Native American Religions, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Native Americans is a generalization used to describe all tribes that lived on the territory of the United States of America before European settlers invaded it and turned into what it is now. And now it is almost impossible to specify what that traditions and religions looked like before European intervention. Though there are many different religions that defy generalization and categorization there are some points that were common for all of them. The latter allows modern investigators compare them and make some notes about Native Americans Spirituality.

David Ruvolo in his article devoted to Native American Religions said that history of researched Native American religions was formed under the influence of Christianity brought to America by invaders. In fact, Christopher Columbus discovery of the New World paved the way for subsequent obliteration of the Native Americans. For many tribes the Christianity became the new religion and their native one was replaced with new beliefs thus making it impossible to preserve information about old religions (Ruvolo).

Many tribes were obliterated and their traditions were forgotten because vast majority of tribes had no written language. Not all tribes were killed, but those that were converted to new, European, way of life could follow two ways. They may have adopted the new lifestyles that corresponded to the new life; or they may have tried to preserve their traditions by living in their tribes and modifying their religions so as to match the Christianity.

Most of Native American history was viewed through white eyes. This fact makes many things arguable and incoherent; though even this point of view allows us analyze Native Americans lifestyles. Also, as Luan Marks (2007, p. 30-31) claimed in his article “Native North American Religions and Participatory Visions”, some spiritual traditions could have been omitted for the sake of intimacy. Marks is a descendant of Native American traditions. One of the main ideas of his work is a uniqueness and diversity, just as mentioned above. Spiritual traditions, he notes, cannot be easily categorized and easily understood. But some aspects will be described in this paper as an attempt to summarize and clarify spirituality of Native inhabitants of the New World.

Attitudes to Land, Nature and Deities

The land the tribe lived on was respected and all dances, ceremonies, prayers, and songs, were intended to influence the nature and its forces and balance their relations with Earth (Laderman, Leon, 2003, p.207). Some ancient Native Americans became horticulturists and modified the world they lived in. Some of them did not do that and gathered what the nature gave them, like Apaches did. But they were not sentimental about the Earth. As John Carmody specified in his book Native American Religions: An Introduction, “virtually all peoples have accepted the vagaries of nature as simply the way things were” (1993, p.223). Of course, death and natural disasters did disappoint them and made them suffer, but things like that became common sight. Wise Natives became addicted to them and made stoicism one of the main features of their character.

But they distinguished the forces of nature and divine forces. ‘Divinity’ was excluded from real world where human beings and animals lived along with plants and sea creatures (Carmody, 1993, p.225). It was the death, fertility, construction and destruction that divine forces were responsible for.

Notably, all Native religions include some mysterious forces that can influence the world. As Marks called it, Native Americans believed in the unseen powers. Either feelings of mystery or deities that ruled the world, such powers existed (p. 31).

In general, Marks described Indian religions as mystical at their core “because of their overarching emphasis on individual visionary experiences” (Marks, 2007, 31). “Indian peoples were and are dreamers, visionaries, and mystics in animated worlds full of spirits” (Marks, 2007, 31). Usually, individual visions were respected. After European colonization, new religious forms emerged as a result of prophet’s vision.

It may be interesting for researchers that despite common assumption that Native American religions are static, they are not. Traditions and spiritual beliefs have always been interwoven so as to make the understanding of the world possible. Of course, many traditions had long history and remained quite unchanged. But in fact in the changing world native religious traditions often change, however slightly, over time (Marks, 2007, p. 31).

Another thing that features many Native American religions is an assumed inability to explain everything. They believed that “if people try to explain everything or seek to leave nothing unexplored in the universe, they will bring disaster upon themselves, for then they are trying to be like gods, not humans” (Marks, 2007, 31). So, all powers that move the world are mysterious and inexplicable to the end. All knowledge gained is just a guide to and through the Mystery.

‘Spiritual’ frequently meant something of importance or having power. Even when such power was embodied in real objects like growing beans it was considered to be a gift of the deity. Many Native American religions had one “Great Spirit” and many spirits. The latter were responsible for the movements of the living creatures, for the growth of plants and change of seasons. The number of spirits that were responsible for the natural events could be unlimited. Usually, as the spirits ruled the natural phenomena, it was a task of the people or of the shamans to make spirits favorable and draw their attention.

As an example it may be shown a ceremony of potlatch (Carmody, 1993):

The spirits most important to the northwestern tribes gained effective presence in the foods presented at the potlatch feast. They needed human beings’ need of them. A contract or covenant was in force, such that each side, the human and the divine, profited from the potlatch feasting. Northwestern Indians knew that until the spirits became concrete, near, forces impinging on their families and economies, the spirits were of no special account. Such Indians wanted the spirits to be of special account, because they sensed that impotent spirits raised the question whether creation as a whole made any sense, had any significance. (p.231)

The spirits were supposed to have an ambivalent nature, just like human beings. The most shining example of this is tradition to give something to spirits to make them help peoples. In fact, that tradition can be traced to simple psychological observations – people usually act when they are motivated to or given reward (Carmody, 1993, p.232).

