When discussing Native American Religion one point is important to remember, what is now considered the religion of Native Americans is a modern interpretation of ancient beliefs.    Actual religious beliefs as well as much of the Native American Culture were destroyed with the coming of the Europeans.  The following will be an overview of the nature of religions.  Each tribe will be studied independently.

A Brief History

·         It is believed Native Americans had arrived in America sometime during the last ice age (20,000-30,000 years ago)

·         Must have crossed the land bridge across the Bering sea from Siberia into Alaska

·         The Native American religion was influenced by their methods of hunting for animals and growing crops.  These tribes believe that every being living and non living has a creative spirit the great mystery.  They believe that the four directions (North, South, East, and West) have to be well-balanced for the good things to occur.  The four directions symbolized by four brothers, and the center point a female their sister are represented using certain colors or animals(Pillai (2008) Native American Religion)

Gods and Spirits:

·         Like other indigenous  peoples traditionally Native Americans consider all nature to be spiritually alive

·         Native American peoples also typically envision a supreme god the like of a Wakan Tanka or the Pawee Tirqua the source of all life.  Above all other deities but remote from the everyday affairs on Earth

·         In a sense the high god is present in all things yet removed from them all

·         There is also the common pattern of a sacred power a force present everywhere

·         Also common in Native American Mythology is the trickster who beings both order and disorder(Young (1995) P. 67-68)

·         One of the oldest and most enduring forms of religion is that which is practiced by the various Native American peoples(Hopfe & Woodward (2009) P. 31)

·         When speaking of the religion of Native Americans we must be aware that we are not speaking of a monolithic structure

·         The people identified as Native Americans arrived on the North American continent 15,000 to 20,000 years ago.  Since then they have lived in nearly every section of America(Hopfe & Woodward (2009) P. 31)

·         While none of the native American religions have survived unchanged many have incorporated elements of European culture and religion into native belief systems rather than giving up traditional ways entirely(Hopfe & Woodward (2009) P. 32)

·         In one sense Native American religions are polytheistic.  All nature is alive with spirits.  Close at hand are the spirits of animals or plants which appear in visions.  They are also the guardian spirits of various animals and there are the spirits of the dead who live in the land of the dead

·         Nature is personified in many spirits.  At the heart of nature is mother earth who provides the bounty of the earth

·         Thunder and lightning are believed to be individual beings

·         Therefore in the broadest sense of the word native American religions are polytheistic

·         Many forms of Native American religion hold that in addition to the multiple spirits of nature, there is also a single supreme being.  They believe in the supreme being in a manner found in many basic religions(Hopfe & Woodward (2009) P. 32)

·         The term animism has been applied to native American religion be some scholars in the strictest sense of the word an animist is one who believes that the tress, rocks, rivers, plants and animals are spiritually alive

·         The animist believes that the spirit that exist in nature have the power to help or harm

·         The animist offers some form of worship to these spirits

·         Native American religions are animistic in a sense.  These religions teach that the supreme being lives in all creation

·         If the Supreme Being lives and manifests itself in nature, nature should be respected and cared for.  Therefore nature is not seen as an object to be tamed by humankind.  Rather one must seek to live in harmony with nature (Hopfe & Woodward (2009) P. 34)

·         Native Americans do not tend to see the universe as being under the control of one supreme god in the pattern of such religions as Judaism and Islam.

·         They are primarily interested in the day-to-day life among the multiple kinds of beings found in the world

·         The bulk of their religious attention was directed toward achieving good relations with the spirits of earth, the forests, the streams and the animals on which they depend

·         For native Americans they purpose of ritual is not so much to control nature but to communicate and establish good relations with the spiritual beings that share the world with humans(Hopfe & Woodward (2009) P. 35)

·         The concept of taboo as it applies to native American religions may be defined in the following manner:

·         Taboo are all actions circumstances persons objects which owing to their dangerousness fall outside the normal everyday categories of existence

·         A taboo is a kind of religious action that enables people to avoid doing things that would offend the spirits of nature and the ancestors(Hopfe & Woodward (2009) P. 36)

Analysis

Native American religion seems to hold many similarities to other non-traditional or Pagan religions.  The religions of the Native Americans as well as Pagan groups are nature based.  These religions have been called animistic; however, I believe this is a mistake.  These religions worship nature because they feel that everything has a spirit, and that the god(s) can be found in everything.  To followers of this form of religion there is no separation from the sacred and the ordinary.  It is only because of the common Judeo-Christian method of thinking, which limits views on the nature of god(s) that the opinion of everything having a spirit seems strange.  Again, this article was meant to be a short overview on the nature of Native American Religion.  Specific tribes will be covered in their own articles.  Please check back for updates.

References

Pillai, M.  (2008).  Native American Religion.  Retreived June 29, 2009 from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/native-american-religion.html

Hopfe, L.M. & Woodward, M.R. (2009).  Religions of The World (11^th ed).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Edu.

Young, W. A.  (1995). The World’s Religions: Worldviews and Contemporary Issues.      Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall