A Summary of Native American
Religions
by David Ruvolo
The history of American religions is dominated by the presence of Christianity
brought to the New World by European settlers. Columbus's discovery in 1492
marked the beginning of a massive "white" invasion that would consume the entire
continent of North America over the next four centuries. Although Christianity
manifested itself in countless denominations, it was, nevertheless, the umbrella
under which most Europeans in America gathered. It served as common ground on
which white settlers could stand together in the struggle for survival in the
wilderness of the New World. Whatever differences there were between
denominations were insignificant when compared to the differences between the
white European Christianity and their counterparts on the continent, the
resident Native Americans. This fact, along with the desire and need for land,
turned Native Americans into a convenient enemy for most groups of European
settlers.
In essence, time had run out for the indigenous race that
populated the continent of North America. Like the Israelites of the sixth
century B.C.E., Native Americans were faced with an enemy that was more
advanced. Ironically, the invading whites are the religious descendants of those
same Israelites who were conquered by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.. Armed with
technologically advanced weapons, diseases which were foreign to the continent,
and a concept known as Manifest Destiny, European settlers began an assault on
the North American Continent the result of which was nothing short of genocide.
Within four hundred years of their first contact, the white man had succeeded in
stripping Native American civilizations of virtually all of their land and had
nearly wiped their cultures from the face of the earth.
Popular American
history has traditionally viewed the past through white eyes. Much of the
history and culture of many Native American civilizations were lost during the
European invasion of the continent. The absence of a written language among most
tribes force them to depend on aril traditions that were difficult to maintain
as their civilizations were being killed off and separated by the dominant white
culture. For this reason, it is often difficult to locate information concerning
the religious beliefs and rituals of the large variety of Native American
civilizations that flourished in North America before the time of the European
invasion. This project will provide some of this information by taking a
cross-section of certain Native American tribes from separate and distinct
geographic regions and comparing certain aspects of each of their religious
beliefs and rituals. I plan to show how each tribe's religion was impacted by
the environmental conditions that surrounded it, and in what ways these
religions were affected by the invasion of Christianity. The Iroquois Nation of
the eastern woodlands, the Dakota tribes of the central plains, and the Apache
tribes of the southwestern desert shall serve as the subjects of this project.
The Iroquois Nation of the eastern woodlands was one of the most highly
organized civilizations that developed among Native American tribes in North
America. This particular "league", as it is sometimes referred , is surpassed in
greatness only by the advanced civilizations of the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas in
the pre-discovered Western world. "They achieved for themselves a more
remarkable civil organization, and acquired a higher degree of influence, than
any other race of Indian lineage,...{in North America}." (Morgan 1954,3). The
league occupied most of the area that makes up the present day state of New
York, however, it's influence and territory extended into parts of Canada. Their
society was centered around the wilderness that surrounded them. The Iroquois
relied on agriculture, as well as hunting and gathering. Their environment
provided them with fertile soil, plentiful game, and streams that were full of
fish. The rich natural resources that surrounded the Iroquois were undoubtedly
their greatest strength and directly responsible for the success of the nation.
The relative ease at which the Iroquois Nation was able to provide for
the needs of it's people allowed for the development of a systematic belief
system that was more developed than most other systems found among Native
American civilizations. According to Lewis H. Morgan, their religion is
characterized by a monotheistic belief in an all-powerful creator known as the
"Great Spirit", or "Ha-wen-ne-yu." "The Iroquois believed in the constant
superintending care of the Great Spirit. He ruled and administered the world,
and the affairs of the red race." (1954,146). The Iroquois failed to see the
need in developing a detailed conception of their creator. This knowledge was
thought to be above and beyond their capabilities to understand. His power was
administered to the material world through "a class of inferior spiritual
existences, by whom he was surrounded." (1954,147). While divine attributes
concerning the Great Spirit remained undeveloped, the Iroquois gave detailed
descriptions of this lower class of spirits that interacted with the material
world. The were known as "Invisible Agents" or "Ho-no-che-no-keh." (Morgan
1954). The power possessed by these spirits was given to them by the Great
Spirit and were the manifestations of his unlimited power. Some of these spirits
were given names, however, they were often identified with the object or force
that they presided over. For example, He-no, one of the more important spirits,
was given the thunderbolt and controlled the weather. According to Morgan, he
had the form of man and wore the costume of a warrior (1954,147).
