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Culture Background |
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Culture Background
North American Indians
American Indians were said to be named by Columbus who mistook the American Continent he first set foot on for
India and called the inhabitants Indians. Indians migrated from Asia across the then-existing land bridge to what
is now Alaska from 12,000 to 35,000 years ago. They are the original Americans and have been living a tribal life.
Some Indians are sedentary. Many other Indians are nomadic and hunt for their food. They frequently emphasize bravery
in war as the essence of manhood. Indians have no one religion any more than they have one way of life. But certain religious beliefs are widespread. Most important is the belief in a mysterious, magic force in nature.
The Indians consider this invisible ˇ° spirit powerˇ± superior to human beings and capable of influencing their lives. Humans need it for success in their searching for food as well as for success in war. Some tribes are distinguished for their deep-felt communion with nature. In New England, early relations between European settlers and the local Indians were sometimes good and sometimes bad. As the pioneers moved westward, Indians grew hostile as a result of the invasion of the settlers who opened up Indians land for farming. In 1830, the Indian Removal Act was passed to force the southeastern Indian tribes to move to the west of the Mississippi, later known as Indian Territory. At present, the majority of about 800,000 US Indians still live on reservations.
The Navajo
The Navajo are now the largest Indian group in the United States. Anthropologists say that they migrated to the Southwest from Canada between 900 and 1200 A.D. They learned agriculture, weaving and sand painting ( drawing done with different colored sands) from neighbouring Indians. After the sheep was introduced in the 1600s, they became pastoralists. In 1868, the Navajos were settled on a reservation of about 64,000 square kilometres. The region was barren and could not support the growing of adequate food.
The Navajo religious system is intricate. Specialists are often invited to hold rites for good luck, for protection of crops and herds , and mostly for curing bodily and mental illnesses.
Navajo folk art includes painting, silver-working and weaving of rugs and blankets
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