But there were some religions that had the greatest spirit whose interests were different from those of casual ones. Though ascribed different natures in different religions, it was generally a primary deity that was not interested in human daily lives. It can be exemplified by grandfather sky that exists just because he wants so; or grandmother that gives life to all plants and provides rich harvest just because it is her nature to be generous (Carmody, 1993, 232). The nature of such deities was to be creative, beautiful, and generous.

In other religions, the primary spirit had another nature. For example, Iroquois had some monotheistic religion. The ‘Great Spirit’ was supposed to be the creator and the ruler of the world. These peoples believed that unlike earth and sky, the Great Spirit cared about human lives and intervened when it was necessary. They did not evaluate clear idea of their primary deity. Like any knowledge concerning unseen powers it was beyond their understanding. This deity could rule the real world through the class of lower spirits. Their powers were limited to their field of action. Notably, the evil in the world was represented by the brother of the Great Spirit, ‘the Evil-minded’ (Ruvolo). This deity also had lower deities – spirits that could perform some actions to bring chaos and evil. The Great Spirit sometimes overcame the ‘Evil-minded’ brother (Ruvolo).

In Dakota’s (Sioux) religion, the Great Spirit was the Wakan Tanka. It caused a lot of controversy as Christian missioners turned this deity into God. Sioux considered it to be the animating force that acted everywhere. It was largely a vague category most which main characteristic was its incomprehensibility (Ruvolo). Everything in the real world was moved and brought to life by Wakan Tanka. Unlike Iroquois, Sioux thought that every object has a spirit or is a spirit, so the world was a kind of unreal for them, in fact. But like Iroquois Dakota peoples considered Wakan Tanka to have employed ‘Wakan people’ (Ruvolo) in order to influence real world and human lives. These Wakan People were praised and worshipped.

Though Wakan Tanka is frequently referred to as a single deity or force, it possessed ambiguous, mysterious nature. “The conflation of the notions of multiplicity and mystery into an anthropomorphic and transcendent God/head is at the core of the controversies, yet this conflation has often been marginalized in academic discourse” – says Marks about it (2007, p.34) This dual nature was presented by Christian missionaries as monotheism and thus linked to God in Christian understanding.

As shown above, there can be no generalization concerning certain deity, but the idea was all the same for all Native American religions – the world was ruled by invisible powerful forces, or deities, that could correct human behavior or turn a blind eye on it. Secondary spirits could inhabit casual objects or direct diseases, natural phenomena and animals.

Human Origins

For Native Americans it was clear that human tribes were not the result of evolution, spontaneous mutations or anything like that. All tribes had their own ideas about the creation of mankind. But for all of them it was a deliberate act of superior and supernatural forces. Though they usually could not explain why those forces decided to create peoples, it was clear to them that it was a conscious act (Carmody, 1993, p.218).

The beginning of human era was associated with the beginning of the world. Notably, human beings were not perceived as a goal or as a main part of creation plan. They were just an indivisible part of the environment, of the world, because they shared this world with many other creatures.

For example, the Cherokee thought that this world emerged as a result of earth diver’s actions. It was a water beetle that “brought up a bit of mud from under the primal waters” (Carmody, 1993, p.219). And the world was limited to an earth that floated in primal waters. The cords that hung from sky kept the island of earth from sinking. Originally Cherokee thought that all creatures lived together in heaven. When the heaven was overcrowded, some of people and animals were sent to a newly created earth.

Another widespread point of view describes first human beings as underground creatures who could not liberate themselves and emerge from under the earth. Then a hero came and saved them, leading the tribe to light. Frequently the order of coming from under the earth meant a lot in Native American tribes’ hierarchy. For example, shamans were supposed to be one of the first (Carmody, 1993, p.219-20).

The idea of emergence from under the earth reminds of constant determination of humanity to reach new levels of understanding, living, or culture. It represents the motion towards something new and better. The myth that underlies falling from heaven to earth reminds of thought that there are things that should have been better when people had no earthly burdens.

Two ways to approach the problem of world creation show that Native Americans were not that simple as some romantics may describe them to be. In fact, Native Americans developed absolutely logical ideas that were like many others characteristic to other nations. Their ideas of betterment of life and striving for primal goodness are common for all people, irrespective of their country of origin.

Death and Afterlife

The death itself was an unwelcome theme for religious speculation. It upset living peoples and was undesirable, and it is easily understandable.  Despite these facts the death issues were developed in many religions. Some of Native Americans even developed their theories of reincarnation (Carmody, 1993, p.239).

After the death some religions supposed dead people to go to heaven as a realm of the dead. There he dead could find plentiful food and drink without laborious work. They also gained understanding of how the human world was functioning but did not intervene. Some tribes sent their dead to the realms of darkness where lives were harder and satisfying features were absent. For such peoples the death was a tragedy.

Vast majority of the Native American peoples believed in ghosts. They thought that ghosts were human souls that had not reached the place of final rest to the moment. Such ghosts could visit the places that were special to them when they were alive. Tribes that believed in ghosts tried to pacify the spirits of the deceased by thinking well of them or holding special ceremonies. The most widespread term of the ghost unsettling the living people was one year (Carmody, 1993, p.239-40).

