Characteristics Of Native Americans

What does it mean to be native? I went into this project pondering this question. The answer I got wasn 't as I expected, it was coded and confusing just like the people I observed. When you think native one might think feathers, yelling, horses and shooting things with bows and arrows. While there may be feathers and yelling these isn 't as much as you think. I wanted to learn about this culture and the way its people live because this is my heritage that I was never able to be a part of. You see the native people are a very peaceful people who feel they have a sort of connection to everything around them. It 's a shame that everything isn 't sunshine and flowers with these people they refer to themselves as the forgotten people. No one really …show more content…
The people I interviewed are closer than I’ve seen most blood families. Respect is very important in the native culture. When and elder enters a room you must greet them and give your utmost attention. Now Elder does not only refer to the old, it refers to anyone older than you. My brother and I were sitting in a classroom and the children were to greet us and be polite since we were ‘The little elders’. Elders are seen as someone who teaches and helps the young grow. The respect is not one way the Elders must also be kind and respectful the young. It may seem like the elders may be scary but no, when we were studying these kids, an old woman named Grams walked in, the room went from calm to excited in a few seconds the kids ran up to her to give her a hug to shake her hand. She greeted each child with the same respect she did the adults. She then walked to my brother and me and greeted us with kindness and a sense of welcome. The Native people recognize that there are different tribes and they love their tribes but they see each other as one people. They identify as a native because they were born with native blood or raised in the native ways. While they love their people they do welcome outsiders to join them every once in awhile. My brother and I were welcomed more readily than most because we were kind and do in fact have native blood. The people we interviewed were Ayanna, Cameron, Crow Medina, Grams, Jerry lassos and his wife. Each of these people come from a different generation and each had a different lesson to teach. The closest to our age were Ayanna and Cameron they taught us a lot about pride. They told us it’s important to know what your tribe went through because it shows the true strength of the native people no matter what hardships the native people faced, they never gave up the fight. Grams and jerry come from a much older