Compare and contrast “history” using Nabokov and Deloria

The past of the United States is extensive and nuanced. The nation is divided into numerous states, each of which is populated by people of different racial and cultural backgrounds. The different struggles and triumphs that led to achievements like the constitution and its amendments are crucial in explaining why America is what it is today. From the viewpoints of the various cultures present in the nation, different views on American history exist. It is crucial to take into account the various views of the cultures, including the indigenous groups, in order to understand the history of the entire nation. It has been argued by many scholars that in the western science today people only discuss part of the history such as the Mediterranean people. In the academic setting the institutionalization of information on history has put status at a forefront that ideas and various accomplishments made. This is noted when historians go out in search of the truth that generally gives a more realistic and a good explanation of the planet that man inhabits. In the world today people are capable and are at a better position to collect information but it is very strange since people after collecting the information do not explore further but they just shelf the data in the regular frameworks that have been used in the past. Sometimes people even twist the data a bit to make it fit what they want the data to be or what they feel the data should be. People want to put forward the data that aligns with what they have always perceived to be true. Inharmonious experiments and facts are put aside and sometimes disregarded just because they do not fit the current pattern. People have not deeply ventured into the history of America even though this is the work of scholars and hence it is left to the various cultures and indigenous groups to give their perspectives. This is because most scholarly sources nowadays are busy defending non relevant issues that they are defending the history of their nation.

Knowledge from Western Science and Tribes

Nabokov in his book American Indian Ways of History concentrated on the indigenous group of Indians in America and their perspective of their history. This is an indigenous group and the information given by the group is important in terms of understanding the group but it may not be trusted as much because people are not to leave out some parts. Even so it is important to take the information because when analyzing it with the evidence it gives a clear picture of things and the people than any other form of collecting and storing history (Rundstrom 52). In the book the history of the American Indian ways is examined. Nabokov uses his own experiences as well as using materials from different fields to search for basic principles that are seen to be underlying all or most of the expressions of history from the Native Americans. The reason for his work was to comprehensively show the distinction in the forms of historical consciousness that the Indians posses and not just arguing how the Indian culture complements the Western history (Martin 33).

The Native ways of history that Nabokov stresses on were found in the sources that are underutilized or ignored by most of the academic historians. Examples of these underutilized or ignored ways include: religious rituals, place names, traditions performed, stories classified as folktales and myths, as well as individual encounters with paranormals that were told in the form of narratives. Many of the stories appear to have occurred at a time in history where time was known documented but even So Nabokov supports his claims by stating that the stories change over time and that from this a person can document the information using narratives from travelers, anthropological studies and collections of folklore. After documenting the changes the information can be used to correlate the history of that time and with the developments and events. An example is the amount of trickster stories collected by scholars, some new and some old. The information was collected at a time in history where there was need to collect American Indian history. The period was around the twentieth century from the tricksters it may be possible for American Indians to locate a response to all the sufferings they went through in the era of reservation. When an individual wants to find the true changes that occurred in the stories that were told at that time, a person can document analysis of the Native Americans as they approach domination by the colonialists. The information collected is especially interesting because from the information collected one can be provoked t investigate further the categories in native culture and various native texts (Trigger 12).

History of the Indigenous Communities

The western profession in regards to the history of the world and the history of the indigenous communities in the United States has been the same throughout time. The historians who pursued the information did so in a general view and they mostly assumed the communities had similar histories with just minor differences. Through time there have been advocates for ethnosciences to be studied as a subject in higher education. Through the studies people have gotten to compare traditional knowledge gathered from the tribes and western science. The difference has been noted in various categories such as interpretation of data, gathering information, holistic and fragmented approaches together with the general world view. The field that is involved in enquiries of maters that are related to the scientific field has been expanded to include the role played by Indians and other indigenous groups in shaping history. Western science has been known to be closely engaged to a way of interpretation of historical information that falls in line with suggestion that everything man falls upon through sheer chance has an end purpose. This was found to be different from the views of the various tribes and indigenous groups.

