With all the social issues advancing political and mainstream ideology in America today, it is hard not to focus on our ever-changing society which promises in many ways to embrace tolerance and equality.
Not every push for tolerance and equality is revolutionary however, and I am often reminded that our indigenous Native American people were truly ahead of their time in many ways.
Before I explain how, I would like to acknowledge the ignorance of many young people in today's learning society on their knowledge of most matters of Native American history. An argument is often made that American education breeds ignorance in many topics, but I am not convinced of that, which I might choose to blog about some other time. I am however, saddened by the lack of knowledge and education in almost all Native American history and importance. Few American history classes give a respectable amount of information about American Indians, when they are so vital to the history of our nation.
I don't claim to be an expert on Native American tribes or history, but I am fascinated by their culture and they are one of my true interests. In a Humanities class I had last semester I did a presentation on a Native American version of how fire came into being. I started my presentation, mostly out of curiosity, with a question. I asked how many people in the class could name five Native American Tribes. I hardy got any answers. To me, I find this to be as important as learning the lines to our National Anthem. It is part of the history. It is part of our culture as Americans.
I think people today would be more interested if they knew how dynamic and progressive the tribes of North America could be.
On the importance of Equality. In many Native American tribes, women held a most crucial role in society. They were often held in high esteem. When a young brave wed a woman within his tribe, it was the woman's family that the brave moved in with. Similarly, if the woman became upset with the man for any issues in their union, it was a common for plains tribes women to put the men out of their tipis. Men would come home to find all of their belongings outside of the tipi they shared with their spouse. This concept shows how much more progressive Native Americans were on equality.
It has also come to my attention that on matters of tolerance and gender roles, many Native tribes believed in the idea of "Two-Spirit" people. A "Two Spirit" person was a transgender individual, such as a man who would wear womens clothing. Instead of being shunned by the tribe, although I'm sure not all were fully accepted, they were often given special tasks and roles within the tribe; sometimes they were even given shaman and medicine man roles.
How awesome and accepting is that? In an age where hardly any "civilized" society treated women with any respect, the Native Americans were already viewing women as important figures in the tribe, and working on the acceptance of transgender and homosexual individuals.
Much can be learned from studying the past, and in the instance of the Native Americans, we could even stand to emulate them in more than a few ways; let alone learn more about the culutre and people that were here before us.
Regards,
S.J.Hernandez