While
the Iroquois belief system centered around the idea of a benevolent Great
Spirit, it did not ignore the existence of evil in the world. Evil is
represented by the brother of the Great Spirit, "Ha-ne-go-ate-geh", or "the
Evil-minded" (1954,147). This evil spirit exists independently and controls it's
own inferior spiritual beings. These agents of evil also exist in the material
world and are place there in an attempt to bring about evil. According to
Morgan, the Great Spirit does not have any type of positive authority over the
Evil-minded, except for the power to overcome him when necessary (1954,148). The
red race is left to choose either obedience to the Great Spirit or submission to
the Evil-minded. It is important to note that the Iroquois developed the idea of
an immortal soul. This soul was judged by the Great Spirit upon the death of the
body. The threat of punishment in the afterlife increased morality concerns,
which aided in the success of the Iroquois Nation.
The ritual ceremonies
practiced by the Iroquois tribes were systematic worship services that occurred
in accordance to certain seasonal periods throughout the year. The rituals were
handed down through the generation and remained unchanged for centuries.
Festival most commonly occurred during important agricultural periods. Worship
and thanks were given to the Great Spirit for protection and survival. One of
the "Invisible Agents" were usually honored depending on what time of year the
ceremony was taking place. The ceremonies were led by "Keepers of the Faith", or
"Ho-nun-den-ont" (Morgan 1953,177). They were not an organized priesthood like
one would imagine, but rather a loosely organized council of qualified
individuals who were assigned the task of maintaining the ritual practices of
the Iroquois people.
The Iroquois were first encountered by the white
man around 1609 during the height of Dutch exploration. The league spent the
majority of the seventeenth century at war with neighboring tribes as well as
French invaders. Their influence spread through the northeast and reached a
culminating point around the turn of the century. Within fifty years of this
time, the power and population of the once proud Iroquois Nation was cut in
half. White settlers had moved into their territory and forced the Iroquois to
give up their homeland.
The belief system of the Iroquois was the
closest a Native American civilization had come to the complex theology of
Christianity. One major difference between the two religions is evident when
looking at how each faith explains mankind's participation in the workings of
the universe. While most Christian denominations sought to participate actively
in the evolution of their world, the Iroquois say mankind as too insignificant
to take part in the grand scheme of the Great Spirit. For example, many
Christian denomination, like the Puritans of New England, believed that they
were the chosen people of God and were working toward the creation of a true
"Kingdom of God" located in America. The Iroquois, on the other hand, believed
that the world was as it should be, and there was nothing that could be done by
mankind to change this fact. This idea would eventually change somewhat as the
Iroquois were influenced more and more by European Christianity. Furthermore,
their ideas concerning punishment in the afterlife were also influenced by
Christian concepts. According to Morgan, the Christian concept of purgatory
seems to have seeped into the Iroquois belief system sometime during the white
man's invasion (1954,163).
While the Iroquois Nation was the strongest
Native American civilization east of the Mississippi river, their integration
into the dominant white culture went relatively smooth compared to most other
instances of integration among the native tribes of North America. I think this
was due to the similarities between their belief systems which made it easier
for the two races to find common ground. The religion practiced by Iroquois
descendants is remarkably similar to the one practiced by their ancestors. The
similarities between the two distinct religions seem to have saved the weaker
Native American system from extinction.
