native people question?

Question

okay i am really confused about the Native culture (canada)
and i have a LOT of questions & you'll probably think i'm dumb but here it goes :

What's a tribe?
What do tribes do?
How are you part of one?

and also, today i heard a couple people talking about being a wolf thing or a bear, i don't know but whats that about?

and i'm talking about here in London, Ont specifically if that changes anything

lol thanks

Answer 1

Well, a tribe is sort of like a community of people(s) somewhat loosely related to each other in the sense of an extended family with specific customs and rituals.

Tribes were traditionally smallish groups separated by sometimes considerable distance the result of which was differing dialects based on a similar language.

The farther apart these bands were from each other the less common their language, so language itself becomes a separator and custom becomes less familiar; thus a different tribe comes into existence.

Most actually prefer to be referred to as "bands" rather than "tribes" because the word tribe is an old European term.

As to what they do? They live and work just like people in any other community. They try to maintain their culture and traditions though it is difficult in modern day America to do so.

You become a part of a tribe by being born into one or marrying into one. Rarely you can be "adopted" into one.

Within a given band there exist "clans" that emulate the characteristics of different animals such as the bear, wolf and so on in their dance and in their art. They incorporate images of these animals and use the image as a totem, or charm as it were.

The white mans not quite equivalent is something like the elk's club although the Natives approach is arguably more spiritual.

Answer 2

Complicated.

Europeons coming to North America really interfered with the cultures of the Native Peoples.

Clans were smaller than tribes and tribes were smaller than nations.

You have Mohawk College in Hamilton area named after the Mohawk peoples.

To the north was Huronia which was populated by the Huron peoples.

To your east were the Algonkians and the Iroquois.

Naming people after animals was to demonstrate they shared characteristics with the animal.

Being of European descent I cannot offer much help further but,

there are lots of books out there.

See if you can find a copy of the grade school textbook "Canada a New Land" which is dated but still a good starting point.

Maybe there are plaques around such sites as Ipperwash or Huronia you can check out.

Trent University in Peterborough was the first to offer academic courses in Native Studies. Others have followed suit.

You might like to check out Fanshawe or University of Western Ontario for more than I can suggest here.

There is a Senator of Mi'c Ma'c descent in Maritime Canada who works at educating us, Professor Daniel (Danny) Paul. You can try Googling him.

Good luck.

Answer 3

a tribe is the same thing as a family.

the white people call it family and the native americans call it a tribe.





the men in the tribes used to do the hunting, fishing and protecting.





the women had children.

cooked.

helped build the homes.





you native american if you have native american blood.

if you are 25% or more native american you can be registered with the tribe and get a tribal roll number and help with college and financial help from the reservation.



if you are less then 25% native american you are not considered a native american but you still have native american heritage.



i myself am 3% native american so i'm considered white but i still have indian blood.





here are some links for you.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States







http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_(Americas)







http://www.native-languages.org/kids.htm







http://www.ewebtribe.com/NACulture/





pocahontas was a famous native american.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocahontas

Answer 4

Native americans are migrants from eastern asian just like anyone else and are taking advantage of our government. capish!