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Cultural Value Comparisons
Cultural Values and Stereoty pes—Red Voices 7
INDIAN CULTURES

Few Material Things
- Timeliness and grace of giving are virtues to be admired.
Members of tribes are often suspicious of individuals who
collect many material possessions. Some tribes even hold
celebrations and give away most of their possessions to others
as "love gifts" or "honor gifts."
Today Concept
Indian people generally live each day as it comes. Plans for
tomorrow are left until the future becomes the present. To be
occupied with things and events too far into the future is to
invite trouble and threatening influence for those future plans.
Non-Competition
What one is going to do or have in life is not an issue in the
Indian home. Tribal cohesion, tribal solidarity and tribal
prosperity are ideals that all work together. There is a decided
"us," "we," "our" orientation to possessions and to success.
Indian people, however, are very competitive in sport. Sports
are games. Life is not a game.
Shame
Personal actions are based upon what rewards behavior will
invite. No guilt is experienced over the act of wrong-doing
itself. Disciplinary practices among Indian groups often include
shaming an individual, but once this is done, no guilty feeling is
held by an individual, and the group forgets the transgression.
The personal shame and public ridicule arising from the
negative fruition of poor behavior and/or poor judgment
comprises the punishment.
Time is Unimportant
Time is a very relative thing. Clocks are not watched. One does
things as they need to be done. "Indian Time" means when
everyone gets there. A community meeting can be set for 1:00
p.m. and people will come as near that rime as they wish. So the
meeting may actually begin an hour or two later, and this
bothers no one. There will always be time in which things can
be done, so pressure to do things at specific times is foreign to
native peoples. The concept of "wasting time" is not

understood, i.e., as long as a person is breathing, living and
occupying space in the physical world, that person is not
"wasting time."
NON-INDIAN CULTURES
Many Material Things
Wealth is measured in terms of material accumulation. Many
such possessions often constitute "status symbols" and are
considered highly desirable. The accumulation of possessions is
directly related to the happiness of an individual both now and
in the future.
Tomorrow Concept
Non-Indians are very concerned with the future. Such items as
insurance, savings for college, plans for vacation, etc., suggest
to what extent non-Indians hold this value. "I am the master of
my fate and the architect of my future" is an oft-heard phrase.
Competition
What one is going to do, be or have in life is of great concern to
parents. Plans for opening up the "best" doors for children are
virtues. Personal and individual accomplishment are highly
respected and praised. There is a marked "I,", "me," "my,"
"mine" orientation.
Guilt

After an act is committed that a non-Indian feels to be wrong,
he carries inside him the knowledge of having done something
wrong. This terrible feeling may make one ill mentally and
physically. The offending act itself is the tragedy. Much
frustration is felt within an individual because there is little
direction given to that individual on how to process out these
guilt feelings and redeem her/himself in her/his own eyes.
Time is Important
Time is of great importance. When a person says he will be
somewhere at 10:00 a.m.. he must berbere at 10:00 a.m.
Otherwise, he is felt to be a person who "steals" another's time.
The premium placed on time results in "rushes"— "rush hour
traffic," "last minute rush." It is felt among this culture to be a
virtue to use time to its fullest extent. One who is prompt is
respected. There is much emphasis placed on order and
organization and to have both, one must not "waste rime." Time
is among the most priceless commodities an individual
possesses.□
Reprinted Irom "The Indian Child Welfare Act" produced by
The Indian Child Welfare Consortium in Escorado. CA.
Cultural Value Comparisons
INDIAN CULTURES
Extended Family
Indian cultures consider many individuals to be relatives. Aunts
are often considered to be mothers. Uncles are called "fathers,"
and cousins are brothers and sisters of the immediate family.
Clan members are also considered to be relatives.
Age
Elders are respected. Experience is felt to bring knowledge. The
older one is, the more knowledgeable he/she is. No effort is
made to conceal white hair or other signs of advancing age.
Giving

The respected member of many Indian communities is the one
who shares and gives all his/ her wealth to others. As resources
are available, the virtue is to share them and use them.
Role-Set and Status
Attitudes toward a person are not usually contingent upon that
person's role or stams in the community, or the fact that a
person has a title or is considered by others to have power,
authority or influence in a private or government organization.
It is the personality of the person rather than the entity that
person represents that is important in establishing rapport and
cooperation.
Compact Living
Several people living in close quarters provides each person
with a spiritual source of world security. The phenomena is akin
to the sense of security experienced by a mother wolf and her
pups nestled together in a small cave, or a group of Boy Scouts
in their sleeping bags within a camping tent in a storm One can
live both modestly and comfortably in close quarters.
Man Walks in Balance with Mother Earth
The earth and all the creatures dwelling upon it are here to
respect and enjoy. If man accepts this world as it is and lives
with it as she/ he should, there will be balance and harmony and
an abundance of food to sustain good health.
Patience

