Let's start by writing something. You can post your thoughts as a comment to this blog post --
Read or re-read: (1) the Christian Science Monitor story on the Thanksgiving myth; (2) the handout from Blue Cloud Abbey on Lakota cultural values linked below; and (3) the Anchorage Daily News on Thanksgiving in an Eskimo village. Then answer these questions:
A. What differences do you find between the way people in the general American majority (European-American) culture and American Indians/Alaska Natives look at Thanksgiving? What specific Lakota cultural values are similar to or the same as the values expressed by Wampanoag Indians interviewed for the Christian Science Monitor article?
B. The Eskimo traditions for sharing the meat from a successful whale hunt are very old. How do they reflect the cultural values of the people there? Compare the ADN article to the list of Alaska Native Values and Iñupiaq Cultural Values available on the Alaska Native Knowledge Network website.
C. How do the Lakota, Wampanoag and Alaska Native values expressed in these readings compare to our own values? Which seem to you to specifically reflect Native culture? Which seem to be common human values shared by everyone?
22 comments:
A)In Indian Thanksgiving, they focus on thanking each other for the hard work put in and for the whales giving themselves to the community. In American Thanksgiving, we obviously don't appreciate a turkey, or a ham for giving themselves up. Maybe some do, but mostly our Thanksgiving is a time to gather as a family.
B)The sharing of the meat is symbolic because it shows how they can use every bit of the whale, and not waste it. Also, it shows how they can cooperate with each other, and distribute the whale evenly by sharing.
C) The main common value that I noticed was the fact that they focused on family. Family is a large part of just about every cultures values. This is the main thing that both of our Thanksgivings share and have in common.
As Americans, we value food and socializing with our family on Thanksgiving. When the Indians first started celebrating Thanksgiving, food was not their main concern. They did not thrive on the turkey and sweet potatoes like we do today.
Alaskan Native values seem to be very optimistic about life. The Inupiat Ilitquasiat Indians value respect for all things, as well as a person knowing where they stand in society.
From the comparison of the Lakota Indians, they value communication by word of mouth, rather then writing and recording the information in a book. Which is what we do. The Indians base their time from natural time, such as the sunrising and setting, while we judge time by a clock.
A. European-Americans to me view Thanksgiving as a Holiday to give thanks for more narrow-minded views. Thank you for good health, blessing the family, and football on HDTV. To Natives and Alaskan cultures, it seems to be more about nature. It's a time to celebrate the land and all that it provides for us.
B. They are clsoely similar. It's amazing how some cultures are so precise on how they conduct themselves. It's like a religion. It just seems to me like Americans have so many different ways of life and ways they go about that we don't have set cultural proceedings but that having the lack of structure is what we pride ourselves on.
C. Value yourself, your family, and your God or anti god. w/e the case may be.
A) The indians focused more on giving thanks to god for their bountiful harvest. We use Thanksgiving for a time to eat a lot of food and get fat.
B)The eskimos did a great job of sharing their food. Both of these cultures believed and exercized the right to share what they had and survive as a family.
C)All of these passages relate to each other because they all made a specil effort to share with each other. I think evreyone knows that they need to share what they have, but it's whether they do it or not.
Thanksgiving, to us is focusing on food and family and most of the time in that order which is a said thing to begin with. on the other hand in indian tradition the are more thankfull for the hard work there peers put in and thats what they give thanks for.
B. To me this act is symbolic, it means that as a whole they can accomplish anything like eating a whole whale as individuals they are nothing.
C. there values however altered the may be to modern life are not much different from ours. they are thankfull for their family because that is what they care for the most.
What Thanksgiving is about today is togetherness with the family, turkey, and all the other food. Back when the Pilgrims and Indians celebrated Thanksgiving, they did not look at it in that way. Thanksgiving to them was a time to go out and harvest and kill their own food. This was so they would have enough to celebrate Thanksgiving.
The cultural values that are expressed in the Lakotas and Wampanoag are family, peace, health, sharing, religion, and happiness. Just to name a few. All of these values are what they wanted to express at their Thanksgiving.
There are many similarities in the cultural values of the Alaskan Native values and Inupiaq cultural values. They are: sharing, respect for others, honoring your elders, and spirituality. These are all the values that both of these tribes have in common. Each of these values expresses what each tribe believes in. These values also express how the tribes believe each member should live their life.
An indian thanksgiving is basically a thanks to the men who put their lifes on the line to bring in a good hunt. The american thanksgiving is focused around family, but is mainly about how much we can stuff our faces and then watch football.
The tradition of sharing the meat from a successfull whale hunt shows that these people do not just care about themselves, like we do, but they care about their whole community. Both the Alaskan natives and the inupiaq share this concept along with many others.
I think a lot of their culltural walues are different than ours. The natives seem to accept life like it is and we feel we have the power to change it. Family is the one thing we both have in common. In all cultures family is number one.
in part A I found that the differences between the way people in the general American majority culture and American Indians/ Alaska Natives look at Thanksgiving would be how when it comes to celebrating Thanksgiving people from the American Culture, loves to play football outside along with the day after Thanksgiving people like to enjoy the day by getting up early and go shopping, and then watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on television.
