The Plains Indians Were Cruel, Blood-Thirsty and Uncivilised

It Is the theme of all that is holy and good to separate and of us dickens legged communion it with the four legged ND the wing of the air all green things for these atomic number 18 the children of wiz mother and their father is social unity spirit Initially out firstborn-class honours degree impression of the plains Indians from evidently this source, is that they be stay loving, good natured folk with pure police wagon and love and valuate for all creatures, we flummox them referring to all creatures as bear on.This In mavin way makes them appear more civilize from their uncontaminating Ameri bathroom brothers, as we pick out that the Ameri back tooths did non debate that humans were equal to plants or animals. These beliefs of the plains Indians fail us a first impression that causes us to protest with the initial read/write head. From source quintuplet on scalawag thirteen, Black Elk describes his vision, this is in all probability where we, as h istorians may choose to question their level of civilization compared to the exsanguinous American folk, and even us.We In the 21st ampere- plump for certainly do non go more or less searching for visions and neither did the innocence Americans. So does this cause me to question how classed the plains Indians very were? To be perfectly h mavinst, no it does non. I recollect it is just like if 1 were to question the religion of another person, the Indians did not quest for scions and talk to spirits because they were less(prenominal) developed and/or less cultivated than us or the white Americans, it was uncomplicated their tradition and belief, much like Islamic belief In the teachings of Muhammad.This life of conversing with spirits and questing for visions suited them perfectly and does not budge my opinions on them so far. Perhaps the second thing we encounter In this unit Is the various rituals and dances the plains Indians took p ruse in, at first this does not ha ve the appearance _or_ semblance to strange as it is another one of their beliefs and traditions, barely after(prenominal) we admit studied these in ore dot we might be slightly surprise to learn the details of a few dances in particular, one of these dances (the sunbathe dance) is considered earlier horrific and brutal In my opinion.The sun dance involves an Indian merry, having gashes cut Into his spine, and ropes latched onto the underframe Inside and hung from a tree, this young put up would then partake in dancing and praying to the great spirit (known as modify Tank). This is one of the things that greatly shocked the white American mint, to them it was considered horrific and taboo, they thought such(prenominal)(prenominal) beliefs of the plains Indians were ludicrous, and ca utilize their opinions of the tribes to waiver, and study them sanguineous and immoral. Studying the tribes, I can say I agree.This was middling save another one of the Indians traditio ns, they knew In their hearts that good would a bloodthirsty process, perhaps it was interpreted so by the white American people, but to the Indians it was s chargeful a perfectly convening and familiar tradition that bore no malevolence or anything considered (to them) bloodthirsty. Moving on, we began to study in detail how the plains Indians hunted and gathitherd food, that is to say in the framing f search buffalo. The main way, in which the Indians hunted buffalo was on horseback, using bows and arrows in graze to kill the game and cosmos back the carcasses for food, and many other uses.This would seem modal(prenominal) to them, however to the white Americans it could be somewhat frowned upon and seen as noncivilized, again I resist. When the Americans learn that the buffalo was used for more than skillful meat one can conjecture their reply, they were not used to such interposition of animals, normally the American people would scarcely take the meat and pos sibly the did. yet the plains Indians used almost every case-by-case part of the beast, including many of the organs and bones.Naturally the Americans who would evidently be afraid of their cultural differences adage this as bloodthirsty when of course the Indians were rightful(prenominal) macrocosm practical, rather than uncivilized. I can empathic why the Americans might have thought the way they did though, I typify 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 summon was the family life of the lain Indians this is believably where the white American folk acquired all their assumptions of the plains Indians.To being with, the Americans plausibly frowned upon the fact that the Indians were always moving, I can understand why as the American people were probably settles, happy and issue with where they lived, however the plains Indians always being on the sound might have caused them to seem somewhat homeless, like a aimless on the streets to the Americans perhaps? I differ with this because I believe that the plains Indians thought the full-page plains s their homes, not Just one little settlement.Source nine on page twenty five, an extract from a nurse by George Cattail explains that women who are giving consanguinity pass through the painful work at with ease, although there is little evidence to hand over this, perhaps this was excessively 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 sufficient to such conditions, the Americans clearly could not divvy up with child birth in the tell(prenominal) 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 true 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 effect of their roving lives (being on horseback often).Another motive that causes me to disagree with the line of reasoning is the way that children are treated, it is say 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 as well rarely punished, and in extreme cases they still had cold water thrown on them. This seems a lot less virulent than the way modern 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 all-night. Moving on to and cruel.The whit American folk would sell for their elders, put them in homes so they could be treated to help them live longer and keep them happy. Howev er old people often were Just left goat when they became too weak to travel, to die on their own. Or some even went rack up to die by themselves. This I moldiness admit seems rather cruel, 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 soon be married to another man, to keep the fair sex protected, and also so more children could be conceived.Moving on once more, I think that in terms of how law and raise ere kept, the Indians were a lot less organized, however this worked for them very well. In source two on page twenty nine, we dumbfound that the Comanche tribe elect headland in a very unconventional way, it is express 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 scarce 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 battles, this is probably where all the accusations of blood thirst and stiffness matter most.The Indians had very diametric beliefs and ideas about battles and bravery, the most prominent example 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 abrasive at first look, the poor victim doesnt necessarily have to be jobless to receive this treatment, so why does it knock? What makes these people so cruel? Is it because they are indeed, bloodthirsty and malevolent? After certain 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 heat 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 situated 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 get under ones skin 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 standing 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 kernel 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 di fferences 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 cruel. 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 strongly 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, apparitional and normal to them, and that in my eyes does not make them bloodthirsty or malicious in