Native American vs. Colonial Views

Question

So I have a bunch of study questions for an exam... this one seems kind of simple, but it's not really in my notes or in the book so I thought I'd pose it on here. 'How did N. American/Colonial views differ towards the land and religion? Did those differences play a role in the conflict between them?'

Answer 1

The "native" view of land ownership was the opposite of that of an English "colonial."  To a Native land ownership was communal, whereas to a Colonial it was individual.  Thus, when a Native tribe "sold" land to Colonials, what they were granting was the right to share the land with the Native, not the right to fence it off and exclude the Natives.  The Colonials didn't see it that way.

Colonials and Natives also disagreed on religion.  To a Colonial the Wod of God was "revealed."  It was set down and inflexible for all time.  To a Native spiruatuality was "antimate" or flexible because God was always communicating with man.

Obviously disagreement on these two basic issues can lead to serious conflict between cultures.  The religious question can lead to distrust between peoples, and the land one to war.          

Answer 2

Lets tackle religion first. And, lets talk in general, rather than specific...

Most Native Americans believe that in the universe there exists an Almighty—a spiritual force that is the source of all life. The Almighty of Native American belief is not pictured as a man in the sky; rather, it is believed to be formless and to exist throughout the universe. The sun is viewed as a manifestation of the power of the Almighty, and Europeans often thought Native Americans were worshipping the sun, when, in fact, they were addressing prayers to the Almighty, of which the sun was a sign and symbol. Of course, the colonists being Christian had some rather odd views of NA religion. They called them all "heathen" which means people who did not acknowledge the God of Judiasm/Christianity. They tried, constantly, to convert the NA's, and this often led to conflict.

Now, as to the land, that one is simple. Native Americans became perplexed when Europeans built permanent structures of wood and stone. Even village- and town-dwelling Native Americans were used to relocating when local game, fish, and especially firewood gave out. To many Native Americans, the Europeans appeared to be oblivious to the rhythms and spirit of nature. Nature to the Europeans was a commodity: A forest was so many board feet of timber, a beaver colony so many pelts, a herd of buffalo so many robes and tongues. It was, shortly, in opposition to everything the NA's believed. They used the land, but respected it. Europeans abused the land until there was nothing left, then took more from somewhere else. NA's couldn't understand the concept of owning the land, and because the colonists sought to own everything, it caused a lot of trouble. English-Native American relations in the 17th and 18th centuries were marked by a series of particularly vicious wars won by the English. The English exercised the mandate of victory to insist that the Native Americans submit to English sovereignty and either confine their activities to strictly delimited tracts of land near areas of English settlement or move out beyond the frontier.

Answer 3

Natives did not believe the land could belong to a person, it was there for all to share as a resource.  Obvious conflict here, as settlers would take away land for farming, subtracting it from native hunting areas.  (Or, native farming areas that they had left fallow, as in the case of the Iroquois,)

Religion?  Once a native changed his religion to the 'white man's', he would be forced to live separately from others of his culture.