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Justine Archuleta
English 113: Enhanced Composition
Mr. Basso
Spring 2017
May 5, 2017

Native Culture
White Europeans settlers did not settle in America first, it was the Native American who

came before them. America is Native land and will always remain Native American. The history,

language, different tribes, culture, and the experience with Native American aspects fascinates

me because I love to learn about my heritage. I am Native American and the tribe I am from is

called Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo). My Native culture is important to me because I never

got to experience it and I have always wanted to learn about my culture.

First, I did not grow up in my Native culture because I moved to California when I was

three years old. The only thing I knew about my culture was that I am Native American. My

house was filled with dreamcatchers, native paintings, and jewel to protect us from evil. My

mother would tell me and my sister stories about our tribe. My sister was lucky enough to

participate in tribal events and she could speak a little Tewa (Ohkay Owingeh primary language),

on the other hand, I did not know anything about my Native culture. I never got to participate in

tribal events or learn how to speak Tewa. The only time I would see the pueblo was when me and

my family would visit New Mexico. Now that I have started college in New Mexico, Ive gotten

to learn more about my Native cultural from my relatives. In the future, my relatives would turn

me into a full pueblo woman and understand my native culture.

Native American history is important to learn about because Native Americans are the

ones who made America beautiful with their culture and artwork. Their land was taken away
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from them by white European settlers because the Europeans wanted Native land for growing

crops and creating towns. In the 1830s, Native Americans were put on reservations by the 7 th

president Andrew Jackson. This event in history was known as the Trail of Tears and the

Native Americans left towards the Southeastern and settle in Oklahoma territory. Now, Natives

live in the Northeast area (Iroquois, Chippewa, and Algonquin), Southeast area (Cherokee,

Choctaw, and Chickasaw), the Great Plains area (Blackfeet, Cheyenne, and Arapaho), and the

Southwest area (Navajo, Apache, Hopi, and Zuni). There is so much to learn about Native

Americans because they had lived a tough life since the early creation of the United States.

New Mexico is the home for many Native Americans because most of the land is native

land. It is the home of the Navajos, Apache, Acoma, Laguna, Jemez, Cochiti, Ohkay Owingeh,

and many smaller pueblos. The biggest tribe are the Navajos and another name for their tribe is

called Navajo Nations. In New Mexico, most natives are Navajos because they have lots of

land in this state and small parts of Colorado and Arizona. Navajos have to break down their

tribe into clans because it is such a big tribe to keep track and all clans have different names. I

am not really familiar with the Navajo tribe, but I do have a cousin who is part Navajo. Some

Navajos move along with the changing of the season because it is their duty to keep maintaining

the harmony of Mother Earth. The tribe I am from is called Ohkay Owingeh. It is in Northern

New Mexico near Espanola and Taos, but Ohkay Owingeh is a very small tribe. The smaller

pueblos do not move with the season because they have built their permanent settlement. Also,

they have a specific center of the pueblo to do ritual events and ceremonial events. The smaller

tribes are different from the larger tribes, because Native Americans are not all the same. All

tribes have their own language and culture to portray their beliefs.
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All Native Americans do not speak the same language. Every tribe has their primary

language, like Ohkay Owingeh members speak Tewa and Navajos members speak Navajo. The

hardest Native language to learn is Navajo because it is follows a specific grammar and sentence

structure. But I think all Native American languages are hard to learn because different

pronunciation and follows a strict sentence structure than any other languages. The Native

elderlies speak their tribal languages fluently and taught their children. Now, they want their

grandchildren to learn their tribal languages. Unfortunately, some Native grandchildren do not

know how to speak their tribal language because their parents did not teach them or the parents

do not know how to speak the language. For example, I do not know how to speak Tewa because

my mother does not know how to speak Tewa. My grandmother speaks Tewa fluently and she

taught my mother and her siblings the language, but Im not sure why my mother is not fluently

in Tewa. The only thing she can do is understand the language. My uncles are fluently in Tewa

because they always talk to my grandmother in Tewa when they visit her. I think it is very

important to learn our tribal languages because it is part of our Native culture. As grandchildren,

we are the ones who should keep our Native traditions and language going for generations and

generations.

All Native American tribes have different cultural beliefs and some beliefs can be shared

or need to be sacred. The cultural beliefs that could be open to the public would be few customs

dances like tribal Feast Days. I would have to say that Navajo tribes are very open to the public

about their cultural beliefs, rather than Ohkay Owingeh cultural beliefs which are very sacred.

The Navajo tribe has a Navajo Nation Days tradition that happens every month of September

through October. There is a lot of tourist that go to the event to see Native culture. The Navajo

can reveal their costumes and show custom dances to tourists. The Navajos tell outsiders about
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their cultural practices, but there are some practices that are kept sacred. The Ohkay Owingeh

tribe is very sacred about their beliefs. They do not like outsiders coming in and capturing the

sacred dances. In Ohkay Owingeh, we are not allowed to discuss, take pictures, or videos of the

sacred dances because the cultural dances should be kept within the pueblo. My grandmother

would tell me tribal legends that relates to the dances and how some could be true. These tribal

legends are passed down verbally through generation and generation. The only cultural practice

we can talk about is the Ohkay Owingeh Feast Day because it is mentioned in travel magazines

and tourist come to see our tribal Comanche and Buffalo dance. Native American culture

practices can be open or private, but it depends on the tribe if they want outsiders to see their

cultural beliefs in customs traditions.

Since I was not experience in my culture, I had lots of questions about it and I wanted to

learn more. The reason I came back to New Mexico was because of college and understanding

my Native American Culture. I have been going to my tribal dances and my grandmother

explains what the dances portray. I figured out what I need to do to be part of my tribe and in the

future, I will be more involve for my tribe. I love learning about Native American culture

because I will have to keep the generation going. I hope that one day I will be fluent in my tribal

language and be part of my tribe.

Native American history is very to learn about because Natives were force out of their

land and stop practicing their cultural beliefs. But as time went on, they found way to get back

into their cultural traditions and created new tribes. Not all Native American are the same, each

tribe has their own traditions, beliefs, and language. It is up to the grandchildren to keep the

traditions and language going for generation and generation. In my case, I will learn more about
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my culture and I will become an expert on my tribe. My Native culture is important to me

because it is who I am and no one can take that away from me.