The specific Lakota cultural values that are similar to the Wampanoag Indians would be the way they came about to make Thanksgiving the way it is today and Thanksgiving was really a tool for making America the way it is on the great influrnce of immigration.
B. The way people share the same cultural values would be how they get their daily food supplies by fishing in a nearby lake or river, and by how both tribes have to work extremely hard to get where they need to go in life.
C. the things that are the same in our own culture would be how we have to work hard for what we want out of life like they do, and people in our culture have to honor our elders because if we do that then our elders will be able to tell us little different things about life.
For wampanoag indian people, Thanksgiving was an everyday thing for the people who hunted and killed animals. They would say a prayer afterwards. The Natives believe that all the young people have forgotten what it was like on thanksgiving and they say its not all about the food. They also believe it was to bind the diverse population into one union. Indian values was a tradtion for anyone who went out and hunted. Btoht he Alaska native and inupiaq values have very many similarities including, respect for others and sharing, taking care...
The Lakota, Wampanag and Alaska Native values somewhat compare to my own values, i believe it is not all about the food and we if we go out and hunt or fish, we dont celebrate with a prayer. We have thanksgiving one time a year and it usually consist of the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries...ext.also they believe to value yourself.
I think when Americans generally think about Thanksgiving they think about getting together with their family and eating a big meal with turkey, potatoes, dressing, and rolls. They usually think of watching football or the parade. Most Americans look forward to shopping the next day and getting great deals. I don't think the Indians thought of Thanksgiving in the same way. In the article is says they probably did not even have turkey, cranberry sauce, or potatoes. They actually had to go and gather their food, unlike us now who pick it up at a grocery store. They were actually "thankful" for things, unlike us who tend to forget that aspect of Thanksgiving. Also they did not just eat with their immediate family they ate with strangers and shared the food with everyone.
I liked the article "Whale of a Feast" because these people always follow their traditions. They still go out and hunt their food for Thanksgiving. Although, it is not turkey, they still go out and hunt. Every year they have whale and people who are not native are suprised to see this. They spend weeks just cutting up they whale, unlike us who hardly like to cook for 3 hours. One native said "its about respecting nature." Also every year the elders tell stories of past Thanksgivings and people dance to honor the whaling crews.
I feel the their culture is way different than ours. They seem to respect things more and are thankful for every little things that happens. They are not lazy like us, they still hunt and gather their food and none of it is wasted. We tend to throw stuff away all the time. We seem to be so busy and forget to just look around and see the beauty of the world.
In American society I think we view Thanksgiving as a time to gather as a family. However, I don't think we really think about why we gather, I think it is just a tradition that we have become accustomed to. In the native culture it seems as if they use Thanksgiving as a time to show their appreciation for the land and all that it provides for them, they seem to really take in the meaning of Thannksgiving.
I'd say they are similar. It's interesting how the natives gather as a community, in American society we usually have Thanksgiving with our family.
The cultural goals for the two seperate native cultures are kind of similar. Both emphasize the importance of respecting your elders, sharing, and being spiritual.
A. i think that the main difference is the sense of thanks that the native americans give to the animals they eat. they thank them for giving themselves up so they can have food. In today's culture we dont say thank you to the turkey for giving up its life. we are more thankful for the turkey.
B. People in the community care about eachother and are not just worried about themselves. This is shown in the traditional whale hunt. Both cultures are similar like this, they look out for everyone.
C. Many of there cultural values are different than our today but i believe this is because we live in a completely different world today. we do share some values like family.
A. General Americans look at thanksgiving as just a holiday and I think kind of take it for granted. Native Americans look at it as a time to rejoice and be thankful for everything that there ancestors have done. They actually believe in a lot of the same therories surprisingly. We both are big into religion and believe that hapiness is the way to go.
B. They both believe in respecting others inculding elders which is a very important quality to have. Although the Inupiaq native cultures tend to respect more or at least go into detail about respecting more Such as nature. They seem to both believe deeply that respecting and honoring your elders is very important part of life. I agaree with that because of the fact that they deserve that respect.
C. I believe some of the values these native americans believe in are an everyday thing to me also. Such as respecting others I do that everyday. I also believe in hard worksuch as one of the tribes. Although some of there values are a little bit overwheming I think most of them used everyday in America by are common population. Most of the respect values are used in our socity today
Alaska Native Cultures
Out of the 10 values listed, we may value 3. Show respect, honor the elders, and take care of others.
Inupiaq Cultural Values
17 values listed. Some are the same values as the Alaskan yet some different. There are some Americans that value knowledge of language. Some people speak proper and others could care less. Avoidance of Conflict. Do you know how many people like to start drama??
Lakota Values
They would communicate by word of mouth. That means going to find the person that they wish to speak to. Do we go out of our way to find someone when we need to talk? No. We send a quick email or text. We don't value face to face conversations anymore.
