Tucker 1 Lori Tucker Professor Brown ETHS-2440-001 12 April 2012 Comparison and Contrast of Native American Culture and My Own Culture According to a piece of paper from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) Social Services, my birth mother is American Indian ½ Paiute and ½ Shoshone. My birth father was listed as an Indian and tribe unknown. That piece of paper is my only link, besides my appearance stating that I am Native American. Unfortunately, due to a closed adoption, I do not know what tribe I belong to and I ve decided that it will remain an unsolved mystery. With any good mystery, gaining more knowledge is a helpful bridge to solving clues. Even though the Paiutes share similar cultural and linguistic traits with the Northern Shoshone, they are very different. I want to share about a culture I wish I grew up with--the Paiutes. I am multicultural, my parents are both white, and I was raised in their ways. Their ways included being raised in strict LDS family, who loved country music, and being hard working. However learning about the Paiutes helped me realize why I might be drawn to certain things like gardening, different elements in nature and the importance of family unity. The main Paiute groups speak distinct languages of the Numic branches of the Uto Aztecan language family. Many groups have actively taken steps to preserve their language, which include, teaching it as a first language, developed a dictionary, story books and workbooks. History has always been oral, passed from one generation to the next. Grandparents would pass the teachings of traditional skills and stories to children. When stories were told, you had to stay awake and sometimes stories would last for two days.
Tucker 2 My main language is English. I learned Spanish in high school, however years later I can only remember a few basic words. I have the desire to learn Japanese, and it will be a class that I will take while attending school. My parents and grandparents enjoyed talking about their history and stories, or I would read stories from journals that my ancestors kept and scrapbooks. When my children were younger I would read to them before bed or whenever they asked for a story, from Dr. Seuss or other fun children books. I share history with my kids when I remember, because I don t keep a journal or a scrapbook. The Paiutes were very peaceful nomadic people, traditionally subsisted by hunting small game, and fishing, also they were skilled foragers, and horticulturalists. Their lifestyle included moving frequently following seasonal patterns according to plant harvests and animal migration. Several bands would gather for feasts if they had enough food, mainly in the fall. They developed sophisticated farms and gardens, using irrigation techniques to grow various crops such as, corn, squash, sunflowers, and beans. They were botanists, understanding plants and how to use them, using various plants, which had nutritional value and medicinal. I have a passion for food from all over the world, which helps my desire in becoming a chef. Recently I learned how to make Naan Bread, next will be Frybread. You won t find me hunting or fishing, however for culinary school, I will need to understand how to butcher certain meats and fish. I don t move according to the seasons, but I celebrate each season. I gather with family and friends, for a feast to celebrate: Chinese New Year, summer family reunion barbeque, Thanksgiving and Winter Solstice. From spring till fall you will find me in my garden. I live in a condo, which has limited me to design certain herb gardens using containers and small patches of soil, for a flower display and culinary use. One day I d like to become a Master Gardner, but while attending school I am interested in taking Plant Biology.
