Journal #1

The culture of Native Americans is a complex and rich heritage. I have studied Native American tribes such as the Iroquis and Illiniwek in school before, but I am certainly no expert on many Native American civilizations. I do know that their literature is based on all stories that were once passed down by word because there was no writing system. The Native Americans seem very intriguing to me because they were so in tune and in harmony with the natural world. I know they believed in some kind of mystical power, but there was not one set god. Many of the higher powers were found in nature. I like this style of religion because it is very simple, and everybody could agree on it because it is so real. I wish that today’s modern civilization cared so deeply about nature as the Native Americans did. There would be no pollution, and in my mind, the world would be much cleaner and peaceful in general. Another topic I know about the Native Americans, at least in the mid-Atlantic region and mid-western region is that their land was “taken” from them by European settlers. I put taken in quotes because I am not sure how all of this happened exactly. I would assume that there were many deaths and tortured beings in the Native Americans’ tribes though. Now many tribes live on reservations set out by the government. However, the sad part about most of the reservations is that they are not in good shape. In fact, a lot of them are filled with dry and barren land such as the ones in the southwest region of the United States. Also, along with their land taken away, the European settlers brought many new and harmful diseases to spread into the Native American society. This is a terrible circumstance because not only did the Native Americans know what was wrong with them, but they did not know how to cure them. It was truly a bad situation.