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Native American Beliefs

Decent Essays

Native Americans showed respect to all, family, tribe members, and even outsiders. They had created their own government's, own religions and even schools. They had traditions, rituals and rights, every tribe was different in their own way. Every tribe's social system was different and every member had access to everything the tribe had available, occasionally trading goods for some things. Contrary to what many believe, early Native Americans were civilized. Being civilized can mean many things. It means to show respect to others, have advancements in the society, such as medicine, the education system, and a strong government. In the modern world, the United States of America might be considered civilized compared to some small countries in Africa, a country like Liberia. Some people consider anyone who is not like them to be “savage.” In early America, most of the colonists from England believed that the local Native Americans were uncivilized, calling them “savages” because they were different than the new settlers. They had a different religion and way of life, they had different clothing and rituals, different ways to prepare foods and religions like the Longhouse religion , also known as the Handsome Lake religion, for the Iroquois it is the Gaiwiio, meaning “good word.”
The Iroquois, also known as the Haudenosaunee, treated their tribe members as family, calling them “brother” and “sister.” This is how they would show respect to the other members of the tribe. The

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