Through out history, historians have had the ability to pass on the knowledge of the past because of written documents and other forms of evidence that acknowledge the existence of past civilizations and cultures. When there are no written documents, whether lost or never created, it can be more difficult for historians to explain past civilizations. The Native Americans were a group that kept no written records. The information that we know today was passed down from generation to generation through oral traditions. Despite the information we have, there is much more that researchers don't know about because a considerable amount of information has either been lost or has been impossible to obtain. But from what we already know,historians can conclude there are common characteristics that seem to be shared by all of
             the Native Americans. I will also include the creation myth of the Osage
             Indians and the afterlife beliefs of the Lakota Sioux. Although there are many
             points of contrast, the beliefs of Native Americans are distinguished by some
             common characteristics (p.54 Nigosian). Some of these characteristics are
             that they all seem to believe in the existence of a high god or vital force along
             with lesser gods and spirits and that certain individuals possess sacred power
             and therefore can act as intermediaries between the tribe and the deities. In
             the ceremonies associated with ritual and initiation, they engaged in certain
             traditional rites that were designed to perpetuate the smooth operation of the
             natural order, including human society, and they all believed that by repeating
             stories or by storytelling they kept the world alive (p.54 Nigosian). Therefore,
             the Native Americans viewed life evolving around a holy force that holds all
             things together, which leads to the basic goal of staying inharmony with all
             natural and supernatural powers (p.62 Nigosian).? This leads me to believe
             that th...