Native Americans

Arrangement

American Indians way of life

Indian relations

Indian literature

American Indians way of life

(Everyday life)• Men had fishing and hunting parties• They enjoyed hours of leisure time

filled with athletic contest , gambing , and other games and pursuits

• Families , clans , and tribes made localized decisions in the absence of the cheif or head authority

Housing

type of housing depended on available building materials in the different areas…

Native Americans - Catering

• Native Americans relied on agriculture , hunting , and gathering.

• The women supervised the farming of vegetables such as : maize(com),beans,squash,pumpkins, and other crops.

• They also gathered fruits,nuts, and roots

Native Americans and Buffalos

Native Americans used nearly every part of the Buffalo.

Meat (=> diet)

Hides (=> clothes , teepes , drums , …)

Bones(=>tools, knifes , sled runners , …)

Skull (=> used in rituals)

Horns (=> bowls , spoons,)

Hoofs ( =>Glue)

Fat (=>candles, soap)

Sinew (=>bowstrings)

Indian Relations• In the 1490s European exploration

started , at this time Indians were living all over North America.

• The societies were diverse and have long history.

• The Aztec Empire was the largest Native American civilization with millions of people living in what is now Mexico.

• Native Americans lived here for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived.

First interactions between Europeans and

Indians• First interactions largely involved

trading near various harbors and rivers of North America

• Europeans established colonies on the shores and Indians became curious.

How Indians and Europeans benefit from

eachother• Europeans relied on the Indians to teach

them : - survival skills - How to make canoes - shelters and homes - How to make clothes from buckskin - Farming and crops

• Indians aquired the following from Europeans :

- firearms - textiles - and steel tools

The deadly impact on the Native Americans

• Indians outnumbered Europeans by alot ; In the 1600s the Indians population was from 10.000 to 100.000 people.

• The europeans unwithingly exposed them to disease to which they had no immunity to.

• Small pox was the worst disease and sometimes killed of whole villages

• The Indians who survived were forced to vacate their land and homes because the Europeans didn´t need their guidance and friendship anymore.

• The Indians were forced to the West.

Indian literature (story telling)

• North American Natives didn’t often write poetry– Their languages varied from tribe to

tribe• Most chants had meaning

– Meanings could be: Making crops grow, inspiring a deer hunt, healing a sick leader, gaining a victory, or a religious ceremony

• Meanings depended on the tribes

Examples• Delaware: based on pictures and

religion• Navajo: based on crop growth and

weather patterns• Ojibwa/ Chippewa: based on close

relations through nature and describing nature

Literary Devices• Repetitions• Enumeration• Incremental Development• Ritual beginnings and endings• Specific structure( Pima, Papago)

– Intro: Harmony– Thesis: One or more instances of disruption– Antithesis: measures are taken to overcome

disruption– Conclusion: restored harmony after cycles of

four or some power of four

Basic Construction• Functions

– Beliefs• About:

– Nature of the physical world– Social order and appropriate behavior– Human nature and the problem of good vs. evil

– Myths• Primal world• Beings are animal spirits in more or less

human form: monsters, confusions of nature• Mythic age flows into age of transformation

Basic Construction ( Cont.)• Functions ( cont.)

– Deities of cultures• Culture hero, transformer orders the world• Culture hero turns animal people into

animals• Other beings become landmarks• Flows into historical time

Basic Construction (cont. 2)

• Main Characters– Culture Heroes

• Dramatize protypical events and behaviors• Show how to do what is right and how we

become who we are• Shape the world• Often a divine birth

Basic Construction ( cont. 3)

• Trickster– Provide disorder and change– Enable us to see the rough side of life– Provide the possibility of change– May be overachievers who get the

comeuppance

Basic Construction ( cont. 4)

• Themes– Formation of the world– Movement from heaven to the water

realm– Fortunate fall; creation story– Earth-diver myth

Sources

American Indians way of life• www.welt-der-indianer.de/• The Americans – Reconstruction to the

21st century

Indian literature• http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natibe.thm

• American LiteratureIndian relations• Elements of Literature