The essay compares the traditional and nontraditional cultures of the United States. Culture is a way of life of a given ethnic group or people. It reflects customs, social behaviors and practices as passed from generation to generation (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). The traditional culture of the United States is mainly associated with the native Indians. The traditional culture reflects unique beliefs and customs of the past as practiced by the natives. Conversely, the nontraditional culture of the United States reflects aspects of contemporary life, progressive and relatively open practices that accommodate other cultures. Nontraditional culture may consist of other different practices.
Therefore, the traditional culture and nontraditional cultures of the United States have distinct differences. One major difference between the two cultures exists in the family values. The traditional culture emphasizes family oriented values, whereas nontraditional culture focuses on individual oriented values. The traditional culture gives prominence to family values as opposed to the nontraditional culture, which focuses on individuality, independence and self-reliance.
The nontraditional culture remains different from the traditional culture. The traditional practices involve the use of agricultural land for the whole community while the nontraditional culture favors individual ownership and usages of land. Many activities reflect the involvement of matrilineal practices while the nontraditional culture emphasizes patriarchal practices.
The traditional culture of the United States has unique relationship with the nontraditional culture because of different representations of the traditional culture by various tribes and cultural practices.
Religious practices between the two cultures of the United States also differ. The traditional culture derives its religious practices from tribal-cultural spheres (Fikes, n.d). Hence, cultural identity and religion may be inseparable. On the other hand, the nontraditional culture depicts westernized religious practices. The traditional culture of the United States favors the use of traditional medicine and sacred herbs while nontraditional culture believes in western medicine.
References
Fikes, J. (n.d). A Brief History of the Native American Church. Web.
Shiraev, E. B. & Levy, D. A. (2010). Cross-cultural psychology: Critical thinking and contemporary applications (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn Bacon. Web.