The syncretism and hybridity of religion represents the fluidity and ease in which religion can adapt to change over time, setting, and location. In the case of Native Americans, the syncretism and hybridity is rather a means to assert agency as well as an opportunity to preserve Native American religion in the face of European forced religious imperialism. An integral part of many Native American rituals, peyote is a small, spineless cactus is often seen as an important medicine in communities which practice peyote worship. Peyote is derived from the Aztec word peyotl, and peyote ceremonies have been found in Native American tribes from Mexico all the way to the Plain Indians of the midwest. It must be taken into account that many Native American …show more content…
It became apparent after an amount of time that both religions shared common ideological and moral views, helping to ease the transition from their unique religion to Christianity. The use of peyote among Native Americans was treated like a sacrament in itself, and over time, the hybridity of Christianity and Native American religion began to mix. The use of peyote as a central tenet of the Native American Church (NAC) is a clear example of an amalgamation and superimposition of two different religious practices (peyote being a distinctly Native American practice, and Catholicism being a distinctly European practice) and as a result clearly demonstrates a cultural blending which has incorporated both native and european practices …show more content…
Peyote is seen as a resource from which one gains health, wisdom, and the ability to communicate with deities. For example, “On the communal level, Peyote is used to ensure the well being of the community…[when ingested by a spiritual leader] is used to communicate with the deities, ensure good crops, cure the sick, and protect the community from future illnesses”. It is important to recognize the major role which Peyote has in ensuring a cohesive, healthy, and prosperous community, almost analogous to the Catholic eucharistic celebration. The spiritually elite is entrusted to use Peyote in a way that allows for preventative measures to be taken such as health or agriculturally, and failure to do so is often believed to be the cause of famine, disease, and spiritual resentment. On an individual level, Peyote is used to “reduce pain, allay fatigue, and gain courage and endurance”. Individually, Peyote is seen as a way to both spiritually and physically heal, and the idea that this connects with the myth of Peyote being used to help those in distress allows is the definition of a ritual, which is a reenactment of a myth. The idea that similarly to the protagonist of the myth, the person who is in distress ingests the spirit to fortify themselves physically and spiritually is analogous to the current view
Further, prayer and medicine interplay to paint a classical image of the Native’s creed, yet, for many obsolete or preposterous existences of the shaman. To re-install beliefs present in the world for thousands of years, but have been disappearing, writers such as Neidhardt introduce the element of the
The Ho-Chunk Nation members take part in the Native American Church, otherwise known as NAC to most tribal members. The NAC is a peyote based religion. This religion first came in contact with the tribe during the 1900s. Peyote is a hallucinogen that comes from the flower of a thornless cactus. Members of the NAC believe in the Great Spirit who controls the waterbird and thunderbird spirits. Taking peyote is believed to allow people to communicate with the Great Spirit for guidance and
Religion played a very important role in both Puritan and Native American society, though their ideologies differed greatly. According to Puritan beliefs, God had chosen a select number of people to join him in heaven as his elect. The Native Americans, on the other hand, believed that everyone was the same; no one was better than anyone else. As Sitting Bull once said, "Each man is good in [the Great Spirit's] sight. (Quotes from our Native Past). This theory was in direct conflict with the Puritan's view. The means through which the beliefs of these two groups were carried on also differed greatly. The Puritans had their Bible which detailed their entire religion and held the answers to all possible questions. The Native Americans on the other hand relied on oral transmission of their theology. Thus, while the Puritans had a constant place to turn to when they wanted to figure out what they believed, Native Americans were forced to fill in the blanks between stories they had heard when it came to their basic ideals. This aspect made them both unable to relate to one another. The most prominent difference between the two religions were their gods. The Puritans believed in one God and one God only. The Native Americans, though also worshipping their own almighty "Great Spirit," took further reverence for all living (and once living) things, worshipping the trees and their ancestors as well as their omnipotent Tirawa (or Wakan Tanka). The Puritans, holding all aspects of the Bible literal and as divine mandate, saw this worship of beings other than their God as idolatry (which was in clear violation of the first commandment). Therefore, the Puritans held the Native American society as a society wallowing in sin.
Duane Champagne in Social Change and Cultural Continuity Among Native Nations explains that there has never been one definitive world view that comprises any one Native American culture, as there is no such thing as one “Native community” (2007:10). However, there are certain commonalities in the ways of seeing and experiencing the world that many Native communities and their religions seem to share.
