Native American religion
By Chris O’Brien
Trying
to talk about Native American religion is about as easy as narrowing
down European cuisine. With 532 registered tribes in the continental
United States, diversity abounds and specific discussion would take
volumes. However, using a broader brush, we can paint a general picture
of Native American religion and look at its place and context in modern
America.
First, let’s change the word religion to spirituality, meaning
that for most Native Americans, traditional religious practices are
more a way of life and being than a separate, cognitive process. Typically
present in most Native American beliefs are key relationships with the
earth, animals, nature and spirits. And these elements play a role in
all activities in daily life, offering companionship, guidance and insight
into both the physical and spiritual worlds. For practicing Native Americans,
their spirituality is their world, not a weekend adjunct that offers
moral principles to bring to the office on Monday.
Second, the best way to understand Native American spirituality is
by reviewing the history of Native American people, or “Indians.”
Anthropologists say Native Americans migrated from Asia and first
populated what is now North America almost 60,000 years ago (though
many tribal myths say the people emerged from below the earth’s
surface about 10,000 year ago). This people’s dependency on hunting,
gathering and natural forces probably plays a part in the earth- and
animal-centered parts of their spirituality.
Fast-forward to 500 years ago, and you’ll find about 15 million
Native Americans living on the North American continent practicing different
brands of what could objectively be called an earth-based shamanism.
Specifically, reverence for the earth and animals, unique rituals and
ceremonies, medicine men and magical powers were the spiritual tools
for explaining and living in the world.
Enter Columbus and the Europeans, and things changed quickly. Though
this article is not about the dramatic genocide that took place on the
continent, it is important to note that those 15 million Indians were
whittled down to a mere 250,000 by the end of the 1800s. This is a key
point in understanding their spiritual practices of today, because many
of their original beliefs and religious ways were lost with the people
who died and the changes on the land.
For example, the Lakota, also known as the Sioux, were a nomadic tribe
whose spirituality and sustenance was based on the migrating buffalo.
The original herd of millions of buffalo that roamed the Great Plains
was shot down to 25 animals by the early 1900s; at one point, only 8,000
Lakota remained, most living on reservations removed from their original
habitat. These dramatic changes arrested the development and passing
on of Native American spiritual practices, and many traditional beliefs
were preserved only in story telling and sacred songs.
Also with the Europeans arrived a tremendous and forceful influx of
Christianity. Early Christians spent about 100 years trying to convert
the “savages” to “civilized” religious and social
behavior. In fact, it wasn’t until 1978 and the Freedom of Religion
Act—only 27 years ago—that Native Americans were legally
allowed to practice their traditional spirituality. Prior to that, Native
American ceremonies were against the law, and punishable as crimes.
Today’s Native American spirituality is really about these last
27 years and the revitalization of traditional beliefs and ceremonies.
Take, for example, the Lakota reservations, such as Rose Bud in South
Dakota. Twenty-five years ago, only about one percent of the population
practiced traditional ways. Today, approximately 20 percent are engaged
in their traditional beliefs. Some are also practicing Christians, Mormons
or atheists. And the Native American Church, established in 1918, blends
traditional beliefs, Christian values, New Age concepts and often the
sacred use of peyote.
In traditional circles today, elders and those still connected to
the verbal and story-telling lineage of Native American spirituality
are leading the charge to re-educate and indoctrinate today’s
indigenous youth. Part of this movement has been a coming together of
tribes in ceremonies. One of the trends has been the resurrection of
Lakota ceremonies. With widespread participation by tribes from Canada
to South America, the Lakota ways have become the most widely practiced
and respected brand of Native American spirituality today.
The Lakota Way
Back in the days before Buffalo Bill, the Lakota practiced a spiritual
regimen of seven sacred rites: sweat lodge, vision quest, ghost keeping,
sun dance, making relatives, puberty ceremony and throwing the ball.
The core purpose of these ceremonies and rites was to appease supernatural
powers and call on the help of passed relatives in order to insure a
successful hunt, battle or healing. These were also rites of passage
into adulthood, family and other social institutions, as well as rituals
for spiritual daily living.
Today’s traditional Lakota practices still incluide the seven
rites, though throwing the ball has essentially been replace with yuwipi,
a sacred healing ceremony. Of the seven rites, the sweat lodge and sun
dance are most prevalent. These involve challenging physical rituals,
deep prayer or communion with the Creator, and the singing of sacred
songs that have been verbally passed down through the centuries.
It is these songs—the last remaining elements of the pre-European
Native Americans—that carry the message of the traditional spirituality:
where it came from, how it’s practiced, what it’s for. The
songs also contain the stories of the ancestors, the original Native
Americans. The songs are like treasure maps for the reawaking traditionals,
giving them one of the only remaining links to their heritage and the
foundation for a system of belief.
An indigenous bonding and rebuilding is currently under way, and a
genetic pride and genealogical support structure is being built from
the inside out among Native Americans today. “Traditional ways
are just starting to be revitalized,” says Paul Soderman, executive
director of The World Hope Foundation, a non-profit organization engaged
in reservation Indian education. “And their survival is still
tenuous, especially with outside influences such as non-Indians running
to the reservations every summer to participate in ceremonies. More
than one Lakota is telling me that they need at least another generation
to re-establish their ways and their spirituality.”
The true brand of Native American religion or spirituality is yet
to be defined. Today is just the beginning of a revival movement among
the indigenous people of North America, as they strive to sow traditional
roots in modern soil. They can’t return to nomadic buffalo hunting,
but they’re not drawn to Western churches. Perhaps in the generations
to come, a new Native American religion will find its place in the modern
world.
Understanding Native American religion is a complex study with tremendous
amounts of unsubstantiated information available. From one source to
the next, stories and facts change. Yet the exploration of traditional
beliefs is a fascinating process of discovering our predecessors on
this continent who, even in our lifetime, were still being exterminated.
Explore this domain with an open, curious and respectful mind, beginning
with the resources listed with this article.
Resources, local and beyond
- www.religioustolerance.org/nataspir.html:
Key concepts and ideas about Native American spirituality
- www.dickshovel.com/www.html:
Modern commentary from Native American leaders, bibliography and other
info.
- www.hanksville.org/NAresources:
Index of Native American resources on the web.
- www.nativeweb.org: Resources
and references with search function.
- Native Religions and Cultures of North America: Anthology of the
Sacred, by Lawrence E. Sullivan (Continuum International Publishing
Group, 2003)
- Black Elk Speaks, by John G. Neihardt (First Pocket Books, 1972)
- Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, by Carl Waldman (Checkmark
Books, 1999)
- Indians of North America, by Harold E. Driver (University of Chicago
Press, 1969)
- This Land Was Theirs: A Study of the North American Indian, by
Wendell H. Oswalt (Oxford University Press, 2001)
JULY/AUGUST 2008 FEATURE ARTICLES
