The Truth of the Nacirema

The ways of humans have forever been shifting as we pick up on different aspects from the “Nacirema” tribe according to Horace Miner. Our view points, our ways of life, and our judgment has all been altered as we adapt to new ways of living. It is certain that we Americans have culture, but where do we originate from?

Just as the humans have had tribes of all types, we discover our true self from the Nacirema. The Nacirema is a tribe that has originated from all different types of tribes, emulating the ways of others into its own society. With the transition to mold its own way of life The Nacirema tribe created a country based on freedom of all. Although there was freedom and equality the tribe had made, a specific way of living with expectations on appearance, thinking, and respect became part of the cycle.

As people started to adapt to the ways of the Nacirema, they stopped questioning the decisions of the tribe. The religion to follow became Christianity and anything else was out of the ordinary. The jobs began to be classified for certain people, as whites took prominent role in all the industries. Education became a part of society and placed through the eyes of the tribe, as they had control of what knowledge people received. Certain tendencies were a way of adaptation for all life and became known as assimilation. Respect came for only a certain class of people. Listening to people with more authority became the main way of society. The way one appearance should be had shifted based on the culture of the higher class. Sectioning off people based on color and ethnicity, known as race, had become a way of thinking that was never questioned.

The ways of the Nacirema tribe were dysfunctional. The leaders had constructed everything while the people of the tribe became blinded. Corruption was placed in the heart of the Nacirema tribe and push through until it had become a way of living in America now. The real ways of the Nacirema tribe were never followed but only promised. Only the ones with the real eyes will be able to unveil the difference between the Nacirema tribe and what is America culture today.