister in the Methodist church, yet he finds it important also to be an Indian. He values both parts of his heritage similarly, and he cares deeply about people of all races, creeds, and colors. An elderly woman told me, "We're just like you, but with skin of a different color." Perhaps that says it best. We are all human, and we all have differences we are proud of. The Native Americans are no different in this than we are! CONCLUSION Drawing on what these people told me last week as well as on my own experiences with Native Americans, I have to agree with everything I heard. Indians are people, just like we are, and most are fascinating and wonderful to know. They believe deeply in a higher power, in nature, and in family, and they care greatly about others. Their religions, ceremonies, and traditions are different from ours but no less meaningful. I think Elaine Miles put it in a nutshell very nicely in the conference on Tuesday, August 8, when she said, "We are a caring, giving, spiritual | |
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