Throughout our country’s history there have been several groups who have fared less that great. Every minority group was treated unfairly, Indians were uprooted and had no control, I can’t imagine for a second being a soldier in combat, women struggled for basic rights, and many people fell victim to the changing ways of our economy, losing their jobs and fighting to survive. It seems wrong to pick one group over another, as if to say some people who were treated horribly or who faced mounting obstacles didn’t actually have it as bad as another group. But throughout all the years we’ve studied, one group that stood out to me who were dealt a horrible fate were Native Americans living in the west during the 19th century. When Americans began to expand westward, Indians unwillingly had their lives flipped upside down and changed drastically. After years of displacement, they were being forced to live in certain areas and follow certain rules, or risk their lives.
Considering historical evidence, the notion: Native –Americans was not the first inhabitant of America is a complete false. For centuries, history kept accurate and vivid accounts of the first set of people who domiciled the western hemisphere. Judging by those records, below are the first set of Native-American people who inhabited America before the arrival of another human race; the Iroquois: The Iroquois of Native Americans was one of the tribes that lived in America before other people came. Based on historical evidence, it is believed that the Native Americans came from Asia way back during the Ice Age through a land bridge of the Bering Strait. When the Europeans first set foot in America, there were about 10 million Native Americans
In George E. Tinker’s book, American Indian Liberation: A Theology of Sovereignty, the atrocities endured by many of the first peoples, Native American tribes, come into full view. Tinker argues that the colonization of these groups had and continues to have lasting effects on their culture and thus their theology. There is a delicate balance to their culture and their spiritual selves within their tightly knit communities prior to contact from the first European explorers. In fact, their culture and spiritual aspects are so intertwined that it is conceptually impossible to separate the two, as so many Euro-American analysts attempted. Tinker points to the differences between the European and the Native American cultures and mind sets as ultimately
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.
Over the history of our country Native Americas have long since been oppressed in trying to practice their Native Religions freely, and openly. It wasn’t until the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) of 1978, which “acknowledged the unique nature of Native spirituality” (Limb & Hodge, 2008, p. 618). This law stated that the policy of the United States would be to protect and preserve the right of Native Americans to believe and practice their traditional religions. This was the first major step in the United States history that sought to protect Native Americans and their rights to self-expression of spirituality.
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
Explanation- This article gives examples of how indigenous people used to live before the colonization of Christopher Columbus. After the appearance of Christopher Columbus in Mexico different ethnic groups were distributed amongst different states along with their different languages. In the state of Oaxaca there around sixteen different ethnic groups which the Mixtecs and the Zapotecs are the two main ethnos who have continued to expand amongst the territory. During the Spanish conquest the Mixtec and the Zapotecs’ religion was mostly based on belief in the vital force that animated all living things, meaning that they worshiped the land and the creator. Throughout this day there are still indigenous people who believe and practice their ideology, and the “modernized” are set to practice Catholicism.
In this way the religion practiced by the Native Americans was taken as contradictions to Christianity. The natives were informed that Christianity was designed to be an eternal rule of significance and a means from which they could use to return to God from their religions that had deviated (Eliot par. 3). Through sermons given by Whitfield, the minds of the natives were engaged in religion and making religion the subject of most of their discussions. They embraced all the opportunities to hear what was been taught on Christianity. The Christian revivals were attended by the young and old alike (Edwards par.
People have been living in America for countless years, even before Europeans had discovered and populated it. These people, named Native Americans or American Indians, have a unique and singular culture and lifestyle unlike any other. Native Americans were divided into several groups or tribes. Each one tribe developed an own language, housing, clothing, and other cultural aspects. As we take a look into their society’s customs we can learn additional information about the lives of these indigenous people of the United States.
Hultkrantz, Ake. Belief and Worship in Native North America. Ed Christopher Vecsey. NewYork: Syracuse University Press, 1981.
The first Catholic priests came to South America with the conquistadors and through social and political force superimposed 16th century Catholicism upon conquered peoples and in subsequent generations upon slaves arriving in the New World. Catholicism has, likewise, frequently absorbed, rather than confronted, popular folk religious beliefs. The resulting religion is often overtly Catholic but covertly pagan. Behind the Catholic facade, the foundations and building structure reflect varying folk religious traditions. (2)