Standing Bear Symbolism

For the Aborigines their spiritually involves everyday objects such as plants and animals which are connected to their ancestors. Their spirituality and beliefs are kept alive by passing on their knowledge through ceremonies and “Dreamtime” stories. The “Dreamtime” stories are how the Aborigines explain the beginning of the Earth and the foundation of their core beliefs. In most of the stories, ancestral spirits came to the Earth and as they moved along they created the plants, animals and even rocks. One the spirits did their job, they morphed into stars, watering holes and other objects. An example of these “Dreamtime” stories is the “Rainbow serpent” which is about a serpent who “pushed out the land to make mountains, she spilled water over the land to make rivers, lakes and billabongs. She also made the sun and fire, and all colours of the rainbow.”

Finally, the principal Native American belief, harmony with nature, appears in most works of their culture. Harmony with nature appear in the song, “Hunting Song” on line 23 to line 24: “...Quarry mine, blessed am i in the luck of the chase” (Lines 23-24). This quote shows that the Navajo hunter is blessed that nature is giving him permission to capture and eat one of it’s creature and being part of nature. Also, it made him feel as one with nature once eats the deer. Another example of harmony with nature would be in the song, “Song of the Sky Looms” on the opening lines of the Tewa song. An example of harmony with nature would be, “ O mother the earth, O father the sky, your children we are…” (line 1-2). This song is more like a

The Apache Creation Story is a reliving of the creation that takes on a more personal, familial and dialogue-based approach to how the world and mankind came to be. The story depicts how the natural environment was created, from the earth itself to the four cardinal points to the clouds, the animals, and the trees. Because of the nature of the Apache’s nomadic life, the legend remains generalized in terms of its location. Typically the story is told in order to preserve their tribal history as well as social and instructional purposes. These occasions range from the campfire to rites of passage to simply a parent teaching their child of their historical identity. The legend of creation is central to the spiritual practices and beliefs of the Apache, especially when it comes to their relationship with the natural world. As explained in the first two phrases of the story, “animals, elements, the solar system, and natural phenomena are revered by the Apaches.” By sharing this story with younger tribe members, the Apache engage them in understanding their traditions. It also teaches them of the morality they must have and pass on when it comes to nature, as Montejo mentions (21). It tells of the role of all living beings on earth and the importance of them all working harmoniously to keep the universe balanced.

Prior to European influences, many indigenous religions did not dichotomize the world into good and evil, and, as a result, natives interpreted their deities as both good and bad. When the town council describes their indigenous beliefs as “wicked,” this diction represents how European influences affected and shifted how natives interpretation of nature.

They used what is known as a diffused substinance pattern. By this we mean that by using resources available to them lightly as opposed to intensely using the same resources, they were conserving for the future. These tribes would spiritualize nature. In this culture everything was significant. They held reverence for the environment and a strong kinship with nature. Often these people observed respectful guidelines to avoid spiritual retaliation. For instance, the bones of the beaver would be returned to the river where it had been trapped. This was believed to keep the beavers there plentiful.

Additionally, Royal gives clarification for Native Americans’ positive stereotypes. He explains, “ But this is far from modern concepts of ecology. Native Americans in fact overhunted deer and beaver even before the arrival of the white man, and did not seriously try to preserve the resources in the vicinity of their villages. As a result, the typical woodland village, having exhausted local soil and game, had to move on average every eight to 10 years” (Royal 47). Although the Native Americans did not destroy the environment like Europeans on such a large scale, they are not trying to protect the environment either. This opposes the stereotypes that Native Americans are model ecologists. Royal also examines the inhumane sides of Native American tribes. Royal reveals, “The

“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 story of Kana’ ti (The Lucky Hunter) and Selu (corn) revealed considerable amounts of evidence about how they perceived balance and harmony in their culture. In short, they maintained harmony and balance through their spirituality and rituality as Native Americans. Selu had her ritual for cultivating corn, as Kana’ ti had his ritual for hunting and gathering food. Both Kana’ ti and Selu offered a harmonious, ritualistic strategy to obtain food, which helped maintain an even spiritual balance in their system. (Spiritual)

Calvinists also believed that “men were directed to transform the earth according to the divine will of God” (Champagne 1992:15); therefore, men were given complete freedom for environmental domination in order to transform this world that is full of flaws and sins and to appease God. From this perspective, nature is an object to be struggled against and overcome. Furthermore, Christianity, more specifically Calvinist belief, teaches the radical dualism of sacred and profane. From this perspective, this world characterized by sins, flaws, and suffering is profane, drawing comparison a comparison to the sacred afterworld. Native Americans, on the other hand, had less tension in this dichotomous relationship between this-worldliness and otherworldliness. Most Native cultures believed that their institutional and cultural elements, such as ceremonies, kinship, villages, and clans were given as gifts by the “Great Spirit”-- a benevolent and ubiquitous life force of the world. The Great Spirit communicates with humans through intermediaries that reside in nature, which makes Native Americans to live harmoniously with the earth. Everything on earth is considered a spiritual being that needs to be respected to keep the world in balance.

The Lakota Indians, are sometimes known as the Sioux, but they call themselves the Lakota, which is translated as ‘friend’ or ‘ally’ in their native tongue. Their description of themselves make sense when looking at their seven virtues that they live by, “These are Wóčhekiye (Prayer), Wóohola (Respect), Wówauŋšila (Compassion), Wówičakȟe (Honesty), Wówačhaŋtognaka (Generosity), Wówaȟwala (Humility) and Wóksape (Wisdom) (“Lakota Today”). A culture’s idea of the most importance qualities a good person should have gives a good idea of what kind of people they are. The Lakota’s virtues all revolve around a general concept of respect for everything, compassion, humility, and honesty. These things can either refer to their fellow man, or

Sacred power (pg 16): Native Americans believed in spiritual powers and the natural world. Spiritual power for men were hunting and war.

Before the White Man made his presence known, our territory was plentiful and abundant with massive herds of buffalo. The land of my tribe, the Lakota, was blessed by the spirits; therefore, my people and I have prospered. My name is Sitting Bull, and I took the role as Leader of the Lakota.

Once in the plains of northern Montana, there was a Blackfoot tribe, who lived separated from nature, they had lost their way. A great river separated their world in two, and only a divine spirit could get the 2 sides to come together once again.

The story starts on a Tuesday [1], with the bear getting ready for hibernation. He sees geese migrating south for the winter which lets him know that things are about to change. The bear can be anyone in society. [1] We all get into a routine of doing things and are hesitant to welcome change into our lives. The forest represents the society in which people live. [2] When the bear awoke from hibernation, he looked to see where he was. He could see a light that led to a door in the distance. When he opened the door, he could see that the world around him had changed. [3] Nothing was the way he thought it was when he went to sleep. The men had come on a Wednesday and altered his environment. [4] Their arrival changed everything in the bears life [5] and the factory is the society and culture around the bear. [7]