The term Native Americans refers to the First Nations, or the indigenous peoples of the Americas who include Aboriginal peoples in Canada and the indigenous people in the US. The Native Americans have beaten suppression through history and maintained a distinctive cultural identity to date. Currently, there are about 2.5 million Natives in the US and 1 million in Canada, called the First Nations[1]. Though modernity has threatened the resolve of the Natives to keep their unique cultural persona intact, they have strongly preserved as much of their roots as possible[2].

The Native tribes also commonly known as Indians have recently through various avenues regained a recognized status in today’s world diminishing a misguided stereotype that they are an extinct people. For example, the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the Department of Interior specifically caters for Indian affairs a factor that has been important in keeping the tribes relevant in the US. The tribes now exist as sovereign nations within the federal governments in the about 300 reservations under tribal councils who create the governmental link[3]. An example is the Cherokee Nations in Oklahoma[4].

There have also been notable efforts by Native Americans to learn and speak their native languages as a way of preserving their cultural heritage. The older generations are concerned with carrying over this unique culture to the next generations and teaching the ancient language has been vital. Equally, more Americans have been identifying themselves as Native Americans in census a show of pride for their Indian identity. This has also been seen in the involvement of Natives in drama, music and film which has helped in broadcasting the Native cultural identities.

The Native Americans have on a remarkable level held on to their traditional ceremonies which only a people so keen on preserving their cultural identity would have kept alive. These include religious ceremonies such as the powwows which are currently also attended by non-Indians. Inasmuch as successive government efforts almost eroded the traditions and especially religion, a good number still practice the Peyote religion and maintained Indian healing practices. A distinctive tradition which has seen a renaissance in recent times among the Indians is the whale hunting ceremony which had not been done for over seventy years.

The ancient properties of the Native Americans have also been maintained as unique objects of the tribes. The Indians have defended the looting of Indian graves and reclaimed sacred items of the tribes such as; burial goods, skeletal remains and other sacred objects taken from them. These distinctive items of the tribes have gathered many tourists to the reserves and museums spectators who come to behold just how much a tribe’s cultural identity has weathered the highly solvent nature of the 21st century[5]. Without a doubt, the over 800 Native American tribes are a model of preservation for any cultural identities facing the threat of extinction or absorption into the foreign ways of life that corrode that which has existed for centuries[6].

References

[1] United States Census 2000, United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census; Destruction of Native Americans (www.english-online.at/people/native-americans/destruction-of-native-americans.htm); Toronto Star, News (www.star.com/news/canada/2008/01/15/native_population_growing.htm) 

[1] Preserving a Culture: Native American Writing, Religion, and Tradition

[1] American Indians Today (www.american-indians.net/today.htm)

[1] http://www.cherokee.org

[1] Indian County Diaries (www.pbs.org/indiancountry/challenges/cultures.htm)

[1] Shaping a Vision for Cultural Pluralism by John B. Cobb, Jr. (II, see par. 10)

 [1] United States Census 2000, United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census; Destruction of Native Americans (www.english-online.at/people/native-americans/destruction-of-native-americans.htm); Toronto Star, News (www.star.com/news/canada/2008/01/15/native_population_growing.htm) 

[2] Preserving a Culture: Native American Writing, Religion, and Tradition

www.american-indians.net/today.htm)

http://www.cherokee.org

www.pbs.org/indiancountry/challenges/cultures.htm)

[6] Shaping a Vision for Cultural Pluralism by John B. Cobb, Jr. (II, see par. 10)