To have much patience and to wait is considered to be a good
quality. Decisions are made after much thought, contemplation,
and advice and counsel from elders.
NON-INDIAN CULTURES
Nuclear Family
Biological family is of utmost importance. Relationships are
limited within this group.
Youth
Youth is venerated. The assumption is that as one grows older,
one's productivity and usefulness diminishes. The virtue is to
maintain youth as long as possible. Thousands of dollars are
spent yearly for hair dyes, make-up, and other items that make
older people look younger. Whole towns have sprung up in the
United States which advertise youthful living and that are
designed for "senior citizens."
Saving
An individual with the quality of "thrift" is felt to have acquired
a virtue worth much.
Role-Set and Status
Esteem, veneration, and respect are given to others according to
their titles, roles, designation, and social standing. It is not so
much the personality of the person that is reacted to, but the
entity that person represents and the purposes of that
entity/organization and how much influence it has that is
important in establishing rapport and communication.
Space Living
Several people living in close quarters is unhealthy and immoral
in some instances. The larger one's home, the more intelligent
and prosperous he will look to others. Children cannot

adequately develop, friends cannot easily be cultivated, and one
cannot have a general sense of well being when one's living
quarters are small.
Man Controls Nature
СопйЪГ and mastery of the elements are the constant
motivations for scientific research. Artificial lakes are made;
natural waters are controlled; electricity is generated and
controlled. Such accomplishments are looked upon with pride.
Action
The person who is admired is the one who is decisive and quick
to act. She/he gets things done rapidly and then moves on to the
next thing to be done. To sit and let one's competitor pass one
by because the competitor acted more decisively and quickly is
considered to be risky business.
__MACOSX/Supplemental Readings/._Cultural Value
Comparisons.doc
Supplemental Readings/Native American Cultural Values
Comparison.pdf
__MACOSX/Supplemental Readings/._Native American
Cultural Values Comparison.pdf
Supplemental Readings/Edited Chapter 1, Howard Zinn.doc
From Howard Zinn’s A Peoples History of the United States
Chapter 1: COLUMBUS, THE INDIANS, AND HUMAN
PROGRESS
Arawak (including Taino) men and women, naked, tawny, and
full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island's

beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big
boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying
swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought
them food, water, gifts. He later wrote of this in his log:
They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and
many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads
and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they
owned... . They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome
features.... They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I
showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut
themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears
are made of cane... . They would make fine servants.... With
fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do
whatever we want…As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the
first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in
order that they might learn and might give me information of
whatever there is in these parts.
The information that Columbus wanted most was: Where is the
gold? He had persuaded the king and queen of Spain to finance
an expedition to the lands, the wealth, he expected would be on
the other side of the Atlantic-the Indies and Asia, gold and
spices. For, like other informed people of his time, he knew the
world was round and he could sail west in order to get to the
Far East.
Spain was recently unified, one of the new modern nation-
states, like France, England, and Portugal. Its population,
mostly poor peasants, worked for the nobility, who were 2
percent of the population and owned 95 percent of the land.
Spain had tied itself to the Catholic Church, expelled all the
Jews, driven out the Moors. Like other states of the modern
world, Spain sought gold, which was becoming the new mark of
wealth, more useful than land because it could buy anything.

There was gold in Asia, it was thought, and certainly silks and
spices, for Marco Polo and others had brought back marvelous
things from their overland expeditions centuries before. Now
that the Turks had conquered Constantinople and the eastern
Mediterranean, and controlled the land routes to Asia, a sea
route was needed. Portuguese sailors were working their way
around the southern tip of Africa. Spain decided to gamble on a
long sail across an unknown ocean.
In return for bringing back gold and spices, they promised
Columbus 10 percent of the profits, governorship over new-
found lands, and the fame that would go with a new title:
Admiral of the Ocean Sea. He was a merchant's clerk from the
Italian city of Genoa, part-time weaver (the son of a skilled
weaver), and expert sailor. He set out with three sailing ships,
the largest of which was the Santa Maria, perhaps 100 feet long,
and thirty-nine crew members.
Columbus would never have made it to Asia, which was
thousands of miles farther away than he had calculated,
imagining a smaller world. He would have been doomed by that
great expanse of sea. But he was lucky. One-fourth of the way
there he came upon an unknown, uncharted land that lay
between Europe and Asia-the Americas. It was early October
1492, and thirty-three days since he and his crew had left the
Canary Islands, off the Atlantic coast of Africa. Now they saw
branches and sticks floating in the water. They saw flocks of
birds.
These were signs of land. Then, on October 12, a sailor called
Rodrigo saw the early morning moon shining on white sands,
and cried out. It was an island in the Bahamas, the Caribbean
sea. The first man to sight land was supposed to get a yearly
pension of 10,000 maravedis for life, but Rodrigo never got it.
Columbus claimed he had seen a light the evening before. He
got the reward.

So, approaching land, they were met by the Arawak Indians,
who swam out to greet them. The Arawaks lived in village
communes, had a developed agriculture of corn, yams, cassava.
They could spin and weave, but they had no horses or work
animals. They had no iron, but they wore tiny gold ornaments in
their ears.
This was to have enormous consequences: it led Columbus to
take some of them aboard ship as prisoners because he insisted
that they guide him to the source of the gold. He then sailed to
what is now Cuba, then to Hispaniola (the island which today
consists of Haiti and the Dominican Republic). There, bits of
visible gold in the rivers, and a gold mask presented to
Columbus by a local Indian chief, led to wild visions of gold
fields.
On Hispaniola, out of timbers from the Santa Maria, which had
run aground, Columbus built a fort, the first European military
base in the Western Hemisphere. He called it Navidad
(Christmas) and left thirty-nine crewmembers there, with
instructions to find and store the gold. He took more Indian
prisoners and put them aboard his two remaining ships. At one
part of the island he got into a fight with Indians who refused to
trade as many bows and arrows as he and his men wanted. Two
were run through with swords and bled to death. Then the Nina
and the Pinta set sail for the Azores and Spain. When the
weather turned cold, the Indian prisoners began to die.
Columbus's report to the Court in Madrid was extravagant. He
insisted he had reached Asia (it was Cuba) and an island off the
coast of China (Hispaniola). His descriptions were part fact,
part fiction:
Hispaniola is a miracle. Mountains and hills, plains and
pastures, are both fertile and beautiful ... the harbors are

