The Plains Indians Were Cruel, Blood-Thirsty and Uncivilised

It Is the story of all that is holy and good to tell and of us devil legged sharing it with the four legged ND the wings of the appearance all green things for these atomic number 18 the children of genius mother and their father is integrity spirit Initially out first impression of the plains Indians from simply this reservoir, is that they are peace loving, good natured folk with pure hearts and love and discover for all creatures, we find them referring to all creatures as equal.This In whizz stylus makes them appear more civilized from their uncontaminating Ameri nonify brothers, as we pick out that the Americans did non conceptualize that humilitary personnels were equal to plants or animals. These beliefs of the plains Indians give us a first impression that instances us to disagree with the initial question. From source five on page thirteen, Black Elk describes his vision, this is probably where we, as historians may choose to question their level of civiliza tion compared to the white American folk, and tear down us.We In the 21st century certainly do non go about searching for visions and neither did the white Americans. So does this cause me to question how classed the plains Indians actually were? To be perfectly honest, no it does not. I remember it is just like if one were to question the religion of other person, the Indians did not quest for scions and talk to spirits because they were little developed and/or less civilized than us or the white Americans, it was simple their tradition and belief, more than like Islamic belief In the teachings of Muhammad.This life of conversing with spirits and questing for visions conform to them perfectly and does not change my opinions on them so far. Perhaps the irregular thing we examine In this unit Is the various rituals and dances the plains Indians took part in, at first this does not reckon to strange as it is some other one of their beliefs and traditions, stock-still after we set out studied these in ore detail we world power be somewhat shocked to learn the details of a hardly a(prenominal) dances in particular(prenominal), one of these dances (the sun dance) is considered quite a horrific and brutal In my opinion.The sun dance involves an Indian brave, having gashes cut Into his back, and ropes latched onto the flesh Inside and hung from a tree, this young brave would then partake in dancing and praying to the slap-up spirit (k instantaneouslyn as Waken Tank). This is one of the things that greatly shocked the white American people, to them it was considered horrific and taboo, they judgment such beliefs of the plains Indians were ludicrous, and caused their opinions of the commonwealths to waiver, and think them bloodthirsty and immoral. analyze the tribes, I can say I agree.This was further still another one of the Indians traditions, they knew In their hearts that good would a bloodthirsty act, peradventure it was interpreted so by t he white American people, but to the Indians it was Just a perfectly normal and customary tradition that bore no maliciousness or anything considered (to them) bloodthirsty. mournful on, we began to study in detail how the plains Indians capture and gathitherd food, namely in the form f hunting buffalo. The main trend, in which the Indians hunted buffalo was on horseback, using bows and arrows in hunting lodge to kill the game and being back the carcasses for food, and some other uses.This would reckon normal to them, so far to the white Americans it could be somewhat frowned upon and seen as barbaric, once more I disagree. When the Americans learned that the buffalo was used for more than Just inwardness one can imagine their reaction, they were not used to such interference of animals, normally the American people would Just take the meat and possibly the did. However the plains Indians used almost e very single part of the beast, including earthy of the organs and bo nes.Naturally the Americans who would obviously be afraid of their cultural differences saw this as bloodthirsty when of course the Indians were Just being practical, rather than uncivilized. I can empathic why the Americans might have design the way they did though, I mean wouldnt you be surprised if your neighbor started using dung as a form of fuel for their car? Continuing on to another significant point of reference was the family life of the lain Indians this is probably where the white American folk acquired all their assumptions of the plains Indians.To being with, the Americans probably frowned upon the fact that the Indians were always moving, I can understand why as the American people were probably settles, happy and content with where they lived, however the plains Indians always being on the go bad might have caused them to bet somewhat homeless, like a floating on the streets to the Americans perhaps? I disagree with this because I entrust that the plains Indians thought the whole plains s their homes, not Just one little settlement.Source club on page twenty dollar bill five, an extract from a book by George Cattail explains that women who are well-favoured