Essay On Native American Identity

What do you see when you look at a Native American? Many people see their beautiful dances, the jewelry and clothes, long dark hair and copper-colored skin. But what makes them who they are? The teachings of their culture help mold them as an individual. Now, what do you see when you look at a Christian? They probably look like ordinary people. Some wear their spirituality on their sleeve, others may need a little more time to know where their faith lies. Two different spirits collide many times because of how their faith teaches them to find their identity.
Heath White outlines the three concepts of the self in his chapter of Postmodernism 101. I will examine these concepts and their effect of a cultural collision between the Native American communities I grew up in and the spiritual home I grew up knowing. Many of the traditional concepts aren’t written concerning Navajo and Pueblo beliefs. I will rely on an …show more content…
Grim, of Bucknell University, “Cultural Identity, Authenticity, and Community Survival…” explores Native American identity as a whole. Although it focuses on the political recognition of the American Indian studies, it helps incorporate the concept of self that has helped understand the perspective of the American Indian religions. He demonstrated the traditional thinking that many children, myself included, were raised to believe about our identity. He states a problem with Native identity, “Native American identity has rarely been understood in its cultural and social setting in mainstream America.” Because of this it is very difficult to put identity into words. There is an inability for a Non-Native to truly capture the perspective of the importance of practices and ceremonies without knowing the significance than can only be learned by participating in the practices. It is the practices of your community that will help you find your identity and make you in the person that “the Creator” wants you to