Native American Spirituality

the Native Ameircan conception divides the universe into heaven, earth, and underworld. Distinctions among spirits, divinities, humans, and animals are often blurred. Animals, places, even stones and trees can possess spirits that interact with humans in a kind of cosmic harmony, similar to the ancient concept of kami in the Shinto tradition of Japan. This belief, known as animism, is common to many preliterate religions which hold that personal, intelligent spirits inhabit almost all natural ob ects, from stones, plants, and rivers to insects, birds, animals, trees, and mountains. !ndians regard some, but not all, places as sacred" certain locations and animals are singled out as manifestations of the supernatural, including those seen in dreams or visions. The native religions of North America, like those of other continents, by and large rely on oral rather than written transmission, which is why they are sometimes called preliterate, or primal, acknowledging their ancient status #the term $primitive$ is no longer applied, because of its pe oritive connotation%. !n the truest sense, they make up a communal religion" many tribes and members contributing to a tradition which is basically the same for most !ndians, with a wide rangs of regional and tribal variations. !ndigenous peoples look on the cosmos as a living womb that nurtures their lives, and so they have less neeed to destroy or reshape it as more technologically developed cultures do #although they sometimes abuse the land and livestock as developed cultures do%. Their goal could be described as achieving harmony in the personal, social, and cosmic realms, rather than gaining personal salvation or liberation as historical religions aim to do.

The Roots of Democracy

&e amin 'ranklin, Tom (aine, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams, among others, openly acknowledged their debt to Native Americans for the structure of the democracy they crafted. The same revolutionary concepts of government they learned from the !ndians were later e)ported to *urope, where they were carried directly by Thomas (aine. (aine had negotiated with the !ro+uois during the American ,evolution, tried to learn their language, and sought to incorporate their social structure into the -onstitution.

Shamanism
!ndian religion is interwoven into your life. *verything, the way you live, the way you sleep. !ndian religion is a way of life. To call it a $religion$ is misleading. *verything is close to .other *arth, in accordance to the way we are taught. ,on &arton, +uoted in The Sacred !ndian spirituality centers on a collection of beliefs shared by most tribes, with variations in details, rituals and ceremonies. Distinctions are often made, for e)ample, between the (lains !ndians of the .idwest, the (ueblo !ndians of the Southwest, and the Northern /oodland Tribes. 0et almost all tribes practice a modified monotheism 11 belief in the 2reat Spirit

alongside an animistic belief in individual spirits residing in animals and forces of nature, none of which are seen as higher than the 2reat Spirit. As a result, Native American spirituality is nature1based, growing out of a strong sense of interrelation with the earth" shared communal ritual and sacred traditions are accompanied by the teaching of morals and ethics. This is especially true of North American !ndians" !ndians of -entral and South America follow somewhat different belief systems. The A3tecs of .e)ico, for e)ample, who built much of their knowledge and belief on that of the .ayas and other .e3o1Americans #the Toltecs and 4lmecs% worshiped over a hundred gods, ranked hierarchically and somewhat bureaucratically like the deities of ancient -hina. Shamanism is one of the most widely shared components of !ndian life. Shamans are spiritually gifted people who through a variety of means have ac+uired the ability to help others through trance and dream ourneying. As in the ancient cultures of -hina, Tibet, and Northern ,ussia, North American shamans induce trance states in themselves to facilitate contacting the spirit world and to help heal the afflicted. Shamanic trances can be induced through a variety of techni+ues, including chanting or drumming, fasting, and in some cases the use of psychotropic substances, the mildest of which might be tobacco, but which can sometimes include entheogens such as peyote and ayahuasca. During these trance contacts, shamans may communicate with spirits of the dead or other spirits and learn what they need to know to help heal the body, mind, or soul of a patient, to locate game, or to predict the future. &ecause in many tribes almost all men, and some women, went on a vision +uest and were said to have contacted the supernatural, sometimes the only difference between shamans and the rest of the tribe was the number or relative power of the spirit guides or helpers contacted by the shamans.

