History/Religion 345 – RELIGION IN AMERICA   

“Notes on Native American Religion”  

The very first “religion in America” was, of course, the religion of the Iroquois and Cherokee, Sioux, and Apache.  What was this religion – or rather – what were these religions – like?  Obviously there is no easy answer!  But here are some characteristics that seem to apply to most Native American religions.  

I.                   CREED.  

“Creed” refers to precise statements of “reality.”  Since none of the Native cultures were writing cultures, there were no thick books about Native peoples’ beliefs.  However, it’s clear that there were quite specific convictions about “reality.”  For instance:  

1. SPIRIT WORLD

All Native peoples were convinced that reality is plural.  Physical reality is real, but so too is “spiritual reality.”    

2. POLYTHEISM

“Polytheism” is too technical a name, actually, for Native beliefs.  But in a loose sense it’s accurate to say that like “polytheists,” Native peoples believed in a whole host of god-like spirits, forces, good and bad powers, and so on.    

More important – Native peoples tended to accept a kind of “divine pluralism.”  Each tribe had its distinct “gods;” each tribe generally agreed that while another’s gods were not their gods, still, that was o.k.  Monotheism pushes people to make up their minds about which gods are real and which aren’t; Native peoples tended to follow a kind of live-and-let-live divine pluralism.   

3. MANITOU

Many peoples, though, also had a sense that over and above and through the whole wild diversity of spirits was “Manitou.”  The word is almost impossible to translate.  “Manitou” was a bit like “God,” but “Manitou” was also more like “force, power, or fate.”   

4. IMMANENCE

The spirit world was “immanent,” that is, it was deeply entrenched in the ordinary world.  Spirits and forces were everywhere – in nature, among animals, in farming.  Were Native peoples “pantheists”?  That is, did they believe that Nature IS God?  Not really, because the whole language of “pantheism” and “God” is foreign to Native thought.  On the other hand, Native peoples did see the Sacred in everything.  

5. CORRESPONDENCE

THE key Native notion was “correspondence.”  There is a “Sacred” world (expressed especially in Nature) and a “Human” world.  The great spiritual task is to get the Human world to CORRESPOND with, and be IN HARMONY with, the Sacred world.  Nature, for instance, is NOT “fallen,” Nature is innocent.  We must not “redeem,” or “assume stewardship over” Nature.  Rather, we must live in harmony with Nature.   

6. SYMBOL & MYTH

Like every religion, Native religions were built around powerful SYMBOLS, some visual, some verbal.  The whole collection of these symbols built a MYTH.  Note: a “myth” is NOT a falsehood!  A myth is, rather, a collection of symbols, structured like a NARRATIVE that tells us truths about the world.  Native myths about Creation were especially important, since they explained where Nature came from and what Nature was for.    

7. RITUAL

Like every religion, Native religion includes specific ACTIONS that helped link the faithful to the divine.  Dance, story-telling, pipe-smoking, dream-quests, all were ACTIONS that joined the human to the divine.  

 

II.                CULT  

“Cult” refers to worship.  “Cult” includes all those actions, practices, and techniques by which persons come into contact with the divine.  

For Native peoples, cult was NOT separate from work-a-day life.  Rarely did Native peoples have anything like “churches.”  Instead, acts of worship could occur anywhere.

On the other hand, certain SPACES did become sacred for Native peoples, certain mountains, or hills, or rocks.  These spaces were thought of as “centers” and there were the locations for especially important acts of worship.

 

III.              CODE  

“Code” refers to those actions which follow from our convictions about reality.  Because “reality” is this way, we should do, and not do, certain actions.  

For example, for Native peoples, Nature was a direct expression of the divine.  Nature belonged to no one; Nature could belong to no one.  Thus the whole notion of private property and market exchange seemed utterly absurd to Native peoples.     

Generosity, not private property, was a key value.  Life was hard and dangerous.  It was up to the strong and healthy to make sure that the old, ill, young, and weaker, survived. This applied to both men and women – a man or woman who wouldn’t share was mocked and shamed.    

Because life was hard and dangerous, toughness, self-control, and stoicism were important.  People had to be able to face hardship without complaint.  In private, Native peoples could laugh and cry like anyone else, but certainly in public, Native peoples expected each other to be self-controlled.  

 

IV.            COMMUNITY  

Community refers to the ways in which a religion is actually organized, how authority is expressed, and how decisions are made.  

Native peoples did have religious teachers – the SHAMAN – and usually the Shaman (who could be a man or a woman) were highly regarded.  On the other hand, rarely was there a “religious organization” separate from the rest of the “non-religious” community.  

For Native peoples, religion and society were almost identical.  The key social theme was the KINSHIP, and so kinship affect religion as well.  

Native peoples lived in large family groups, which included grandparents, parents, children, cousins, in-laws, and friends-of-the-family.  They didn’t all live together in the same structure to be sure (though Iroquois “long houses” could hold dozens of people).  But they did all live closely together just as their ancestors had.  Several kin-groups would live close-by each other and from a CLAN.  Multiple Clans made up TRIBES – Cherokee, Iroquois, Apache, etc.  

Kinship was decisive for Native peoples, so no wonder that they thought about the Sacred in terms of kin.  “Manitou” was sometimes thought of as “father,” sometimes as “mother.”  Nature was most often thought of as “mother.”  Animals and even plants were thought of as “brothers” and “sisters.”

 

Queens University of Charlotte  1900 Selwyn Avenue  Charlotte, NC  28274
Modified by:  H.  Kamerling