I've had people tell me that Native Americans worship false Gods and have many Gods. This is very false.  Native Americans have one God. They may call him by different names but they believe in the same God as Christians do. Native Americans believe that the Creator created all things and that he gave man dominion over the animals and earth. He made man the care takers of the all that he created. To the Native Americans, this meant to take care of and respect all that he created; not to destroy and disrespect. Everything has a purpose in life; the earth nourishes us, the water takes care of our thirst; trees and plants provide food, medicine and shelter; and animals provide food, clothing, and various other purposes. Native Americans believe you learn from everything and that everything has something to teach us and share with us. Christians pray to saints and angels to intercede for them. When Native Americans pray and they ask for the spirit of an animal to help them; they are not praying to a false God. They are asking that the spirit of the animal (such as bear, eagle, etc) bestow it's power such as strength, wisdom, etc. on them. Native American culture revolved around their spiritual beliefs. They believe that all people are connected and that we all are part of the web of life. We are all each a strand in that web and whatever you do effects the other strands. Jesus had said "Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me." Native Americans and many Indigenous tribes believe in this. They truly believe that we are all our brothers keepers. In a village, when a couple has a child; everyone takes responsibility for that child. Everyone is that child's aunt, uncle, brother, sister, and grandparents. They all take part in helping that child grow to respect all of God's creations.

Everything they did, they did after they asked for the Creator's blessing. When they hunted, they would pray before the hunt and honor the animal they were hunting for the animal was going to provide food, clothing, cooking utensils, etc. for them. When they made medicine, they would pray to the Creator to help them and they would ask for blessing on the plant that was going to help them.

Their dances were another way for them to pray to God, show joy, and honor God's creations. In most every Indigenous culture, they use the drum as part of their ceremonies because it represents the "heartbeat" and their connection to God, the earth, and all life.

The corner stone of their belief was the Medicine Wheel or what others refer to as the "Circle of Life". Everything and everyone is connected in some way and we all go through the circle of life. Animals and plants provide us with nourishment. Trees provide us with shelter. Eventually we return to the earth to provide nourishment for all of them. When we harm the earth and water, hunt animals to extinction, we are only hurting ourselves and showing disrespect for what God created for us. Native Americans have a saying "I walk in Beauty". What they mean is that all of God's creations are beautiful and we should appreciate it's beauty and when we do, we walk among beauty. We spend so much time admiring great works of art by artists, sculptors, architects, etc.; but the greatest masterpiece of all, God's Creation, we do not even appreciate. Instead, we are stripping the earth, poisoning our waters, hunting animals to extinction, cutting down forests, etc. Is this how we honor God and all that he gave us?

Christians believed that Native Americans and other Indigenous tribes around the world were pagans and that their medicine men or shamans practiced black magic. In reality, medicine men and/or shamans learned how to use plants, rocks, etc. to heal the body and/or soul. They believe that God created everything we need to stay healthy. Pharmacies and modern medicine have learned that also. Look at most of your medicines and read the ingredients. They all contain some minerals and plant life. They have discovered alot of medicine in the Rain forest and how did they learn this? From the medicine men of the tribes there. Medicine men and Shamans know you can not "heal" a person's body without also healing their spirit. A person's emotional being plays a big part in their physical being. Throughout a "healing", the Medicine man and/or Shaman will pray to the Creator to help "heal" the person's spirit as well as their physical body. This does not sound like a pagan to me.

If you take the time to understand them and learn from them; you will find they are a very spiritual culture with God at the heart of their culture. Keep in mind that when you do attempt to learn of their culture; remember that there are many different Native American tribes and that each is different just as European nations are different and have different customs. But the common factor among them all is that the Creator is the heart of their culture.

I do hope that you take the time to learn more about them. You will find they are not like what was depicted in movies nor are they to be romanticized and everyone turns into a "wannabe". But when we learn to understand their culture, as well as many others, we learn that we are all connected and with understanding, there is acceptance and tolerance and hopefully when we learn that; there will be peace and compassion for each other. We all share the same home; Earth.