Origins of the Amerindians

Variations in Indian languages

Games and entertainment

Social and political organization

American Indian Culture areas

Spirituality

Conclusion

Bibliography

G. CONCLUSION

We have seen that, in order to understand each other, Indians and Europeans often created a jargon that enabled them to communicate. It can be assumed that everything would have turned out well if White settlers had tried to adapt to Indian ways of life too. Unfortunately, Europeans proved to be impervious to many Indian customs. They were also influenced by personal expectations of what America held for them.

Native Indian values and beliefs were on the whole strongly at odds with those of White settlers. Yet, there were also similarities.

One of main the difference between Natives and Europeans was the way they viewed nature, environment and life in general. Indians thought that all things on earth were closely related and consequently held nature and living elements in great respect. Thus they were not prone to control the environment but rather did their best to live in harmony with it. These values led the Whites to think that Indians were careless and did not profit of their natural riches of the soil while Indians resented Europeans’ aggressiveness toward the environment. In the same way, they did not have domestic animals as they believed them to be as persons. These beliefs led the Indians to recognize and appreciate diversity. So much so that when they first saw the White settlers, they did not immediately considered them as intruders but merely as other living creatures. In this connection, Europeans were convinced of being racially and culturally superior.

Another great difference could be observed in the distinctive attitudes each culture had toward the accumulation of wealth and property. The Indians understood neither Europeans' desire to make profit nor the use of having excess without reason. Indians were accustomed to trade long before the intrusion of Whites but the main purpose of it was to obtain something useful. Although Indians were always very selective in what they acquired through barter, they did not aim at making a surplus. Besides, the very purpose of acquiring wealth distinguished Natives from settlers.

To Europeans, being rich was very important as it was a matter of prestige, personal advancement and social status. Indian economic system, however, was based on the redistribution of personal property. It was through the giving of possessions that Indians gained public recognition. In addition, while life in their communities was centered on the family, "Indians extended the social logic we apply to immediate family to a wider array of social relationships"¹. The Native American system thus included all aspects of their life and promoted a respect for the environment, the tribe and the individual.

A part from the environment, Indians also attached much importance to religion. Considering Indians as barbaric and savage people and their religious beliefs as pagan, it is significant to note that those were precisely the first two things Europeans tried to change. The suppression of their spiritual values, thus, had as far-reaching consequences as the conquer of their ancestral lands. Unlike Christians whose faith was based on the Bible, Indians’ spirituality actually showed a profound connection with the land. In this field, the European disrespectful attitude toward the environment could be explained by the bad relation Christians experienced right from the start with nature, when Adam and Eve were forced to leave the Garden of Eden. Besides, while the development of Christianity is based on a series of prophets, Native religions had no patriarchs. Influenced by the European faith, though, some appeared after White invasion. There were, of course, some similarities between the two religions. Generosity and kindness, for instance, were generally recognized as universal qualities and both Whites and Natives believed in divine intervention. Still, missionaries regarded Native beliefs as mere superstitions and did their best to convert Indians to Christianity as early as the 17^th century. Logically enough, Indians proved reluctant. So, in order to christianize them more rapidly, the Bible was translated into Indian languages and many "praying towns" were built. The main goal of those religious settlements was to cut the Indians off from their traditional culture and environment. For all their efforts, Christian missionaries did not manage to totally convert the Indians, though.

This is only one example of the powerful influence Europeans had upon Indians. Pressing them for change, Natives gradually adopted a large number of European manners. Indians were actually willing to learn whatever one would teach them. Incorporating more and more European spirituals values, manufactured goods and economic patterns, many Indian nations progressively changed their ways of life. This modification would in time have adverse consequences and contribute to the decline of many American Indian communities. With regard to trade, Europeans first adapted to Native traditions but, at long last, Indians abandoned their old activities to devote all their time to trade with the White men. As a result, many Indians stopped working in the fields and hunting became so popular that it caused the exhaustion of wildlife. Clearly, catching game was easier with the horses and guns introduced by traders. So, those people who traditionally lived so close to nature and used every single part of the game for utilitarian purposes turned out to be the ones who provoked the greater changes on their environment. The introduction of a wide range of manufactured goods, especially guns and alcohol, also changed Indians’ material culture and alcoholism soon wreaked havoc upon many tribes. In the same way, tribal authority was undermined and replaced by the European system. While examining their political structure, we learned that Indian communities were loosely organized. This clearly contrasted with the class-structured society of the Whites. Some tribes’ political system, however, are believed to have served as a model for White scholars who were trying to develop an efficient government. It is even assumed that the founding fathers were indirectly influenced by the writings on the Iroquois League. Unfortunately, they were not inspired by the Indian model of equality to all men and both genders.

¹" The Native Americans: An Illustrated History ", Ballantine, Betty and Ian - p.233