Shamanism and the Indigenous Peoples of Siberia Essays

The 2004 documentary film In Pursuit of the Siberian Shaman by Anya Bernstein implies that Valentin Khagdaev is not a true shaman because true shamans were already gone before the Soviet religious repressions of the late 1920’s began. Bernstein (2004), uses the silent 1928 footage of a Buryat shaman to frame our understanding of what a shaman appears to be by opening the documentary with a short excerpt of the shaman dancing and beating his drum while wearing his ceremonial costume. When Valentin Khagdaev is first introduced the audience sees him performing a shamanic ritual which involves drumming and singing while wearing a very similar costume to

For many Indigenous people, spirituality is more than simply a belief in a higher being. Spirituality is the holistic belief that all living and nonliving things are interconnected and deserving of the highest respect.  In accordance with Medicine Wheel teachings, the East portion of the medicine wheel is synonymous with spirituality. By recognizing the importance of spirituality and how it helps shape cultural identity, one has the potential to be able to better understand how

The theme of spirituality takes place in many novels that we have read this semester. Natives has used spiritual guidance as a means of connecting with their past and honoring their ancestors. To Natives, spirits have always played an important role in their culture and everyday lives. When Natives were forced to convert to Christianity and over time have their beliefs sucked out of them, the spiritual connection was broken as generations passed. One novel that particularly spoke to me on this subject was Monkey Beach, by Eden Robinson. The main character, Lisa, is struggling to fins herself after being blessed with the gift of being a shaman. In this novel, the author exploits how the European or western “white” culture has destroyed the

Shamanism and ancestor reverence are key religions of the Chinese. Shamans are spiritual healers who call on spirits while they are dreaming to relieve an individual from uncertainty or cure an individual from a disease (Laughlin & Rock, 2014). Shamans are seen as elders of the Chinese community and are respected for the tremendous healing power they have on others. Furthermore, ancestor reverence is the respect many younger generations have for their

Ritual healing involves “health, emotion, identity, religion, self, suffering, modernity, and colonial situation”, according to Thomas Csordas, who spent a lot of time on the Indian lands with anthropologists studying the Navajo and their daily lives. There is one ceremonial healing practice that was studied in depth by Thomas Csordas and that is the Night Way Ceremony.

            The book Lame Deer Seeker of Visions authored by Richard Erdoes help readers understand the American Indian community through a Sioux medicine man. The author’s relationship with the Lame Deer enabled him to portray this community from several interviews. He portrays the culture, rituals and ceremonies, religious beliefs, main legends, the use of medicine, environmental destruction, injustices in this land whose occupants hold it as sacred. The author narrates about Lame Deer as a small boy and his experiences in the move to be a medicine man. Lame Deer ability to recall critical symbolism in American Indian culture helps him to explain to the author the significance of spiritual unification, and its need in his community beliefs and practices. At the end, Erdoes argues oneness among human beings is significant. The author is also convinced that Lame Deer is stable with his spiritual values.

On the other hand, the healing powers that sorcerers possess are respected in other communities. Witch doctors, although not real witches, are trusted to concoct remedies to protect others against witchcraft. Furthermore, Shamans are believed to be endowed with the power to both cure and kill. The Shaman has the ability to go into a trance to interact with the spirit world on behalf of the community. Although there are varying opinions on the practicing of witchcraft, it still continues today whether it is accepted or not.

Culture is one of the most important parts of the life as spirituality. Native American, people practice many different ceremonies as a ritual, which represent their culture, such as, Sun Dance, healing ceremony, and Gallup ceremony, etc. The first ceremony that Native American celebrates the Sun Dance, which is also known as thanksgiving ceremony. This ceremony is like a vision dance. It is a ritual in which people stare at the sun, until everything blackout or spirit break in (Lecture notes). The other ceremony is Gallup ceremony, which is one of the major celebrations that Indian-Tribe celebrates. According to the text, “The Gallup Ceremonial had been an annual event for a long time. It was good for the tourist, they liked to see Indians and Indian dances; they wanted a chance to buy Indian Jewelry and Navajo rugs. Every year it was organized by the white men there” (111). It demonstrates that, how the Native people celebrate their ceremonies every year, with all the respect to their culture. The last ceremony is healing ceremony. Healing ceremony is the ritual that a female Pomo Shaman conducts a ritual healing ceremony over the man’s body. She is performing the ancient doctoring to heal the man spiritually, in which she was dancing with a two sticks, chanting and rubbing her hand on the body (Lecture notes). As we compare, ancient and recent Native American cultures were almost the same because in the past, people celebrate the cultures with a very good sight to enjoy their rituals. Even though, now society has developed a lot, but values of traditions are not changed