Comparing Western Knowledge and Tribal Knowledge

The view from the western perspective places man central to all the evolution that took place. Without the image of man that was created in the westerners point of view there would be no clear understanding of evolution. In this regard man was said to be primitive and was said to use a quasi-scientific method. This means that man relied on a method of trial and error in understanding the world and how it functions. Man at that point had a distinct aim in mind as he embarked in all the tasks and acts that would ensure survival. The knowledge of man and his primitive nature in believed to have been created through an effort to obtain a perspective of a world that was not invaded with such things such as spirits and superstitions whose main role was seeking abstract principles in nature that were there at all times.

The tribal perspective comes from the anthropological theory that suggests that recent observations reveal that most of the communities did not abandon their view of beliefs and spirits as stated by the western sources. The information was also confirmed with some of the people in tribes that are there in the world today and continue to practice their traditions. The people in the tribes in that particular time in history are actually reported to have had a clear and holistic understanding of the world they lived in and they were only persuaded and eventually forced to change by the intrusion brought about by the civilizations of westerners that move to their areas. There have been more and more sources over the years that have been working to collect information on various tribes and gone ahead to determine the value of the information possessed by the tribes rather than just relying on the western aspect (Porsanger 111).

The other way to look at the information is through analysis of western science which was mainly based on the issue that human beings were believed to be able to remove themselves from the experimental and observational situation. This was taken in a theoretical perspective and that they could come up with principles that were objective hence be applicable in any place or time in situations that were reasonably similar.

The conclusion of the matter is that anyone with reliable training can duplicate an observational and mental situation thus this view takes the primitive people of that time as feeling alienated from their natural surroundings just as the people from the western society. The study of people from various tribes in today’s world is the closest that people can come to understand human beings and how they have evolved over the years. This thus reveals that the scenario depicted by western view is wrong and that there is no fear of the environment by people from the various tribes (Boyd 29).

The other difference is the collection of information on the world. Literature in anthropology has been seen to suggest that the ancestors spent a lot of time organizing the information they had on the world in a fashion that was systematic in order to have advantage over the world and control of the environment they inhabited. According to the narratives that were put forward in regards to the matter the people were primitive but were able to understand the complex concepts that were related to modern science which come from the accidental events in their lives. After they got an understanding of the principles in science the primitive humans gradually developed in terms of modern understanding of issues. Later on through the developments a branch of humans known as the Indo-European people conquered their superstitions and then come up with a technology that enabled them to accomplish mastery over their environment by being able to manipulate nature in doing bidding on their behalf (Thornton 17).

In regards to the example the knowledge that the tribal people have and also that of other people from nonindustrial societies is used to reveal few insights that are valid. The knowledge also represents a lot of information on the superstitions that symbolize the early stages of scientific venture. Tribal knowledge can be examined by western science in order to find insights and ideas that can be used to improve activities and expand the scope of its applicability or experiments in the existing doctrines of science. In many instances knowledge gained from various tribes is usually taken as knowledge that can be used for fun and other non serious issues because of its exotic nature that usually suggests mystery that have not been unveiled yet. It is in very few circumstances and to very few people that the knowledge acquired from tribes gets the respect it deserves. It is also evident that very few people can actually express the principles that are located within its foundation. Thus from the explanation it is clear that tribal knowledge is not appreciated as much as western knowledge is because not most people can articulate it as well as they can the western knowledge (Tinker 122).

This have began to shift in recent years because people have began to venture and actually try to explore tribes and the knowledge they store. An example of this is the encouraging sign of young Indians who are beginning to learn and respect the knowledge of their tribes from the ancient times. The main challenge facing the passing the knowledge of tribes to the younger generation and the world is the few remaining elders of the tribes and also the quick death of those who are still alive. The fear in that in the years to come tribes may be deficient in knowledge from their roots and hence the continued dilution of tribes and their cultures (Waziyatawin 19).

