Native Americans Tribes, Essay Example

Recent studies grouped North American inhabitants, without taking into consideration Mexico, into 10 cultural regions or culture areas, namely the Northeast, Southeast, Great Plains, Great basin, Plateau, Southwest, California, Northwest Coast, Subarctic, and Arctic. Their classification was performed on the basis of likeness of culture, environment, and geography. A single culture area might consist of many tribes that might speak different language. However, it is the style of life or the way of performing a particular activity that unites them. All in all, as for this essay, the focus lies on comparing the lives of three Native American tribes of the Southwest, which are the Navajo, Tohono O’odham (Papago), and the Apache; moreover, the essay is aimed at communicating a biography of each tribe, analyzingthe factors that impacted their attitudes as well as the 4 contributions that the tribes made to American society and history.

Theories on the Origin of Native Americans

The issues that are related to the origin of the Native Americans, reasons for their migration to the Americas, as well as the exact time period of their arrival, are still obscure in history. Several theories have been proposed and evidence was searched for. However, artifacts are scarce, which does not let scientists to come to the sole conclusion.

The most popular theory on how the Native Americans came to the continent is Beringia Land Bridge theory. It was proposed by a Jesuit priest, Jose de Acost, and was lately developed by Samuel Haven. The theory maintains that Indians came from Asia to North America, moving through the Bering Strait between Siberia and Alaska. It is the climate change which gave Indians the possibility to move to the Americas. According to geological surveys, the water level descended during the Pleistocene epoch, and the land surface was exposed, as water locked up in the glacier ice. This allowed people to move to the Americas. This land surface is called “Beringia Land Bridge”. Actually, some scientists consider the term “land bridge” to be misleading. Craig Doherty and Katherine Doherty explain that it was not a bridge, but rather a flat plain that resembled the treeless tundra, being more than 1, 000 miles in width (11). Ultimately, 25, 000 years ago or even earlier, as some scientists claim, migration to Americas started. Geologists suppose that approximately 14, 000 years ago the route along the Pacific coast was opened as glaciers started to melt. When about 11, 5000 years ago, the glacier in North America melted, it divided the ice into two parts, known as ice sheets. The Cordilleran ice sheet in the West and the Laurentide ice sheet in the East formed the ice-free corridor that facilitated the arrival of Paleo-Indians into the Americas.

However, there are scientists who deny plausibility of the Beringia Bridge theory, among whom is Vine Deloria. He stressed impossibility of the ocean’s water level recession up to sixty meters in order to expose the land surface. Moreover, he maintains that the climate conditions would have been extremely hostile. Therefore, people must not have inhabited this territory.

One more theory suggests that humans could have migrated to the Americas both by sea and land. The proof is that Paleo-Indians consumed “land food”, such as animal’s meat, plants and roots, as well as “marine food.” However, the evidence which could support the theory about migration by water is not enough. “Rising sea levels mean that most, if not all, of the sites would be under water now.” (Cell Press)

There are several assumed reasons, which might have stimulated migration to the Americas. Firstly, it is assumed that herds of animals, such as wooly mammoths and giant bison were the first to migrate. Because people were largely dependent on these animals for food, they were made to leave for the territories where these animals migrated. Secondly, people might have crossed the “bridge” while gathering plants (Cell Press). Another idea is that people might have noticed that it was getting warmer as they proceeded south. In any way, apart from many ambiguities in terms of reaching the continent, it becomes apparent that each American tribe was characterized by peculiar cultural traits as well the contributions they made to American history; in order to elucidate the entity of the selected three American tribes, one should take a view of each one separately.

