chapter 12 primal religion:

What are some examples of primal or local religions?

Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Melanesia, Polynesia

What was the significance of performing the Sun Dance in the Moon of Making Fat?

Because that is the time when the sun is highest and the growing power of the world is strongest

When the woman (the Buffalo Maiden) gives the chief the pipe, what does she say?

Behold! "with this you shall multiply and be a good nation"

To what does "spiritism" refer?

Belief that people who die continue to exist in a spirit world that interacts with the ordinary, earthly world.

What was the common procedure for securing rain in a time of drought among the Malawi?

Build a hut and make an offering in the grove of the Kyungu whom the diviner had mentioned

What was the message of the myth of the Ghost Dance?

By dancing the Indians were anticipating and making way for the arrival of sacred peace, harmony, property and happiness. Making way for the resurrection of those who had died.

What was the purpose of the New Year Apo ritual?

Everyone is granted equal status, everyone has the privilege of speaking ones mind to those who are usually ones superior.

Why were Native Americans reluctant to surrender their homelands to European settlers?

Existence of ancestral spirits. Their ancestors transitioned into life bound but they were still connected to the land where they live

How does Sword's description of Wakan Tanka exemplify panentheism?

For Sword everything is or has waken, and wakan is spirit. Wakan comes from Wakan being(gods) and Wakan Tanka refers to all the spirits beings which are the same as one.

Why did the High God of the Ashanti become a Sky God who remains aloof from everyday human affairs?

Humanity annoyed a god to the point of estrangement. The god who formally dwelt with humanity becomes a sky god because of humanity poor behavior.

What are common taboos or prohibitions against the divine king or Kyungu of the Malawi?

If any ruler became sick the sickness was interpreted as a sign that the ruler offended the spirits. so they would have to kill the ruler in order to save their land from becoming sick

How are the Navaho alienated or estranged from the sacred powers of the world?

In the spring mother earth and all of nature return to life from the dead. But the Navaho are out of harmony with rhythms of sacred and thus die but do not return to life.

How does the Pueblo hunting ritual demonstrate sympathetic or imitative magic?

It operates on the principle of "like produces like". In this case by producing images of their prey and symbolically killing them, hunters believed they could gain power of the real animals.

Why may young men be reluctant to become the divine king in a Native African tribe like the Malawi?

Life of a divine king was short

Of what, exactly, does sexual wounding consist for boys and girls among some primal or local religions?

Often a belated circumcision in the case of males and vaginal wounds in the case of females. The boys of the Dieri tribe of southeast Australia would have their two lower middle- front teeth knocked out, undergo circumcision, and be subject to ceremony of subincision according to which their penises were cut in imitation of female anatomy.

To what does fetishism refer?

Referred to as MANA Fetishes- are power objects believed to posses super ordinary power.

What is animism?

Refers to the belief all things (people, rocks,animals) are inhabited by spirits or souls

For what occasions would the pipe be smoked, and what did the rising smoke symbolize?

Religious ceremonies or when people gather to talk of peace, war and the hunt. The rising smoke symbolized prayers faint out to the great spirits.

What did it mean to devote one's whole body to Wanka Tanka or the Great Spirit at the time of the Sun Dance?

That their body be suspended entirely above the ground

What events destroyed the hopes of the Ghost Dance?

The battle at Wounded knee. A struggle ensued between Yellow Bird and a calvary officer. Yellow bird killed the officer and the "whites" killed Big Foot. Black elk was wounded and the myth was destroyed

To what does polytheism refer?

The belief in "many deities"

What did a Vision Quest provide for a young Native American?

The child would be sent alone into the wilderness to seek a vision from the spirt world. The vision would put the child into contact with the sacred spirits.

What work, according to the Yoruba, did the five-toed hen perform at the creation of the world?

The hen scratched the dirt until the dry earth was formed with its mountains valleys rivers and lakes

How were strips of rawhide attached to the dancers, and for how long did the participants dance?

The men would cut a place in his back or chest and the rawhide would be pushed through the flesh and tied. They would dance for as long he could stand the pain or until the flesh tore loose.

From what, according to the Yoruba, did the clay image of man receive life?

The supreme deity Olorun breath life into the image

How may ancestral spirits, according to Native African religion, affect one's life?

They can turn against individuals and tribes causing substantial damage like sickness, death and drought

What was believed about whoever was first to touch the holy tree in the center of the Sun Dance?

They could not be killed in war that year

What characterizes a "High God"?

Thought to be responsible for the creation of the world. At one time the High God lived on earth with humanity but left to dwell in the heaves. The God is appealed to only rarely perhaps in cases of extreme emergency

To what does totemism refer?

To identifying oneself, ones tribe or family with an animal plant or object or phenomenon

What were the purposes of the Sun Dance?

To show appreciation and didactic to the great spirit in return for some sacred gift: protection, bravery, victory et

By what other designations or names may primal or local religions be known?

Tribal, Basic, cosmic, folk, primitive, prehistoric

How might totemism, fetishism, and polytheism all emerge out of animism?

World is filled with spirits overtime the spirits will acquire prominence over other

To what does "shaman" refer?

a gifted individual who has the ability to enter the spirit world through dance, vision and often times of sickness

What was Crazy Horse's fetish, and what did it do for him?

a sacred stone that brought him good fortune in battle

To what does "panentheism" refer?

all things participate in God or sacred reality and conversely that God or sacred reality participates in all things

What are the most commonly recognized, feared, and interactive sacred realities in Native African religion?

ancestral spirits

What does a "diviner" or "doctor to the bewitched" do?

determines the cause of present misfortune, prescribe curative actions and peers into the future

What are the Native African equivalents of a shaman?

diviners or witch doctors

Why did Pu-eng-yii suffer a serious accident?

his ancestors were extremely mad at him and caused the accident themselves

What characterizes Lebid's experience of becoming a shaman?

howling wolves gathered at the place of his death and the tribe members heard him sing among the wolves and thats when they knew he became a shaman

To what does "anima" refer?

latin for soul or spirit

What is the Native American equivalent of a shaman?

medicine men or woman

In the academic study of religion what are common characteristics of myths?

myth should be defined as "a story that intend to convey profound truths" validity of a math should be determined after one has discovered the truth of the myth

What spiritual status may leaders or rulers obtain in local or primal religions?

often looked upon having special powers. Many regarded to links to the world of ancestral spirits.

With what kind of time are eschatological myths concerned?

post history, a time beyond or at the end or normal time

When Crazy Horse revisited the world of his vision, what power did he acquire?

power and guidance that he could pass through any battle without being seriously harmed

What items in more complex, modern societies may have fetish-like status?

rabbit foot, four leaf clover, horseshoe

Referring to the words of Wintu and the hunting ritual of the Pygmies, how may animism promote a more reverential attitude toward nature?

the hunters engage in preparatory rituals

What do myths concerning the origin of alienation or estrangement explain?

the myths take readers back to the gold age during which there was no death

How would you describe the Congo nail fetish?

the nail fetish a figure of some sort of man with screws nails blades cowrie shell and other materials.

What powers did Black Elk believe he received in his Great Vision?

the powers to make his people thrive once more as they thrived before the arrival of the "white man"