Native Americans
"They (Native Americans) have always shown but little capacity for civilization."
Quote from 1911 textbook
Prove or disprove this statement be characterizing Native Americans in light of what we learned about the Iroquois.
Quote from 1911 textbook
Prove or disprove this statement be characterizing Native Americans in light of what we learned about the Iroquois.
posted by Mark Killian | 9:42 AM
3 Comments:
Many people think that the Native Americans where barbaric people, running around killing other native tribes as well as sailors from Europe. The Iroquois Nation was consisted of five tribes, they where all fighting each other for land (Modern day New York), but what most people do not realize is that the Iroquois Nation created a kind of Peace treaty, or constitution. They called their constitution The Tree Of Great Peace. It was the most developed constitution of and non-European nation of that time. The U.S. constitution is very similar to the Iroquois constitution. There are certain similarities that you can find if you read the document. It shows that they had three different branches of government all with the same functions as the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches in our government. Its wrong for someone to say that the Native Americans where uncivilized people. I find it quite ironic that someone said it considering the person who did was living in a government that was based off of an “uncivilized” nation. Just because Native American did not have better technology, or periods such as the Renaissance, Reformation, or Scientific Revolution does not make them any less civilized.
civ·i·li·za·tion (sv-l-zshn)
An advanced state of intellectual, cultural, and material development in human society, marked by progress in the arts and sciences, the extensive use of record-keeping, including writing, and the appearance of complex political and social institutions.
The definition of civilization has changed just as the civilizations have. In the days of disovery Native Americans were considered uncivilised, but does our new definition call Northern Native Americans civilized? The Iroquois Nation did have a written language and they used that language to create a peace treaty. As we learned in class their political system was complex and very well thought out. But what of their record-keeping? Native Americans kept records through stories, and although it may be a vocal record, it still exists. Northern Native Americans also had regard for the arts although its purpose was mostly rooted in religion. They seemed to be lacking in one area, though.
Northern Native Americans seem to have little to do with science. They were to some extent intelligent when hunting, but otherwise they expessed no interest in describing the unknown through physical means. Whenever they needed a cause for an unknown effect, their explanation was religious. Their medicine, although physically science was rooted in religion as well. The only way they came upon a cure was through trial and error, which is more like bumbling in the dark than clearly thought out science.
Northern Native Americans lacked science and advencement of material goods or industry (which is a key ingredient in another defenition of civilization. So were the Native Americans civilized? No, they had as long a time as Europe to create advancement in art, science and industry. They had the same amount of time to create nations through alliances and discovery. In some ways they had it better off than Europe, considering the climate and fertile land. I'm not just syaing that Europe was farther ahead in the race than Northern Native Americans. I'm saying that by the time Columbus reached America, I wonder if the Native Americans had even asked the question if the world was flat or round. Northern Native Americans replaced science and its throught process with religion and its explanations of life, and that is why I don't believe they could quite be called a civilization. (Although they were very close considering the complex constitution the Iroquois Nation created, which means they were more than capable of scientific advancement)
" The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops, but the kind of man the country turns out."
-Ralph Emerson
Native Americans from the test of time have been regarded as primitive. They have no technology , no natural way of life and have not contributed much to society today. That statement is totally false. The Native Americans have shown a huge amount of capacity towards developing the basis of how America works. If you asked anyone what native americans have contributed to America's being today, that person would probably say I don't know. Native Americans have contributed a lot to society. The Iruquois tribe, one of the least recognized tribes made up one of the highly recognized types of government, a democracy. The first document set as a precedent for the constitution and the democracy was called the Tree of Great Peace. This constitution was the most developed of any Non- European nation and through this constitution the Iruquois were able to come under a system of order in their tribe. This constitution also consisted of five tribes. The Mohawk and the Seneca make a question. The Cayuga and Oneida answer that question and the Onondaga settles disputes if there are any and the Mohawk Lords make the final approval. Amongst these groups represent the three branches of government. The Mohawk Lord is a part of the Executive branch. The Seneca, Mohawk, Cayuga and Oneida are the legislative branch. The Onondaga is apart of the judicial branch. I believe the question is not whether Native Americans have contributed to society or not, but the question is when is America going to give the credit that is due to others and stop taking ideas that have already been made as their own. Going to the quote by Emerson, the men the have come out of the european civilization have stolen the ideas of the Native Americans, and they have used this idea to make a nation of greed which has set the precedent for how we as Americans act today, still wanting more. The inquiry of the europeans have led them to steal and commit devious acts that is opposite of what America stands for today. On the other hand it seems that the most civilized people are the Native Americans rather than the European Americans. It is truly obvious that the most important contribution to america was contributed by the Native Americans.
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