The Way of the Spirit by
For the Native American there is nothing that can be seen or touched, living or inanimate, that does not have a spirit. This book explores their reverence toward the land of their birth, life and death and spirits which reside in those lands.
American Indian Medicine Ways: spiritual power, prophets, and healing by
Indigenous people of wisdom have offered prayers of power, protection, and healing since the dawn of time. From Wovoka, the Ghost Dance prophet, to contemporary healer Kenneth Coosewoon, medicine people have called on the spiritual world to help humans in their relationships with each other and the natural world. Many American Indians--past and present--have had the ability to use power to access wisdom, knowledge, and spiritual understanding. This groundbreaking collection provides fascinating stories of wisdom, spiritual power, and forces within tribal communities that have influenced the past and may influence the future. Through discussions of omens, prophecies, war, peace, ceremony, ritual, and cultural items such as masks, prayer sticks, sweat lodges, and peyote, this volume offers examples of the ways in which Native American beliefs in spirits have been and remain a fundamental aspect of history and culture. Drawing from written and oral sources, the book offers readers a greater understanding of creation narratives, oral histories, and songs that speak of healers, spirits, and power from tribes across the North American continent. American Indian medicine ways and spiritual power remain vital today. With the help of spirits, people can heal the sick, protect communities from natural disasters, and mediate power of many kinds between the spiritual and corporeal worlds. As the contributors to this volume illustrate, healers are the connective cloth between the ancient past and the present, and their influence is significant for future generations. CONTRIBUTORS R. David Edmunds Joseph B. Herring Benjamin Jenkins Troy R. Johnson Michelle Lorimer L. G. Moses Richard D. Scheuerman Al Logan Slagle Clifford E. Trafzer
Native American Wisdom by
We recognize the philosophy of the original Americans as coming from the earth we walk on, from those who preceded us. As we read the wisdom of these peoples, it is possible to feel a reconnection with our land and ourselves. This beautiful collection of the best of Native American wisdom features the thoughts of Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, Black Elk, Ohiyesa, and many others on Native American ways of living, learning, and dying. Taken from orations, recorded observations of life and social affairs, and other first-person testimonies, this book selects a wide range of Native American wisdom and distills it to its essence in short, digestible quotes that are meaningful and timeless -- perhaps even more timely now than when they were written.
Sacred Places: how the living earth seeks our friendship by
Supporting Lovelock's thesis that the Earth is a living being, Swan suggests natural sites such as Serpent Mound, Machu Pichu, and Kilauea Center have the power to move us in ways modern science cannot explain.
Wisdom's Daughters: conversations with women elders of Native America by
Interviews with the women elders of several Native American nations reveal the knowledge, philosophies and traditions of their ancestry. This book is a documentation of the female spiritual elders of these tribes who have been entrusted with handing down the tribal wisdom through the generations.
Spirits of the Earth: a guide to Native American nature symbols, stories, and ceremonies by
An extraordinary compilation of legends and rituals about nature's ever-present signs. From the birds that soar above us to the insects beneath our feet, Native American healer Bobby Lake-Thom shows how the creatures of the earth can aid us in healing and self-knowledge. "There are ancient secrets and lessons hidden in nature. If you seek for guidance, you will discover truth."--Bobby Lake-Thom Much of the ancient knowledge that has been passed down from Native American medicine men, or shamans is in danger of being lost. Bobby Lake-Thom, a Native American healer known as Medicine Grizzly Bear, has sought to preserve this powerful heritage by sharing his wisdom and experience learning from the world around us. What does it mean if a hawk appears in a dream? What are the symbolic interpretations of a deer, a skunk, a raccoon? Lake-Thom, who has studied with the elders of many tribes, explains the significance of animal figures as manifestations of good or evil, and shows how we can develop our own powers of awareness and intuition. The first book of its kind, this practical and enlightening resource includes dozens of fascinating animal myths and legends, as well as exercises and activities that draw upon animal powers for guidance, healing, wisdom, and the expansion of spiritual influences in our lives. You'll discover here: * How animals, birds, and insects act as signs and omens * The significance of vision quests * How to make and use a medicine wheel * The role of spirit symbols--and how they affect the unconscious * Exercises for creative dreaming * The power of the earth-healing ceremony * How to increase your spiritual strength and create sacred spaces * And more....
Lighting the Seventh Fire: the spiritual ways, healing, and science of the Native American by
"Dr. F. David Peat, a theoretical physicist, spent much of his life trying to understand the universe through the means of western science. Then, in the 1980s, he began a series of encounters with Native Americans that gave him a profoundly different perception of reality - from their view of the creation of the world and birth itself to death and beyond." "Often moving and always enlightening, Lighting the Seventh Fire describes a stress-free and inspiring way of life so very different from the harsh, complex world in which we live." "Dr. Peat addresses such topics as: Healing and Disease, Science, Mathematics, History and Myth, Language, and Time. Everything is viewed in a different fashion from the way we see things. For example, physical healing can often be achieved through song, which Native Americans believe lives on long after the singer dies." "In Ceremonies of Renewal, everything from the movement of the sun to the stability of society is in a state of flux. It is through negotiating compacts with the energies of the universe and carrying out periodic ceremonies of renewal that stability and balance can be ensured." "Thus, the People of the Plains meet each year to celebrate the Sun Dance, which is performed for many days around the sacred cottonwood tree. They claim this ceremony plays its role in maintaining the harmony and balance of the cosmos. For the author, the Sun Dance became his introduction to the world of Native American science." "In sacred mathematics, numbers are not abstract, static things, but living entities that transform one into the other. And history is not written down but passed on by storytellers who recount events of past generations, including migrations that took place before time as humans experienced it." "The title Lighting the Seventh Fire prophesizes that when the seventh fire is lit, the Native American and the white man will become brothers. It bridges the world views of Blackfeet, Iroquois, Haida, Hopi, Ojibwaj, and Mayan peoples and our own scientific account of reality. It reveals a world in which time moves in a circle, rocks speak, animals transform, and songs bring about healing."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
An Archaeology of the Soul: North American Indian belief and ritual by
The richness and the range of Native American spirituality has long been noted, but it has never been examined so thoroughly, nor with such an eye for the amazing interconnectedness of Indian tribal ceremonies and practices, as in An Archaeology of the Soul. In this monumental work, destined to become a classic in its field, Robert Hall traces the genetic and historical relationships of the tribes of the Midwest and Plains--including roots that extend back as far as 3,000 years. Looking beyond regional barriers, An Archaeology of the Soul offers new depths of insight into American Indian ethnography. Hall uncovers the lineage and kinship shared by Native North Americans through the perspectives of history, archaeology, archaeoastronomy, biological anthropology, linguistics, and mythology. The wholeness and panoramic complexity of American Indian belief has never been so fully explored--or more deeply understood.
