Most Indians were spiritual people. They didn't have a rigid system of religion like Europeans had which was used to control ones behavior. A lot of times they looked at nature and they looked at their place within nature... For instance, they would hunt bison, and elk, and deer for sustenance. But, they wouldn't hunt them all year round. They wouldn't hunt an animal to extinction like the Europeans would. They felt like animals have every right to be here just like we do. They took what they needed only. They didn't kill for the sake of killing like Europeans do.
There are a lot of terms now being used to describe us ie... aboriginal, native, and American Indian. I like to use American Indian, myself. To me, it is more distinct. Anyone born here can be "native."
As far as language goes, most tribes had their own language, but there was a thing called "Plains Indian Sign Language" (hand talk) that most tribes here used to communicate with each other. American Sign Language of today is based on it. There's a book called "Indian Sign Language" by William Tomkins that could be of interest. There are also others out there too.
Last edited:
