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Indigenous religions and nature
Native american religion and spirituality
Native american religion and spirituality
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With this text, the reader becomes aware of how the autochthonous nature of Diné spirituality influences every aspect of their belief system. We see this involvement with nature through several different analytical lenses including sacred narratives, ceremonies and rituals, religious specialists and power. Through sacred narrative ad ceremony and ritual in the novel, we see connection with place and nature during the K-Tag ceremony in the poem entitled “K-Tag Ceremony”. Ceremonies and rituals with ties to nature are also seen in the chapter entitled “Tune Up”. In “Tune Up” we also see the important role of the Medicine Men in Native American spirituality which would be classified under the analytical lens of religious specialists as well as power. Finally, we see the connection with the analytical lens of integration through nature in the poem “The Canyon was Serene”.
In the poem “K-Tag”, we see the use of sacred narrative, or rather, the reference to sacred narrative in the body of the poem. Tapahonso makes references to the Holy Ones or ancestors in the poem. “The Holy Ones named our grandbabies as we presented them to the sun, our father their little arms extended to the south and north…” (Tapahonso 83). It is difficult to pick just one cultural lens to analyze anything in Native American spirituality because if the importance of interconnectedness with the earth and other creatures of the earth. While this poem reflects ceremony, it also reflects the importance of place. In ceremonies, it seems direction plays an important role, especially east, the direction of the rising sun. The child in the K-Tag ceremony being described is facing East and would have to be because its arms are “extended to the south and north” (Tapahons...
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...he power itself is woven into rugs and kept in daily prayers.
It is difficult to choose just one lens to analyze different aspects of Diné spirituality because of the importance of integration and interconnectedness with the earth and all its creatures. They have a profound respect for each other as human beings as well as respect for nature. They feel responsible to care for the earth and its creatures because we all depend on one another for survival. Kinship and community is not just between humans but it is also with the land, with the animals and with the insects. Tapahonso illustrates all of these aspects of Diné spirituality beautifully in her collection of poems and short stories through her personal experiences in everyday life as a Diné woman.
Works Cited
Tapahonso, Luci. A Radiant Curve: Poems and Stories. Tucson: University of Arizona, 2008. Print.
Professor and poet Deborah A. Miranda, pieces together the past and uncovers and presents us with a story--a Californian story--in her memoir, “Bad Indians.” Her use of the Christian Novena, “Novena to Bad Indians,” illustrates the irony of using the form of her oppressors as a call out for help, not to God, but to her past ancestors. We tend to think of religion as a form of salvation and redemption of our lives here on Earth, in which we bare down and ask for forgiveness. But by challenging this common discourse using theological allegories and satirical terminology, Miranda turns her attention away from a Deity to call the reader out for help. It is crucial to recognize the struggles that the Native community currently face. Californian Indians are often not given recognition for their identity and their heritage, and are also repeatedly stereotyped as abusive, alcoholic, uncivilized, and “freeloaders” of the United States government. Such generalizations root back from European colonization, nevertheless still linger in our contemporary society. Miranda has taken the first step forward in characterizing few of these stereotypes in her Novena, but she’s given her story. Now what are we going to do with ours? It’s up to us to create our
The main characters, the Hmongs, are a culture of refugee families that supported CIA efforts in Laos. Their culture embeds deep spirituality into its health care, by the doctors of the Merced County hospital. The notion that herbs were strictly to heal the spirit was of course a source of contention for the physicians of the hospital, though nurses might feel that the symbolic effect alone is worth seizing. In other words, whether the physicians ...
the symbol of honesty in the native culture. Herb’s first impression of the Native culture,
It is equated to day as it, is refulgent with deathless light, and as Savitri can stay and enjoy the supernal ecstasy as long as she pleases. The Canto describes the occult experienced that come to a saint who has reached the higher, even the highest plane of transcendence. The greatness of Sri Aurobindo lies in the concretization of the ecstasy. The most abstract is made the most concrete. Sri Aurobindo’s poetry progresses through polarities. The extreme opposite of Death is the Everlasting Day. And just as Savitri discards the Everlasting Night- the abode of Death, she also refuses the tempting offers of the everlasting day, howsoever divinely and luring they might be: “I climb not to thy everlasting Day, / Even as I have shunned thy eternal Night” (11.1.541-542). For, she is earth- abound, committed to the cause of the earth. The Canto is a justification and glorification of the importance of the earth which eventually helps the poet in pointing out how Matter is the seedbed of spirit and how, in the last count, the real transformation is the transform action in the unit, in the
“The Sambia: Ritual, Sexuality, and Change in Papua New Guinea” is a book written by Gilbert Herdt. It is based on a case study Herdt did during the 1970’s of the culture of the Sambia people. His study took place in Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. He didn’t know much about their language, however through out his time there he was able to learn their language and customs. As he settled into their village, he mostly slept in the clubhouse with the other Nilangu villagers; however, eventually they built a house for him to stay at. Herdt had a great interest in gaining new knowledge about the Sambia culture.
