The Aztecs held many religious ceremonies, the most important observed planting, harvesting, and other events in the agricultural year. The purpose of many ceremonies was to motivate people to work together to ensure good crops by winning the favor of the gods.…
The paintings and writings in George Catlin work might teach someone that the Ojibwe/Chippewa were very ritualistic. In George Catlin Braves' Dance, Ojibwa, 1835–37 Ojibwe/Chippewa oil painting as well as Snowshoe Dance at the First Snowfall, 1835-37 displayed how ritualistic and grateful the Natives were. They would sing a song to the Great Spirit for allowing them to wear their snow shoes to hunt better. This shows you how much of their lives revolved around hunting and thanking the Great Spirit. In the Braves’ Dance Painting we are not sure why they are dancing but we see again how closely the Natives follow their rituals. In the Braves’ Dance it does seem like they might be asking the Great Spirit for something; this shows how much they…
In this paper I discuss what point Horace Miner was trying to make is his paper titled "Body Ritual among the Nacirema". Horace’s paper is about America but in the perspective that America is a tribe of third world country or such. I go through the individual topics, which mostly make fun of American’s vanity, and I describe what he is really talking about. I try to summaries Horace’s paper and put it in “American” terms.…
Himdag is a Tohono O 'odham word that translates to "way of life". The eight elements of religion are found throughout the Tohono O 'odham past and present cultural beliefs.…
This report is based on the book Thunder Rides a Black Horse written by Claire R. Farrer. This book is written in context of an indian group called the Mescalero Apache Indians. Their reservation and ceremonial grounds are based in the south-central part of New Mexico. The author is very familiar with this tribe as she claims to be like family with some of the members. She writes this book based on her visit to join in on one of their big traditions. It is called the puberty ceremonials. These ceremonies are where the young girls of the tribe are traditionally accepted as women into their society. The Mescalero Apache Indians still use a lot of their old traditions and still believe in their old myths. Bernard, who was a dear friend of the author told many stories revolving the the ancient ways of the Mescalero Apache tribe. As in their creation, their ways of live, and even their traditions.…
When I started reading Miner’s “Body Rituals among the Nacirema” I wasn’t really ‘reading’ it. By the end of the first page, it “hit me” and I had to start reading it over again. Realizing the essay was speaking of Americans gave me a whole different perspective. I found some of it quite amusing as well as enlightening. My feeling is that the author intended the reader to see our own ethnocentrism and question our own acts towards others with whom we are not familiar.…
The English did not understand the Indians and their lifestyle. They judged them as being barbaric and savage but were mistakenly wrong, “Before contact with the strangers from Europe, the Choctaws practiced communalism” (Takaki, 2008. Pg. 83). The Choctaws were forced to raise animals such as cattle and pigs in a farm setting. They were not longer able to go out and hunt their meals as they had for many years. Along with farming, they were also cultivating cotton fields. After treaties were made and it became legal for the English to take land they pleased, many of the Choctaw Indians moved unwillingly west of the Mississippi…
The Caddo lived in sturdy, grass lodges with a wooden frame about 50 feet high in villages. Each lodge can hold up to 30 people!! They planted crops in the large, clearing of the forests. They raised corn, beans, and squash along with hunting deer, turkey, rabbits, squirrels, and other animals in the pine woods. The women would also gather wild plant food like acorns, blackberries, persimmons, roots, and other plants provided, but the main source of food was corn, beans, and squash. The Caddo used Caddo Indian men wore breechcloths, sometimes with leather leggings to protect their legs. Caddo women wore wraparound skirts and poncho tops made of woven deerskin. Both genders wore earrings and moccasins. Caddo men did not usually wear shirts, but in cold weather, both men and women wore buffalo robes. The Caddo didn't wear long headdresses. Caddo men usually cut their hair in the Mohawk style or shaved their heads. Sometimes warriors would make this hairstyle more impressive with a colorful porcupine roach. Caddo Indian women usually wore their long hair in a bun. For special occasions, Caddo women fastened their buns with beaded hair ornaments .…
The White Deerskin Dance of the Hupa Indian tribe was a ceremonial dance that symbolized the regeneration or renewal of their society, and functioned as an important “part of the ritual calendar that makes up the religious life of the tribe and it expresses the supernatural sentiments of the people in their most poignant form” (Goldschmidt et al., 121). The ceremony served “to wipe out the evil brought into the world by members of the society who have broken taboos” (Goldschmidt et al., 121); as these white deerskins were seen as a sacred mascot “which will protect the owner and his friends from every trouble” (Pierce 9). The dance commenced after a ceremonial ground was selected “between the several places of importance (Goldschmidt et al.,…
In Native cultures, these feathered headdresses are given to war heroes and chiefs to symbolize honor, power, and respect. However, the war bonnet has somehow also become an "integral" part of the "major music festival aesthetic", and the "finishing touch" to a standard "Native American" Halloween costume.…
The culture of the United States of America is essentially Western, yet is affected by African, Native American, Asian, Polynesian, and Latin American societies. A strand of what might be portrayed as American society began its development once again 10,000 years back with the movement of Paleo-Indians from Asia, Oceania, and Europe, into the district that is today the mainland United States. The United States of America has its own particular one of a kind social and social attributes, for example, tongue, social propensities, music, expressions, legends and food. The United States of America is an ethnically and racially various nation as an aftereffect of vast scale relocation…
"Native American Rituals and Ceremonies - History and Information." Native AmericanRituals and Ceremonies - History and Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 July 2015.…
The Cherokee Nation is are Native American’s who according to 19th century ethnographers originated in the northern portion of the United States in the Great Lakes area’s and eventually migrated south to the Southeastern United States, Georgia, The Carolinas and Tennessee. Eventually the Cherokee’s were forced to relocate in Oklahoma (the authors home). This paper will cover the origins of the Cherokee, The Trail of Tears and some interesting cultural differences and rituals.…
One of these tribes with weird traditions was one Banyankole Tribe Of Uganda. This tribe has the aunt of the bride either sleep with the groom or listen to the husband and her niece do it to give them a potency test. She even as to test the bride's virginity. In eastern Africa where some girls in many different tribes stitch everything up but a small opening so they can pee or clean out the menstruation blood out. So they can will be virgins when they wed. The zulu people have their brides change three times during the ceremony to impress her new in-laws but most of the time keeps wearing a red headband that is made out of the bride’s mother’s hair. There is much more tribe tradition that are very interesting or not normal for Americans. But these once were the once that stood out and should be talked about. People can see how different traditions are in this culture than it is to…
Now, let’s travel to Europe. Hallstatt. It’s between a mountain and lake, so therefore has very limited burial space. To solve this problem they would allow for the remains of their dead to lie in the cemetery for 12 years only. When the time was up the bones would be exhumed and moved to a charnel, but the skull would be kept. It would be tastefully decorated with the name of the deceased, a cross and plants. It would then be displayed in a chapel. Although cremation has now been allowed in the village this custom still takes place.…