ENGL 2327 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Indigenous Languages Of The Americas, American Literature, Thomas Harriot
Document Summary
Native americans have been living in the americas for tens of thousands of years before. Millions of people lived in the americas when europeans arrived as many as lived in. More than 300 native american cultures and over 200 native american languages flourished prior to 1600. Due to disease and genocide, most of the literature and the people did not survive after contact with europeans. However, surviving literary works show native american diversity, reverence for nature, and reverence for many gods (polytheism). Native americans had no written languages, so legends and myths were entrusted to memory and passed from generation to generation through oral traditions. Storytelling was common among all native american cultures. When you write things down, you don"t have to remember them all that we are [is] alive within each of us living in our blood . Various literary genres (types of writing) existed in the native american culture.
