By Janna, December 2002, Early America class
Early Euro-Americans thought Native Americans had no religion, but spirituality was a part of their very being. They also sometimes thought that if the Natives had a religion at all, it must be inspired by the devil. Even recently there has been ethnocentricity in the portrayal of Native American spirituality. Renowned American historian Hubert H. Bancroft published a book in the 1900’s called The Great Republic by the Master Historians. He commented on Native American culture with many Euro-centric remarks like: “Demon-exorcising ‘medicine-men’ were the priests of the tribes, and the conception of a supreme ‘Great Spirit’, which has been attributed to them, was possibly derived from early intercourse with the whites.” (Native American Indian Culture http://www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/The_Great_Republic_By_the_Master_Historians_Vol_I/nativeame_j.html) He also stated that their religion was controlled by superstition. The Euro-Americans were ethnocentric. They couldn’t understand other different religions because they believed so strongly in their own. They didn’t want to try to understand beliefs different from theirs.
Early Euro-Americans thought the Natives’ religion was ridiculous superstition inspired by the Christian devil. Native American religion is one of the, if not the, oldest religions in the world. Native Americans believe in a god like the Christians do. They call it the Creator or Great Spirit, depending on the tribe. It is not a male god, though, like in Christian belief. The Creator is not any gender, and they believe everything spiritual was a great, wonderful mystery. Most Natives believe in an afterlife, whether the soul comes back reincarnated or as a spirit with an abundance of every good thing that made earthly life secure and pleasant. Native American spirituality depends on oral tradition and communal organization to survive, while most other religions depend on writing and books. Another difference between the Natives’ religion and most other religions is it doesn’t have a main founder and it can’t be traced back to one country. You cannot convert to Native American religions. You have to be born Native American. Also, Native Americans don’t just perform religious practices once a week, like on a Sabbath or holy day. They believe that aspects of daily life were spiritual. Therefore, they were always connected to their religion every moment.
Native American spirituality has been described as panentheism. Panentheism is when a deity/spirit is present in, as well as beyond, everything. Sometimes it’s been described as animism, which is a belief in spirits in natural phenomena, like trees, rocks, animals, and fire. However, this is only part of their religion. The Native American spirituality has a broader presence of spirit beyond physical nature. For Native Americans there is no separation between the sacred and the ordinary. Everything they do goes hand-in-hand with the Great Spirit/Creator. They believe religion and life is one thing.
Native Americans were often very secretive about their religion around the Euro-Americans. A common saying of the Lakota people is: “If it was told to a white man, it is untrue.” (Native American Religion http://www.stormwind.com/common/nareligion.html) Apparently the Native Americans learned that if they told the Euro-Americans about their religious beliefs they would be published for everyone to see. They didn’t like their religion being so public so they closed their sacred ceremonies to all but their own people. This is one of the reasons why it is difficult for us to really know exactly what tribes believed before the Euro-Americans brought Christianity over.
Many Native Americans converted or adapted to Christianity. However, not only did not all of the Natives actually find “the truth” and convert immediately, but not all were forced to insincerely convert. These were just two extremes. However, after a while Native beliefs became intermixed with Christian elements. Most Native Americans today follow a personal faith that combines traditional Native American and Christian beliefs and practices.
Native American spirituality was suppressed by the US and Canadian governments for a long time. Spiritual leaders could be put in jail for thirty years for simply practicing their rituals. This came to an end in the US in 1978 when the Freedom of Religion Act was passed. In the 1991 Canadian census, there were over a million people with Native American ancestry. However, only about 10,850 of them were recorded as following an aboriginal spiritual path. This means only about 1 percent of Native Americans in Canada follow their ancestors’ religion. In the United States, there is the Native American Church, which was started by a white anthropologist in 1922. It’s a religious group whose beliefs mix fundamentalist Christian elements with Indian moral principles and uses peyote, a cactus with psychedelic properties. There are about 250,000 members today. However, most modern Native Americans are independently spiritual, and don’t go to a church to practice their religion. Each tribe has its own spiritual beliefs and sacred rituals that tribal members follow.
Early Euro-Americans couldn’t understand Native American spirituality because it was so different from their own. They were so set in their own beliefs and culture that they couldn’t see the Native’s religions for what they were. Instead they tried to convert the Native Americans to their own religion, which they were sure was the “right” religion. If the Euro-Americans hadn’t been so ethnocentric, Native American spirituality might be more prominent today. Donald Panther-Yates, a Native American elder of the Teehahnahmah people, ended his speech at Georgia Southern University on March 5, 2001 with this quote: “We’re still here. We may not go around advertising our presence, but we’re here, and increasingly we are not concerned just with survival or fighting off discrimination or government persecution. What we’re most interested in today is building a future for our people, not just preserving our culture and our religion—that’s defensive—but making it stronger, more creative and more dynamic. I really believe Indians have a contribution to make to 21st century American society far out of proportion to their small numbers. Just remember: Indians build small fires.” (Remarks on Native American Tribal Religions http://www.wintercount.org/remark.doc) It’s a great loss to not have the first American religion be a large part of modern life. However, even though the practicing Native American population is smaller now, there is still much to learn from their spirituality, even as it exists today.
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