Listen to this text as it takes a closer look at the differences between the Native American attitudes and ways of life, compared to those of the European intruders.
When European colonists first arrived on the North American continent, it was already occupied by about 2.5 million Indians or Native Americans. About 300 years later, in the mid 19th century, the number of Indians had dwindled to a mere 50.000. The meeting with European civilization proved too much for the Indians. The white man’s diseases, his greed and his guns robbed an entire continent of its way of life.
The following recording takes a closer look at the differences between the Native American attitudes and ways of life, compared to those of the European intruders. The Native American tradition was basically oral – stories were told and retold, poems were recited, songs were sung, legends and myths were handed over from one generation to the next on an oral basis. Fables, heroic tales and prophecies about what was to come were all parts of this oral heritage. These were their ancestral voices.