The Navajo

Definitely, as any theory, the theories about American Indians’ origin need evidence to be proved. Unfortunately, artifacts, which could shed light on the origin of ancient American Indians and routes of their migration are rare. It is assumed that the Plains Americans have lived on the continent for approximately forty thousand years. Scholars came to this conclusion having analyzed “…radiocarbon dating of material from the Lewisville site near Dallas, Texas.” (Barry 320) The folklore of the Navajo mentions long extinct fauna and is a one more proof of these tribes’ ancient longevity. Archeologists managed to uncover ancient cites of different groups of American tribes of the Southwest. As for the first Navajo people, it is worth saying that, in accordance with many anthropologists, they appeared to be nomadic in their essence. Obviously, the timeline of this tribe is relatively short in the United States. Initially, the Navajo came from Canada between 850 and 1150 AD and finally settled down in the Southwest. It is clear that the Navajo had a unique style in making tools and weapons. Therefore, scientists based their speculations about Native Americans’ origin and culture on the artifacts that they had found. Considering the Navajo, it is necessary to take into consideration the fact that this tribe was much influenced by the Pueblo Indians; the influence of the Pueblo people resulted in a shift from nomadic entity to a sedimentary concept. Apart from the Pueblo people who influenced the Navajo, it is also necessary to make mention of the Spanish Colonists; the thing is that they taught the Navajo to tend herds of sheep. Evidently, this change proved to be one of the most important skills that the Navajo people have obtained. The Spanish also showed the Navajo people the horses and taught to use them for transportation. It is worth saying that the Navajo were “…much more dependet on hunting and gathering than on agriculture.” (Dorothy & Dorothy 18)

Speaking about the contributions that the Navajo made to American society and history, it is worth saying that the Navajo proved to be good enough at encoding and decoding language messages; they were much faster in comparison with the specific machines. The Navajo dialect appeared to be absolutely unintelligible to the other tribes; as a result, in accordance with many scholars, this tribal dialect is likely to be utilized as a secret code to military enemies. Moreover, one should take into account the thing that in 1942, there were approximately 45,000 Navajo people; about 500 of them were the Marines. Contemplating upon the contribution of the Navajo people, one cannot but encounter the Navajo Code Talkers who actively participated in a number of assaults that the soldiers conducted.

The Apache Tribe

As soon as the Ancient Indians reached the Americas, they were moving in different destinations to settle throughout the continent. They moved east, west, and south. They had to adapt to changing climate conditions. Along with leading sedentary way of life, sometimes the tribes were forced to move across the continent. For instance, Apaches got detached from inhabitants of the Northern Plains in 600 AD. During 1450 and 1525 they headed for the Southern Plains. Till the end of 1600 Apaches occupied the territory from northwestern Texas to Wyoming and the Black Hills. On the other hand, Shoshones made their way to the east from the Great Basin to eastern Montana. “Separating from the Hidatsas and Missouri River horticulture, the Crows migrated west to the Montana-Dakota area.” (Prisciantelli 7)

The word Apache means the enemy. The contemporary Apache authorities are situated in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Arizona. Today, Apache tribal organizations, including resorts and casinos have obviously helped to employ thousands of people and avoid high rates of unemployment, respectively. Moving through the history, it is necessary to draw attention to that the Apache tribes have undergone severe economic problems. Apaches appeared to be first known to the Spanish when the illegal Spanish expeditions into the Southwest took place. Until the exploratory expeditions of the Spanish, Apaches preferred mercantile negotiations with the Pueblos; Pueblos sold their agricultural goods in exchange for clothes and dried meat. Obviously, Spaniards described the annual visits of the Apaches for trade together with the Pueblos with awe. All in all, the Spanish started to confiscate the Pueblo trade revenues. Notwithstanding this fact, some of Apaches, the Jicarillas, appeared to be friends of the Spanish. A small group seceded from the Eastern Apaches and moved to Texas. Subsequently, this group was called the Lipan Apaches.

Apaches are considered as new residents in the Southwest. Regardless of this fact, they have made a great contribution to American society and history; an important contribution was made to such areas as literature and the arts. It is worth making mention of Lorenzo Baca, whose heritage as a writer and a visual artist cannot be underestimated. One should also pay attention to such Apache poets Roman C. Adrian and Blossom Haozous with their famous poetry. Among the famous Native American poets, it is also necessary to admit Jose L. Garza, a widely-acknowledged figure for not only composing poetry, but also educational innovations.

One great benefit of Bureau of Indian Education is that it helped develop Native American higher educational establishments and colleges. For example, currently, there are such colleges as Bay Mills Community College, Fort Peck Community College, Diné College, Fort Belknap College, Stone Child College, Dull Knife Memorial College, Nebraska Indian Community College or Fort Berthold Community College. And today some Native Americans can go to study to Haskell Indian Nations University, Institute of American Indian Art, Crownpoint Institute of Technology, D-Q University or Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute.

