Silver-level articleNative American

From RationalWiki
(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
m (What's in a name?)
(Woo)
Line 22: Line 22:
  
 
Particularly irksome phenomena include:  
 
Particularly irksome phenomena include:  
*White wannabe shamans taking phony Indian-sounding names like "Sun Bear" and "Brooke Medicine Eagle"
+
*White wannabe shamans taking phony Indian-sounding names like "Sun Bear"<ref>http://www.ewebtribe.com/StarSpiderDancing/wheel.html</ref> and "Brooke Medicine Eagle"<ref>http://www.medicineeagle.com/</ref>
 
*Mixing Native spirituality with drug culture mostly as an excuse to take [[peyote]]<ref>Also see "Temporarily Humboldt County", by The [[Firesign Theatre]]. "Got any peyote?"</ref>   
 
*Mixing Native spirituality with drug culture mostly as an excuse to take [[peyote]]<ref>Also see "Temporarily Humboldt County", by The [[Firesign Theatre]]. "Got any peyote?"</ref>   
 
*Harley "Swiftdeer" Reagan's [[sex]] seminars and martial arts system that he claims are based on Cherokee teachings<ref>http://www.mail-archive.com/native_american@topica.com/msg01503.html</ref>
 
*Harley "Swiftdeer" Reagan's [[sex]] seminars and martial arts system that he claims are based on Cherokee teachings<ref>http://www.mail-archive.com/native_american@topica.com/msg01503.html</ref>

Revision as of 16:35, 1 April 2011

Native Americans are the peoples who live in North, Central, and South America, and are the descendants of those who lived there before the Europeans came to rescue them from their Godless savagery and bring the Gospel to these dark heathen lands European invasions commencing in the late fifteenth century. Hundreds, or possibly thousands, of tribes and cultures have been recorded, although some were wiped out completely during the often bloody territorial expansions of colonial and post-colonial settlement during the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries.[1]

Contents

What's in a name?

It is often debated what term should be used for them: "American Indian" or "Native American". This use of the term "Indian" originates from Christopher Columbus' belief, on reaching the Caribbean islands in 1492, that he had instead reached India. Despite the fact that he soon realized his mistake, this name has stuck for over five hundred years. The term "Native American" was introduced during the late twentieth century as a more accurate alternative, and a way to distance Native American citizens from hackneyed "Cowboys and Indians" stereotypes.

The term has - rightly or wrongly - been associated with other politically correct language and euphemisms. As a reference to people who are native to the continent of America the term "Native American" is clearly an absolutely correct term. However, as the name "American" is used in some languages to refer solely to the citizens of the United States, some have suggested the use of other politically correct terms such as Native Canadian and, presumably, Native Mexican, Native Argentinian or whatever. Most Native Americans in the United States today typically refer to themselves and others as "Indians." An example of this was the radical group that named itself the American Indian Movement.

Some people like to say "If you were born here, you are a native American" thus devaluing the usage of a people who say "yeah? Well we were here first, you ingrates".[2] Others say the term "Indian" is both inaccurate and confusing.[3] Another term often used to refer to those who lived in the Americas prior to the arrival of Europeans is "First Nations", a term very popular in Canada. The best term to use for indigenous people(s) from the Americas and their descendants is their tribal name when known. If you really really really just gotta talk about the indigenous people of America as a collective, choose one term and stick with it throughout any paper, article, or presentation. [4]

Cultures

Native peoples of the Americas had rich and vast societies with thousands of different cultures. There have been estimates of upwards of 2000 languages, as distinct from one another as Chinese is from English. No one belief nor idea, nor cultural artifact can be attributed to all Native American people. And to those from a more conservative mind set, Yes Virginia, there really were written languages, cities with hundreds of thousands of people,[5] complex manmade waterways, and even pollution.

Native American names traditionally translate to traits and / or involve animals, such as "Piloqutinnguaq", which translates to "Little Leaf", or "Cuauhtemoc" meaning "Falling Eagle".

Woo

Some Native American religious practices have been adopted by white people, often associated with the New Age movement, and often with little real understanding of the cultures and people whose religious practices they have appropriated. Notable white promoters of such woo have included Ernest Thompson Seton, Carlos Castanada, Tom Brown, Jr., and Tom Laughlin's Billy Jack movies. Castanada's books have proven to be fiction and Brown's are widely suspected to also be fiction. See the bookshelf of your local New Age bookstore for dozens of other examples.

Examples of these practices include "vision questing", "sweat lodges", and shamanism. Often these are commercial enterprises selling such experiences to New Age seekers, which angered one tribe enough over commercialization of religious beliefs to issue a "Declaration of War Against the Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality".[6]

Usually harmless woo, on occasion such commercialized New Age nonsense can turn deadly.[7]

Particularly irksome phenomena include:

  • White wannabe shamans taking phony Indian-sounding names like "Sun Bear"[8] and "Brooke Medicine Eagle"[9]
  • Mixing Native spirituality with drug culture mostly as an excuse to take peyote[10]
  • Harley "Swiftdeer" Reagan's sex seminars and martial arts system that he claims are based on Cherokee teachings[11]
  • The "Nephites" and "Lamanites" are claimed as ancestors of Native Americans in the Book of Mormon
  • Putative "Native American" tarot decks that mix clothing and symbols from many different tribes in the same images without regard for any accuracy.[12]

Origins

Amongst serious academics it is generally, though not universally, accepted that the first Native Americans reached the Americas from Siberia via the Bering Strait. However, the origins of Native Americans have long been one of the favorite subjects of charlatans. Native Americans have been identified as Atlanteans, the Twelve Tribes of Israel, Carthaginians, Black Africans or even the Welsh. See also Joseph Smith, Jr..

Some Native American nations you may have heard of

(Based on the external link below)

External links


Footnotes

  1. See American Indian Holocaust.
  2. CP has had, at times, wild debates and edit wars over exactly what the term Native American should mean [1]
  3. provoking probably rude and politically incorrect questions after the term is used, like "Indian - dot or feather?"
  4. and if you might possibly actually have real, honest to Wakan Tanka indigenous people in the room, ask them what term they prefer.
  5. what is today's Mexico City, Tenochtitlan, had well over 100,000 people in the one city, larger than any European city at the same time. [2]
  6. http://www.aics.org/war.html
  7. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9B8EMC01&show_article=1&catnum=1
  8. http://www.ewebtribe.com/StarSpiderDancing/wheel.html
  9. http://www.medicineeagle.com/
  10. Also see "Temporarily Humboldt County", by The Firesign Theatre. "Got any peyote?"
  11. http://www.mail-archive.com/native_american@topica.com/msg01503.html
  12. http://www.lelandra.com/comptarot/tarotindian.htm
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support