How would you discuss the worldviews and value systems of Indigenous peoples prior to European contact/invasion? How did these worldviews impact all aspects of life (science, agriculture, language, spirituality, etc.) for indigenous peoples?

The worldviews and value system of the indigenous people was highly based on religion and community centrism(Cruz 2012). Religion influenced the Indigenous peoples' entire lives, particularly their daily activities, sacrifices, geographic location and their calendars. Community centrism impacted major aspects of their lives such as their form of rule, and whether or not they became educated.
Unlike the western european custom of going to church and worshiping on sundays, their religious values …show more content…

We put the needs of ourselves before others more often than not and act in ways that will benefit ourselves, even if the community suffers from it. Indigenous people were almost completely opposite from us in this aspect, as they were a culture that was highly based on “we” or “us.” They were people who put the needs of their community before their own. Any act was done for the purpose of benefiting them as a whole, not individually. This affected the lives of indigenous people in all aspects including their “government,” what individuals did for a living, whether or not they attended school etc. The social cultural organization of indigenous people was described as partly autocratic, and partly democratic. They ruled by the use of calpullis, or “big houses,” and a little over one million people were ruled under these big houses.(Cruz 2012) These calpullis were made up of a certain amount of individuals, usually up to 100 people(Cruz 2012) and each calpulli had its own rights to land and water. Each Calpulli was its own socioeconomic unit based on kinship, people working together. As Cruz mentioned, each one had four types of citizens: representatives,called tlatoques, high priests called pipiltin, a merchant class called, pochteca, and macequale which were average citizens or commoners. All tlatoques would unite, forming a high council This is compared to the house of