Comparative Religions : Native Americans And The Africans

With the major religions constantly crashing together, the principles and customs of each religion seem to always build similarities each time you study them. This is what occurred to me when i began reading “Living religions” studying practices and rites. Beginning with the traditional indigenous groups - descendants of the original inhabitants of lands now controlled by larger political systems in which they may have little influence (33) -, I observed the common rites performed by the different indigenous groups. Many groups lean on the word “spiritual”, rather than “religious”. There’s really no clarification as to why this is the case, but the author, Fisher addressed that religion has

Ceremonies and rituals are critical to the Native American culture. This culture also considers these rituals as a part of their religion. When referring to religion it’s not the same as the way

African and Native American religions both share the polytheistic trait, meaning that both worship multiple god, goddesses, ancestors and other deities. The African and Native American religions share more common traits than they have differences. A common belief is that the High God is the creator whom is not used or appealed to on a regular use. Hopfe states that “The High God is appealed to rarely, perhaps only in an extreme emergency called upon on rare occasions or emergencies, and is seldom mentioned in religious conversation” (Hopfe pg 30). This pretty much goes for both religions when it comes to the High God. Another similar trait would be how these two religions High God is not always the same among the many different diverse groups

The two components that were obvious to me for the Indigenous religions of North America and Africa were mythic and ritual. After reading chapters 2 and 3. I learned that the indigenous religion of North America is very spiritual. They respect nature and preform many rituals, like the sun dance that is honoring the spirit beings or the jump dance which restores balance of the earth. The Indigenous religions of Africa have ceremonies, one of them are having the boys become men. Both, Indigenous Religions of North America and Africa, believe in some type of higher god or spirit that controls the nature and the events. The similarities for the North American and African was that they both prepare or have life practices that

The first Americans Also believed in Wakon,da a powerful god to them, whom they believed in, they believed that he created all things, made the land they also believed in life after death and immorality that made earthly life secure and pleasant; they expressed their feelings for nature as in peace and confidence. Different native religions evolved to match their needs and lifestyle Religious traditions of aboriginal people around the world tend to be heavily influenced by their methods of acquiring food, with great hunting skills or by agriculture. Native American spirituality is no exception. Traditional Wakon’da, 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. Before Europeans took over the land the Native Americans had their own laws, as they do know, but one of the most important laws was to respect and keep peace with others around them. The folk art

Like in any religion the people have certain beliefs. In the african religions there is no single religion. Researchers try to identify similarities in world views and ritual processes across the african boundaries. African Religions are polytheistic; which means they believe in more than one god. They believe in one overall god, but also ancestral spirits. Most African religion’s creation story reveal the creation of humans more than

In sum, this chapter from Native American Religion (1999) helps explain some of the current relationships between the Native Americans that still survive today and how they often

Native American religions are very closely connected to the land in which Native Americans dwell and the supernatural. While there are many different Native American religious practices, most address the following areas of supernatural concern: an omnipresent, invisible universal force, pertaining to the "three 'life crises ' of birth, puberty, and death", spirits, visions, the medicine people and communal ceremony. Greek religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Greece in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. These different groups varied enough for it to be possible to speak of Greek religions or "cults" in the plural, though most of them shared similarities. Africa

animism- The attribution of soul to animals. This was an occurrence in Native American tradition.

The Ashanti tribe is located in central Ghana in the rainforest of West Africa. They are the major ethnic group in this roughly 50 years-old young nation. The Ashanti people are known as fierce fighters whether they are women or man. The tribe have a slogan: “If I go forward I die, If I go backward I die, better go forward and die.” (Baden-Powell) When they are faced by a war, you can hear drums from the villages to signal each others. The Ashanti religion combines both spiritual and supernatural powers. They believe that every living thing have souls, including plants and animals. They believe that there are fairies, monsters and witches, and their religious belief surrounds an all-powerful, all-knowing god called “Onyame”. In this research

“Know Thyself” is an ancient Kemtic (Egyptian) saying that most black people throughout the African continent and diaspora have seem to forgotten its true meaning. Africa’s rich metaphysical, spiritual and physical history has been tainted and contaminated with negative agendas for the past five centuries. We as in black people have been stripped of our ancestral history only to have it replaced by an artificial compilation of our failures. Which is taught in public schools across the United States. I had a life changing experience in late 2015 and I believe because of that particular event I am able

Indigenous religions should not be considered as a primitive entity. A religion that does not have a doctrine should not mean that it should be considered uncivilized or in a sense, savage. Furthermore, a religion is not any less of a religion compared to any of its newer religion counterparts. It is sad that a lot of indigenous religions are being forgotten simply because of the ever growing, younger generation and their lack of traditions and beliefs. But most of these religions are still being practiced today, which in term could not be considered primitive. Our text book fully describes this type of behavior which has instructed society to categorize these various religions specific phrases such as: “non-literate, primal, and basic.” After reading the passages assigned, I was beginning to theorize that this type of categorization is somewhat a form of prejudice.

During the times of colonization, native tribes saw huge changes in the way they lived. One thing that drastically changed and it was certainly an important one was religion. Native tribes already had their own religion but when colonization got to them, they were exposed to something they had never seen or experienced. In this essay will see how religion was affected in the native tribes in Nigeria and Macau and see the similarities and differences between these changes. Colonization was mostly done by powerful european countries like Spain, Britain, France, Italy and, Portugal.

Animism derives from the Latin word anima which means soul, spirit, life or breath (Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) International, n.d.). Animism is the belief that non-living objects have souls (life) and those natural phenomena possess supernatural or magical power. Animism encompasses the beliefs that there is no separation between the spiritual and physical or material world. Animism believes that natural physical entities which include animals, plants, and even inanimate objects such as forest, mountains, rivers or village and phenomena possess a spiritual essence. Most Animists even be certain that human beings are spiritual at their core and they will become spirits too in the spirit world upon their physical death (Davis, 2011). The power of the spirits infuses everything. Therefore, the term “animism” can be summed up by “belief in spiritual beings”. It can also be summarized as “all that exists lives” and, sometimes, “all that lives is holy” (Taylor, 2005).

Animism has Latin roots and means "soul" or "life" conferring to the dictionary. It is cosmologically involved. Also, it includes two beliefs—the belief in measured forces throughout nature, in natural objects, animals and humans; and the belief in personal gods and spirits throughout nature, in natural objects, animals and human beings. Perhaps, this belief is interrelated with cosmology. It seems to most religions that cosmological theory has an important role. God or gods is the sole and sustainer of their faith and also of the universe. Yes, human beings like the Apache tribe have shown significant traditional rites through the Sunrise Dance. It is an Apache girl who first experiences her menstruation. The tradition has set her