A Comparison of Durkheim and Freud on Native American Culture Emile Durkheim and Sigmund Freud have radically different views on Native American culture. Freud, a psychologist, believes "that our task to civilization is to defend us against nature." He thinks that there are superior powers in nature like fate that inflict undetermined influences upon society (Freud). On the other hand, Durkheim a sociologist believes "religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to scared things." He initiates community wholeness and individuality intermingled into social structures. As a re