Cultural Values Of Cultures, Navajo, Laguna, And Euro...

This essay will explore the cultural values of three different cultures; Navajo, Laguna, and Euro-American culture. Two of the cultures that I will be exploring are the Native communities that I have been well exposed to since I was a child. The values that I will be discussing are gender, education, and money. Growing up on a reservation in New Mexico, I have a closer insight on the similarities and differences of those values. The first value I will be analyzing is gender. Gender is a topic that varies in every culture. The idea is gender has changed and evolved from the settlement of Europeans in the beginning of this nation. Many of the values that were adopted by the Europeans were inspired by the Native Americans. They were changed†¦show more content†¦With that said, the man, hastiin, is the second gender. Although important, they aren t on the same ‘ level’ of the woman. They hold the same values of the common man in Western culture, being the protector and â€Å"breadwinner.† The third gender is called the nadleeh, or hermaphrodite in English. They are individuals that demonstrate characteristics of the opposite gender. There are the female-bodied nadleeh and the male-bodied nadleeh. This is a Navajo, and common Native tradition, that has been adopted to fit the gender diversity in communities and society. The masculine female gender is different from the primary female. Meaning they don t subject themselves to the primary female roles, they occupy the roles that are usually associated with men. This also applies to the feminine male gender. The feminine male gender performs work that is usually performed by the females. This concept was also developed to identify with gender diversity. Modern day concepts of gay and lesbian have been adapted into Native culture. But those who with identify those concepts would not be connected with with cultural concepts of the nadleeh gender. There are complicated concepts of relationships when you analyze the gender values of Native communities and the values that the Euro-Americans have now. Navajos have five separate gender categories that arise from the five genders explained above. Those categories are traditional, transitional, contemporary, acculturated, and