Tucker 3 The Paiutes tribal organizations were composed of small groups, often extended families, which were often named after a major resource or geographic feature of their home territory. Marriages were not marked by ceremony, and it meant the establishment of a joint household. Several groups would get together for dances and marriages. Currently in addition to popular American holidays, the tribes have special days to celebrate their culture and history. For example, during the summer in Cedar City, Utah the inter-tribal members and community unite in celebration for the Annual Paiute Restoration Gathering and Pow-Wow. The celebration is for the federal restored status of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah in 1980. When I was 18, I married my high school sweetheart in an art gallery and this past January we celebrated our fifteenth anniversary. My household consists of my husband and my two children. I enjoy having a small family, and I also grew up in a family of four. My family means everything to me, and I enjoy spending time with them. We enjoy cultural celebrations held in Utah. One of our favorite festivals is called Holi (Indian festival) and it is held at the Lotus Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. It is a celebration of spring by throwing bright colors on each other, spreading unity, peace and love. The Paiutes believed in many supernatural beings that manifested themselves in elements of the natural world, including dreams, ghost and the practice of animism, and shamanism. The supernatural world revolved around the activities of Wolf and Coyote, both having two necessary sides of the same all-powerful creator--the Wolf being the virtuous responsible god, while the Coyote was the trickster. There was one most-powerful spirit, called "the One Who Made the Earth," who was represented by the sun, to which they prayed and conducted rituals to. The rituals to the spirits of nature were to influence them for weather, crops and good hunting. The rituals were also presented to show respect and gratitude to the spirits of nature. Paiutes observed
Tucker 4 ceremony rituals which included, a Cry ceremony, a traditional funeral observance. The Cry ceremony includes, singers performing Salt Songs and Bird Songs, also people close to the deceased offer emotional speeches and give away the person's valuables to guests. The Paiutes converted to Christianity, particularly LDS in Utah. I grew up with the teachings of LDS, which involved my own religious ceremonies such as being sealed to my family and baptized. However I stopped attending services since I was 17. My belief is simple, as Mahatma Gandhi said Be the Change you want to see in the world. I believe in having compassion, tolerance, forgiveness and self-discipline. I want this life I am living to be in harmony, filled with love, courage and happiness. I enjoy learning about religion, it fascinates me. I enjoyed learning the symbolism of the sun and the Paiutes praying to it. I have always been drawn to the sun and moon. I don t pray to them, but it reminds me that there is something beyond this world, and I am only a small part of it. The way I honor and remember my loved ones that passed on is through Obon, an annual Japanese Buddhist event. Believing that spirits return to this world in order to visit their relatives, and celebrate with lanterns (to guide the way), eating food (leaving food out for our ancestors) and dance (for harmony and joy in this world). I could continue sharing what I learned about the Paiute culture, because I have enjoyed gaining knowledge of this tribe and trying to simplify this culture to compare to my own was very hard. There are many groups of Paiutes in Utah the Cedar, Indian Peaks, Kanosh, Koosharem, and Shivwits. Each person has a unique way of connecting to their culture, many Paiutes are traditional and live their lives traditionally or they acknowledge their heritage, but have little knowledge or interest in their traditional cultural practices. Due to personal experiences it has helped me, in not prejudging someone based on appearance, because it can be
Tucker 5 deceiving. My friends joke that I am an apple, red skin on the outside and white inside. It doesn t bug me, because I am comfortable with who I am and enjoy being multicultural. This semester I joined the American Indian Student and Leadership club at SLCC, and have met amazing people and continue to meet wonderful people. I ve learned that my friends who lived on the reservation are just like me, they are people living their life the best they can. I m grateful for the opportunities I gained this semester, I have gotten involved with activities at the Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake and my next project will be to get involved with Adopt an Elder program. As I am learning more about Native American culture, I want my children to be involved also. My daughter enjoys Pow-Wows and I would love to give her the opportunity to learn the Round Dance. My son enjoys learning French, and I am hoping together we can learn Paiute and Shoshone. I want them to fall in love in with culture like I have, which included a chance for a family reunions held in Scotland and one day to go there and see castles. I loved hearing stories of my great-grandmother coming from New Zealand and making it a place in my heart where I not only wanted to visit, but a place where I want to live. Then again if it was up to my husband China would be first destination. References Cuch, Forrest S, Gary Tom, and Ronald Holt. A History Of Utah s American Indians. Salt Lake City: Utah Division of Indian Affairs and the Utah Division of State History, 2000. Print. Hanes, Richard C., and Laurie Collier Hillstrom. Multicultural America, Paiutes. Everyculture.com. Advameg Inc, 2009. Web. 12 April 2012. <http://www.everyculture.com/multi/le-pa/paiutes.html> Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah. Paiute Indian Culture. Utahpaiutes.org. Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, 2012. Web. 12 April 2012.