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Native American Culture



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Tue Aug 02, 2016 2:00 pm
JuliasSneezer says...



My characters visit a history reserve that tries to keep the Native American culture alive. The trouble is, I know nothing about it. There are only six huts, and six families. Nonetheless, they're extremely proud of their history, and I don't want to dishonor anyone by posting faulty info.
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Tue Aug 02, 2016 4:25 pm
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Kale says...



Well, a good start would be to figure out which tribe or nation you're writing about. There are hundreds, and each of them has their own distinct culture and traditions.

Just off the top of my head though, not many tribes lived in huts.
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Tue Aug 02, 2016 4:44 pm
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Rosendorn says...



So... just another thing, but "tries to keep Native American culture alive" isn't exactly the best way to think about reserves or historical sites. Native American culture is still alive, and traditions are still practiced, and everything is adapting to modern life while still keeping roots.

What region is this in? That can help you narrow down a tribe.
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Tue Aug 02, 2016 9:33 pm
JuliasSneezer says...



Thank you guys, the tribe is the Chippewa Indians.
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Tue Aug 02, 2016 10:04 pm
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Rosendorn says...



Which reserve are you talking? There are reserves in both Canada and the US, and depending on which country/province/state it is you will have wildly different answers on how reserve life is. Every reserve has its own issues, too, so one reserve's experiences aren't another's.

Also, just a quick glance at wikipedia reveals you will likely be dealing with a different type of kinship than Western white folks use, known as Eskimo kinship, when the Ojibwe (the overreaching peoples name of the Chippewa) use a modified Iroquois kinship system. This means the very definition of "family" is going to be different; the basic Iroquois system of kinship has both the biological father and the father's brother called "father", and the biological mother and mother's sister called "mother". They even have words for "father's sister" and "mother's brother" that aren't "aunt" or "uncle". That is, however, just the basic Iroquois system— the Ojibwe will use a different one. I'm just explaining the Iroquois system as a base.

Wikipedia is actually a good general place to start, then I'd suggest taking a look at this guide for how to continue your research. That blog's whole tag on Native peoples can help you, even though the mod isn't Ojibwe.

But, just from a gut instinct, you're really going to need to hammer down your base terminology and learn what you're actually dealing with. This question has a lot of misunderstanding right in it, such as:

1- That reserves are basically historical reenactment sites based on "how it used to be." Native cultures are still alive and adapting to modern life, meaning there isn't really a "reenactment" component to living on one. While, yes, Natives do work very hard at preserving old traditions, it's not to the complete shunning of modern technology. Reserves are not living museums. They are places culture continues to live and, in some cases, thrives.

2- That Native cultures are that died out so there would only be six families total. The Ojibwe are the second largest group in Canada, second only to the Cree, and having such a small reserve feels very off for such a large nation. Even if it is meant to specifically be a small group, Natives rarely were in groups that small unless they were a nomadic peoples.

You have to understand reserves are government-appointed land that are given very begrudgingly and usually only to larger groups. Small groups like that are unlikely to get any funding at all, so it makes sense for reserves to be larger.

3- That terms are interchangeable. "Huts" are not wigwams, and Native words are so very exact you cannot just simply swap them out for what you think are synonyms. Natives have gotten lots and lots and lots of harm from people thinking English terms or non-tribal terms are "close enough", and as a result the meaning of the original term is utterly lost. Say exactly what you mean and look up if there's a cultural term for something before you just use an English approximation, because the English approximation can be very, very wrong.

So, all in all, I think you need to do a lot more research before you plot this part of the story out. You want to respect Native peoples, which is good, but the premise you're working on feels very off to me, and you need to do more research to see if it's even plausible to have what you want. If it's not, you need to change the plot to be respectful.
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Tue Aug 02, 2016 10:09 pm
JuliasSneezer says...



@Rosendorn, thank you so much! I'll try and do research, but perhaps I bit off more than I can chew. I may just make up the tribe so there's no chance of offending anyone.
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Tue Aug 02, 2016 10:22 pm
Zolen says...



@CupcakesForRealMen

You shall have to study the trends of a area at the very least.

Also yes, all of the weaker groups of native people were pretty much purged, reserves were only given out when massacring them seemed like a politically bad idea because of how hard it would be to explain all the bodies. Small groups like that would have sadly been completely killed off or shoved out of the way.

Small reserves don't really exist, if they thin out too much the US government often reclaims the land.
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Tue Aug 02, 2016 10:25 pm
JuliasSneezer says...



Thanks, @Zolen!
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Tue Aug 02, 2016 11:53 pm
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Rosendorn says...



I would very strongly reconsider making up a tribe, especially if the goal is to avoid offence. People making up tribes is really, really harmful, because they end up just adding to the list of stereotypes that exist around Natives and perpetuate misinformation. The way to avoid offence is to accurate write Native peoples, not make up your own.

I know I made it look like there's a lot of work— and, in a sense, there is!— but making up a Native tribe isn't the answer to that. The same mod I linked before wrote another guide about how and why diversity is important, and why Native diversity in particular is very hard.

And writing Natives won't get any easier unless people actually take the time to research. If you don't feel like you're ready to write Native peoples accurately, it's better to not write them instead of making it up. Also, the only way you will get better is to write them and ask questions like this.

Getting corrected and having a mountain of work shoved at you isn't fun, but if you break it down into smaller chunks— pick a very specific reserve, pick a time period, work from there— then it's not quite as overwhelming. Starting small is how I worldbuild, and it can really help you to focus on the micro because it feels more real once you get all the little details right.

If you really want to avoid offence, please do the required research or don't put them in at all. And of the two options, your better option is to research. You cannot solve ignorance by avoiding the topic.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Wed Aug 03, 2016 11:12 am
JuliasSneezer says...



@Rosendorn thank you so much again, you just saved me a ton of heartache there. You also made the work seem to be a whole lot smaller. Thank you, in addition, for the article you gave me! :D
"When in doubt, improvise!"
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Sat Aug 06, 2016 4:20 am
Werthan says...



Well, all I have to say is there is no such thing as "Native American culture". That's like saying "European culture" or "Asian culture" or "Middle Eastern culture". Unlike the person above me, I wouldn't say "don't make up a tribe no matter what", but I will say don't make up a tribe unless you're a real expert on Native Americans, which you don't seem to be since you seem to think there's some generic Native American culture. However, there are advantages to using a made-up tribe over a real one, as many tribes take issue with people doing or saying certain things about them (however, others are really cool about outsiders, like who was it, the Choctaw who broadcasted language lessons to the Japanese on the radio because "the world would be better if everyone spoke our language"?), but as I said, you would need to do some real hardcore research if you make one up. You would also need to do a ton of research if you didn't. You just have to do a ton of research no matter what. If the Native American aspect isn't very important, I would set it in a fictional world, or ancient Europe or something (the Celts and Germanen can't complain that you misrepresented them).
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