There are difficulties that arise today when talking about the topic on the knowledge possessed by tribes. One of the difficulties that arise is the issue of people find traditional teachings as corresponding to finding or the knowledge in western culture and then there has to be validation of the wisdom or knowledge from the traditions. A person gets comfort when the data presented from traditional knowledge matches with the conclusions from other perspectives but it becomes a problems later when the data has to correspond to western knowledge as a way of validations (Deloria 45). This is like using western science as a measure of traditional knowledge. The two perspectives in knowledge are different in many ways such as collection method, research involved and many more aspects thus the two should not be used as a measure for the other. In most scenario western science and the knowledge in it is seen and regarded as accurate and truth whereas traditional knowledge is received with doubt and disbelief (Richter 63). The answers to the questions raised on the stated issues can be found by considering the epistemology in tribes and western science. The main issue that brings about the difference is how the two groups acquired their information. In regard to the perspective of epistemology it is evident that the gathering of information from tribes is more comprehensive and sophisticated as compared to the western way of information collection. In most tribes all information is significant and no information is irrelevant and an example is in India the experiences of an individual are considered to be wisdom that has accumulated to the community from previous generations who had gathered it (Story 199).

The traditional knowledge can be applied in many scenarios because it is collected through very many occasions. In general the tribal knowledge can mix systematically with various experiences and facts that can be separated by western science I various artificial categories (Ferguson 24). Disorientation does not exist when looking at the traditional aspect of information and there is n limitation to understanding the world in this perspective. Comparing this to the western science it is noted that it rejects any kid of data that is obtained from experiences that are subjective to human being and other life forms. In science such things as dreams as seen as delusive or illusions and cannot be adopted as other scientific methods of information gathering. The information gathered from the sources of science is regarded as reliable just because of the scientific basis (Cook 24).

Conclusion

Through the years it has been realized that knowledge from the tribes in regards to history and evolution of man has been found to be as important as or even more important than the western knowledge on the same. Due to the rich nature of the information and the probability of it being lost through time it is essential that efforts are made so as to preserve the knowledge and ensure it is passed to the coming generations. It is also very important that researchers and historians try to venture deeper in seeing the knowledge and also ensuring that s is authentic just as the other western perspective of the knowledge is kept available and updated through time. The western and tribal knowledge should also be equally appreciated as both of them have essential aspects and it would not be realistic knowing what we know to use one without the other.

Work Cited

Boyd, Colleen E., ed. Phantom past, indigenous presence: Native ghosts in North American culture and history. U of Nebraska Press, 2011.

Cook, Lisa M. “A Forest of Time: American Indian Ways of History.” Journal of Folklore Research Reviews (2003).

Deloria, Vine, Barbara Deloria, and Kristen Foehner. Spirit & Reason: The Vine Deloria, Jr., Reader. Fulcrum Publishing, 1999.

Ferguson, Thomas John, and John Stephen Colwell-Chanthaphonh. History is in the land: Multivocal tribal traditions in Arizona’s San Pedro Valley. University of Arizona Press, 2006.

Johansen, Bruce E. The native peoples of North America: a history. Vol. 2. Rutgers University Press, 2006.

LaGrand, James B. “Whose voices count? Oral sources and twentieth-century American Indian history.” American Indian culture and research journal 21.1 (1997): 73-105.

Martin, Calvin. The American Indian and the problem of history. Oxford University Press on Demand, 1987.

Porsanger, Jelena. “An essay about indigenous methodology.” Nordlit 8.1 (2004): 105-120.

Richter, Daniel K. Facing east from Indian country: a native history of early America. Harvard University Press, 2009.

Rundstrom, Robert A. “GIS, indigenous peoples, and epistemological diversity.” Cartography and geographic information systems 22.1 (1995): 45-57.

Story, A. Coyote Columbus. “8 Allegories of Place and Race.” Unsettling Narratives: Postcolonial Readings of Children’s Literature (2007): 199.

Thornton, Russell. Studying Native America: Problems and Prospects. Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1998.

Tinker, George E. “The stones shall cry out: Consciousness, rocks, and Indians.” Wicazo Sa Review 19.2 (2004): 105-125.

Trigger, Bruce G., and Wilcomb E. Washburn. The Cambridge history of the native peoples of the Americas. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Waziyatawin, Angela Wilson, and M. Yellow Bird. “For indigenous eyes only: A decolonization handbook.” School of American Research Press, Santa Fe, NM (2005).