Land of Water, City of the Dead: religion and Cahokia's emergence by
Land of Water, City of the Dead explores the embodiment of religion in the Cahokia land and how places create, make meaningful, and transform practices and beliefs. Cahokia, the largest city of the Mississippian mound cultures, lies outside present-day East St. Louis. Land of Water, City of the Dead reconceptualizes Cahokia's emergence and expansion (ca. 1050-1200), focusing on understanding a newly imagined religion and complexity through a non-Western lens. Sarah E. Baires argues that this system of beliefs was a dynamic, lived component, based on a broader ontology, with roots in other mound societies. This religion was realized through novel mortuary practices and burial mounds as well as through the careful planning and development of this early city's urban landscape. Baires analyzes the organization and alignment of the precinct of downtown Cahokia with a specific focus on the newly discovered and excavated Rattlesnake Causeway and the ridge-top mortuary mounds located along the site axes. Land of Water, City of the Dead also presents new data from the 1954 excavations of the ridge-top mortuary Wilson Mound and a complete analysis of the associated human remains. Through this skeletal analysis, Baires discusses the ways that Cahokians processed and buried their ancestors, identifying unique mortuary practices that include the intentional dismemberment of human bodies and burial with marine shell beads and other materials.
The Encyclopedia of Native American Religions: an introduction by
This comprehensive alphabetic reference of over 1,200 entries reveals the rich spiritual legacy of the native American nations, covering sacred sites, burial practices, spiritual leaders, traditional ceremonies, concepts of the afterlife, symbolism, dances and objects.
The Gods of Indian Country: religion and the struggle for the American West by
During the nineteenth century, white Americans sought the cultural transformation and physical displacement of Native people. Though this process was certainly a clash of rival economic systems and racial ideologies, it was also a profound spiritual struggle. The fight over Indian Country sparked religious crises among both Natives and Americans. In The Gods of Indian Country, Jennifer Graber tells the story of the Kiowa Indians during Anglo-Americans' hundred-year effort to seize their homeland. Like Native people across the American West, Kiowas had known struggle and dislocation before. But the forces bearing down on them-soldiers, missionaries, and government officials-were unrelenting. With pressure mounting, Kiowas adapted their ritual practices in the hope that they could use sacred power to save their lands and community. Against the Kiowas stood Protestant and Catholic leaders, missionaries, and reformers who hoped to remake Indian Country. These activists saw themselves as the Indians' friends, teachers, and protectors. They also asserted the primacy of white Christian civilization and the need to transform the spiritual and material lives of Native people. When Kiowas and other Native people resisted their designs, these Christians supported policies that broke treaties and appropriated Indian lands. They argued that the gifts bestowed by Christianity and civilization outweighed the pains that accompanied the denial of freedoms, the destruction of communities, and the theft of resources. In order to secure Indian Country and control indigenous populations, Christian activists sanctified the economic and racial hierarchies of their day. The Gods of Indian Country tells a complex, fascinating-and ultimately heartbreaking-tale of the struggle for the American West.
Edge of Morning: native voices speak for the Bears Ears by
"An important new collection of Native American writers essaying the cultural significance of Utah's Bears Ears landscape." --THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE In support of tribal efforts to protect the Bears Ears, Native writers bear testimony to the fragile and essential nature of this sacred landscape in America's remote red rock country. Through poem and essay, these often-ignored voices explore the ways many native people derive tradition, sustenance, and cultural history from the Bears Ears. "To us, these places represent more than grass, hills, mountains, and trees...they hold the links to our past and our future." --Martie Simmons, Ho-Chunk The fifteen contributors are multi-generational writers, poets, activists, teachers, students, and public officials, each with a strong tie to landscape and a particular story to tell. Willie Grayeyes, Chairman of Utah Diné Bikéyah, shares his ancestral ties to the Bears Ears. Klee Benally, Diné activist, musician, and filmmaker, asks, "What part of sacred don't you understand?" Morning Star Gali, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer at Pit River Tribe, speaks to the fight for cultural preservation. The fifteen contributors speak for the Bears Ears and elevate the conversation around tribal sovereignty and sacred places across the US. EditorJACQUELINE KEELER is a Navajo/Dakota writer who lives in Portland, Oregon. She is co-founder of Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry, which seeks to end the use of racial groups as mascots, as well as the use of other stereotypical representations in popular culture. Her work has appeared inThe Nation,Indian Country Today,Earth Island Journal, Salon.com, and elsewhere.
Archaeology and Ancient Religion in the American Midcontinent by
Analyses of big datasets signal important directions for the archaeology of religion in the Archaic to Mississippian Native North America Across North America, huge data accumulations derived from decades of cultural resource management studies, combined with old museum collections, provide archaeologists with unparalleled opportunities to explore new questions about the lives of ancient native peoples. For many years the topics of technology, economy, and political organization have received the most research attention, while ritual, religion, and symbolic expression have largely been ignored. This was often the case because researchers considered such topics beyond reach of their methods and data. In Archaeology and Ancient Religion in the American Midcontinent, editors Brad H. Koldehoff and Timothy R. Pauketat and their contributors demonstrate that this notion is outdated through their analyses of a series of large datasets from the midcontinent, ranging from tiny charred seeds to the cosmic alignments of mounds, they consider new questions about the religious practices and lives of native peoples. At the core of this volume are case studies that explore religious practices from the Cahokia area and surrounding Illinois uplands. Additional chapters explore these topics using data collected from sites and landscapes scattered along the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. This innovative work facilitates a greater appreciation for, and understanding of, ancient native religious practices, especially their seamless connections to everyday life and livelihood. The contributors do not advocate for a reduced emphasis on technology, economy, and political organization; rather, they recommend expanding the scope of such studies to include considerations of how religious practices shaped the locations of sites, the character of artifacts, and the content and arrangement of sites and features. They also highlight analytical approaches that are applicable to archaeological datasets from across the Americas and beyond.