unbelievably good and there are many wide rivers of which the
majority contain gold. . . . There are many spices, and great
mines of gold and other metals....
The Indians, Columbus reported, "are so naive and so free with
their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would
believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never
say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone...." He
concluded his report by asking for a little help from their
Majesties, and in return he would bring them from his next
voyage "as much gold as they need ... and as many slaves as
they ask." He was full of religious talk: "Thus the eternal God,
our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over
apparent impossibilities."
Because of Columbus's exaggerated report and promises, his
second expedition was given seventeen ships and more than
twelve hundred men. The aim was clear: slaves and gold. They
went from island to island in the Caribbean, taking Indians as
captives. But as word spread of the Europeans' intent they found
more and more empty villages. On Haiti, they found that the
sailors left behind at Fort Navidad had been killed in a battle
with the Indians, after they had roamed the island in gangs
looking for gold, taking women and children as slaves for sex
and labor.
Now, from his base on Haiti, Columbus sent expedition after
expedition into the interior. They found no gold fields, but had
to fill up the ships returning to Spain with some kind of
dividend. In the year 1495, they went on a great slave raid,
rounded up fifteen hundred Arawak men, women, and children,
put them in pens guarded by Spaniards and dogs, then picked
the five hundred best specimens to load onto ships. Of those
five hundred, two hundred died en route. The rest arrived alive
in Spain and were put up for sale by the archdeacon of the town,
who reported that, although the slaves were "naked as the day

they were born," they showed "no more embarrassment than
animals." Columbus later wrote: "Let us in the name of the Holy
Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold."
But too many of the slaves died in captivity. And so Columbus,
desperate to pay back dividends to those who had invested, had
to make good his promise to fill the ships with gold. In the
province of Cicao on Haiti, where he and his men imagined
huge gold fields to exist, they ordered all persons fourteen years
or older to collect a certain quantity of gold every three months.
When they brought it, they were given copper tokens to hang
around their necks. Indians found without a copper token had
their hands cut off and bled to death.
The Indians had been given an impossible task. The only gold
around was bits of dust garnered from the streams. So they fled,
were hunted down with dogs, and were killed.
Trying to put together an army of resistance, the Arawaks faced
Spaniards who had armor, muskets, swords, horses. When the
Spaniards took prisoners they hanged them or burned them to
death. Among the Arawaks, mass suicides began, with cassava
poison. Infants were killed to save them from the Spaniards. In
two years, through murder, mutilation, or suicide, half of the
250,000 Indians on Haiti were dead.
When it became clear that there was no gold left, the Indians
were taken as slave labor on huge estates, known later as
encomiendas. They were worked at a ferocious pace, and died
by the thousands. By the year 1515, there were perhaps fifty
thousand Indians left. By 1550, there were five hundred. A
report of the year 1650 shows none of the original Arawaks or
their descendants left on the island.
The chief source-and, on many matters the only source-of
information about what happened on the islands after Columbus

came is Bartolome de las Casas, who, as a young priest,
participated in the conquest of Cuba. For a time he owned a
plantation on which Indian slaves worked, but he gave that up
and became a vehement critic of Spanish cruelty. Las Casas
transcribed Columbus's journal and, in his fifties, began a
multivolume History of the Indies. In it, he describes the
Indians. They are agile, he says, and can swim long distances,
especially the women. They are not completely peaceful,
because they do battle from time to time with other tribes, but
their casualties seem small, and they fight when they are
individually moved to do so because of some grievance, not on
the orders of captains or kings…
In Book Two of his History of the Indies, Las Casas (who at
first urged replacing Indians by black slaves, thinking they were
stronger and would survive, but later relented when he saw the
effects on blacks) tells about the treatment of the Indians by the
Spaniards. It is a unique account and deserves to be quoted at
length:
Endless testimonies . .. prove the mild and pacific temperament
of the natives.... But our work was to exasperate, ravage, kill,
mangle and destroy; small wonder, then, if they tried to kill one
of us now and then.... The admiral, it is true, was blind as those
who came after him, and he was so anxious to please the King
that he committed irreparable crimes against the Indians....
Las Casas tells how the Spaniards "grew more conceited every
day" and after a while refused to walk any distance. They "rode
the backs of Indians if they were in a hurry" or were carried on
hammocks by Indians running in relays. "In this case they also
had Indians carry large leaves to shade them from the sun and
others to fan them with goose wings."
Total control led to total cruelty. The Spaniards "thought
nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting

slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades." Las Casas
tells how "two of these so-called Christians met two Indian boys
one day, each carrying a parrot; they took the parrots and for
fun beheaded the boys."
The Indians' attempts to defend themselves failed. And when
they ran off into the hills they were found and killed. So, Las
Casas reports, "they suffered and died in the mines and other
labors in desperate silence, knowing not a soul in the world to
whom they could turn for help…"
When he arrived on Hispaniola in 1508, Las Casas says, "there
were 60,000 people living on this island, including the Indians;
so that from 1494 to 1508, over three million people had
perished from war, slavery, and the mines. Who in future
generations will believe this? I myself writing it as a
knowledgeable eyewitness can hardly believe it...."
Thus began the history, five hundred years ago, of the European
invasion of the Indian settlements in the Americas. That
beginning, when you read Las Casas-even if his figures are
exaggerations (were there 3 million Indians to begin with, as he
says, or less than a million, as some historians have calculated,
or 8 million as others now believe?)-is conquest, slavery, death.
When we read the history books given to children in the United
States, it all starts with heroic adventure-there is no bloodshed-
and Columbus Day is a celebration.
Past the elementary and high schools, there are only occasional
hints of something else. Samuel Eliot Morison, the Harvard
historian, was the most distinguished writer on Columbus, the
author of a multivolume biography, and was himself a sailor
who retraced Columbus's route across the Atlantic. In his
popular book Christopher Columbus, Mariner, written in 1954,
he tells about the enslavement and the killing: "The cruel policy
initiated by Columbus and pursued by his successors resulted in
complete genocide."

