The Native American paper will examine primarily cultural aspects of one culture, of your choice, from the Western Hemisphere. The role of music should be discussed, but is not the main focus
Answer the following questions and cite the source for each.
Cultural Setting:
Where (and when, if historical) does this culture live?
How did they live (subsistence) traditionally? (ex. Hunter/gatherers,
small farmers, etc.)
Find one distinguishing cultural trait (ex., art, music, dress, food)
and briefly describe
World View:
What basic rules for living does their traditional religion teach?
Mythology:
According to their traditional beliefs, how was the world created?
Who created it? How did the first people get to the world?
Social Structure:
Who passes on the family line (lineage), the male or female?
How is marriage determined (who can marry)?
Who are the heads of the society and how are they determined?
Ritual:
What types of rituals are present (give examples)?
Describe the most important ritual (when does it take place, what is its purpose, who performs it, what preparations are required).
Culture and Music:
How is music present in the society (is it only for ritual purposes or does it satisfy other purposes)?
Who performs the music and what are typical instruments?
If the group is historical, what happened to them and has any of their culture survived or been absorbed by another group?
Citations can be in any of the standard forms (Chicago manual of style or APA) or use the form from the end of your textbook:
Author (last name, first name). Date. Title (underlined or italics). Location: Publisher.
Web citations must include a date (either when the article was published or when you retrieved it), a title (preferably of the article or at least the web site) and an author (who is responsible for the site).
Pick a culture that you can find information on. Some groups have little or no information written on them.
The paper should be typewritten, 2 1/2 to 3 pages (850 words), 12 point type (this size), and 1 inch margins.
The paper must include a bibliography with at least 2 sources one of which must be a book, encyclopedia, textbook, or other reference book. The rest can be web sources.
