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Native american culture and traditions
Chapter 2 Native American Religions
Native american religious practice
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The sweat lodge is a key healing and spiritual practice of most, if not all, Native American cultures. A variant of the sweat lodge is seen in those cultures from the artic to South America. It can be seen as a form of water therapy as it uses extreme heat and water to produce its effects. Specifically I will explain my personal journey and experience as a participant of a Mohawk sweat lodge. Each tribe has its own unique way of performing the sweat even if they all share the same base upon which to personalise it.
The Mohawk sweat lodge that I attended on Thanksgiving last October is an experience I will not soon forget. It was an interesting blend of people coming together to share in a sacred experience for the spiritual healing of a friend. My friend is Mohawk and he gathered his five closest friends to join him; all of us Caucasians, the shaman/medicine man, the shaman’s wife (a medicine woman in here own right), the fire keeper and the woman in Hudson who graciously allowed us to use her land for this occasion. Names have purposely been omitted for the sake of anonymity as the type of sweat was one of personal healing and not a general sweat.
The figures in the sweat are the shaman who directs and explains the procedure of the sweat and conducts it. The next figure is the fire keeper who tends the fire on which the stones for the sweat are heated and transfers them with the help of a pitchfork which he hands to the person closest to the entrance of the lodge as he does not enter the lodge. The final figure is the person being healed, in this case my friend.
As this sweat was a personal healing we all had to be intimately involved in the preparations, we did not have to build the lodge only cover it with skins and tarps. The frame of the lodge had been built for a previous sweat. Before we could cover the lodge we had to lay down cedar on the floor of the lodge in an intricate manner based on the traditional beliefs of the Mohawk. This task is normally done by the women and those men who are attuned with their feminine energy, as such I was asked to join in this task. Laying down the cedar branches that have been cut into small pieces was a very calming exercise; it also provided me with a chance to learn about some herbal lore from the other women.
For my ethnography project, I decided to observe Native American culture. More specifically, I decided to observe Native American powwows, and how they unite the different tribes participating from across the country and how they unite people within a tribe. Powwows are an event where Native American people gather to sing, dance, participate in contests, have food, and ultimately bond with one another throughout the occasion. The powwow that I attended was Utah State University’s 44th annual powwow, which occurred on Saturday March 4, 2017 at noon. In order to learn more about the powwow from an insider’s perspective, I talked to a girl who looked to be a young adult, and participated in the dancing throughout the event. Although
AUTHOR: Richard Preston PUBLISHER: Random House DATE OF PUBLICATION: 1994 Setting: The setting g takes place in two major places. Reston Maryland which is a suburb of Washington DC. and the second major area is in Kenya Africa.
The Quapaw Tribe of Indians, history, culture, values, strength, and perseverance have allowed them to stay united as a tribe and sets them apart from other Indian tribes, although they deserve a better fate. It is my belief, that it is the Quapaw Indians values, strength, and perseverance that have gotten them to where they are today. I am thankful for the Quapaw Tribe and the unification that they have. I have many great memories being raised by a Quapaw man and their traditions and values have stuck with him, as he works hard and never gives up hope, just as the Quapaws did.
This past week SUU’s native American student association (NASA), hosted their 38th annual powwow. Our club, the SUU Polynesian club was invited to dance for thirty minutes between their activities and we happily accepted. After we danced we were invited to come back so that we could watch and experience the native American culture. I was surprised to see how similar their culture was to ours!
Rituals are held as a very important part of any society, including ours. They go back to ancient times, or can be as simple as maintaining one’s hygiene. Non-western societies have rituals that may seem very foreign to us, but they have been engrained in their communities and are essential to their social structure. This interpretation will focus on the Great Pilgrimage, a ritual performed by Quechuan communities. We will be looking specifically at a community in the Sonqo area.
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.
"Native American Youth 101." Aspen Institue. Aspen Institues, 24 July 11. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Like many Americans I initially grouped all Native Americans into one melting pot. During the Haskell Indian Nations cultural day, on June 21,st 2010, the speakers talked about how different tribes are not the same; they have different beliefs...
...ative American dialects there is no statement for “religion,” on the grounds that otherworldly practices are a vital some piece of each part of every day life; they are important for the concordance and equalization, or wellbeing, of the singular, family, clan, and community. Mending and love are viewed as one and the same. For some Native American individuals, the idea of wellbeing and health is a physical state, as well as an otherworldly one too. Customary Native American perspectives of mending and wellbeing underscore the need of looking for congruity insider oneself, with others, and with one’s surroundings. A dynamic relationship between the physical and soul world is underscored alongside with significance of looking for congruity and adjust in both. For some Native American individuals, health through deep sense of being is not a piece of life; it is life.
Xiao, Katie. “National Powwow Celebrates American Indian Customs”. U.S. Department of State, 16 Aug. 2005. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. .
The first time that confining large amounts of prisoners of war was dealt was during the American Civil War(Roberts, 12). Both the Union and the Confederacy had regulations that said the P.O.W.s had to be treated humanely, one of them saying that a wounded prisoner would be taken to the back of the army and be treated with the rest of the soldiers(14). There were also prisoner exchange regulations, where a captured general would be worth sixty privates or an equivalently ranked officer, and a colonel would be worth fifteen privates or an equivalently ranked officer, and so on(13). Also there were regulations on prisoner parole. The parole system said that the prisoner that was released was not allowed to return to the battle unless a prisoner of the other army was released to the army that had paroled the prisoner(14). This was all very confusing.
2) There are many rituals carried out by the Indigenous people but in particular there is one called
Their Sundance ceremony surrounds the story of the tai-me, “The Kiowas were hungry and there was no food. There was a man who heard his children cry from hunger, and he went out to look for food. He walked four days and became weak. On the fourth day he came to a great canyon. Suddenly there was thunder and lightning. A voice spoke to him and said, ‘Why are you following me? What do you want?’ The man was afraid. The thing standing before him had the feet of a deer, and its body was covered in feathers. The man answered that the Kiowas were hungry. ‘Take me with you,’ the voice said, ‘and I will give you whatever you want.’ From that day Tai-me has belonged to the Kiowas”(36). This story is used to tell how the tai-me came to be a part of the Kiowa tribe and why they worship it as a part of the sun dance ceremony. Momaday describes that the “great central figure of the kado, or sun dance, ceremony is the taime”(37). It was a small image representation of the tai-me on a dark-green stone. As a symbolic part of this ceremony, it is kept preserved in a rawhide box of which it is never exposed to be viewed other than during this
Another major method of spirit cleansing that is used in the novel is the sweat lodge. Traditionally, sweat lodges are structures that are built to promote purification and healthy living. It is designed similar to a sauna, but when in use, the lodge’s internal temperature is at a much higher and uncomfortable temperature than a sauna. By pouring water onto heated rocks, which are placed in the centre of the lodge, the steam and emanating heat encourages the users to sweat excessively. This training enables two beneficial outcomes: A natural detoxification and a deeper religious connection with the Gitchi Manitou. Considering each sweat lodge sessions last for long periods of time, the user naturally utilize their body’s sweat glands to detox
“Native American Legends.” The Ghost Dance- A Promise of Fulfillment. 2003-Present. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.