The Native American Tradition

1
The Native American Tradition

• From the beginning to 1750

2
The Navajo Tradition

• Navajo settled in the southwest 1000-1400AD
• They were warriors hunters
• They intermarried w/Pueblos
• Learned to weave farm
• Navajo means cultivator of fields

3
The Navajo Tradition

• 1864- US Army defeated Navajos
• 7,000 were captured sent to reservations
• 24,000 now live on tribe land in Utah, Arizona,
  New Mexico
• With 110,000 members nationwide, they are our
  largest tribe

4
The Navajo Origin Legend

• Explains the origin of life
• It is the creation myth
• Myths- stories passed down through generations
  usually involving immortal beings. They attempt
  to explain natural phenomenon, the origins or
  humans, customs, or religion.

5
Iroquois

• Lived in Northeastern USA
• Raised corn, beans, squash in the summer
  hunted small animals in winter fall
• Lived in long houses- 10 families per house

6
Iroquois

• Ancestry was traced through the mother
• Women owned the property longhouses
• The eldest woman was always in charge
• When males married, they would move to their
  wives longhouses
• As white men became a burden, the tribes has to
  unite strengthen against the threat

7
Coming of a constitution

• Dekanawidah, an Iroquoian prophet mystic,
  traveled from village to village urging peace
  brotherhood.
• This led to the Iroquois constitution between the
  Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Cayuga, the Onondaga.
• The Iroquois Constitution was composed in the
  1400s lasted 300 years.
• It was memorized and passed down orally. The only
  record was on strings of shells.
• They constitution was full of metaphors to make
  it easy to remember.

8
Structure of the Constitution

• The Iroquois Constitution describes a Great Peace
  as a tree with strong roots and branches that
  provide shelter for the nations tribes in the
  Iroquois confederation.
• The organizational patter goes from general to
  specific, by stating a need for peace before
  detailing how that peace can be attained.