American Indian Creation Myths by
Myths tell us much about a people. And all cultures have creation myths. The myths collected by the author in this book tell us about the rich and varied lives and imagination of the first Americans. They vary from simple to complex and all attempt to answer the question of human origin. Native Americans are of profound beginnings. Each Tribe, Group or Pueblo hold their beginning to be truths, unique from one another. The beliefs in this book are only a sampling of the many that still exist today. "In collecting these tales," the author says, "no tape recorder was used and no notes were taken during the telling. Immediately after the session copious notes were taken and later expanded into a recreation of the myth. Subjects were located through word of mouth and after a short time people started coming forward and volunteering their stories. The people hold the stories. May they continue to tell and share with their families, communities, and the outsiders. We have much to learn from Creation, from each other, and from the holders of the stories." TERESA PIJOAN was raised on the San Juan Pueblo Indian Reservation in New Mexico and later her family moved to the Nambe Indian Reservation. She is a national lecturer, storyteller, research writer, college professor, and teacher. She has lectured throughout Central Europe, Mexico, and the United States.
Center of the World: Native American spirituality by American Indian Myths and Legends by
More than 160 tales from eighty tribal groups gives us a rich and lively panorama of the Native American mythic heritage. From across the continent comes tales of creation and love; heroes and war; animals, tricksters, and the end of the world. In addition to mining the best folkloric sources of the nineteenth century, the editors have also included a broad selection of contemporary Native American voices. With black-and-white illustrations throughout Selected and edited by Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library
The Ghost Dance: ethnohistory and revitalization by God's Red Son: the Ghost Dance religion and the making of modern America by
The definitive account of the Ghost Dance religion, which led to the infamous massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 Winner of the Bancroft Prize in American History In 1890, on Indian reservations across the West, followers of a new religion danced in circles until they collapsed into trances. In an attempt to suppress this new faith, the US Army killed over two hundred Lakota Sioux at Wounded Knee Creek. In God's Red Son, historian Louis Warren offers a startling new view of the religion known as the Ghost Dance, from its origins in the visions of a Northern Paiute named Wovoka to the tragedy in South Dakota. To this day, the Ghost Dance remains widely mischaracterized as a primitive and failed effort by Indian militants to resist American conquest and return to traditional ways. In fact, followers of the Ghost Dance sought to thrive in modern America by working for wages, farming the land, and educating their children, tenets that helped the religion endure for decades after Wounded Knee. God's Red Son powerfully reveals how Ghost Dance teachings helped Indians retain their identity and reshape the modern world.
Tales of Native America by
Traces the development and meaning of the legends and folktales of Native Americans.
Many Nations under Many Gods: public land management and American Indian sacred sites by
The lands the United States claims sovereignty over by right of the Doctrine of Discovery are home to more than five hundred Indian nations, each with its own distinct culture, religion, language, and history. Yet these Indians, and federal Indian law, rarely factor into the decisions of the country's governing class--as recent battles over national monuments on tribal sites have made painfully clear. A much-needed intervention, Many Nations under Many Gods brings to light the invisible histories of several Indian nations, as well as their struggles to protect the integrity of sacred and cultural sites located on federal public lands. Todd Allin Morman focuses on the history of Indian peoples engaging in consultation, a process mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act and the Indian Religious Freedom Act whenever a federal agency's proposed action will affect land of significance to indigenous peoples. To understand this process and its various outcomes first requires familiarity with the history and culture that make these sites significant to particular Indian nations. Morman provides this necessary context for various and changing indigenous perspectives in the legal process. He also examines consultation itself in a series of case studies, including Hopi efforts to preserve the sacred San Francisco Peaks in the Coconino National Forest from further encroachment by a ski resort, the Washoes' effort near Lake Tahoe to protect Cave Rock from an influx of rock climbers, the Forest Service's plan for the Blackfeet site Badger-Two Medicine, and religious freedom cases involving the Makahs, the Quechans, the Western Apaches, and the Standing Rock Sioux. These cases illuminate the strengths and dangers inherent in the consultation process. They also illustrate the need, for Natives and non-Natives alike, to learn the history of North America in order understand the value of protecting the many cultural and sacred sites of its many indigenous peoples. Many Nations under Many Gods reveals--and works to meet--the urgency of this undertaking.
Voices from Four Directions: contemporary translations of the Native literatures of North by
Storytelling and singing continue to be a vital part of community life for Native peoples today. Voices from Four Directions gathers stories and songs from thirty-one Native groups in North America--including the Iñupiaqs in the frigid North, the Lushootseeds along the forested coastline of the far West, the Catawbas in the humid South, and the Maliseets of the rugged woods of the East. Vivid stories of cosmological origins and transformation, historical events remembered and retold, as well as legendary fables can be found in these pages. Well-known Trickster figures like Raven, Rabbit, and Coyote figure prominently in several tales as do heroes of local fame such as Tom Laporte of the Maliseets. The stories and songs entertain, instruct, and recall rich legacies as well as obligations. Many are retellings and reinventions of classic narratives, while others are more recent creations. Award-winning poet and critic Brian Swann has gathered some of the richest and most diverse literatures of Native North America and provides an introduction to the volume. In addition, each story is introduced and newly translated.
