Native American Beliefs

the First Nations were criticized and judged for moving to Canada and keeping their own cultural beliefs. The natives held onto their religion and culture because it was a part of them and their past and they also would not give it up willingly because they have been through too much to give up. “The federal government and most non-native Canadians believed that life for the First Nations people would be greatly improved if they gave up their culture and became part of mainstream, Christian Canadian”(Freeman-Shaw, Hastings-Winner 38). Canadian society was so full of itself that they considered everyone else and their culture to be less than their own. The Canadians thought everyone would be happier if they shared to same religion and beliefs

The Native Americans of the Great Plains Religion was all about the Sundance and dreams they had. There were people dancing around a fire ,starting the Sundance with a lady cutting down a tree to start it off. During it they would make sacrifices with people and continually hurt themselves for their horse god. So the gods they worshipped were the horse and buffalo gods because they were the animals they saw the most ,they also had the most benefits from them too. They used pipes and other materials during the Sundance to show where they should go next on their journey and who should they become in the future of their lives like vishions . The Great plains indians were very different from other indians with their horse gods and such violence

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

There are many cultures throughout the world, and each has its’ own creation story, and many of them are very similar; however the creation stories of the First Nations’ People are some of the most magical. These stories not only tell how the world was created, but give a glimpse into who the Cherokee and Lakota were, and their views of the relationship between human beings and creation, and human beings and animals. The Cherokee and Lakota creation stories are similar in many ways, but each has

The Native American’s way of living was different from the Europeans. They believed that man is ruled by respect and reverence for nature and that nature is an

“One general truth that threads throughout the Native American spiritual beliefs is the belief of the Mother Earth spirituality” (Coll). They often called earth their mother and called father the air. The earth to the Natives is very sacred to them and is the most important thing to them. Most of the ceremonies were in some way revolving around the earth and they called earth “home.” Most of the ceremonies were practiced for many years and were passed down through generation to generation. The Native Americans didn’t have a book like the bible or any language that was written. One big thing they had was Totems. These were everywhere in their tribes and it was supposed to represent people and the animals that represented them. The Indians were supposed to have 7 spiritual animals and the many animals on the totems were supposed to represent all the person’s spiritual

There are three key patterns seen in most Native American religions they are the human relationship with nature, framing of time and space and respect for gods/ancestors. The human relationship with nature known as animism, everything is seen as part of the same reality and every object has a spirt, is a practice where there is little distinction between humans and animals. Time and space is sacred, cyclical,

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

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.

Storytelling continues to be an integral part of Native American culture, providing us with an understanding of what was important to the Native Americans. Through their stories, Native Americans expressed an understanding of the environment, and the relationship that existed between themselves and their environment. These stories also provide us with a look at Native American legends, history, and a collection of knowledge critical to their survival. Native American stories are deeply rooted in their relationship with Mother Earth. Their many years connected with land, life, water and sky has created many stories explaining these important bonds with Mother Earth. From ancient times the Native Americans have looked to their

In chapter 3 (“Native and Christian”) of Joel Martin’s book, Native American Religion (1999), two distinct paths were discussed on how Christianity spread among the Natives in the 19th century and how this spread of Christianity impacted the Native people in different ways. The chapter focused mainly on the story of Catharine Brown, a Cherokee Indian that attended a missionary Christian boarding school (e.g., Brainerd) in New England, and various examples of Native people that criticized Christianity and believed that Christianity and the Native religions should be kept separate. The story of Catharine Brown is the central focus of the majority of the chapter, as compared to the Natives who rejected Christianity; Catharine Brown’s story is

When Europeans first set foot upon the shores of what is now the United States they brought with them a social structure which was fundamentally based around their concept and understanding of Western European Christianity. That the indigenous peoples might already have a thriving civilization, including religious beliefs and practices, that closely paralleled the beliefs and practices of European civilization, was a concept not considered by these early explorers and settlers. This European lack of cultural understanding created tensions, between Native Americans and Europeans, and later between Native Americans and Euro-Americans, that eventually erupted into open warfare and resulted in great bloodshed between cultures. For the Lakota

The religion of Native Americans varied depending on the tribe they were affiliated with so it is difficult to generalize the religion to a specific doctrine. However, when Europeans first began colonizing in the west, the religious systems of the culture included cosmologies, the idea of an all-knowing and powerful creator, as well as the immortality of the human soul. These ideas made relating Christianity to the Natives easier for evangelists at the time. There were many factors that made evangelizing difficult as well. For example, the belief that even non-human specimens had souls and needed to be accounted for was not understood nor explained in Christianity. Also, the language barrier could make conversion challenging due to the fact

Molly related an experience with four Oglala Sioux shamans: "When asked about what was wakan ("holy," "mysterious"), said, 'Every object in the world has a spirit and that spirit is wakan. Thus the spirit[s] of the tree or things of that kind, while not like the spirit of man, are also wakan.' " (2005, p. 41) Believing that each tree has a spirit, each animal is a brother or sister, each rock and hill has a life force would alter your perception of the world. Your feelings toward those things might be changed a bit, knowing that they have as much life in them as you do. Black Elk, a Native American, said, " We should understand well that all things are the works of the Great Spirit. We should know that He is within all things: the trees, the grasses, the rivers, the mountains, and all the four-legged animals, and the winged peoples." (Goffman, 2005) Whether a tribal culture believed in a Great Spirit, or Mother Earth, or felt that a certain tree held a powerful spirit, many of the native religions worshiped the earth and held it in a highly sacred regard. "To say that nature is full of spirits can be a way of affirming the presence of both a universal life force and an essential, underlying sacredness." (Molly, 2005, p. 41) Molloy continues:

It would be devastating if my tribe was to find out years later that they were involved in a scientific study that they knew nothing about. For most tribal communities, it is important to respect their culture and their beliefs. Scientists do not have the right to offend a tribal community, even if it was unintentional and due to ignorance regarding the taboo topics within the tribe from the researchers. For many reasons, it is important to inform the tribe and the individuals who donate their DNA samples exactly what their samples will be used for. Tribal communities are unlike many modern communities. Tribal communities carry much pride in their history, their culture, and their beliefs. Offending