Amos Marshall
American Literature
Ms. Brooks
9/13/2018
The Bull Fighters & Albion Vs. the “Indians”
Will Durant once said, “ Civilization begins with order grows with liberty and dies
with chaos.” Two great tribes, miles apart, Navajo in the Cherokee people. They shared similar weaponry and agricultural crops. But, how do these two tribes on opposite ends of the continent stack up to each other? They may be more similar than the regional differences infer.
To begin, these tribes given their regional differences did not have many
similarities, however there are a few. One very interesting fact is that both of these tribes grew the same crops which consisted of corn, beans and squash. With both tribes it was women who would tend to the crops and men who would hunt. The tribes would regularly hunt small game animals, usually using either traps or bows and arrows, other weapons that were used consisted of small knives and daggers. A sad yet very important thing these two tribes share is the story of how they were destroyed. The Cherokee were destroyed by the British mainly through warfare until the number of tribal members dwindled and the rest died on the trail of tears. The Navajo were just straight up eliminated by the Spanish in a war that didn’t last long. The two stories ultimately involve the complete wrath of the Europeans. Surprisingly, the Navajo and Cherokee tribes had two similar ways of travel, one obviously was to walk, the other was using dogs pull then. Religiously there is only on similarity these tribes share and that is religion plays a large part in their tribal culture and the way they live their everyday lives. Given the extreme regional differences it is remarkable that these two tribes even have anything remotely in common.
Furthermore, those few similarities cannot over take the overwhelming
amount of differences between these tribes. One great difference being the houses that they lived in. The Cherokee lived in log houses which were, interestingly Close to modern day houses, whereas the Navajo lived in hogans which were made from clay and could easily be destroyed in bad weather or wars. When it came to big game hunting the Navajo would hunt antelope if they could get their hands on one, the Cherokee would hunt bears and turkeys. The Cherokee would also fish in rivers sadly Navajo had no rivers to fish in, however they did have sheep which meant they raise livestock, something the Cherokee didn’t have available to them. The very big reason why these tribes are so different because the Navajo are from the region which is now known as New Mexico and the Cherokee or from the region known as the present day Carolinas (north and south).
Cultural differences are just as overwhelming as the regional ones. Firstly, the Navajo
were largely polytheistic (which means they believed in many gods) the Cherokee however, largely monotheistic (which means they believed in one god) after settlement of the Europeans. The Cherokee were far more receptive and open minded to another religion when it was introduced to them by Europeans, the Navajo rejected monotheistic religion and thought the idea was preposterous. When people of the Navajo tribe had extra time on their hands, they would play shoe game which we instill trust, honor, and loyalty if done correctly. In contrast, the Cherokee with play a game which is now known as lacrosse, and is now played throughout the United States. Contrary to common belief, it is the Cherokee who created the game lacrosse. Despite both tribes being peaceful nature, both had cruel and undeniably horrific methods of warfare. The Navajo tribe would ride horses well holding either spears or swords in charge at their enemy, the results were almost always lethal. Whereas the Cherokee used a variety of weapons which included a Warhammer, a tomahawk, and rifles which were introduced to them by the Europeans. The Cherokee were also some of the founders of guerrilla warfare. All brutality aside, tribes needed a way to get around the Navajo typically use horses or walked to get where they need to go. The Cherokee usually used canoes to travel long distance is and walked short distances. The transpirational variety between the two tribes is due solely to the fact that Navajo were surrounded by desert and the charity surrounded by forests as well as mountains.
Great civilizations can grow in rise up above all, but all will crumble when chaos gross
too strong to endure. That was the tragic fate both the Navajo and Cherokee faced. The two tribes lived in different regions of the country with a very cultures, food, travel and houses. However, neither were safe from the wrath Europe brought upon them. In the end, despite how the version they were, they both fell.
Work Cited
http://navajopeople.org/navajo-history.htm
http://www.native-languages.org/navajo-legends.htm
http://www.native-languages.org/cherokee-legends.htm
http://www.cherokeemuseum.org/exhibits/story-of-the-cherokee
https://www.manataka.org/page1887.html