Final answer:
Native Americans had a holistic worldview, seeing themselves as interconnected with nature and animals as kin. They practiced sustainable resource management and resisted European concepts of land ownership and gender roles upon contact.
Step-by-step explanation:
Native Americans viewed their relationship to the world around them as deeply interconnected and based on mutual respect and balance. They saw themselves as part of a larger whole, where every entity, be it animal, plant, or geographic feature, possessed a spirit and played a vital role in the cosmos. This worldview is epitomized by their belief in animism, where the natural world is seen as being inhabited by spiritual entities. Unlike European settlers, who believed in individual land ownership and commodification of resources, Native Americans believed that the land was shared among all living beings and that resources were to be used sustainably.
Traditional ecological knowledge and practices of Native American cultures often exemplified sustainable resource management. Europeans, upon contact, introduced their own ideas of property and trade, which conflicted with Native American concepts, causing disruption and loss for indigenous peoples.
In their societies, both men and women played complementary roles, with women typically engaged in agriculture and gathering, and men in hunting and protection. Their social structures often included matriarchal systems, which were altered by the encounter with Europeans. Yet, at every turn, Native Americans resisted colonization and maintained aspects of their culture and worldviews.