The Dakota, or Sioux as the are
commonly called, inhabited the great plains and prairies surrounding the modern
states of North and South Dakota, as well as Minnesota. This was their home
until white mining interests forced them out of their homeland during the
mid-1800's. The Dakotas were less organized and more spread out than their
cousins in the east, the Iroquois. Their society was based almost entirely on
the hunting of buffalo, which provided them with virtually all of their survival
needs. Their territory consisted of seasonal hunting grounds that forced the
tribal units to live a nomadic lifestyle on the plains. There was no need for
permanent settlements due to the fact buffalo herds would rarely stay in one
place for a long period of time. The Dakota's existence centered around the
movements of the herds.
According to Raymond J. DeMallie, the Dakota
world was "characterized by its oneness, its unity." (1987,27). There was no
separation of the natural world from the world of the supernatural. This unity
in nature was thought to be beyond the comprehension of mankind and could only
be shared in through the practice of rituals. The "animating force" that acted
as the common denominator of the universe was known as "Wakan Tanka." (1987).
"Wakan Tanka was an amorphous category most precisely defined by
incomprehensibility." (Densmore 1918,85). The physical world was composed of the
manifestations of this animating force. In essence, they believed that every
object was spirit, or "wakan." For this reason, the Dakota held a docetic view
of the universe in which nothing was real. Everything in the material world had
only the appearance of being real. Like the inferior spirits in the Iroquois
belief system, Wakan Tanka employed the use of "Wakan people" (DeMallie 1987) to
interact with the material world and control the lives of men. These characters
were often the objects of worship and praise.
According to DeMallie,
Wakan Tanka was explained in relation to the Dakota by "wicasa wakan", or holy
men. (DeMallie 1987). These men attempted to create some type of order and
understanding of this "Great Incomprehensibility." (DeMallie 1987). The did not
concentrate of strict religious doctrine or structure due to the ambiguous
nature of Wakan Tanka. Instead, they served as guides to assist Dakota people in
coming to their own personal understanding of their place in the universe. It
was believed that mankind is required to serve the Waken people who administered
and controlled the forces that surrounded them. White Buffalo Woman was one of
the most important Wakan people to the Dakota. Their myth states that she gave
the Dakota people the "Calf Pipe" (DeMallie 1987) through which they could
communicate with the invisible spirit world.
It is impossible to
separate the Dakota people from the buffalo. A bond existed between the two that
was steeped in religious tradition and survival. For this reason, the buffalo
played an equally significant role in the Dakota's religious belief system. A
co-existence was achieved between these two life forms within an interconnected
universe governed by the collective forces of Wakan Tanka. Most of the Dakota's
rituals were centered around this relationship. According to DeMallie, Dakota
rituals were based on mystical experiences instead of systematic worship. The
most important aspect of ritual was the individual personal experience. The
experience was usually related in the form of an interpretive dance inspired by
a personal vision (DeMallie 1987). The Dakota were encouraged to contribute to
the understanding of Wakan Tanka through their own individual relationship with
the spirit world.
The religious beliefs and rituals of the Dakota people
were not as compatible with Christianity as the Iroquois' were. Their religious
ties to their land place them at great odds with the invading white settlers.
The unity and balance demonstrated in the Dakota's world contrasted sharply with
the one-sided , monotheistic characteristics of Christianity. The Dakota people
attempted to retain their own religion in the face of cultural extinction,
however, few aspects of their culture were left unaffected by their interactions
with whites. One significant influence that Christianity had on the Dakota
belief system involved the personification of Wakan Tanka. (DeMallie 1987,28).
Before contact with European settlers, Wakan Tanka was without distinction. The
Dakota seem to have give anthropomorphic attributes to their creator fashioned
after the God of Christianity.
