Part 5
Religions of the World
Native American Religions
Glenn Rogers, Ph.D.
Native American Religions…
Introduction
The challenges of studying:
Absence of formal organization structure
Wide variety under one heading
Time span--15,000 to 20,000 year legacy
Geographic distance--all of North America
Numerous social and economic structures
Lack of formal/reliable sources
Literary sources for only past 400 years
with best sources for only past 100 years
Syncretism with European beliefs
Native American Religions…
Introduction
The focus: Nature, personal religious experience
The importance: A resurgence in interest, importance
for American history
Basic Beliefs
A blend of Polytheism, Monotheism and Monism (i.e.,
the idea that everything in universe can be reduced to
one basic thing--God, mind, matter, energy, etc.)
Animistic in nature: spirits everywhere and active in
material world: egs. spirit of trees, hills, sky, water,
various animals… eagle, hawk, buffalo, elk
Sometimes emphasis on One Great Spirit with other
lesser spirits active in nature
Native American Religions…
Basic Beliefs
Mother Earth is an often recurring theme… oneness
with nature, respect for nature, harmony
If monotheistic, God often uninvolved (as in African
beliefs)
The lesser spirits are the active ones that must
be respected and approached
Some conceive of personal God, others of an
impersonal sacred power
Native American Religions…
Animism, the Spirit World, and Nature
Native Americans see themselves as part of the world
of nature, part of a larger system
They reverence nature more than Europeans
They not only depend on it, but are very much part of it
To abuse nature is to abuse oneself
Wasting resources is wrong, irreligious
The earth is the body of Mother Nature that
brings forth fruit. The earth, as the Mother’s
body, must be respected
Animals can be hunted, but only in respectful
ways (Last of Mohicans clip)
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Native American Religions…
Animism, the Spirit World, and Nature
The presence of the High God in nature leads to view
that nature is not simply an object to be used (the
typical European view) but something humans are part
of, with which we must live in harmony
Part of the antagonism between Native Americans and
European settlers in 1700s and 1800s was this basic
worldview difference
Interacting with the spirit world…
Maintaining good relations with nature was key
Harmony rather than control… egs. Europeans
would dam up rivers and cut irrigation canals.
Native Americans would never dream of such
Native American Religions…
Animism, the Spirit World, and Nature
Interacting with the spirit world…
Sacrifice: Generally not human or animal
Though Aztecs and other South and
Central American tribes did occasionally
engage in human sacrifice
Most tribes in North America did not
Gifts (items valued by individuals) would
be offered to spirits in exchange for favors
Taboos: Things that must be avoided to avoid
insulting and angering spirit
Native American Religions…
Animism, the Spirit World, and Nature
Interacting with the spirit world…con’t
Taboos… Two important taboos
Menstruating women
Dead bodies
Special burial customs designed to
minimize contact with dead
Burial grounds as sacred places to
be avoided
Ceremonies and Rituals
In animistic contexts always an attempt to
control by gaining favor of spirits
Native American Religions…
Animism, the Spirit World, and Nature
Interacting with the spirit world…con’t
Ceremonies and Rituals
Dances: as form of honor and request
Pre-hunting rituals as prayers for good
hunt
Vision Quest
Rite of passage to adulthood, initiation into
group by temporary exile and communion
with spirits, sometimes to gain special
power
Often preparation for major events:
battles, hunts, marriage, crises
Native American Religions…
Animism, the Spirit World, and Nature
Interacting with the spirit world…con’t
Totemism
A totem is an object that
represents the ancestor of a
group or a people. A totem
might be an animal, in which
case the people will avoid
hunting and eating that
creature and will revere it.
North American totem poles
depict ancestors and the
spirits associated with them.
Native American Religions…
Animism, the Spirit World, and Nature
Interacting with the spirit world…con’t
Reconstructed
Tlingit longhouse
with totem poles; in
the Totem Bight
State Park,
Ketchikan, Alaska
Native American Religions…
Animism, the Spirit World, and Nature
Interacting with the spirit world…con’t
Religious leadership
Shamanistic… medicine man or woman,
healer, perhaps seer
Qualifications: personal experience with
spirit world
Vehicles for enhanced interaction with spirit
world: tobacco, peyote, other hallucinogens
Native American Religions…
Animism, the Spirit World, and Nature
Death and Life in Spirit World
Wide range of beliefs among various tribes
Over 200 years of exposure to Christian ideas
has impacted beliefs
General points of agreement between most
Taboos associated with corpses
Overall lack of fear of death
General belief in two souls or two kinds of
souls
One soul associated with life force.
When body dies and decays, this
soul does as well
Native American Religions…
Animism, the Spirit World, and Nature
Death and Life in Spirit World con’t
Two souls…con’t
The second can be described as a free
soul that can leave the body during
dreams, visions etc. and travel to other
places and return to body
This is common belief in basic religions, is
ancient, and is still part of African
traditional religious beliefs
At death, this free soul…
Native American Religions…
Animism, the Spirit World, and Nature
Death and Life in Spirit World
At death the free soul…con’t
Goes to the land of the dead, which is an
earth-like place that can be happy or sad,
no ideas about heaven/hell, reward or
punishment
In land of dead, souls live as long as the
still living remember them, similar to ATR
The living can assist the soul on its
journey -- food and drink sometimes
“buried” with dead
No ideas about reincarnation
Native American Religions…
Today…
Most Native Americans today who are religious are
Christians
Most of the animistic, polytheistic beliefs have been
erased or replaced
Some NAR (or aspects of them) have been retained
and Christianized and remain as part of a syncretized
(blended) belief system
Medicine men and women still practice in some
blended NAR contexts
Some Native Americans have been receptive to
Mormonism
There is a revived interest in NAR in general
Key Points…
The challenges of studying
Basic Beliefs
A blend of Polytheism, Monotheism and Monism (i.e.,
the idea that everything in universe can be reduced to
one basic thing--God, mind, matter, energy, etc.)
Animistic in nature: spirits everywhere and active in
material world: egs. spirit of trees, hills, sky, water,
various animals… eagle, hawk, buffalo, elk
Sometimes emphasis on One Great Spirit with other
lesser spirits active in nature
Key Points…
Mother Earth is an often recurring theme… oneness
with nature, respect for nature, harmony
If monotheistic, God often uninvolved (as in African
beliefs)
The lesser spirits are the active ones that must
be respected and approached
Some conceive of personal God, others of an
impersonal sacred power
Native Americans see themselves as part of the world
of nature, part of a larger system
They reverence nature more than Europeans
Key Points…
They not only depend on it, but are very much part of it
To abuse nature is to abuse oneself
Wasting resources is wrong, irreligious
The earth is the body of Mother Nature that
brings forth fruit. The earth, as the Mother’s
body, must be respected
Works Cited
Presentation based on:
Hopfe, Lewis M. and Mark R. Woodward. Religions of the World. Tenth Edition. Upper
Saddle River: Pearson, 2007. (adapted and augmented by Glenn Rogers, Ph.D.)