Technology: The Need of Constant Innovation

Throughout mankind's time on Earth, our species has possessed a flare for discovering new methods of continuing and improving life. This constant need to innovate has been seen with mankind's evolution of food gathering; from hunting-gathering to agriculture. These innovations may stem from individuals accidental or purposeful discoveries. It is a well reasoned fact that one of the first pieces of technology that mankind discovered was fire. Prior to the usage of fire, mankind consumed raw, unflavored and easily spoiled food. With this innovation, mankind had a new util, for cooking food, warding off animals, lighting the night, warmth, and other uses.

Thus, the need of technology is as prevalent and necessary as culture, and religion. Technology could be broken down to 3 branches: Civil, Religious, and Warfare. This is something that I have noticed from the technology in Civilization V, as these three branches are all part of the Technology tree. This applies to the World History in that the Civil branch of Technology includes the advances in banking, agriculture, construction, economics, etc. Then there is the 2nd branch, Religious. This one is simple to explain, with the advances in technology, so too does the conceptions of religion. Take for example the notion of a Heliocentric idea of the solar system being presented by the Greeks in the Classical era and being rediscovered in the Renaissance. Then there is the final branch, Warfare. This one is pretty cut and dry, no pun intended. In any regard, this is in relation to the advancements in stone, bronze, iron, steel and other ages that exceed these. These ages represent the innovations and the advancements that mankind has made in relation to competition.

It is no secret that the Native Americans had developed their society on a different path than that of the European and Asian cultures at the time. However, there is something unique that the Native Americans had managed to accomplish and that was in regards to the study of genetics, at least in regards to understanding the inbreeding was disastrous. This study was expanded to include research into agriculture, as the maize crop is a perfect example of this. In addition, there is also the variety of potato plants that existed in South America. 

Chief Pocatello and other Shoshone Tribesmen.

For the Shoshone, this is simple to break down. The Shoshone were arguably the best Native American horsemen of the Great Plains. Through their own adaptation to the newfound horses that the Spanish brought from Europe, the Shoshone way of life changed forever. They were the tribe that many of the Great Plains tribes sought for the horse trade, as they managed to accumulate many mustangs through either; stealing from settlers, raids, taming them, or raising them. The Shoshone were able to cover more ground with the innovation of horseback riding. Their role in history is known for this feat, in addition to the fact that Sacajawea belonged to this tribe. Sacajawea, the Native American guide to Lewis and Clark in the 18th century aided in the exploration of the American frontier that the Louisiana Purchase expanded.

Comanche Riders

There is no better example than that of the Comanche Rider unit that Civilization V introduces as a unique unit to the game. The Comanches were a sub tribe of the Shoshone that broke off into their own unique tribe in 1700. They are enshrined forever as the tribe that managed to wage a series of guerrilla strikes against the United States, the Mexican government and the Republic of Texas. In addition to this distinction, the United States utilized the complex language of the Comanche during the Second World War for the purpose of Code Talkers. 

This is an interesting development of the Shoshone. Perhaps the best unit that the Shoshone have for Civilization that emphasize this is the Pathfinder, the replacement of the traditional Scout unit. The Pathfinder serves as the unit that can do everything, through their ability to communicate effectively they may be able to choose one of the following whenever they come across a village; increase population, increase gold, gain a new technology, upgrade their tech, etc. This is a huge leap from the standard, randomized bonus a civilization gets from discovering a village. 

 The usage of technology through Civilization V displays that a population will successful growth provided technology is researched at an adequate speed. This is observed in World History through the innovations of Agriculture in the Americas, and in some instances the innovation of horseback riding. In the case of the Shoshone, their population was able to increase due to the ability to gather more food with the aid of the horse. This food was typically that of the American bison, deer, and other forms of game, as well as other gather-able foods. The Shoshone were better able to expand into the Great Plains and the American Southwest with the aid of the horse, and through that their numbers expanded. Ultimately however, they were brought to their knees by the United States, who had superior technology to them.

Shoshone & the Boha

Every known society is known to practice one faith at one point in their history, for the Romans it was Paganism and later Christianity, for the British it is Protestantism, and so on. In the case of the Shoshone, there is a bit of a distinction, as they practiced a religion that would be different than the one that they would be forced to adopt in the late 19th century by the United States of America. This religion was known as Boha or Spiritual Power, and was practiced by the Shoshone prior to other religions taking its place. The idea behind Boha is that an individual would achieve a supernatural power through vision quests and dreams. The Shaman would serve as the supernatural leader and would utilize it to cure others and also lead ceremonies.

Eventually, the Shoshone would begin to practice two pan-Indian religions that existed in the Sun Dance and the Native American Church. The Sun Dance was a religion that was practiced with the emphasis on sacrifice for the community. This sacrifice was usually related to the physical and spiritual test that the dancers had to endure, and other displays of personal sacrifice for one's family and community. This religion is closely relate to the practice of passing down traditions from one generation to the next, be it smoking the sacred pipe or the retelling of ancient stories. However, during the 19th century, the United States had embarked on several crusades to "civilize" the natives and suppress their traditions.

The Native American Church serves as a hybrid of Native American religion and Christianity. Expanding on the continued push by Christian missionaries to convert the Native Americans to Christianity, the natives decided that they would practice both. The Christian Creed is reflected in the Native American Church, and at the same time the usage of peyote is also displayed. The religion is monotheistic with the chief deity being called the Great Spirit. The purpose of peyote is utilized in an effort to communicate with the Great Spirit and is seen as a sacred and holy sacrament. Interestingly, the religion also has a series of branches that differ a bit depending on the tribe that this church belongs to, but the usage of peyote and the understanding that there is a Great Spirit are universal.

Civilization V introduces religions into the game, but however it is missing a lot. This is a flaw that cannot be helped, as there are so many religions in the world that are known and unknown. However, it does do a splendid job in displaying that the religion does guide a people. This can be seen with the developments of a civilizations religion. In the real world, that is best observed in the Shoshone's adoption of the pan-Indian religions. Both of these religion expressed two sides of a coin; the Sun Dance represented the sacrifice that the tribesmen had to endure for their people and the Native American Church represented the attempted hybrid of traditional Native American beliefs and those of Christianity,

Despite these efforts however, they were repelled by the United States. The Sun Dance was banned during a period when the United States sought to "civilize" the natives. They achieved this by placing young members of a Native American tribe in boarding schools. There they would not be allowed to speak their native language, wear their traditional garb and essentially be stripped of their tribal identity. They were to become "Americanized" in that they would adopt white names and converse in English and refrain from their old traditions. In the case of the Native American Church, that's a bit of a different story, sort of. Since the usage of peyote is banned by both state or federal laws. However, there is a bypass because it is protected by the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, and thus the religious usage of peyote is allowed.