That is on one page, buried halfway into the telling of a grand
romance. In the book's last paragraph, Morison sums up his
view of Columbus:
He had his faults and his defects, but they were largely the
defects of the qualities that made him great-his indomitable
will, his superb faith in God and in his own mission as the
Christ-bearer to lands beyond the seas, his stubborn persistence
despite neglect, poverty and discouragement. But there was no
flaw, no dark side to the most outstanding and essential of all
his qualities-his seamanship.
One can lie outright about the past. Or one can omit facts which
might lead to unacceptable conclusions. Morison does neither.
He refuses to lie about Columbus. He does not omit the story of
mass murder; indeed he describes it with the harshest word one
can use: genocide…
To emphasize the heroism of Columbus and his successors as
navigators and discoverers, and to de-emphasize their genocide,
is not a technical necessity but an ideological choice. It serves-
unwittingly-to justify what was done. My point is not that we
must, in telling history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in
absentia. It is too late for that; it would be a useless scholarly
exercise in morality. But the easy acceptance of atrocities as a
deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress …
The treatment of heroes (Columbus) and their victims (the
Arawaks)-the quiet acceptance of conquest and murder in the
name of progress-is only one aspect of a certain approach to
history, in which the past is told from the point of view of
governments, conquerors, diplomats, leaders…
My viewpoint, in telling the history of the United States, is
different…it is the job of thinking people, as Albert Camus

suggested, not to be on the side of the executioners.
Thus, in that inevitable taking of sides which comes from
selection and emphasis in history, I prefer to try to tell the story
of the discovery of America from the viewpoint of the
Arawaks…
My point is not to grieve for the victims and denounce the
executioners. Those tears, that anger, cast into the past, deplete
our moral energy for the present. And the lines are not always
clear. In the long run, the oppressor is also a victim. In the short
run (and so far, human history has consisted only of short runs),
the victims, themselves desperate and tainted with the culture
that oppresses them, turn on other victims.
What Columbus did to the Arawaks of the Bahamas, Cortes did
to the Aztecs of Mexico, Pizarro to the Incas of Peru, and the
English settlers of Virginia and Massachusetts to the Powhatans
and the Pequots…
__MACOSX/Supplemental Readings/._Edited Chapter 1,
Howard Zinn.doc
Supplemental Readings/Native Ameican Contributions.doc
SOME AREAS OF NATIVE AMERICAN
ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THE RECORD OF WORLD
CIVILISATIONS
NOTE: "Native Americans” is a term that describes the
human inhabitants of the New World before the arrival of
Columbus. The range and diversity of the Pre-Columbian
societies was enormous and the impact that these people had on
world culture has yet, in my opinion, to be fully recognized.
FOODS:
The contributions made by Native Americans to the world’s
food supply are truly amazing. This partial list of foods unique
to the New World is not meant to be comprehensive but to serve

as an example of our indebtedness to a great food developing
people: maize (corn), potatoes, chocolate, vanilla, tomatoes,
pineapple, "French beans", lima beans, red and green peppers,
tapioca, turkey, papaya, avocado, sweet potatoes, chili peppers,
squash, cranberries, grapes (new World varieties), strawberries.
FARMING TECHNIQUES:
While many Native American farming techniques have their
counterparts in other regions of the world, some were unique.
The inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico made island gardens in
shallow lakes. By using stakes driven into the lake floor and
wrapping mats around the stakes, a fenced area would be
formed. Mud from the bottom of the lake would be scooped up
and dumped into the fenced area to create an earth mound rich •
in nutrients and quite suitable for growing a variety of crops.
Fertilizing the crops was practiced by the continual addition of
fresh mud to the soil. These artificial islands called
"chinampas" can be seen today at Xochimilco, Mexico.
Peoples of the American Southwest were known as being the
best dry corn farmers in the world. They were able to sustain a
large population and a complex culture in a very arid region of
the world.
Terracing of hills to make cropland is found in many places
throughout the world but the Incas of the Andes hold the record
for building elaborate stone terraces at extremely high altitudes.
The crop production of these farmers was sufficient to meet the
dietary needs of an empire numbering in the millions.
3. TRANSPORTATION:
The wheel, so Important to transportation in the Old World, was
all but absent from the New World. A few toys with wheels are
about all the evidence of this primary invention that we have.
This said the Native Americans were able to develop some very
creative means of moving both people and goods.
The travois was an interesting sled of two poles that could be
pulled by a horse. It was often seen on America's Great Plains.
The birch bark canoe developed by the Native Americans who

were living in what today are the eastern parts of the United
States and Canada is a major recreational craft on today's rivers
and lakes although the canoe today is most likely made of
aluminum.
The Eskimo kayak is an extraordinary craft that is seen in
Arctic waters. It is used all over the world today because of its
light- weight and maneuverability. SHELTER:
Mayan and Aztec architectural traditions included truncated
pyramids, temple structures, platforms, corbeled arches in
buildings and gateways, steam baths, and many other structures.
The ball court structures seen in many cities of Pre-Columbian
Mexico and the United States invite comparison with our
present day football and baseball stadiums - an ubiquitous part
of our urban landscape!
Incan architecture was characterized by the use of massive stone
construction without the use of mortar. During the Spanish
conquest and occupation of the Inca reala earthquakes that
would knock the conquerers' structures to the ground would
often leave the Native American buildings standing unshakeable
in the Andean sun.
The pueblo style of the Native Americans in the southwestern
section of the United States is seen in modern buildings of the
region today. The campus of the University of New Mexico is a
glorious example of the old pueblo style applied to new
architectural functions with great success.
The Eskimo igloo exhibits masterful engineering in the
construction of its dome which is built in a unique spiral system
quite different from most Old World domed structures.
The teepee is an ingenious lightweight and portable structure
well suited to life on the Great Plains of what is new the middle
western sections of the United States and Canada. MAPS:
The Native Américains helped the European explorers and
pioneers by drawing trails and important physical features of
the landscape on maps. These maps were vital to the settlers and
trappers of New World regions. Seldom, if ever, did the Native
Americans get any credit from the Europeans who were honored