As Long As Grass Grows: the indigenous fight for environmental justice, from colonization to Standing Rock by
The story of Native peoples' resistance to environmental injustice and land incursions, and a call for environmentalists to learn from the Indigenous community's rich history of activism. Through the unique lens of "Indigenized environmental justice," Indigenous researcher and activist Dina Gilio-Whitaker explores the fraught history of treaty violations, struggles for food and water security, and protection of sacred sites, while highlighting the important leadership of Indigenous women in this centuries-long struggle. As Long As Grass Grows gives readers an accessible history of Indigenous resistance to government and corporate incursions on their lands and offers new approaches to environmental justice activism and policy. Throughout 2016, the Standing Rock protest put a national spotlight on Indigenous activists, but it also underscored how little Americans know about the longtime historical tensions between Native peoples and the mainstream environmental movement. Ultimately, she argues, modern environmentalists must look to the history of Indigenous resistance for wisdom and inspiration in our common fight for a just and sustainable future.
Atlas of Indian Nations by
Atlas of Indian Nations is a comprehensive resource for those interested in Native American history and culture. Told through maps, photos, art, and archival cartography, this is the story of American Indians that only National Geographic can tell. In the most comprehensive atlas of Native American history and culture available, the story of the North American Indian is told through maps, photos, art, and archival cartography. This illustrated atlas is perfect for fans of Empire of the Summer Moon, Blood and Thunder, and National Geographic atlases, as well as those fascinated with the Old West. Organized by region, this encyclopedic reference details Indian tribes in these areas: beliefs, sustenance, shelter, alliances and animosities, key historical events, and more. See the linguistic groupings and understand the constantly shifting, overlapping boundaries of the tribes. Follow the movement, growth, decline, and continuity of Indian nations and their lifestyles.
Indian Nations of North America by
Lakota, Cherokee, Navajo, Haida: these groups and many others are profiled in engaging entries and portrayed in magnificent images and maps that authentically evoke each tribe's history and character. Organized into eight geographical regions, this encyclopedic reference gives fascinating details about key tribes within each area: their beliefs, sustenance, shelter, alliances, interaction with nature, historic events, and more. Learn about the spiritual and cultural traditions of Native Americans across the continent...investigate how and when each tribe came into contact with Europeans, and how their lives changed. This is the definitive, insightful reference on Native Americans --captivating and informative for all who appreciate history, diverse cultures, stunning images, and the artistry of maps.
500 nations
500 Nations is an eight-part documentary that looks back at life in North America before the arrival of the Europeans, then follows the epic struggles of Indian Nations as the continent is reshaped by contact.
In the Hands of the Great Spirit: the 20,000-year history of American Indians by
The story of the American Indians has, until now, been told as a 500-year tragedy, a story of violent and fatal encounters with Europeans and their diseases, followed by steady retreat, defeat, and diminishment. Yet the true story begins much earlier, and its final recent chapter adds a major twist. Jake Page, one of the Southwest's most distinguished writers and a longtime student of Indian history and culture, tells a radically new story, thanks to an explosion of recent archaeological findings, the latest scholarship, and an exploration of Indian legends. Covering no less than 20,000 years, In the Hands of the Great Spirit will forever change how we think about the oldest and earliest Americans.Page writes gracefully and sympathetically, without sentimentality. He explores every controversy, from the question of cannibalism among tribes, to the various theories of when and how humans first arrived on the continent, to what life was actually like for Indians before the Europeans came. Page dispels the popular image of a peaceful and idyllic Eden, and shows that Indian societies were fluid, constantly transformed by intertribal fighting, population growth, and shifting climates.Page uses Indian legends and stories as tools to uncover tribal origins, cultural values, and the meaning of certain rituals and sacred lands. He tells the story of contact with Europeans, and the multipower conflicts of the Seven Years War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812, from the Indians' point of view. He explains the complex and shifting role of the U.S. government as expressed through executive decisions and through the role of the courts. Finally, he tells the fascinating story of the late-twentieth-century upsurge in Indian population and resources, which began as a social movement and exploded once casinos came into fashion.Author and editor of over a dozen books on American Indian life and culture, Page is a masterful teller of this incredible story. In the Hands of the Great Spirit will forever change the familiar story of recent centuries, replacing it with a far more sweeping and meaningful story of tribes and peoples who have suffered enormously yet endure and enrich the American experience.
American Indian History by
This collection surveys Native American history from ancient times to the twentieth century. Entries cover specific topics and incidents from a Native American perspective, in categories of Pre-Columbian history, Colonial history, Eighteenth century history, Nineteenth century history, Twentieth century history, Court cases and legal decisions, Wars and battles, Reservations and relocation, Organizations, Religion and missionary activities, National government and legislation, Native government, Treaties, and Protest movements.
Honoring the Medicine: the essential guide to Native American healing by
An introduction to Native American medicine explores their healing traditions, philosophy, and methods, explaining how such fundamental therapies as counseling, massage, and more can be integrated with western medicine, how Native Americans understand healing therapies, and how the Native American a
Heartbeat of the People: music and dance of the northern pow-wow by
"The intertribal pow-wow is the most widespread venue for traditional Indian music and dance in North America. Heartbeat of the People is an insider's journey through the dances and music, the traditions and regalia, and into the functions and significance of these vital cultural events." "Tara Browner comes to the pow-wow as a participant - she is a dancer of Oklahoma Choctaw heritage - as well as a scholar. Focusing on the Northern pow-wow, which derives from the northern Great Plains and Great Lakes region, Browner presents an in-depth discussion of the pow-wow's roots and traditions, protocols, and order of events. She also describes footwork, styles of singing, and the diversity of participants' regalia. Browner centers her discussion of the Northern-style pow-wow around the Lakota Sacred Hoop and the Anishnaabeg Sacred Fire." "Browner traces the history of specific events such as the Grass and Jingle Dress dances and distinguishes among various dance types, including Traditional, Fancy, and "special" exhibition dances as well as ceremonial honor dances, giveaways, and memorials. She also discusses women's changing roles within pow-wow performance and thoughtfully examines how continually changing musical repertories, dance styles and regalia, and customs foster a vibrant state of transformation that coexists, often uneasily, with more traditional Native mores. She closes her study with a series of interviews with members of two families of pow-wow dancers, one Lakota and one Anishnaabeg."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Religion and Culture in Native America by
Religion and Culture in Native America presents an introduction to a diverse array of Indigenous religious and cultural practices in North America, focusing on those issues in which tribal communities themselves are currently invested. These topics include climate change, water rights, the protection of sacred places, the reclaiming of Indigenous foods, health and wellness, social justice, and the safety of Indigenous women and girls. Locating such contemporary challenges within their historical, religious, and cultural contexts illuminates how Native communities' responses to such issues are not simply political, but deeply spiritual, informed by sacred traditions, ethical principles, and profound truths. In collaboration with renowned ethnographer and scholar of Native American religious traditions In s Talamantez, Suzanne Crawford O'Brien abandons classical categories typically found in religious studies textbooks and challenges essentialist notions of Native American cultures to explore the complexities of Native North American life. Key features of this text include: -Consideration of Indigenous religious traditions within their historical, political, and cultural contexts -Thematic organization emphasizing the concerns and commitments of contemporary tribal communities -Maps and images that help to locate tribal communities and illustrate key themes. -Recommendations for further reading and research Written in an engaging narrative style, this book makes an ideal text for undergraduate courses in Native American Religions, Religion and Ecology, Indigenous Religions, and World Religions.
