How To Understand The Culture Of The Arapahos

By Toni Vang


We must understand that every tribe on earth has a past. This past culminated to the generations that we have now on earth. The fore fathers of all tribes had a system on how they run their lives. It is true that some tribes had very barbaric cultures but some of them had good cultures too. Therefore, it is vital that you learn of the culture of the Arapahos.

The native Indians relied on meat for food and this they sourced from the wild animals. However, during the winter seasons, the weather could become extremely cold. Therefore, the natives also engaged in making heavy clothes from the hides of the animals to protect themselves from the cold. They also supplemented their meals with berries, roots and vegetable plants gathered by women.

This tribe also treasured the family system because it was the backbone of the community. In this case, a family was built by marriage between two people a man and a woman. This was one of the most celebrated occasions by the community but this depended on how the two came together. Some marriages were arranged in advance while in others the couples eloped.

Members of this community are social and this is characterized by the rules governing them via their cultures. In this scenario, the women were in charge of the children from infancy. This is because in the early stages of the children, they must stay with their mothers. Therefore, the women provide for the children and end up taking care of the girls as they grow up.

In every band that was segmented from the community, the people that fall under each band recognized the authority of the headman. The headman was given charge of maintaining order and solving the cases for the people. This position was not hereditary and it could circulate. However, the main function was to protect the band from any attacks by deploying young men to war if necessary.

The religious practices of the native Indians has been changing as time goes by. This transition gradually occurred as changes on their environment started to show. Some of the practices were lost once the white settlers started their suppression on the natives. When their conditions for living became severe, their traditional religious practices changed to fit their current state.

This tribe also had ceremonies meant to appease their gods and to celebrate certain events that they witnessed during the season. These ceremonies differ depending on the community, their beliefs and their culture. The ceremony creates a sense of identity to the members. The rituals were both from their cultural and religious practices.

The native Indians also indulged themselves in artwork that included painting, beadwork, wood, artifacts and buffalo hides. This shows how creative and skilled this people were in coming up with different products from diverse materials. With these materials, they made ornaments, robes from the buffalo skin, and gifts for their families, cradleboard covers and pillows.




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