The history on Native Americans

 When you hear the word Native American what do you think of? Do you think of stereotypes or about cowboy movies? I never really thought what a Native American was besides what we learn in school about Indians and about the history of Columbus taking over. Well now when I hear the word Native American I think about history, a race and about traditions, a strong culture and people who fought for freedom and rights.

             Native Americans came from the north side and they would migrate a lot for food. Some examples of the food they would eat were fish, shrimp, whales, cows, buffalos, and grass. They had a very unique way of catching fish with out using any tools like we do today. All they would do is build a wall out of rocks to make a little pond and slowly the water would decrease so it would be easier to catch the fish. Another way they would hunt animals, mostly the big once was by using an arrowhead as a weapon. The Clovis point had to be small and sharp in order to get the right amount of speed and force to kill an animal from a distance. I found it very interesting how Indians created so many ways of hunting and ways to gather food that it made an impact in the world and we took those ideas and improved them to provide food to different parts around the world.

            The Native American culture is so different from the American culture that we are use to. In The Native American culture the mother is dominant. The women are in charge and the men have to follow the woman’s rules and decisions. In A relationship if a man and women have a child the mother is in charge of raising the boy or girl and the father is in charge of hunting the food and bringing fur and all kinds of things necessary for the house. This made domestic violence a very minimum thing to happen because the husband was living in his wife’s house so the   wife was in charge of everything that happens in the house and relationship.

             If for any reason the relationship wouldn’t work the mother would be in charge of everything this made life so much easier since there was no fights over custody and no fights over who keeps the house or any valuables. The man was kicked out of the house and he would most likely go live with his mother while his ex wife took care of her children and her brother raised them. During the Native American time there were no illegitimate children because the brother would raise all of the children his sister had no matter how many different men she had them with. The children only had one mother and were all raise by there uncle who they considered a dad.

            If we compare the Native American culture with the American culture we see how in our culture men are considered superior. Men earn more money then women and women are seen in different ways from men. For example men are considered to be the house providers, the business workers, engineers, doctors, and so many more important jobs. Women are seen as housewives, soccer moms, and to have a not as successful career as men do. In our society the women take there husbands last name and the women’s last name is lost. Women are treated differently even after years of fighting for women rights. Until this day female sports aren’t considered as important as men sports and male sports are a lot more dominant then female sports. I find it so interesting how two different cultures see a sex at a different level and have respect for a sex and not the other. I think that the American culture and the Native American culture are pretty similar in the fact that they have a sex that is superior then the other and someone in charge on how the family is raise and taken care of.

             In my opinion if I had to choose between living in an American society and living in a Native American society I would choose to live in the American society I live in . Even though I am a female and it would seem like my life would be better of living in a Indian society I would pick the American society because although many females aren’t considered equal in many thing like sports and income, women have many rights and the ability to have a great life as a great mother, wife,  and a great business owner, engineer, doctor, or anything we want to be. I believe in the ability for women to live there lives with out a man supporting them. Women are strong and can be independent if they choose to be. Although it might seem like Indian women are in charge and in control I feel like they don’t have all the same opportunities that the American culture has because to me it seems like Native American women need men to hunt and do all kinds of things for them instead of them becoming independent and doing all those things by them selves.

 I think every culture has its pros and cons in my opinion my culture is a great one and even though the Indian culture seems to be better for women, the American culture provides a lot of opportunities for a woman to choose how she want to live her life.

            Every one knows or has at least heard of the history about how Christopher Columbus came to the Americas and found the Native Americans. A lot of Indians died of diseases that the Spanish brought with them and also got there lands taken away from them because the Spanish took over there land and would kill any one who would try fighting back and  go against there decisions. Although a lot of Indians got killed the Indians and Europeans had a deal and they would trade all kinds of things that they each found necessary.                                                                         For example Europeans had guns, ammo, horses, cows, silver, pigs, metal tools, textile, needles, goats, and bread which Indians found many of these things necessary for improving there life’s and changing the way they live for   the better. Like the Europeans had things that the Indians found necessary the Indians as well had things the Europeans found necessary like dogs, turkeys, fur, cocoa, potatoes, corn, tobacco, cotton, tomatoes,  peanuts, and  timber. A lot of these trades made a big impact in the world because the Europeans made so many things we own now from things that originated from Indian culture. In my opinion I think that Indians got a lot more profit then Indians did because the Europeans made so much money with tobacco, and vegetable plants, as well as clothing. Compare to Indians who died because some animals that the Indians gave them were contaminated with diseases.

            The history of Native Americans is very interesting and you learn about how much impact the Indians have made in the world. When you think about Native Americans you think of a race but really there more then just a race and people they’re a culture that changed our world in so many ways and improved our way of living. Native Americans have changed our world and they have provided our life’s with so many good things like food and clothes. So next time you wear a 100% cotton shirt or sweater think about where that cotton came from and when you’re at the grocery store think about how most of those products were brought from Indian land. I think the history of the Native Americans is a very sad story about the lost of land and the lost of many Indians, but the gain of an improve American culture and a revolutionize land.