The arrival of new people in America brought economic and cultural tensions to the native way of life. The ability of the natives to adapt to the new needs of the country and the willingness of the U.S. government to work easily with the natives showed that the country was capable of sustaining itself and growing. Young Wolf was present during this time of adaptation and willingness in America as a Cherokee Indian, so through the use of his last will and testament we can see the cultural changes occurring during this time. Throughout Young Wolf's Testament, you see the changes within tradition, innovation, and Euro-American culture. Young Wolf showed the cultural changes present in its time and how the Cherokees were forced to adapt to new Euro-American cultures while remaining true to some of their own traditions. The Native Americans present at this time, and those that Wolf associated with, were known to be traditionally matrilineal. This is a tradition in which the line of descendants passes through the maternal side. The use of matrilineage in Cherokee society was a strong tradition. This tradition dictated who they lived with and various statuses were assigned to them, which also showed how much the Cherokee valued and thought for the women in their community. Mothers and wives were the heads of the household. This tradition was very different from the common Euro-American society of the time which participated in patrilineage. In this tradition, the line of descent is followed by the paternal side. When Wolf created his will, he did not follow Cherokee tradition. Rather than passing his assets on to his sister's children, he created a will to pass on all of his assets...... middle of paper ...... m animal profitability. This was clearly a European tradition that he had accepted, perhaps because he saw means of income that would provide stability for his family. If he had tried to stick to the old ways of hunting in the old open lands, he likely would have run out of food and his family and the Cherokee Nation would have suffered. Although the influx of new people and their cultures played a huge role in making the lives of the natives more difficult, these new traditions helped the natives develop their own traditions and create new traditions. Differentiating between all the different traditions celebrated allows us to see how much their lives have been changed and how much of an effect Europeans have had on the recent Indian cultures we are more familiar with. These changes, good or bad, shaped the future of Indians.