The Apache tribes of the southwestern
desert region of the United States remain as one of the more elusive
civilizations in American history. Little is known about this nomadic group of
Native Americans that lived a somewhat isolated existence in the harsh
environment of the arid southwest. Their territory encompassed the modern states
of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and extended into parts of Mexico. they were
generally nomadic gatherers who relied on scarce resources found in their desert
environment for survival. Survival under these conditions was difficult and
there was little time for speculating in detail on matters of religion. For this
reason, the belief system of the Apache tribes is less developed than the other
two tribes mentioned earlier. Apache religion did not recognize a "large
pantheon of gods and goddesses." (Opler 1969,21). Instead, their belief system
concentrated on supernatural cultural figures that are responsible for the
Apache way of life. These "supernaturals" (Opler 1969) interfered little in the
daily activities of the people unless called upon to help an individual.
The Apache lifestyle left little room for religious ritual. This
non-agricultural society had no reason to celebrate seasonal periods and rarely
celebrated any type of annual gathering. All time and energy was spent on
survival. Two illustrations of this point lie in the fact that the Apache lacked
formal ceremonies for both marriage and death; two events that traditionally
involve elaborate ceremonies in most civilizations. According to Opler, marriage
among the Apache "was less the founding of a new social unit that it was the
absorption of the couple into an on-going extended family." (1965,25). Death was
considered to be "the ultimate foe and its triumph was not to be celebrated."
(1969,25). Sickness and death were formidable problems for a society that needed
every individuals efforts for survival. More importantly, however, was the fact
that the Apache lacked an organized belief in an afterlife. This focused all
attention towards survival in this world. For this reason, curing rites were the
most common form of ceremony demonstrated by the Apache people.
The
individual power quest was the foundation of Apache religion. The group, as a
whole, was too involved with issues of survival to spend time with religious
issues. Therefore, the Apache were encouraged to establish their own
relationship with the supernatural forces that surrounded them. According to
Opler, the Apache believed that the world was "suffused with supernatural
powers, eager to be associated with human affairs." (1969,24). Mankind could
manipulate these powers to serve him for both good and evil reasons. Life for
the Apache was a struggle for survival governed by one's interactions with these
supernatural forces.
The Apache religion was loosely organized
and headed by leaders known as "shaman." Their power rested in their ability to
heal. This power, if used well, could make the shaman an influential figure
among Apache tribes. Opler describes the Apache religion as a form of
"devotional shamanism." "It conceives of a universe permeated with supernatural
power which must realize itself through man or not at all." (1969,29). The
shaman was the link that connected the Apache people to the healing powers of
the supernatural world.
The Apache tribes were invaded by white culture
around 1850. The people and their culture were quickly removed from the land to
make way for the expanding American population. There was little time for the
Apache to be influenced by Christianity due to the fact that the United States
sent military forces to the region before the Christian churches sent
missionaries. In any case, I have a difficult time thinking that the Apache
would have had any need for the religion of the white man.
The
connection between environmental factors and the development of religious
systems among Native America cultures should be clear. In general terms, a
tribes ability to develop extensive religious belief systems was directly
proportional to it's ability to provide for the survival of it's people. A large
supply of natural resources, as in the case of the Iroquois, provided more time
to develop religious ideas. The Apache, on the other hand, had little time to
spend on religious thought. They were unable to develop an extensive religious
theology due to the amount of time and energy they were forced to put towards
survival. Furthermore, the connection between the Dakota's belief system and
their environment is glaring. Their dependency on the buffalo gave rise to a
religious system of co-dependant survival within a world characterized by
oneness and unity.
While each tribes unique environment impacted their
belief systems in a different way, all three demonstrate similarities in the way
in which they view their interaction with the natural world. There is little
evidence of a separation between the natural and the supernatural in any of the
religions discussed. It can be said that Native American cultures were
characterized by an intimate relationship with nature. This relationship was
explained in terms of the supernatural and was experienced at the subjective
level. Deep religious sentiment permeated most aspects of Native American life
in the pre-discovered North American continent even when systematic rituals were
absent. Kahlil Gibran once asked, "Who can separate his faith from his actions,
or his belief from his occupation?" (1994,77). It seems that Native Americans
could not make this distinction either.