Religion 101 Exam 1: Native American Religions

Expansion of European Imperialism & its effect on Native Americans

(1.) Many indigenous peoples converted (forcibly) to the Christianity of colonizers. (2.) Native American children in the U.S. were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to boarding schools, where they were taught the "error" of their cultural and religious ways. As tribes adopted Christianity, some parts of their indigenous religions fused with the new religion. For example, some Apache religious leaders interchange Mary and Jesus for Changing Woman and her son.

When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mesoamerica:

(1.) The Maya were often forcibly converted to Roman Catholicism, (2.) the indigenous religion of the Mayan peoples was banned, and (3.) written versions of holy texts were burned.

Black Elk

(1863-1950) A famous Lakota religious leader.

Wounded Knee

29 December 1890. American troops massacred hundreds of Lakota people who had gathered for the Ghost Dance.

Trickster

A common figure in Native American mythologies whose tales often teach important moral lessons. Often an animal who has adventures and engages in all manner of mischief.

Sun Dance

A midsummer Native American ritual that spans nearly two weeks, culminating in four days of dancing. Details vary across different cultures.

Vision Quest

A rite of passage in which an individual attempts to communicate with the spirit world. Particularly well known among peoples of the Great Plains and Great Lakes regions. May be undertaken by man or woman, depending on the culture, and may occur once or at several points in an individual's life. Contact made with the spirit world is frequently accomplished through contact with a spirit guide (which often takes animal form). Contact will be made once the individual removes themself from normal society by spending several days alone in the wilderness. May require long periods of isolation and fasting.

Mt. Shasta

A sacred place to many Native American communities in northern California.

Hogan

A sacred structure of Pueblo peoples. Among the Navajo, the guidelines for building the sacred dwelling are found in myth; the Holy People taught that it should be built as a representation of Navajo lands and the cosmos. Four posts, which represent four sacred mountains that surround the Navajo homeland, support the structure. The roof represents Father Sky, and the floor is Mother Earth.

Tipi

A typical conical structure of the tribes of the Great Plains which is often constructed with a sacred blueprint. The perimeter is the edge of the Universe, and the lit fire in the center represents the center of all existence. Thus it is another axis mundi, connecting different planes of existence.

1819 Civilization Fund Act

Aimed to educate Native children in an effort to "civilize" them, led to the development of many boarding schools.

Axis Mundi

An academic term for the center of the world, which connects the Earth with the heavens.

Holy People

Ancestors to the Navajo people, described in mythic narratives.

Quetzalcoatl

Aztec God and important culture hero in Mexico.

Sweat Lodge

Ceremonies that are used to ritually purify and cleanse the body. They are rites of purification.

Quanah Parker

Comanche chief who spread the call for Native Americans to embrace peyote religion.

Native American Church

Formed by followers of the peyote religion to protect their religious practice.

Peyote

Hallucinogenic cactus that has been used for thousands of years in indigenous religions of northern Mexico. Spread to Native communities in the U.S., particularly in the Plains. Outlawed in U.S. until 1995.

Eagle Dancers

In one Native American's Sun Dance, selected people dance attached to ropes that are strung to the tree's trunk and looped around skewers that were pierced through the skin of their chests on the first day of dancing. On the end of the fourth day, they will fall back on their ropes, pulling the skewers free from their flesh. This act is considered a sacrifice to the Great Spirit, or God, a gift of the one thing that is truly one's own to give; one's being.

Cry Ceremony

In some Native cultures of California and the southwestern United States, deaths are marked by these special ceremonies. They involve sacred mourning songs and tales, dances, and sharing storied about the deceased, all of which aid the spirit of the deceased in transition to the next world.

Significance of the tree in the Sun Dance ritual

Its verticality; by reaching upward, the tree is thought to be the point of contact with the spirit world that connects the sacred expanse of the sky to the sacred space of the circle formed around it during the four days of dancing in the Sun Dance ritual.

Kinaalda

Marks a Navajo girl's transition to adulthood. Takes place soon after a girl begins menstruating. Each girl has a sponsor (an older woman who serves as a guide and role model and teaches her about the expectations of her as a Navajo woman). Ceremonial activities last several days and are part of the chantways. Therefore, the ritual has its foundation in mythology. Girls are expected to take on the identity and spiritual qualities of Changing Woman during the ritual. Each girl also makes a giant cake of cornmeal.

Myths

May contain lessons concerning how to farm or subsist off the land, how to behave appropriately in social situations, as well as life and death.

Changing Woman

Mystic ancestor of the Navajo people who created the first humans.

Medicine Man

Native American healers who may use religious knowledge to cure physical and mental illnesses. Frequently well known for their understanding of local plant remedies.

Holy Wind

Navajo conception of a spiritual force that inhibits every element of creation. Enters living beings through their own breath and directs their actions and thoughts. In this way, it connects all living things.

Sacred Narratives (myths)

Often contain the essential teachings of Native American religions

Wovoka

Participated in first Ghost Dance, studied Paiute religion. In his vision and teachings, the creator told him that the ancestors would rise up and if enough people believed and danced, human misery and death would end; founded the second Ghost Dance.

American Indian Religious Freedom Act

Passed in 1978 in effort to give Native people the right to express and practice their beliefs, according to the first amendment.

Two-Spirit

Person who might be biologically male but adopt the dress, occupations, and behaviours of a woman. Treated with respect and regarded as having special spiritual abilities, many took on a special religious role in the community. However, with the arrival and domination of Europeans, this role was suppressed.

Mabel McKay

Pomo woman of northern California. Known for her skill in basketry and healing the sick.

Kachina

Pueblo spiritual beings.

Ghost Dance

Religious resistence movement in 1870 and 1890 that originated in Nevada among Paiute people. Came about when a religious leader of the Northern Paiute claimed to have had a vision that taught him that the white occupiers would leave if the Native people performed a special dance described by the spirits. It was called this because it was believed that it would usher in the destruction and rebirth of the world and that dead ancestors would return.

Jump Dance

Renewal dance of the Yurok people. Taught by the Immortals, it restores the balance of the Earth and renews the harmony that was present in the time of the Immortals.

Rites of Passage

Rituals that mark the transition from one social stage to another.

Rites of Renewal

Rituals that seek to enhance natural processes like rain or fertility, or enhance the solidarity of a group.

Popol Vuh

The Quiché Mayan book of creation.

Chantways

The basis of Navajo ceremonial practices, which is focused on maintaining order in the world. Involve ritualized singing/songs, chants, and prayers and may take place over several days. Retell the stories of creation and thus, through language, bring the power of the time of creation into the present. Used in many contexts such as marriages, births, and puberty rites, and are thought to have the power to bring great benefit. Normally take place in hogans.

Popol Vuh explanation for human beings' existence

The creators were not able to successfully craft human beings until they used mud and breathed life into it.

Death&Time in many Native American religions

Time is regarded as circular, not linear. Thus, events that happened at one point on the circle of time are not simply past; they will be experienced again. In many Native religions, death is considered to be an important spiritual transition. During old age, death may be welcomed and prepared for, and funeral rites ease the transition of the deceased into the next stage of the afterlife.

Sand Painting

Used as a healing rite by Navajo peoples.. Created using vivid colours of sand and other dry materials such as pollen. Created on the floors of hogans and treat illnesses by bringing individuals into alignment with nature.