Native American Religious Traditions by
Focusing on three diverse indigenous traditions, Native American Religious Traditions highlights the　distinct oral traditions and ceremonial practices; the impact of colonialism on religious life; and the ways in which indigenous communities of North America have responded, and continue to respond, to colonialism and Euroamerican cultural hegemony.
Teaching Spirits: understanding Native American religious traditions by
Teaching Spirits offers a thematic approach to Native American religious traditions. Through years of living with and learning about Native traditions across the continent, Joseph Epes Brown learned firsthand of the great diversity of the North American Indian cultures. Yet within this greatmultiplicity, he also noticed certain common themes that resonate within many Native traditions. These themes include a shared sense of time as cyclical rather than linear, a belief that landscapes are inhabited by spirits, a rich oral tradition, visual arts that emphasize the process of creation,a reciprocal relationship with the natural world, and the rituals that tie these themes together. Brown illustrates each of these themes with in-depth explorations of specific native cultures including Lakota, Navajo, Apache, Koyukon, and Ojibwe.Brown was one of the first scholars to recognize that Native religions-rather than being relics of the past-are vital traditions that tribal members shape and adapt to meet both timeless and contemporary needs. Teaching Spirits reflects this view, using examples from the present as well as thepast. For instance, when writing about Plains rituals, he describes not only building an impromptu sweat lodge in a Denver hotel room with Black Elk in the 1940s, but also the struggles of present-day Crow tribal members to balance Sun Dances and vision quests with nine-to-five jobs.In this groundbreaking work, Brown suggests that Native American traditions demonstrate how all components of a culture can be interconnected-how the presence of the sacred can permeate all lifeways to such a degree that what we call religion is integrated into all of life's activities. Throughoutthe book, Brown draws on his extensive personal experience with Black Elk, who came to symbolize for many the richness of the imperiled native cultures. This volume brings to life the themes that resonate at the heart of Native American religious traditions.
Encyclopedia of Native Tribes of North America by
"A model of excellence in the art of reference volume publishing... Every public and school library... should acquire this treasure. It will remain the standard for many years to come." --Dr. James A. Clifton, Department of Anthropology, Western Michigan University "This substantial reference remains one of the most elaborately illustrated books on Native Americans now in print... Highly recommended." --Library Journal This superb, fully illustrated reference offers the most up-to-date and essential facts on the identity, kinships, locations, populations and cultural characteristics of some 400 separately identifiable peoples native to the North American continent, both living and extinct, from the Canadian Arctic to the Rio Grande. The abundance of illustrations and photographs form an especially rich store of material describing the vast range of Native American material culture. The maps are valuable pictorial representations of major historical events. Population and settlement trends based on the most recent US Census paint detailed portraits of all officially recognized tribes. The book includes: More than 600 color and archival photographs Extensive visual coverage of tribal dress and cultural artifacts 46 maps, including prehistoric cultural and historic sites and tribe distribution maps, as well as maps showing movement of tribes and non-indigenous troops during conflicts More than 100 specially commissioned color illustrations. Comprehensive, authoritative and up-to-date, Encyclopedia of Native Tribes of North America is an important and accessible record of the Native American peoples and an essential addition to all school and library collections.
Distinguished Native American Spiritual Practitioners and Healers by
The lives and practices of 100 healers and spiritual leaders from a variety of North American Native peoples are described here. Included are both historical and contemporary figures. While some of the figures are well known, such as the Apache Goyathlay (Geronimo), others are more obscure. This book is one of the few available sources of detailed information on their lives and careers. Entries include a summary of the individual's life, a history of the person's early life, a description of the highlights of his or her career as a healer or spiritual practitioner, and recommendations for further reading. Photos of the individuals illustrate 26 of the entries. A bibliography, subject index, and two appendixes that list individuals by birth date and by Nation or group round out the volume.
Religion in the Prehispanic Southwest by
Religion mattered to the prehistoric Southwestern people, just as it matters to their descendents today. Examining the role of religion can help to explain architecture, pottery, agriculture, even commerce. But archaeologists have only recently developed the theoretical and methodological tools with which to study this topic. Religion in the Prehispanic Southwest marks the first book-length study of prehistoric religion in the region. Drawing on a rich array of empirical approaches, the contributors show the importance of understanding beliefs and ritual for a range of time periods and southwestern societies. For professional and avocational archaeologists, for religion scholars and students, Religion in the Prehispanic Southwest represents an important contribution.
Spirit Wars: Native North American religions in the age of nation building by
Spirit Wars is an exploration of the ways in which the destruction of spiritual practices and beliefs of native peoples in North America has led to conditions of collective suffering--a process sometimes referred to as cultural genocide. Ronald Niezen approaches this topic through wide-ranging case studies involving different colonial powers and state governments: the seventeenth-century Spanish occupation of the Southwest, the colonization of the Northeast by the French and British, nineteenth-century westward expansion and nationalism in the swelling United States and Canada, and twentieth-century struggles for native people's spiritual integrity and freedom. Each chapter deals with a specific dimension of the relationship between native peoples and non-native institutions, and together these topics yield a new understanding of the forces directed against the underpinnings of native cultures.