I could never imagine eating whale. GROSS. And then on top of that caribu, moose, and seal. I'm glad the American tradition is eating turkey along with all the other trimmings.
It is amazing to see the different values and traditions. You really do learn something new everyday.
A. Our Thanksgiving in my opinion, is great, I love the food and the company of my family. I guess you can say that my family is my tribe, and we try to help each other out as much as possible. The values expressed by the Wamponoag and the Lakota have a lot of similarities. They both respect their elders, which I believe that our culture isn’t doing enough of. Instead, we stick or elders in to retirement facilities that basically don’t care about them. All the workers care about is how much they are getting paid. Also they both have the value of patience, unlike a lot of us here in the United States. We want everything now, not later, but now. But we live in a world were everything is go go go, we rarely have time to stop and smell the flowers, or even help an elderly women cross the road. In the native culture, they seem to be non-competitive with each other, but instead they try to work together to get the job done. Unlike our culture, everyone is basically out for themselves, trying to better themselves. THE NATIVES WERE ON TO SOMETHING ABOUT THE VALUE SYSTEM.
B. Giving makes you grow as a person, they believe in sharing with everyone in their tribe/group. “All for one, and one for all.” I have a problem; I try to make everyone around me happy, by giving, sharing ect…. I really enjoy learning about these cultures that are so “down to earth” about values and morals.
C. My parents always raised me to respect my elders, Be kind and loving towards others, and always look at the brighter side of life. Things can happen, but everything happens for a reason, and it’s up to you to understand why it happened. I have always been very optimistic about life, and I think it has helped me grow spiritually and emotionally as a person.
A)I think people in the American fulture view thanksgiving as a day to spend with the family. On Thanksgiving day, each family enjoys a large feast, usually consisting of a boughten turkey, with each other and have the rest of the day to share time with each other. The natives look at Thanksgiving as a time to thank the spirits and appreciate everything around them. In one article a native man says that, "the spirit coming from the southeast, where the corn and bean ans apuash come from. So we thank the spirit world - the fire, the moon, the sky, the sun, the earth." I think they look deeper into Thanksgiving than we do.
B)It reminds them that they live in a unique land and for a creature that size to give itself to the community is a real honor. They all share the whale and respect it.
C)Values that stuck out to me was the fact that they value their falmilies and the way that they share with eathother and respect everything.
a) In the American Indian and Alaska Native's culture seems more based on the group rather than individuality. The American majority seems like everyone is in it for themselves (except for a select few).
b) Sharing the meat in the Eskimo tribe just relects on how unselfish they are as a whole. As one person prospered everyone prospered.
c) Again, Indian values are those of unselfishness, while our culture is opposite. Commoon values are Religion, Family, Work, and etc. among different cultures in the human world
A)I feel that the Americans celebrate Thanksgiving in a different way then the American Indians/Alaska Natives. Americans get together as a family gathering on Thanksgiving. The families usually make our traditional Thanksgiving meal and eat the meal together as families. I feel that the Indians celebrate all that they have done to make the meal possible. They really think about the meaning of "thanks" in their Thanksgiving meal.
B) I feel that sharing the meat shows how nice the people in that culture are. The Alaska Native and the Iñupiat Ilitquasiat are caring people. They take care of others and they share the things that they have with other people. They all work hard for the things that they have.
C)I do feel that the cultures are different in the way that we look at things in life. They work hard for all the things that they have in life, as well as we do, but I feel that the way they work for things in their lives are different then ours. But I do feel that we all have the same idea of "thanks".
A) Americans do not take holidays, for example Thanksgiving, very serious any more and it's all about food and shopping. As Americans we tend to commericalize everything. Native Americans and Alaskan Native look at things from a different aspect. They see Thanksgiving as a time to give thanks and a time to shoe respect to one another.
B)The Alaskan value seem to concentrate more on the respect of other and different things. While Inupiaq values are based more around knowledge.
C)The fact that these other cultures have respect for knowledge and each others is something everyone can benefit from and something they have in common with me!!
To me it seems like Alaska Natives live life like their in a perfect lille world where theirs no problems. As we no thats not true @ all. Ps don't forget i give you a hard copy of the questions you asked me to anwers.
A)Americans focus on stuffing themselves and watching the Macy's Parade and which football teams are playing. The day has more meaning to Native Americans. Native Americans are thankful for family and nature. Americans are thankful for football and the fact that they only have to deal with their in-laws for a couple hours.
B)Thanksgiving is symbolic to everyone. Cultures celebrate and recognize the holiday different ways.
C)The common value of Thanksgiving is being thankful. Whether it is being thankful for food, shelter, family, football, whatever it may be.
In the Indian thanksgiving it is more it seems more spiritual. The americanized thanksgiving seems to focus more on shopping, football, and eating as much as you can. There seems to be no sentimental value in it.
The way the eskimos shared there food is very special. They work together and for that they all get an equal share of the whale.
They focus on the value of life and taking it how it is. We do though value family in the same way in my eyes.
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