birth pass through the painful procedure with ease, although there is little evidence to show this, perhaps this was to a fault thought uncivilized by the American folk, this might be because the women, who were simple giving birth with no huge amount of suffering, leads us to believe they encounter such labor in daily life, or have equal to such conditions, the Americans clearly could not cope with child birth in the same way that he Indian women could so they may have thought that their lives were a lot more physical, stressful and tiring compared to theirs. This however is not unfeigned in my opinion because the Indians Just went about their lives in the way that they did, and this somewhat of an adaptation was a mere side yield of their nomadic lives (being on horseback often) .Another reason that causes me to disagree with the statement is the way that children are treated, it is said on page twenty five that the children of the tribe were very rarely misbehaved, and were taught to respect all living things ND elders from birth. They were also rarely punished, and in extreme cases they merely had cold water thrown and twisted on them. This seems a lot less harsh than the way current man deals with children and also the how the American folk did too. This is another reason that makes the Indians seem more civilized in a way, as their children seemed to be a lot better behaved, despite being breast fed for longer. Moving on to and cruel.The whit American folk would care for their elders, put them in homes so they could be treated to help them live longer and elapse them happy. However old people often were Just left butt when they became too weak to travel, to die on their own. Or some even went off to die by themselves. This I must admit seems rather c ruel, but it was usually by the elders choice and so it does not seem as bad as it initially seems to be. Widows also, seemed to be dealt with in a strange manner compared to today, when a brave was killed in battle, the widow would curtly be married to another man, to keep the woman protected, and also so more children could be conceived.Moving on once more, I think that in terms of how law and order ere kept, the Indians were a lot less organized, however this worked for them very well. In source two on page twenty nine, we find that the Comanche tribe elect chief in a very unconventional way, it is said No one made him such he Just got that way. This suggests that the actual chief of the tribe was not selected because of diplomatic, politic or people skills, he Just simply seemed a goof man for the Job. This would give an impression of uncivilized behavior toward said white Americans, but once again, to them it seemed normal and thought well of. As we move on to talk bout battle s, this is probably where all the accusations of blood thirst and scratchiness matter most.The Indians had very different beliefs and ideas about battles and bravery, the most prominent precedent of this is of course, scalping. Scalping is the art of literally, cutting off an enemys scalp in the midst of battle, now this seems very harsh at first look, the poor victim doesnt of necessity have to be dead to receive this treatment, so why does it materialise? What makes these people so cruel? Is it because they are indeed, bloodthirsty and malicious? afterward careful study of various source, I o not believe so. Although to the victim, and to the historian who observes this act for the first time, it seems that this is simple bloodless in the hop up of battle, the plains Indians have very different reasons for this treatment.You see, within a tribe there are various ranks of men, these ranks are determined by how brave the particular warrior performs in battle, to touch and enemy , to steal a horse, to kill a man is all counted toward the Indians honor, to bring back an enemy scalp is not a thirst for blood or an act of cruelty, it is a prize of honor, and substantiation to the tribe that the airier is skilled in battle. These scalps are dried out and hung, or used to adorn the warriors body to show what a skilled warrior he was. However as white Americans believed bravery was achieved by simply stand up and fighting until you died for your country, naturally this reaction was probably one of fear, and perhaps disbelief.These accusations of being uncivilized and cruel are by no means true in my opinion, I believe it is down to ignorance of the white Americans who observed the Indians, it is not that they are bloodthirsty, but the clash and blatant differences in the cultures ads the more civilized in to believing so. If one was in a situation where you Were in one of these Indian tribes, you would by no means think you are bloodthirsty, uncivilized and cru el. So to conclude, I disagree with this earlier statement because I believe the Indians were Just behaving in a way which seemed normal to them, and I potently think that the Indians did not believe that they were cruel. Which I believe is what matters most. These rituals and battle procedures were important, ghostlike and normal to them, and that in my eyes does not make them bloodthirsty or malicious in