Prophets of the Great Spirit: Native American revitalization movements in Eastern North America by
Prophets of the Great Spirit offers an in-depth look at the work of a diverse group of Native American visionaries who forged new, syncretic religious movements that provided their peoples with the ideological means to resist white domination. By blending ideas borrowed from Christianity with traditional beliefs, they transformed "high" gods or a distant and aloof creator into a powerful, activist deity that came to be called the Great Spirit. These revitalization leaders sought to regain the favor of the Great Spirit through reforms within their societies and the inauguration of new ritual practices. Among the prophets included in this study are the Delaware Neolin, the Shawnee Tenkswatawa, the Creek "Red Stick" prophets, the Seneca Handsome Lake, and the Kickapoo Kenekuk. Covering more than a century, from the early 1700s through the Kickapoo Indian removal of the Jacksonian Era, the prophets of the Great Spirit sometimes preached armed resistance but more often used nonviolent strategies to resist white cultural domination. Some prophets rejected virtually all aspects of Euro-American culture. Others sought to assure the survival of their culture through selective adaptation. Alfred A. Cave explains the conditions giving rise to the millenarian movements in detail and skillfully illuminates the key histories, personalities, and legacies of the movement. Weaving an array of sources into a compelling narrative, he captures the diversity of these prophets and their commitment to the common goal of Native American survival.
Native Foodways: indigenous North American religious traditions and foods by
Native Foodways is the first scholarly collection of essays devoted exclusively to the interplay of Indigenous religious traditions and foodways in North America. Drawing on diverse methodologies, the essays discuss significant confluences in selected examples of these religious traditions and foodways, providing rich individual case studies informed by relevant historical, ethnographic, and comparative data. Many of the essays demonstrate how narrative and active elements of selected Indigenous North American religious traditions have provided templates for interactive relationships with particular animals and plants, rooted in detailed information about their local environments. In return, these animals and plants have provided these Native American communities with sustenance. Other essays provide analyses of additional contemporary and historical North American Indigenous foodways while also addressing issues of tradition and cultural change. Scholars and other readers interested in ecology, climate change, world hunger, colonization, religious studies, and cultural studies will find this book to be a valuable resource.
Native North American Religious Traditions: dancing for life by
Representative Native American religions and rituals are introduced to readers in a way that respects the individual traditions as more than local curiosities or exotic rituals, capturing the flavor of the living, modern traditions, even as commonalities between and among traditions are explored and explained. This general introduction offers wide-ranging coverage of the major factors--geography, history, religious behavior, and religious ideology (theology)--analyzing select traditions that can be dealt with, to varying degrees, on a contemporary basis. As current interest surrounding Native American studies continues to grow, attention has often been given to the various religious beliefs, rituals, and customs of the diverse traditions across the country. But most treatments of the subject are cursory and encyclopedic and do not provide readers with the flavor of the living, modern traditions. Here, representative Native American religions and rituals are introduced to readers in a way that respects the individual traditions as more than local curiosities or exotic rituals, even as commonalities between and among traditions are explored and explained. This general introduction offers wide-ranging coverage of the major factors--geography, history, religious behavior, and religious ideology (theology)--analyzing select traditions that can be dealt with, to varying degrees, on a contemporary basis. Covering such diverse ceremonies as the Muskogee (Creek) Busk, the Northwest Coast Potlatch, the Navajo and Apache menarche rituals, and the Anishnabe (Great Lakes area) Midewiwin seasonal gatherings, Paper takes a comparative approach, based on the study of human religion in general, and the special place of Native American religions within it. His book is informed by perspective gained through nearly fifty years of formal study and several decades of personal involvement, treating readers to a glimpse of the living religious traditions of Native American communities across the country.
The Peyote Road: religious freedom and the Native American Church by
Despite challenges by the federal government to restrict the use of peyote, the Native American Church, which uses the hallucinogenic cactus as a religious sacrament, has become the largest indigenous denomination among American Indians today. The Peyote Road examines the history of the NAC, including its legal struggles to defend the controversial use of peyote. Thomas C. Maroukis has conducted extensive interviews with NAC members and leaders to craft an authoritative account of the church's history, diverse religious practices, and significant people. His book integrates a narrative history of the Peyote faith with analysis of its religious beliefs and practices--as well as its art and music--and an emphasis on the views of NAC members. Deftly blending oral histories and legal research, Maroukis traces the religion's history from its Mesoamerican roots to the legal incorporation of the NAC; its expansion to the northern plains, Great Basin, and Southwest; and challenges to Peyotism by state and federal governments, including the Supreme Court decision in Oregon v. Smith. He also introduces readers to the inner workings of the NAC with descriptions of its organizational structure and the Cross Fire and Half Moon services. The Peyote Road updates Omer Stewart's classic 1987 study of the Peyote religion by taking into consideration recent events and scholarship. In particular, Maroukis discusses not only the church's current legal issues but also the diminishing Peyote supply and controversies surrounding the definition of membership. Today approximately 300,000 American Indians are members of the Native American Church. The Peyote Road marks a significant case study of First Amendment rights and deepens our understanding of the struggles of NAC members to practice their faith.
The Soul of the Indian: an interpretation by
The Soul of the Indian is Charles A. Eastman's exploration and documentation of religion as he experienced it during the late nineteenth century. A Dakota physician and writer who sought to bring understanding between Native and non-Native Americans, Eastman (1858-1939) became one of the best-known Native Americans of his time and a significant intellectual figure whose clarity of vision endures today. In a straightforward manner Eastman emphasizes the universal quality and personal appeal of his Dakota religious heritage. First published in 1911, The Soul of the Indian draws on his childhood teaching and ancestral ideals to counter the research written by outsiders who treated the Dakotas' ancient worldviews chiefly as a matter of curiosity. Eastman writes with deep respect for his ancestors and their culture and history, including a profound reverence for the environment, animals, and plants. Though written more than a century ago, Eastman could be speaking to our own time with its spiritual confusion and environmental degradation. The new introduction by Brenda J. Child grounds this important book in contemporary studies.