The healing rituals in the Navajo tribes included the spiritual healing rituals, which are a type of medicine or cure, which is believed to be being assisted by the spirits (Vogel 338). The Native Americans believed so much in these rituals especially the Navajo were the most community that believed in the capacity of this spiritual ritual healing. These healing influenced by the medium, which was the medicine, operate whom known as Shaman who would perform these rituals and will be able to heal a sick person. This paper will focus mainly on the beliefs, ceremonies and ritual events that were believed by the Navajo one of the Native Indians to treat their patients. It also argues ways and methods the Navajo used for their

Garrouttee et al. (2009) discusses that even though the definition of Native American spirituality does not exist, there are several identifiable themes that emerge. The first thing that Garroutte et al. (2009) identifies is that spirits are often associated with animals, plants, and other things in the natural world. Another aspect is the Great Spirit, or father, which is equitable to God in the Judeo-Christian belief. The Great Spirit is more considered to be an omnipresent spirit or collectivity of spirits inhabiting the universe (Garroutte et al., 2009). To many Native American tribes, the material and spiritual realms are wound together and cannot be separated from the other (Limb & Hodge, 2008). To many Native American tribes, existence is spiritual (Limb & Hodge, 2008). Another area if commonality is ceremonies and rituals of the different tribes. Each tribe has a great variety of rituals, and ceremonies that are apart of each tribe’s culture, values, and beliefs. These spiritual practices reinforce the link between the individual, the creator, and the community (Limb & Hodge,

There was also an exhibit of a “Cheyenne Rattle” which is used to treat sick people. The shaman would waive the rattle over the ill member’s head and they would be relieved of the evil spirits draining his body. Shamans and their people believed in these magical items. They were strong enough to drive out unwanted forces and sustain protective ones. They would combine a physical object with a spiritual force that would heal them from their sickness. Like the peasant and folk artist from “peasants and folk artist”, shamans were involved in a tradition that put a lot of pressure on them to become healers of their people. Sometimes they would have to go through extremes, such as depriving themselves of food or removing a body part to gain sympathy

Believed the supernatural powers can be manipulated by “medicine men or women” who would cure and advise other tribe members and act as a medium between our world and the spirit world. Shamans were believed to predict the future and use medicine and magic to heal the sick.

The Shaman is defined by a person who can mediate between the natural and supernatural world, can foretell the future, and most importantly, can ‘magically’ cure illnesses and injuries. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was known throughout the Native American culture as this Shaman, or medicine man. He used illogical means to cure the Native American illnesses that ended up saving his life. “We did our healing by making the sign of the cross on the sick persons, breathing on them, saying the Lord’s prayer and a Hail Mary” (124). The surviving Spaniards used these methods in order to survive, but they did not know what they were doing. A typical Shaman uses metaphysical means of healing, which is exactly what the Spaniards did in order to stay alive.

- The term ‘shaman’ originated when the Russians began conquering and colonizing Siberia, where they came across natives known as Evenk. Evenks used the term ‘shaman’ for their spiritual leaders. It is known to have spread by anthropologists

Another characteristic of an indigenous religion deals with the emphasis placed on the spiritual specialists. The general consensus is that anyone can have personal or direct access to spirits or that which is unseen, yet felt (democratized shamanism). There is no special requirement in most indigenous systems that stipulate ‘who’ can commune or interact with spirits, however, as a general rule, many feel that it is best to leave interactions with spirits to those that have been taught or trained through ritual or purification of some sort. Most indigenous religions are not written down, but based on oral