by their countrymen for the so-called discoveries that were
made. Qnly recently have investigations shown the importance
of Native American map making activities. GOVERNMENTAL
FORMS:
In the history of the United States, Native American political
skills have generally been ignored. The truth is that many
Native American peoples have displayed considerable politicai
sophistication. The Iroquois League impressed many colonial
leaders such as Benjamin Franklin as a model for a federal
system of government that could be used by the English
colonies of North America to better govern themselves.
The Inca Empire organized the lives of aillions of people with
the use of an efficient bureaucracy, a splendid system of roads
and bridges
rivaling those of the Homans, and a system of communication
making
use of knotted and colored cords called "quipu". These "quipu"'
enabled
the Incan bureaucrats to keep careful tax, census, and other
records
which made the empire which stretched from Ecuador through
Peru and
Chile and parts of Bolivia governable. PHILOSOPHY AND
RELIGION:
Most Native American groups never developed a written
language but instead depended on oral tradition passed down
from generation to generation. Our knowledge of Native
American philosophy and religion is based on old and more
recent interviews of people who have stored their group's
traditions, ideas, myths, legends, magical practices, philosophy,
and religion. Some ideas that stand out in much of Native
American thought are important questions we are wrestling with
today. Nature and people were one with spirit forces which
existed in both animate and inanimate objects. Respect for the

earth and its creatures was expressed by many Native American
prophets and thinker The Western world’s seeming lack of
respect for nature is exacting a high price from all of из today.
Distinctions between animals and people were not so tightly
drawn as in the traditional thought of Western European
civilization.DRESS:
At the very beginning of European settlement in the New
World,
Native American innovations in clothing were borrowed by the
Old World invaders. Deerskin clothing saved the pioneers much
suffering in colonial America when their European clothes wore
out on the frontier.
Such items as ponchos and moccasins are widely used today and
Native American textiles such as those of the Incas and the
Navaho are still an inspiration to clothing designers the world
over.MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS:
The Europeans with theirsteel weapons, horses, and guns
outmatched the Native Americans in most military encounters
butmuch was learned from the NewWorld warriors.
Concealment was the rule among the Native American warriors
ofthe colonial period of American history. The American
colonists used this idea and other borrowed practices with great
effectivenessin fighting the British during the struggle for
independence.
In light cavalry tactics, few peoples could matchthe skilled
warriors of the American GreatPlains »
10. HUNTING TECHNIQUES:
The Native Americans were keen observers of animal behavior
and this body of knowledge was invaluable to the early
European settlers.
Various methods that Native Americans developed for trapping
animals are still in usetoday.
11. PAINTING:
Few examples of Pre-Columbian Native American painting exist

but there are some glorious exceptions. The Mayan murals of
Bonampak in Chiapas, Mexico are an inspiration to the Mexican
muralists of today. Warriors, nobles, attendants, musicians,
prisoners of war are all shown in their splendid regalia on the
walls of a temple structure. The use of perspective in these
murals predates the techniques of the Renaissance painters.
SCULPTURE:
The Andean, Colombian, Mayan, Panamanian, Mexican, and
Southeastern United States regions are full of examples of
Native American sculpture.
Gold, silver, mica, stone, wood, and terracotta are some of the
materials used by New World artists in their works. Thousands
of sculptured art pieces of gold were melted down by the
conquistadors for shipment to Spain. The giant scuptured heads
of the Olmecs of Mexico are among the most impressive of all
surviving Native American artistic triumphs.
DESIGN:
Native American designs as expressed in blankets, pottery,
jewelry, baskets, and many other items are famous throughout
the art world today. The state flag of New Mexico is a fine
example of Native American creative design.
SPORTS:
All games which make use of rubber balls are indebted to the
Native Americans. Rubber is native to the Americas and games
a little like soccer were played in North and Central America in
Pre-Columbian times. These games were very serious affairs
where on special occasions, the losing team's captain might be
sacrificed to the gods.
Lacrosse, a game of Native Americans from the Eastern
Woodlands region of what is now the United States and Canada
is played on college
campuses throughout the nation.
ASTRONOMY:
The Mayas built observatory structures as did the Incas and
other Native American groups. Their knowledge of the sun, the
moon, the planets, and the stars was considerable. Many Native

American religious leaders often used astronomical knowledge
to aid in controlling the activities of the people. When to plant,
when to harvest, and when to expect eclipses of the sun and the
moon could be answered by members of the priestly class whose
knowledge of time gained through astronomical observations
would endow then with what seemed to common people to be
magical powers.16. ENGINEERING:
The erection of huge Bounds, giant truncated pyramids,
irrigation systems, and walled towns and cities in various places
in the New World attests to the engineering expertise of many
Native American groups. All of these engineering feats are
made more remarkable by the fact that large work animals were
mostly absent from the New World and almost all work had to
be done by people.
The Incas constructed a road system stretching for thousands of
miles through some of the most difficult terrain for building in
the world. Their rope bridges spanned mighty gorges in high
mountain country. The Americas would not see the likes of
these public works until the Interstate Highway System was
begun in the middle years of the Twentieth Century.
The Mayas built great irrigation systems in jungle areas that we
would find difficult to deal with today.
MUSIC:
Orchestras of many musicians playing a variety of instruments-
mostly woodwind and percussion- accompanied ceremonies
much as we see in our society today. The Bonampak murals
show large tubas, flutes, rattles, rasps, and drums being played
but stringed instruments were absent from the New World and
were introduced with the arrival of the Europeans.
Many Native American musical influences can be heard in the
music of composers in both North and South America today.
Peruvian pan pipe music has entered some forms of popular
music in America.
LITERATURE:
Poetry, legends, myths, stories, and historical records were
passed on by oral tradition in most Native American Pre-

