Contents:
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Origins of the Amerindians
Variations in Indian languages
Games and entertainment
Social and political organization
American Indian Culture areas
Spirituality
Conclusion
Bibliography
E. AMERICAN INDIAN CULTURE AREAS
In this chapter, we decided to analyze Indian economies, housing and customs. Before reviewing the different culture areas, one need to get an insight into the native system of division of labor and economy.
Native American economy generally centered around food production. There were no centralized markets and most all trade was barter, that is, goods were traded for other goods. Trade was usually carried on by traveling parties who were received in each village by its chief who supervised business as the people gathered around the trader. "Livestock was less important to American Indians than to peoples on other continents"1. As we will see later, one explanation could be that, unlike European cultures, Indians did not consider animals to be at the service of humans but as a different kind of living creature deferring from them. Thus, Indians depended upon wild animals. The dog was practically the only domesticated beast that was found in nearly all tribes. It was used as a beast of burden by day and as a sentinel by night.
As a rule, man’s business was to defend the home and provide food while the women attended to the domestic duties. As a result, women worked continuously at a great variety of tasks. In all that concerned the home, the woman was the mistress and she usually took responsibility for the care of young children. Having no servant, Indian women were required to produce everything her family needed. The housekeeping, however, was at the simplest since the main purpose of the house was always utilitarian. There was usually little attempt at decorative effect. Women also played an important role at funeral : they were the mourners and dug the grave. Indians were usually kind to children and discipline was never enforced by physical punishments. Old men, for their parts, were busy teaching boys how to hunt, telling myths and giving moral talks. Respect for the elders was a significant Indian value, indeed. They frequently sought advice from old men since Natives assumed that experience and wisdom came with age. No one would interrupt an aged man.
Indian population was not evenly distributed on the territory. Generally speaking, Native American population was densest near the western seacoasts, especially in California and other regions along the Pacific coast. But a great number of tribes were also living on the eastern margins of the United States. This meant that Europeans first settled in an area where Indian population was thicker than anywhere else except in California.
As anthropologists generally do in order to understand the various ways of living of Native American societies throughout such a vast territory as present United States, we decided to divide the country into regions with a specific climate, landscape and fauna and flora according to the major foods and economies around which communities developed. "As a result, humans who live in each area must adapt to its characteristics to obtain the necessities of life"2. Culture areas show that Indians had special ways of acquiring clothing, food, houses, and utensils. Neighboring peoples learned from one another. So, peoples who lived along the border between two culture areas often reflected the two ways of living.
The Americas may be divided into many culture areas, and each scholar’s divisions may differ from those of others. Here, six areas are used for North America.
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1 and 2 Encyclopaedia Encarta - Native Americans http://encarta.msn.com/find/concise.asp?mod=1&ti=761570777&page=4#s22
