Indian Mounds

As from my personal learning on various Indian tribes and their cultures (which, for the record, isn't exactly extensive) and from the readings of Indian Mounds of Wisconsin, many of their religious beliefs were connected with the workings and operations of nature. Perfectly understandable, as they were considerably more dependent on their immediate environment and were permanently immersed in nature far beyond what we can compare to today. The use of animals, physically (for food, clothing, tools) and metaphorically (names, stories), is present in multiple aspects of their societies. Having these ties extend beyond into a religious belief system is understandable if not expected. This intimate association with nature is likewise true of those people responsible for the animal drawings in Lascaux Cave some 16,000 years ago. As the differences in the actual representation of animals is obvious, the huge obstacle is the lack of known culture in comparrison with the tribes from Wisconsin.

It is, of course, difficult to distinguish the depth of significance religiously and culturally of the effigy mounds in Wisconsin as there are indefinite possible explanations that could be true. As to compared with our own societies' cultures in our constant use of animal representation in cartoons, advertisements, or team mascots - there is hardly much close ties involving religious beliefs. As brought up in class, it is possible that the effigy mounds were simply pragmatic representations. Less likely, but definitely possible.



I will state that I could never do study something like this for my profession as the open-endedness and indefinite lack of difinity would drive me crazy.