Columbian cultures but the Mayas wrote books. They had
extensive libraries that the Spanish destroyed in a fit of
religious zeal to eliminate pagan influences in the people they
wanted to convert to the Christian faith. The few books that
survived are the prized possessions of a few museums in the
world. Mayan books were aecordian folded and richly
illustrated.
DANCING :
The Ballet Foliclorico of Mexico and other dance organizations
present dance forms of the Native Americans to a worldwide
audience. Many modem dances of Latin America represent a
synthesis of Native American, African, and European elements.
In Pre-Columbian times dances were Intimately connected with
religious rituals in most Native American societies.
20. COMMUNICATIONS:
Smoke signals, reflected sunlight signals, the "quipu" and
runner express system of the Incas, and the written language of
the Mayas are a few examples of Native American
communication techniques.
CITY PLANNING: i
Cities like Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), Teotihuacan,
Chan Chan, and Cuzco are just a few of the many planned
Native American urban communities. In Tenochtitlan, the
Aztece laid out the city in quadrants with a grid system of
streets and canals. Garbage was regularly collected and public
health was strictly maintained. Food and goods markets, bath
houses, ball courts, schools, temples, pyramids, and homes were
well built- and well maintained. The Spanish, to judge from
their records, were deeply impressed.
MATHEMATICS:
The Mayas, independently of the Hindu mathematicians,
developed the concept of zero. Using a base 20 instead of a base
10 as we use today, Mayan priests could handle huge numbers
easily. The ancient Romans had no zero and mathematical
calculations were cumbersome for them. The Mayas had three

symbols for their common numbering system. A symbol for
zero, a bar for five, and a dot for each unit from one through
four. The system was beautifully simple and quite effective. The
calendars of these people were equal to the best Europe had to
offer at the time.
23. MEDICINE:
Inca surgeons performed the first regularly successful brain
surgery operations with the use of very sharp stone knives.
The evidence of archeology shows that the skulls of patients
with marks made by surgical tools often showed indications of
new growth around the skull perforations. From this evidence
we can infer that at least these patients survived their
operations.
The pharmacopoeias of many Native American groups added to
the world’s medical knowledge.
24.PLACE NAMES:
Native American names such as Connecticut, Massachusetts,
Mississippi, Illinois - the list is almost endless - dot the modern
maps of every' state in the union with the possible exception of
Hawaii.
25. LABOR:
Native American labor was behind much of the wealth of Spain
and every other colonial power present in the New World. Great
estates from Spanish California to Chile depended on Native
American labor. Mining would have been all but impossible
without the cheap labor the Europeans were able to exploit.
__MACOSX/Supplemental Readings/._Native Ameican
Contributions.doc
Rubric for Assessment 1 Essay

Human Resource Development: Rubric for Assessment 1 1
Criteria
Levels of Achievement
Below
expectations
(fail)
Meet
expectations
(pass)
Meets
expectations
(credit)
Exceed
expectations
(distinction)
Exceed
expectations
(high
distinction)
Introduction
Weight
10.00%

Does not provide clear
statement about the
purpose of the essay
and the topic being
chosen.
Demonstrated some
clarity about the purpose
of the essay and the
topic being chosen.
Provides a reasonably
clear statement about the
purpose of the essay;
offers a relatively clear
picture about topic being
chosen.
Provides a clear
statement about the
purpose of the essay;
offers a clear picture
about the topic that
interests readers.
Well articulates the purpose
of the essay and the topic
being chosen; provides a
highly engaging opening for
readers to delve further into
the essay.
Coverage
Weight
25.00%

The discussions on
different questions are
very unbalanced which
lead to substantial lack
of discussions on some
questions. Because of
the coverage issue the
essay reads rather
incomplete.
Provides a reasonable
coverage of the topic and
the questions being
asked. However the
coverage of some
sections can be less
appropriate and the logic
with other sections can
be less clear.
Provides a good
coverage of the topic.
Attempts to cover
different questions yet
better balance could be
achieved (e.g. some
sections are too detailed
while others too cursory).
Provide a relatively
comprehensive coverage
of the topic and in
addressing the key
questions. Provides a
generally balanced
coverage of the sections.

Provides a comprehensive
yet also focused coverage of
the topic and in addressing
the key questions. Different
sections are very well
balanced so that the essay
reads as both broad,
strategic and focused,
coherent.
Content
Weight
25.00%
Relevant key HRD
theories, frameworks
and practices are poorly
discussed and little or
no links made to the
topic.
Some relevant key HRD
theories, frameworks and
practices are discussed
and some attempts made
to link appropriately to
the topics
Relevant key HRD
theories, frameworks and
practices are discussed
and links were made
appropriately to the topic.