Native Intoxicants of North America by
Though scholarship on intoxicants in regions like Asia, Africa, Mesoamerica, and South America is plentiful, Native Intoxicants of North America represents the first foray into a study of prehistoric intoxicants throughout North America specifically. In this study, Sean Rafferty fills significant gaps in existing research with a focus on native cultures of North America and holistic coverage of intoxicants by type. Importantly, Rafferty anchors his investigation in an easily overlooked question: why did early humans use intoxicants in the first place? Rafferty begins by discussing the origins of intoxicants and their role in rituals, medicine, and recreation. Subsequent chapters turn to specific intoxicants--hallucinogens, stimulants, alcohol, and tobacco--making ample use of illustrations across disciplines, weaving a tapestry of culture, ritual, medicine, botany, artifact, and history. All the while, Rafferty explores the societal significance of narcotics, stimulants, and hallucinogens on prehistoric North American cultures. While Native Intoxicants of North America focuses specifically on Native cultures, the author's analysis provides the foundation for a valuable broader discussion: that in a world where few human behaviors are universal, experiencing altered states of consciousness is one that transcends culture and time.
Land and Spirit in Native America by
This book accurately depicts Native American approaches to land and spirituality through an interdisciplinary examination of Indian philosophy, history, and literature. Indian approaches to land and spirituality are neither simple nor monolithic, making them hard to grasp for outsiders. A fuller, more accurate understanding of these concepts enables comprehension of the unique ways land and spirit have interlinked Native American communities across centuries of civilization, and reveals insights about our current pressing environmental concerns and American history. In Land and Spirit in Native America, author Joy Porter argues that American colonization has been a determining factor in how we perceive Indian spirituality and Indian relationships to nature. Having an appreciation for these traditional values regarding ritual, memory, time, kinship, and the essential reciprocity between all things allows us to rethink aspects of history and culture. This understanding also makes Indian film, philosophy, literature, and art accessible. Includes illustrations by the Iroquois artist John Fadden that complement the text
Converting the Rosebud: Catholic mission and the Lakotas, 1886-1916 by
When Andrew Jackson's removal policy failed to solve the "Indian problem," the federal government turned to religion for assistance. Nineteenth-century Catholic and Protestant reformers eagerly founded reservation missions and boarding schools, hoping to "civilize and Christianize" their supposedly savage charges. In telling the story of the Saint Francis Indian Mission on the Sicangu Lakota Rosebud Reservation, Converting the Rosebud illuminates the complexities of federal Indian reform, Catholic mission policy, and pre- and post-reservation Lakota culture. Author Harvey Markowitz frames the history of the Saint Francis Mission within a broader narrative of the battles waged on a national level between the Catholic Church and the Protestant organizations that often opposed its agenda for American Indian conversion and education. He then juxtaposes these battles with the federal government's relentless attempts to conquer and colonize the Lakota tribes through warfare and diplomacy, culminating in the transformation of the Sicangu Lakotas from a sovereign people into wards of the government designated as the Rosebud Sioux. Markowitz follows the unpredictable twists in the relationships between the Jesuit priests and Franciscan sisters stationed at Saint Francis and their two missionary partners--the United States Indian Office, whose assimilationist goals the missionaries fully shared, and the Sicangus themselves, who selectively adopted and adapted those elements of Catholicism and Euro-American culture that they found meaningful and useful. Tracing the mission from its 1886 founding in present-day South Dakota to the 1916 fire that reduced it to ashes, Converting the Rosebud unveils the complex church-state network that guided conversion efforts on the Rosebud Reservation. Markowitz also reveals the extent to which the Sicangus responded to those efforts--and, in doing so, created a distinct understanding of Catholicism centered on traditional Lakota concepts of sacred power.
Shamans of the Lost World: a cognitive approach to the prehistoric religion of the Ohio by
Shamans of the Lost World bridges the gap between recent work in the cognitive sciences and some of humankind's oldest religious expressions. In this detailed look at the prehistoric shamanism of the Ohio Hopewell, Romain uses cognitive science, archaeology, and ethnology to propose that the shamanic worldview results from psychological mechanisms that have a basis in our cognitive evolutionary development. The discussions in this volume of the most current theories concerning how early peoples came to believe in spirits and gods, as well as how those theories help account for what we find in the archaeological record of the Hopewell, are of interest to archaeologists and cognitive scientists alike.
The Sacred Wisdom of the Native Americans by
Despite their many differences, all Native Americans share a profound appreciation of the cycles of nature and a belief in the cosmic interconnectedness of all things. Professor Larry J. Zimmerman tells the tragic tale of their conquest and dispossession, followed by their survival against the odds and the renewal of pride in a distinctive cultural heritage. Learn about American Indian traditions and the history behind them that create a unique Native American identity. Their crafts and their reverence for the land are also both described in detail - inspiring us to turn our thoughts to the natural world and our own place in it.
Healing Secrets of the Native Americans: herbs, remedies and practices that restore the body, refresh the mind and rebuild the spirit by
Learn how Native Americans have used the bountiful gifts of nature to heal the mind, the body, and the spirit.Bestselling Healing Secrets of the Native Americans brings the age-old knowledge and trusted techniques of Native-American healing to a wider audience. Discover how the Native-American tradition uses plants and herbs, heat, movement and sound, visualization, and spirituality to heal dozens of everyday ailments and illnesses -- from back pain to insect bites to flu and sore throat and much more and apply it to your life to improve your health and your mind. Broken into sections, the book covers such topics as "The Healing Spirit" (including dream therapy, spirituality, and prayer), "The Native American Spa" (healing with heat, massage, sound and movement, and nutrition), "The Native American Pharmacy" (including more than 40 herbs and plants, how to obtain them, and how to use them), plus remedies for more than 40 ailments from acne to wrinkles.