The Great Spirit

!ndian concepts of 2od may appear contradictory at times, probably because they derive from both patriarchal and matriarchal traditions. 'or e)ample, Wakan Tanka, the 5akota Siou) name for $2reat Spirit,$ $2reat .ystery,$ or Supreme &eing, is an amalgamation of a dominant 'ather sky god, .other *arth, and numerous spirits who control the elements as well as human life. 4ther !ndian nations since ancient times have believed in a Supreme &eing whom they called $father$ and thought of either as a man or an animal 11 especially a wolf 11 with human thoughts and speech. This creator god is addressed by the Shoshone, for instance, as Tam Apo #$4ur 'ather$%. &elief in a .other *arth figure echoes the Neolithic 2oddess culture in which women were essentially e+ual partners with men, and the feminine principle was openly acknowledged as the great source of human, animal, and vegetable life. !ndian culture also shows the impact, however, of the warlike post12oddess era, with its violence and its masculine hierarchies, so any attempt to see Native American religion as a direct descendant of 2oddess culture is awkward at best. And yet the male and female principles appear to be far more e+uitably balanced in most American !ndian traditions than in /estern historical religions. North American !ndian culture is divided between primarily hunting and primarily agrarian tribes, patrilineal and matrilineal descent, and women are given a place of respect and influence rarely acknowledged in either the *ast or /est.

Rituals and Customs

Although !ndian beliefs and customs represent a wide range of sources and have evolved over millennia, many of them are remarkably similar. .ost tribes, especially among the (lains !ndians, have traditionally practiced some form of potlatch, or give1away ceremonies, highlighted by the lavish distribution of goods and food to members of other clans, villages, or tribes. The potlatch embodies a sense of communal responsibility reaching back to aboriginal times, and the tradition is tied in with the democratic beliefs of The (eople. Anyone elected to a leadership position was e)pected to give away all his possessions so as not to be able to profit materially from his new position. ,elated to that is a belief in stewardship rather than ownership of the land. The *uropeans who settled America had difficulty comprehending this as they kept trying to buy land from the !ndians. !n many cases, however, tribes differ among themselves as to specific rituals and ceremonies. According to Siou) tradition, for instance, seven ceremonies were taught to tribal elders by the &uffalo -alf /oman, who appeared to two members of the Siou) tribe in a vision and e)plained that the sacred pipe was to be used in seven rites. She also taught the seven ceremonies to the tribe, the first in person and the other si) in visions granted after she departed, leaving behind her sacred bundle, which is still kept on one of the Siou) reservations. The medicine bundle remains a significant element of !ndian religion, a collection of sacred ob ects carried by Native American males of any importance in their community. The bundles6 $medicine$ consists of sacred ob ects that facilitate interaction with the supernatural, especially a pipe and tobacco, which are smoked whenever the bundle is unwrapped and used for religious purposes. Some of the bundle6s contents are incorporeal, such as songs and rituals that go with it when the bundle is bought or sold. 7istorically, one could own more than one bundle, a sign of wealth or importance within the tribe. ,ituals and ceremonies of special significance, especially among plains !ndians, include the Sweat 5odge ceremony #communal spiritual cleansing%" 8ision 9uest #a rite of passage for the young or spiritual +uest for adults%" Sun Dance -eremony #an annual tribal thanksgiving to the 2reat Spirit held in late summer%" .aking ,elatives #entering a relationship with a nonrelative that is stronger than kinship%" (reparing a 2irl for /omanhood" and Throwing the &all #a ritual that evolved into a game upon which 5a-rosse is based%. The sacred pipe, ritually filled with tabacco or tobacco substitute 11 but never with any psychotropic substance as is often mistakenly believed 11 is passed among participants at all sacred ceremonies #inhaling is not re+uired of nonsmokers%. http:;;www. oyofsects.com;world;indians.shtml