Relevant key HRD
theories, frameworks and
practices are discussed
and links were made
appropriately to the topic.
Demonstrates some level
of critical evaluation and
originality.
Uses highly relevant key
HRD theories, frameworks
and practices to develop
own arguments. The issues
discussed demonstrate
exceptional critical
evaluation and original
thinking.
Conclusion
Weight
10.00%
Stated only general
conclusions which were
not supported by the
analysis and
arguments. The
conclusion has little
relationship with the
earlier part of the essay.
Drew limited conclusions
and summaries. The
logic with and flow from
the earlier analysis and

arguments can be
improved.
Drew a generally
reasonable conclusion
and summary which
followed from the
analysis and arguments,
though the conclusion
can be improved with
better clarity and focus.
Drew a good conclusion
expectations which
followed logically from the
analysis and arguments.
The conclusion provides a
clear summary of the
essay.
Exceed expectations
(conclusion and distinction)
which followed logically from
the analysis and arguments.
The conclusion provides a
solid summary of the essay
and provides readers with
clear and punchy takeaway
messages.
Rubric for Assessment 1 Essay
Human Resource Development: Rubric for Assessment 1 2

Clarity of
Writing
Weight
15.00%
Ideas and points difficult
to comprehend.
Paragraphs and
sentences were poorly
constructed and
illogical. Writing was
fraught with clichés and
misuse of language.
Significant problems with
clarity, coherence, and/or
consistency. Paragraphs
were poorly organised or
unfocused. More than an
occasional problem with
sentence construction,
poor word choice, or over
reliance on clichés.
Most ideas were clearly
expressed though with
some need for
improvement.
Paragraphs generally
coherent, but some were
poorly organised or
focused. Some problems
with sentence

construction and/or word
choices.
Ideas are generally clearly
expressed perhaps with
an occasional lapse in
clarity. Paragraphs were
generally coherent,
sentences mostly well-
crafted and varied, and
words well-chosen.
Clear, logical creative
expression and well-crafted
sentences. Paragraphing
was coherent and consistent
with the ideas being
presented. Demonstrated a
creative and accurate use of
language and phrasing.
Supporting
materials
and
referencing
Weight
15.00%
The analysis was based
very limited sources
and did not adopted
RMIT Business

referencing style. A very
limited use of academic
articles (e.g. greatly
less than 5).
The analysis was
gathered from several
relevant source(s) and
adopted RMIT Business
referencing style
appropriately (but not
consistently with errors).
Referred to a reasonable
number of academic
articles (e.g. around 4-5).
The analysis was
gathered from several,
relevant source(s).
Adopted RMIT Business
referencing style
appropriately, accurately
and consistently. Used
more than 5 academic
articles.
The analysis was
gathered from diverse,
quality source(s) beyond
those provided and
requested; and adopted
RMIT Business
referencing style
appropriately, accurately
and consistently. Used 5-8
academic articles of high-

quality.
The information analysed
was gathered from many
diverse, high quality
source(s) beyond those
provided and adopted; and
strictly conformed to the
RMIT Business referencing
style appropriately,
accurately and consistently.
Used 8 or more academic
articles of high-quality, in
addition to a wide range of
other useful resources.
Human Resource Development: Q&A for Assessment 1 1
BUSM1139 Human Resource Development
Common Questions & Answers for Assessment 1
Below I compiled the questions that people typically ask in
attempting this assessment. Most likely
you will encounter these questions too, so please take a look at
all of them.
If your question is not included, then you are welcome to
contact the lecturer and ask. This list will be

continuously updated so your question is likely to be included
in the list to help other students in
future.
If your question is already answered in the below list, then you
may NOT receive further reply from
the lecturer, so please check this list first.
1. What are the requirements of this essay?
Please refer to the instructions provided in the “Assessment 1”
folder in the “Assessment
Tasks” tab. The instructions are pretty detailed and should tell
you enough information
about the topic, format, referencing and other requirements.
2. Should I discuss all trends in the essay?
No, you should pick ONLY ONE trend, and discuss it in details.
You only have 1500 words to
articulate the implication of this trend on HRD and what we
should do about it. You only
have the space to discuss this for 1 trend but not all trends.
3. Would it be a problem if I mention more than 1 trend in the
essay?

We recognise that some trends can be related to others, so while
in principle you are asked
to discuss only 1 trend as the main theme of the essay, you may
sometime find it necessary
to refer to other trends. This is fine and you won’t be penalised.
However, do bear in mind
that there’s risk when you go too far and too broad – which is a
common problem with
many student essays. A good essay is focused, coherent, and
succinct. For instance, if you
see some academic journal articles, you will find that the story
is actually very simple even
though they can be lengthy. The authors would spend a lot time
presenting detailed and
elaborate arguments for ideas that may seem simple. This is
what we want to see in your
essay.
4. How to structure my essay? Do I have to write two
paragraphs in relation to the two
questions?
No, you do not have to. In fact, we recommend you do not
simply developing two
paragraphs to answer the two questions. You are expected to

develop an essay that weaves
in your arguments smoothly in answering the two questions.
5. Do I have to discuss both challenges and opportunities?
Human Resource Development: Q&A for Assessment 1 2
No, you don’t have to. Of course focusing on both would enable
you to develop a richer
essay, yet you won’t be penalised if you only focus on
opportunities, or if you only focus on
challenges. We evaluate the overall quality of your essay as
long as you have addressed
relevant areas.
6. Can I discuss the trend at a national level?
Certainly! The question is actually very open-ended. You can
either discuss the trend at the
global level – how does it affect all of us internationally, or you
can discuss it specifically for
your country’s context (E.g. Singapore, Australia, etc.). Or, you
can even use a particular
company as the reference and discuss how the company is
subject to the influence from

such trend. As you can see, all of these approaches are fine (and
you might find some other
angles too!). The key is not about which angle you take (and
there’s no right or wrong
angles), we are only assessing how well you have developed
your arguments in answering
these questions. As long as you have made a good case and
developed clear, solid, evidence-
based arguments in answering the questions, you will get good
marks.
7. What references should I use, and how many should I
include?
Obviously the more references you can include the better, as it
shows the breadth of your
reading. However, you are required to use at least 5 high-
quality academic articles. What is
considered an academic article? It includes publications from
below:
in Lecture 3 to get some
idea.