The death was largely perceived a kind of justice by Native peoples. Good people and bad people went to different places as their deeds were appreciated or punished, respectively. Though the idea was not concise, it influenced people and their behaviors. Death and punishment were always before as an incentive to be good and caution to avoid wickedness.

Though death and afterlife were not the major part of the religious system, they served as additional measures to promote honesty, faith and other good behaviors. It is normal for people to create an idea of what is after life, so it was understandable that Native American religions included these views.

Shamanism

The word ‘shaman’ came from Siberia and it means ‘one that knows’ or ‘is excited and moved’. Usually shamans are known for their ability to mediate the communication between the living people and spirits and to “control, invoke, or solicit various powers believed to inhabit the natural world” (Laderman, Leon, 2003, p.223). The most common spirits that were asked to collaborate were animal’s spirits.

Shamans invoked spirits to satisfy human requests by means of singing songs, dancing, drumming, and praying. In the Native American tribes shamans are usually medicine men or women, though the direct term varies dependent on the tribe. There were several types of shamans that differed by the skills required and actions performed.

Usually, shamans were supposed to initiate direct contact with spirits by means of special behavior; to use special objects, drums and wear; to enter a special condition to assist the community or an individual. The states of changed awareness may be characterized by out-of-body ability to travel to the world of spirits to perform required actions; by an ability to call spirits that may help to solve some problem and the ability to mediate human-spirit communication. Though such actions were very common, modern scholars doubt the meaning of the rituals above and fully describe them as controlled actions (Laderman, Leon, 2003, p.224).

The tribe of Apaches was one that led the harshest life after Inuit. Their religion was loosely organized; its leaders are known as shamans. Shaman’s power rested in their ability to heal (Ruvolo). This power could make the shaman a powerful and important figure among Apache tribes. The harsh conditions did not allow Apache develop the detailed religion but they believed the world to be full with supernatural power that sought to realize itself through peoples (Ruvolo). It was the shaman who connected the Apache people to the “healing powers of the supernatural world” (Ruvolo).

In general, in all tribes there were people that could at least perform some medical aid. Frequently they were assigned many authorities such as communicating with spirits. Remarkably, even Apaches with their undeveloped religion had medicine people, or shamans (Ruvolo). This feature is common to all Native American Religions.

Natural Factors and Religion Development

In the summary of his work, David Ruvolo linked the natural resources available to tribe and its religious development. Indeed, this connection can be traced and easily proven.

Three tribes – Iroquois, Lakota (Sioux) and Apache were taken into consideration. The first tribe had rich natural resources, the second – middle but sufficient, and the last tribe lived in the modern Arizona, New-Mexico, and Oklahoma, and had very limited natural resources.

Put simply, an ability to develop a profound spiritual system was directly proportionate to the ability of the tribe to provide food and shelter to its members. Rich natural resources that were available to the Iroquois gave them time and ability to develop religious ideas. The Apachehad no time to spend on their spirituality as their energy was spent towards survival. And Sioux that were dependent on their buffalos developed a religious system that promoted unity of the nature and its spirits (Ruvolo).

While the environment was different and the lifestyles varied, the tendency is clear. The interaction with natural world was seen through the daily lifestyle and interaction with environment. All three tribes did not separate the natural powers and spirits, and supernatural was considered to be an indivisible part of the world (Ruvolo). The relations with the nature were intimate and respectful, as discussed in the first paragraph.

Conclusion

In the whole, Native American religions share some similar features that differ greatly for each tribe. When talking about Native Americans one should remember that they were not on or two tribes, they inhabited a great territory and thus they may have nothing in common, not least their spiritual ideas.

Native American religions were and are polytheistic and monotheistic. Many of Native Americans were converted to Christian faith; in the past, each tribe developed its own system of world and placed people and spirits there. Mainly, there were one primary spirit and many secondary spirits.

The origin of the mankind was mythological but in the long run easily explicable by general human psychology. Life after death when developed could have been on heaven or in the realm of darkness. In this way people were stimulated to behave themselves properly and be good.

Shamans were seen as mediators between spirits that inhabited the world and human beings. Usually shamans were healers that transferred the power of healing spirits to people who needed it. Shamanism is a common feature of all Native American religions, as well as their connection with natural resources and lifestyles.

Works Cited

Carmody J. T., Carmody D. L. (1993). Native American Religions: An Introduction. New York: Paulist Press.

Laderman G., León L. D. (2003). Religion and American cultures: an encyclopedia of traditions, diversity, and popular expressions. California: ABC-CLIO.

Marks L. F. M. (2007). Great Mysteries: Native North American Religions and Participatory Visions. ReVision 29(3) p. 29-35.

Robinson B.A. Native American Spirituality: Beliefs of Native Americans. Retrieved: 24 Oct. 2009 from: <http://www.religioustolerance.org/nataspir3.htm>

Ruvolo, D. A Summary of Native American Religions. Retrieved: 24 Oct. 2009 from: <http://are.as.wvu.edu/ruvolo.htm>