Native American Lifestyle

Improved Essays
As I read through the material, it became clear that, out of practical necessity and proximity, the Native American tribes developed region-specific lifestyles that primarily revolved around their food sources. Sustenance equaled life. For those Coastal natives who had the bountiful waters (both sea and freshwater) for their primary food source, it was sensible to set up permanent homes and communities along the coasts and adapt their diets, tools, clothing, entertainment, transportation, social hierarchies, and overall lifestyles to the water from which they could hunt, gather, and “recycle” back into the sea its naturally-replenished provisions. The Coastal people had no need to farm at all, or to hunt and forage inland because they were already rich in resources, and the culture revered those who accumulated “wealth” within those boundaries. For natives of the Plateau, however, while they could still set up seasonal villages or encampments near rivers for the bountiful fishing and water sources, they also needed to move away to summer camps to hunt, cultivate, and gather in order to round out their access to food and other natural resources throughout the year. Their seasonal moves and activities became less logistically challenging once they acquired and bred herds of horses, and they eventually became well-known for their expertise in that arena, with horses becoming their currency and the unit by which they measured wealth. Unlike the Coastal or Plateau people groups, the natives of the Great Basin needed to carve out their lives from a vastly barren, desert environment. Except for those who lived in the regions of a few rivers, Great Basin tribes were essentially required to live a nomadic existence of scavenging and foraging for seeds, roots, etc.; hunting small prey including reptiles; and rarely setting down their own cultural roots or building community among their families or tribes. Even when they acquired horses, the mindset did not change to “let’s move to a fertile, rich environment,” but instead some became raiders and marauders in order to still eke out a living in their home region of the Great Basin, while others on horseback were simply better able to hunt buffalo. While they lacked a cohesive community or wealth, these nomadic groups did converge …show more content…
As seen the world-round, when Europeans arrived, they brought diseases (even the common cold or flu could kill someone who’d never been exposed to such a thing). The travelers certainly brought to the natives a wealth of new and useful items, like horses, guns, and metal products, but even those who explored with good intentions could not stop the spread of germs and death along with the “advancements” they offered. And, being Europeans, the tribal/regional leadership (when it existed) did not suffice to meet their legal needs, so new methods of government were pushed on the natives in order for the exploring countries to “acquire” lands that the natives did not believe belonged to anyone to begin with. The arrival of such pushy new neighbors quickly led to drastic changes to the tribal balances that had been in place in much of this region. Initially, that may have only seemed annoying or inconvenient, but eventually, the European and American expansion into the area proved catastrophic for the indigenous people groups

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