Management Annual
Conference (AOM), Australia and New Zealand Academy of
Management Annual
Conference (ANZAM), Society of Human Resource
Management Annual Conference
(SHRM), among others.
A good way to tell whether an article is considered an academic
article is judging by the way
it does references. Academic articles are supported by solid and
broad references – for the
statements they make, they usually have some other sources to
back up. This is considered
an academic practice and you should both read these articles
and also write your essay in
the same way.
However, you are very welcome and are encouraged to broaden
your readings and cite
other useful resources, such as practitioner magazines (e.g. HR
Monthly, Forbes, Fortune),
company reports (e.g. from Deloitte, Hay Group, McKinsey).

Human Resource Development: Assessment 1 Individual Essay
1
BUSM1139 Human Resource Development: Assessment 1
Assessment Type Individual essay
Marks 40
Aims The main aim of the individual essay is to provide you
opportunities to
conduct thorough literature search, critically evaluate literature,
and provide
your own judgment on a particular topic. The essay is aimed at
developing
your skills in literature search and review, critical thinking and
synthesising,
and academic writing.
Word Limit 1500 words + reference list
Format Double-line spacing, size 12 font (Times New Romans
or Arial preferred),
double-sided, black and white print
Reference Style Harvard Referencing Style

Due Friday 23 Feb 2018, 7:00 pm Singapore time
Submission Via Turnitin submission point on Canvas
Assessment Overview:
In this assessment task you are required to write a short essay of
no more than 1500 words to
critically discuss and address the following questions:
human resource development
(HRD)? Please choose one trend (e.g. globalisation, skills
shortages, the ageing workforce,
new technology, or another) and discuss it in detail.
HRD professionals? What
recommendations would you give to HRD professionals so that
we are up for the
opportunities and challenges presented by this trend?
This assessment requires you to be strategic in choosing an area
that you are most comfortable with
and then engage in substantial and independent literature
searches to address the questions.
The assessment also requires you to structure your essay well to
make it clear and engaging for the
reader. Furthermore, your arguments need to be evidence-based.
We ask you to make reference to
at least 5 high-quality research articles relevant to the human
resources field, but referencing to
more relevant and high-quality articles are strongly encouraged.
You are welcome to draw on
personal experiences and observations whenever appropriate in

answering the questions.
Assessment Guideline:
Below are some general suggestions about how academic essays
should be structured. Please note
this is a very general structure and you may choose to have
more detailed structures. For instance,
you may want to have some sub-sections in the main body of
your essay.
you are going to do and the
position you are adopting - please use your introduction as a
map to cover the points you
outline sequentially in the body of your report to stay on track.
An introduction needs to
outline the purpose, context, background rationale. Key terms
need to be defined. You also
Human Resource Development: Assessment 1 Individual Essay
2
need to set limits of the research by identifying what you are
going to cover and sticking to it
(your road map).

detailed literature review and
argument development. Your definitions and arguments must all
be supported by your
references - every comment you make that presents as a fact,
assertion or argument has to
be substantiated with a good reference that is cited or quoted in
text. Marks are lost for
unsubstantiated opinions. What we are interested in is your
capacity to synthesise and
communicate well researched information, and to derive your
own judgment and argument
from existing literature.
based only on your research.
-quality
academic publications. More
references that demonstrate your broad literature search are
highly recommended. When
referencing please use Harvard style. To learn more about
Harvard style please refer to
http://www1.rmit.edu.au/library/referencing.
Assessment Criteria:

provides an engaging opening for
readers.
Literature review is sufficient,
relevant and recent.
questions; analysis and synthesis of
relevant literature into a coherent framework; develops solid
arguments in asserting own
opinions; Ideas and assertions substantiated through use of high
quality reference material
and key academic perspectives/views.
follow-on from the literature
review and analysis developed in the main body of the essay.
The conclusion finishes with a
clear take-away message for the readers.
delivering your message; Free from
typos and grammatical mistakes; Clear structure; Ideas
presented are coherent throughout
the essay.
analysis was gathered from
many diverse, high-quality sources. Referencing style following
Harvard reference styles for
in-text and list of references.

Assessment policies:
Below are some policies that are relevant for you to consider in
preparing your essay. Please note
below is only a subset of the assessment policies. To have a
comprehensive understanding of RMIT
policies please check Canvas (Assessment Tasks – Additional
Information: Assessment Guides and
Policies).
Turnitin submission:
Submissions must be made through Canvas Turnitin submission
point electronically. All submissions
are made through Turnitin to check academic integrity (the
allowed score in Turnitin is no more than
http://www1.rmit.edu.au/library/referencing
Human Resource Development: Assessment 1 Individual Essay
3
20% similarities). It is highly recommended that you submit
your work a few days earlier to Turnitin
to check for similarities, before submitting your final work.
Late submission and over word limits:
Any late assignment, unless granted an extension by the course
coordinator or the Special
Consideration Unit, will be penalised. Late submissions will be

penalised 10% per day. Assignments
submitted more than seven (7) calendar days late will NOT be
marked. Please check Canvas and
RMIT website about how to apply for special consideration.
You are asked to stay within word limit in the final word count
on your essay (1500 words including
everything except reference). Usually we allow 10% above or
below of the word limit (that means,
your final word count can range between 1350 words and 1650
words), yet going beyond word limit
by over 10% will incur a penalty to your mark. Please
remember, good essays (either academic or
general writings) are always concise and focused, and the aim
of our essay assessment is to help
develop such writing skills.