Although not much is known about the Anasazi Pueblo religion, it is said that the religion is based on maintaining harmony with the natural world. The Anasazi were said to hold public and private ceremonies, at these different groups were in charge of different portions of events all important to the spiritual well-being of the society. In modern day rituals, villages would divide themselves into 2 separate groups each assuming different responsibilities, this is said to be similar to how the ancient Ana...
Ceremony is very much a story about stories, with Tayo’s story interspersed with Silko’s poetic re-telling of Pueblo myths, and the side by side of the two, emphasizes many of the novel’s themes. It reveals the connection between all things, the healing power of storytelling, and the circular nature in history. You cannot help but to root for Tayo throughout the story, from a little boy struggling to prove is worth to his dismissive and prejudiced Auntie, through constant obedience and love, to the traumatized army veteran of mixed ancestry who returns to the reservation of the Laguna Pueblo Indians, in the New Mexico desert. Scarred and physically sick by his experience as a prisoner of the Japanese, his only redemption is to immerse himself in the Indian traditions of his past ancestors. His journey of redemption is the driving plot that depends on Tayo’s interaction with the land, the soil, wind, weather, and the scared topography of the northern New Mexico desert, which is charged with a peculiar, bittersweet magic. Silko’s novel is a beautiful reflection on the ways in which we are interconnected as humans and all of nature.
Experiencing new worlds and encountering new dilemmas, magic, wisdom, truth: all of these elements characterizes the context of the book Of Water and Spirit by Malidona Patrice Some. Here, magic and everyday life come to an affinity, and respect and rituals are necessary tools to survive. The author portrays the Dagara culture in a very specific way. This culture makes no differentiation between what is natural, or "normal", and what is supernatural, or magical. Ancestors compound the core of communities and individuals. These higher beings are present in ordinary life activities and actions. They constitute the connection between this world and another.
The article equips the reader with the tools needed to better understand other cultures, in terms of their own beliefs and rituals. Miner’s original approach does create a certain level of confusion that forces the reader to critically evaluate his purpose. “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner ultimately brings people together, by illuminating the eccentricities present in all
Throughout ancient history, many indigenous tribes and cultures have shown a common trait of being hunter/gatherer societies, relying solely on what nature had to offer. The geographical location influenced all aspects of tribal life including, spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices. Despite vast differences in the geographical location, reports show various similarities relating to the spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices of indigenous tribal cultures.
The Cheyenne tribe was a religious group who had countless ways of portraying their beliefs. They believed in a god they called “Heammawihio.” This god supposedly taught the tribe hunting skills, along with skills of harvesting, planting, and using fire. Like most of society in the 21st century, the tribe believed humans and animals had spirits. Unlike today’s society, they believed that plants had spirits also. They believed in a spirit of the earth and they prayed to him consistently. The Cheyenne thought praying to this spirit would help with their crops and also to heal anyone who was sick. The main religious ceremony the Cheyenne people performed was called The Sun Dance, also known as...
Pages one to sixty- nine in Indian From The Inside: Native American Philosophy and Cultural Renewal by Dennis McPherson and J. Douglas Rabb, provides the beginning of an in-depth analysis of Native American cultural philosophy. It also states the ways in which western perspective has played a role in our understanding of Native American culture and similarities between Western culture and Native American culture. The section of reading can be divided into three lenses. The first section focus is on the theoretical understanding of self in respect to the space around us. The second section provides a historical background into the relationship between Native Americans and British colonial power. The last section focus is on the affiliation of otherworldliness that exist between
Religion is an organized collection of beliefs and cultural systems that entail the worship of a supernatural and metaphysical being. “Religion just like other belief systems, when held onto so much, can stop one from making significant progress in life”. Together with religion come traditions that provide the people with ways to tackle life’s complexities. A subscription to the school of thought of great scholars
In “The Beach of Falesa,” the protagonist Wiltshire asserts that the native Kanakas have a natural predisposition for superstitious beliefs. As he explores Case’s “devil’s bush,” Wiltshire tells the reader, “Any poor Kanaka brought up here in the dark, with the harp...
The author, Horace Miner, uses a technique that is inaudible to the conscious mind and compares the Nacirema’s rituals to the rituals of present day Americans (Nacirema spelt backwards is American).