The Indians are viewed in a very generic way. All Indians are viewed the same. Depicted with painted faces, feathers, bows and arrows, and red skin. . All Indians are regarded as hunters and gatherers. Some see the Indians as peaceful people and others see them as war-like. In both cases they are wild, living among the forests in the so-called Edenic paradise.

In some way all of these generalizations are correct. The reality is that only certain tribes acted in certain ways at certain times. Most if not all of the Indian tribes were very civilized people. They were very spiritual and had great pride and respect for each other.

Like the Europeans there was a certain way of fighting in a battle. It was set up like a stage. An example is when the Sioux and the Hidasta were going to go to battle. "Warriors fought for prestige or revenge and waged ritualized battles in which counting coup carried more honor than inflicti

One of the newest events in Indian History is the fact the Casinos are coming about by the Indians and they are making tons of money off of this. In one respect it gives off the wrong idea about Indians on the other hand it is a modern way for the Indian to take back some of what was taken from them. "In battle Indian warriors did not abandon traditional beliefs and rituals; if anything they reaffirmed and intensified them because the need for spiritual protection was greater than ever (72)." To this day the Indians are still holding on and now perhaps even making a comeback.

So much was stripped from the Indians in such a short period of time. All that they knew in life was either taken or changed without their consent and sometimes knowledge. If the white man today knew the horrific stories of the Indians perhaps there would be some change. "After five hundred years of contact, Indians and Whites are still trying to work out their relations, and Indians continue to fight to hold on to the things they deem essential (206)."

The plains Indians based their life on the hunting of the buffalo. Many of them farmed as well. The Pawnee Indians drew charts of stars on elk skins and then arranged their villages so that their lodges would then be in the same formations. They thought of this as an intermediary between the heavens and the earth (56). The Quakers in 1875 sought out the Pawnees and tried to civilize them. They tried to make them give up hunting and to live solely on farming. "Ignoring the fact that the Pawnees had been farmers for hundreds of years- they grew ten varieties of corn, eight types of beans, and seven kinds of squash and Pumpkins (56)." They were missing the fact that the Pawnees used the meat to give to the gods. The Quakers saw this as their chance to civilize the Pawnees and to save them from there savage ways of life (57).

ng casualties (71)." The Sioux and the Hidastas were fighting over a contest of war medicines to see whose was stronger. Much time was spent putting on the war paint and moving teepees towards the battle sight so that the women and children could watch.

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Approximate Word count = 1429
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)