Native Americans and Cultural Assimilation Essays

Native Americans have had a long history of resistance to the social and cultural assimilation into white culture. By employing various creative strategies, Native Americans have attempted to cope with the changes stemming from the European colonial movement into the Americas. There are fundamental differences in world views and cultural and social orders between Indians and Europeans, which contributed to conservatism in Native American cultures. In this paper, two aspects of such cultural and institutional differences of Native American societies will be examined: holistic Native American beliefs versus dualistic world views and harmony versus domination. These two aspects are important in terms of explaining changes (or lack thereof) in†¦show more content†¦Calvinists also believed that â€Å"men were directed to transform the earth according to the divine will of God† (Champagne 1992:15); therefore, men were given complete freedom for environmental domination in o rder to transform this world that is full of flaws and sins and to appease God. From this perspective, nature is an object to be struggled against and overcome. Furthermore, Christianity, more specifically Calvinist belief, teaches the radical dualism of sacred and profane. From this perspective, this world characterized by sins, flaws, and suffering is profane, drawing comparison a comparison to the sacred afterworld. Native Americans, on the other hand, had less tension in this dichotomous relationship between this-worldliness and otherworldliness. Most Native cultures believed that their institutional and cultural elements, such as ceremonies, kinship, villages, and clans were given as gifts by the â€Å"Great Spirit†-- a benevolent and ubiquitous life force of the world. The Great Spirit communicates with humans through intermediaries that reside in nature, which makes Native Americans to live harmoniously with the earth. Everything on earth is considered a spiritual bein g that needs to be respected to keep the world in balance. Unlike the Christian God, the Great Spirit does not punish people for behaving bad or not believing in Him; the life out of balance with the earth and the community is the only punishment one can bring on him/herself.Show MoreRelatedNative American Cultural Assimilation Essay3830 Words   |  16 PagesNative American Cultural Assimilation from the Colonial Period to the Progressive October 2, 2011 Introduction Although the first European settlers in America could not have survived without their assistance, it was not long before the Native Americans were viewed as a problem population. They were an obstacle to the expansion plans of the colonial government and the same to the newly formed United States. The Native Americans were dealt with in various ways. During expansion someRead MoreMahatma Ghandi, An Indian Philosopher1424 Words   |  6 Pagesprovided displays such a stance, in regards to cultural distortion, as a result of globalization. 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