Apart from visual arts and literature as the key areas of the Apaches’ proficiency, it is worth considering the contribution that this tribe made from the perspective of conduct of war. The point is that the Apache Wars showed the U.S. Army the significance of utilizing some new approaches while fighting, since it is the only way to outcompete the enemy.

Tohono O’odham People

The Tohono O’odham settled down in the Sonora desert since the time immemorial. To be precise, the name Tohono O’odham means “Desert People”. All in all, the Tohono O’odham were initially known as the Papago, the name, initially used by the conquistadors. In 1986, this tribe voted to bring back their previous name. It is clear that the O’odham inhabited a huge territory in the Southwest, broadening to Sonora, Mexico, and Central Arizona. Starting from the 18^thcentury, the O’odham territory emerged to be occupied by foreign authorities. The division of O’odham areas has lead to the emergence of an artificial division of this tribe. O’odham people currently consist of four tribes: the Tohono O’odham people, the Gila River Indian Community, the Salt River Indian Community, and the Ak-Chin Indian Community. Each tribe is characterized by having their own political and geographical distinction.

Concerning the contribution that the Tohono O’dham Nation made to American society, one should be aware that the Papago were always involved in agriculture; and, since there were problems with water in their lands, the Papago developed the irrigation ditches infrastructure. Moreover, the Papago women were masterly basket makers. Consequently, this very tribe launched the process of manufacturing an absolutely unique pottery. One should also draw attention to that the Papago were quite frugal people, and this trait grew into a real contemporary methodology of frugality. One more contribution is conventional Tohono O’odham food system that kept people healthy; however, the distruction of this system, incorporating “…tepary beans, mesquite beans, cholla (cactus) buds and chia seeds.” has resulted in general health deteorioration of the tribe members (Lopez et al., 10). Among the three abovementioned tribes, the Tohono O’odham Nation emerges as inevitably the leading in terms of the heritage that it has left and the culture that it still cultivates. The point is that despite the frugal and peaceful nature, the tribe members cannot be considered as the cowards or marginal people; their willingness to preserve the traditions of their ancestors and reluctance to be at war with some other tribes demonstrates a uniqueness of this tribe. For many centuries, these people advanced a series of well-organized approaches to subsisting in the arid areas. Their innate feature to fight for living under baking sun, on the one hand, and completely pacifist concept of co-existence with the other tribes, on the other, proves the Tohono O’odham Nation to have an incredible character. Obviously, there are many people mocking at “the wisdom and practical knowledge of traditional peoples.” (Lopez et al., 10) All in all, it has nothing to do with truth, since, for instance, it is about the emergence of processed foods within the discussion tribe that “…changed all of that, leading to unprecedented rates of adult-onset diabetes.” (Lopez et al., 9)

Conclusion

Native Americans are regarded to be indigenous people that are treated as the earliest inhabitants of North American continent and who are currently forced to survive as intact political communities. The discoveries of the continent have shown that those people were treated differently in terms of weapons, advancements, religion, households and architectural structures. The culture of Native Americans is diverse within different cultural groups. To illustrate that point it is necessary to have a deeper look at the North American cultural groups.

Despite existence of several theories which explain the origin of the Native Americans and their migration routes, namely, the Beringia Land Bridge theory, the Watercraft theory, the Dual-Origin theory, the Clovis theory, still a certain answer cannot be given. What the scientists are sure about is that the Native Americans have lived in the Americas for thousands of years and developed a diverse culture system that varies from one cultural area to another.

Works Cited

Cell Press. “First Americans Arrived As Two Separate Migrations, According To New Genetic Evidence.”  ScienceDaily, 21 January 2009. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090108121618.htm>

Doherty, Craig., Doherty, Katheirne. “Native America. Northeast Indians.” In Stoneage Hunters to Woodland Indians, 1-24. Infobase Publishing, 2008.

Lewis, Barry. “Understanding Humans: Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology.” In the Earliest Americans, 10^th ed., 320-326. Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010.

Prisciantelli, Tom. “Spirit of the American Southwest.” In the Mammoths and the Paleo Indians,1^st ed., 64-66. Sunstone Press, 2002.

Lopez, Daniel et al, “Community Attitudes Toward Traditional Tohono O’odham Foods,”

Tohono O’odham Community Action and Tohono O’odham Community College, 2002.