Indians are an interesting and mysterious nation. The race got its name because of the mistake of Christopher Columbus, who was known to everyone, who discovered America and mistook it for India. Indians are indigenous to America. Today there are few of them, but in the 15th century there were more than 2, 000 Native American peoples.
The most famous Native American tribes
Previously, there were a lot of Indian tribes. Some of them are quite famous. The list of the most famous looks like this:
- The Aztecs;
- Iroquois
- Hurons
- Apaches
- Abenaki
- Mayan;
- The Incas;
- Mohicans;
- Cherokee;
- Comanches.
Of course, the most legendary among them are the Mayans and the Aztecs. Almost everyone heard about them. Consider the features of each of them separately.
Mayan tribe
The Mayan calendar is known to anyone. This is not surprising. According to this calendar, in 2012 the end of the world was to come. In fact, the forecast turned out to be erroneous.
The Mayan tribe lived in central America. The Indians of this tribe became famous not only for their astrological predictions. They left behind an amazing legacy: cities carved from stone and extraordinary works of art.
Aztec tribe
The Aztecs differed from other tribes in that they had a strict division between the ruling elite and the common population. The emperor, priests and simple slaves were present in this culture.
Aztec children learned to read and write from a young age. All Indians had the same hairstyles. The tribe was distinguished by conducting cruel rituals and sacrifices.
The most cruel Native American rituals
Native American tribes are known for performing a variety of rituals. Many of them are extremely brutal. And the most interesting thing is that some are practiced in our time. All Native American rituals are associated with sacrifice. It was believed that it was bloodshed that establishes a strong connection between Gods and people.
Through sacrifices, the Indian tribes thanked their Gods for giving them any benefits. Birds and animals were used as victims, but the human body was considered a more valuable victim. The ritual of piercing parts of the body was very popular. It could be lips, cheeks, hands, genitals, etc. Some Indians nominated themselves for the sacrifice. The so-called self-nominees.
One of the most cruel Indian rituals is eating human flesh, that is, cannibalism. It was believed that a person who ate could take away his strength and other virtues. Such sacrifices mainly relate to the Mayan tribe.
The Aztec tribe was not very different in charity from Maya. They also practiced violent rituals related to killing and bloodletting. One such sacrifice was the killing in the temple.
The leaders of the tribe chose the victim. It was believed that the chosen person was noted by God. He was tied to an altar stone, his chest was cut, and his heart was torn out, which was subsequently removed to a container specially prepared for the ceremony. Victims sprinkled the divine statue with blood. After that, the body was taken out of the temple and the scalp was removed from it, in which one of the priests performed a ritual dance. Basically, the Aztecs burned the bodies of their victims, but in the case when the murdered person was a significant person, his body was eaten.
Of course, the Indians had rituals that were not related to death. But one way or another, they could not do without bloodshed. For example, the rite of piercing male dignity. Members of a tribe gathered in the temple and pierced their genitals, after which they were strung for some time on a rope, which was pulled by other members of the tribe.