Defend the Sacred: Native American religious freedom beyond the First Amendment by
The remarkable story of the innovative legal strategies Native Americans have used to protect their religious rights From North Dakota's Standing Rock encampments to Arizona's San Francisco Peaks, Native Americans have repeatedly asserted legal rights to religious freedom to protect their sacred places, practices, objects, knowledge, and ancestral remains. But these claims have met with little success in court because Native American communal traditions don't fit easily into modern Western definitions of religion. In Defend the Sacred, Michael McNally explores how, in response to this situation, Native peoples have creatively turned to other legal means to safeguard what matters to them. To articulate their claims, Native peoples have resourcefully used the languages of cultural resources under environmental and historic preservation law; of sovereignty under treaty-based federal Indian law; and, increasingly, of Indigenous rights under international human rights law. Along the way, Native nations still draw on the rhetorical power of religious freedom to gain legislative and regulatory successes beyond the First Amendment. The story of Native American advocates and their struggle to protect their liberties, Defend the Sacred casts new light on discussions of religious freedom, cultural resource management, and the vitality of Indigenous religions today.
Old Canaan in a New World: Native Americans and the lost tribes of Israel by
Were indigenous Americans descendants of the lost tribes of Israel? From the moment Europeans realized Columbus had landed in a place unknown to them in 1492, they began speculating about how the Americas and their inhabitants fit into the Bible. For many, the most compelling explanation was the Hebraic Indian theory, which proposed that indigenous Americans were the descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel. For its proponents, the theory neatly explained why this giant land and its inhabitants were not mentioned in the Biblical record. In Old Canaan in a New World, Elizabeth Fenton shows that though the Hebraic Indian theory may seem far-fetched today, it had a great deal of currency and significant influence over a very long period of American history. Indeed, at different times the idea that indigenous Americans were descended from the lost tribes of Israel was taken up to support political and religious positions on diverse issues including Christian millennialism, national expansion, trade policies, Jewish rights, sovereignty in the Americas, and scientific exploration. Through analysis of a wide collection of writings--from religious texts to novels--Fenton sheds light on a rarely explored but important part of religious discourse in early America. As the Hebraic Indian theory evolved over the course of two centuries, it revealed how religious belief and national interest intersected in early American history.
The Peyote Effect: from the Inquisition to the War on Drugs by
The hallucinogenic and medicinal effects of peyote have a storied history that begins well before Europeans arrived in the Americas. While some have attempted to explain the cultural and religious significance of this cactus and drug, Alexander S. Dawson offers a completely new way of understanding the place of peyote in history. In this provocative new book, Dawson argues that peyote has marked the boundary between the Indian and the West since the Spanish Inquisition outlawed it in 1620. For nearly four centuries ecclesiastical, legal, scientific, and scholarly authorities have tried (unsuccessfully) to police that boundary to ensure that, while indigenous subjects might consume peyote, others could not. Moving back and forth across the U.S.-Mexico border, The Peyote Effect explores how battles over who might enjoy a right to consume peyote have unfolded in both countries, and how these conflicts have produced the racially exclusionary systems that characterizes modern drug regimes. Through this approach we see a surprising history of the racial thinking that binds these two countries more closely than we might otherwise imagine.
Lost Tribes Found: Israelite Indians and religious nationalism in early America by
The belief that Native Americans might belong to the fabled "lost tribes of Israel"--Israelites driven from their homeland around 740 BCE--took hold among Anglo-Americans and Indigenous peoples in the United States during its first half century. In Lost Tribes Found, Matthew W. Dougherty explores what this idea can tell us about religious nationalism in early America. Some white Protestants, Mormons, American Jews, and Indigenous people constructed nationalist narratives around the then-popular idea of "Israelite Indians." Although these were minority viewpoints, they reveal that the story of religion and nationalism in the early United States was more complicated and wide-ranging than studies of American "chosen-ness" or "manifest destiny" suggest. Telling stories about Israelite Indians, Dougherty argues, allowed members of specific communities to understand the expanding United States, to envision its transformation, and to propose competing forms of sovereignty. In these stories both settler and Indigenous intellectuals found biblical explanations for the American empire and its stark racial hierarchy. Lost Tribes Found goes beyond the legal and political structure of the nineteenth-century U.S. empire. In showing how the trope of the Israelite Indian appealed to the emotions that bound together both nations and religious groups, the book adds a new dimension and complexity to our understanding of the history and underlying narratives of early America.
Native American Spiritualism: an exploration of indigenous beliefs and cultures by
Explore the spiritual practices, legends, and traditions of various Indigenous tribes throughout the North American continent. The Indigenous peoples of North America have followed a wide variety of spiritual traditions, many of which have been carried on to present day. Native American Spiritualism offers powerful insight into the origins and practices of Indigenous American spirituality while also providing guidance to help unlearn colonialist perspectives of Indigenous cultures and embrace an enlightened, nature-focused existence full of traditions of your own making. This multifaceted guide to discovering your spirituality provides lessons on: Oral Traditions and the historical events of Mythic Time Key value systems of eight Nations, including the Chippewa, Sioux, and Chumash Nations Native American seasonal ceremonies and their cultural significance Everyday life in the Nations, including common foods, clothes, objects, and games And more! As with every title in the Mystic Traditions series, Native American Spiritualism is a celebration of a unique and beautiful culture. As such, the subject matter and content has been treated with the utmost care and respect to ensure an accurate and reverent presentation that is accessible to a variety of audiences, and serves to further educate and foster support for these rich practices and traditions for years to come. Illustrated with stunning imagery, Native American Spiritualism is a must-read for practitioners who wish to explore the origins of their craft and practices. The Mystic Traditions series explores mystical and spiritual traditions and magical practices from around the world from a modern perspective. These guides offer concise introductions to the origins of mystical practices; explain key concepts, figures, and legends in these traditions; and give straightforward and engaging instruction on how to connect directly with these practices through rituals, spells, and more. Also from the Mystic Traditions series: Celtic Mysticism, Zen Buddhism.