American Indians Totemic Beliefs

The indigenous tribes of North America have much in common with the indigenous religions of Africa but there are also many differences in the belief of an afterlife, supreme deity, and the daily practices of each. Today many of these lesser known religions are hardly ever studied but they exist and are still practiced all over North America and Africa. We will discuss how these religions differ in their main beliefs and practices, and we will also discuss how they correlate with one another on smaller aspects.

There are many characteristics that the Native American cultures of North America shared, and many that they differed from. One of the things that the Native Americans did share however was their attitudes toward nature. The Native Americans never felt superior to the world, they would consider themselves as a part of nature, but they always kept in mind that they weren’t the center. They didn’t believe that human beings were inherently superior to animals, or other forms of life. However, (bringing in the Europeans thoughts briefly), according to the Christian-European they didn’t share the same attitudes towards nature. Their myths on nature, was that creation was centered on Adam and Eve, who sinned, and were banned from the Garden of Eden,

Have you ever wonder how the world was created from another culture’s perspective? Native Americans used creation myths to explained to their people how the world was developed overtime. Creation myths are a big part of the Native American culture. they have been passed down from generation to generation. In the creation myths, harmony with nature, rituals, and strong social values are shown in each myths. The purpose of having strong social value in these myths is to teach younger Native Americans valuable lesson if they ever do something bad. These myths reveals how the rituals were created and their intentions for doing it. Creation myths has harmony with nature in it to show a very close kinship between them

The Plains Indians religious beliefs were quite similar and interesting. The Plains Indians believed in Animism. Animism is the belief that everything possesses a spirit. Besides Animism, the Plains Indians only worshiped one other “god.” That was the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit was the mother of all things. They would perform ceremonies for her. Sacred items were also important to the people of the Plains. They would have items that they believed had spiritual or talismanic powers. The items would be located in a pouch at the person’s side. The Medicine Man would also carry around multiple pouches with different talisman. This could come in the form of a peace pipe or a calumet or something that they

Culture, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is stated as “The integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that dpends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations. The customary beliefs, social forms and material traits of a racial, religious or social group. The set shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterizes an institution or organization. The set of values, conventions or social practices associated with a particular field, activity or societal characteristic.” Of these four definitions, I shall be focusing on the second one to discuss what makes up the culture of American Indians.The culture of the various tribes that made up the Native Americans is one of close knit families, highlyspiritual peoples and living together as one with the land they lived on. They believed in spirits, worshiping and honoring them. Some settled into single locations while others were nomadic, but all had a focus on working with the land around them. Because there are so many varying tribes that make up Native

Native American culture originated in some parts North America. These countries are known as the United States of America and some parts of Canada. In the United States, there are 6.6 million Native Americans, which form about 2.0 percent of the population (Bureau, 2016). Europe had realized there were about 50 million people already living the “new world” and these people were called Native Americans. Native Americans were originally called Indians, but later through history they formed a new name. These people were called this because of them being native to the “new world” and the American part came after the colonist named the United States. Throughout history, Native Americans believed that using raw material in nature was the best way to provide for their people. Their culture thought no part of an animal should go to waste. They would eat the meat, use the skin for clothing, and make jewelry from the bones. Over the years a lot of their culture and customs were lost due to conforming with society. Their languages were referred to as “Indigenous Languages” because of them being extremely complicated and diverse. Some important factors that help understand the foundation of Native American culture are their rituals/practices, death ceremonies, holidays, family, and stereotypes.

Due to the wide range of habitats in North America, different native religions evolved to match the needs and lifestyles of the individual tribe. Religious traditions of aboriginal peoples around the world tend to be heavily influenced by their methods of acquiring food, whether by hunting wild animals or by agriculture. Native American spirituality is no exception. Traditional Lakota spirituality is a form of religious belief that each thing, plant and animal has a spirit. The Native American spirituality has an inseparable connection between the spirituality and the culture. One cannot exist without the other.

In our cultures observed in module, All cultures believed their creators created the earth and the humans in different ways. They viewed their creators as unworldly gods and worshiped them individually. Where the raven in the Inuit culture was praised for more naturalistic reasons, such as food and homage, the Mayan and Puritan cultures praised for gift of life and superior knowledge.

In a reading done in class, “Farmers of the Woodlands,” written by Peter Nabokov and Dean Snow, there is discussion of the religious and spiritual beliefs of the people who lived in the Eastern Woodlands. For the Penobscot bands, they had the spiritual belief of totems. These totems were animals. They believed the totems were the ancestors to the people of the band. These totems linked them to the lands they lived, hunted, and fished

The history of Native American religion is influenced by exposure to Europeans, the beliefs of different tribes, and traditions that were passed down orally.

spirit is injured or insulted, it can retaliate. Human beings must therefore show that they

Myths play a large role in Native American totem poles, this is not really a surprise because Native people believed in more superstitious things. They believed that many living beings in nature had either spirits or gods. With these outlooks on nature and life, those beliefs came back to their carvings on totem poles. Respecting spirits and gods of the land was huge for Native Americans, such as showing

Rather than describing totemism as an early form of religion, as Durkheim argues (1915), Levi-Strauss conceptualizes totemism as essentially a system of classification by which preliterate peoples organize their relationships to the natural environment. He asserts that theorists such as Durkheim and Frazer arbitrarily combined several “heterogeneous beliefs and customs” under the headings of totemism, then incorrectly interpreted these beliefs and customs through the lens of Judeo-Christian religions. He further argues that the castes of aristocratic societies, which are based on myths of a common ancestry, are equivalent to the myths of kinship clans in egalitarian tribal

An example of organization in a culture would be its pattern of subsistence. Though often secluded in its own category, subsistence patterns are a form of social control. Nomadic pastoralism is a subsistence pattern used by the Sami Reindeer Herding tribes, in Scandinavia. These groups survive through herding deer, and performing what is necessary to ensure their herd’s survival. The Sami migrate to different locations in Scandinavia upon the change in weather patterns, hence the term ‘nomadic.’ (Sara, 2009, p.152) Therefore, moulding their pattern of subsistence based upon the changing environment is essential to their survival and prosperity. However, in 1978, The Reindeer Act was passed. This act, ‘introduced the administrative deer herding license as a means to control access to reindeer herding management’ (pg. 156) Consequently, each Sami tribe was secluded to one specific area of Scandinavia, as it was their ‘Norwegian right’ to a stable occupation, and a ‘raised standard of living.’ (Paine, 2004, p.30) Being secluded to a specific patch of land, all year round, did not work in favour for the Sami. The physical environment in which they were placed did not suffice their nomadic pastoralist needs consistently. The summer pastures did not suffice in winter, and winter did not suffice in summer. The organization and control necessary for cultural prosperity began to diminish; their culture began to suffer at the hands of the physical environment, and

It is, among its multiple uses, a source of intellectual sustenance” (Travis, 2013). Conceivably, the Batek’s society highlights a past world, of borders being determining factors and where land was of central importance. Diana Riboli, whose research with the Batek has focused on shamanism and medicine, maintains “the forest represents a shamanic cosmos...closely linked to the concept of identity and the sense of ethnic belonging” (Travis, 2013). Thus, the forest is of vital importance to the Batek religion and in many ways, it embodies the religion and is the living and breathing home to the Batek religion.