History Of American Indian Religion
Religion has always played a big role in the lives of Native Americans. There is a lot of diversity in the American Indian religion, and this is most probably because the different tribes across North America were isolated from one another. As a result a whole lot of different beliefs and practices emerged amongst the American Indians. If you look at the history of American Indian religion, you will realize that these people were always close to nature; a practice that they still follow today. |
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The American Indian religion has always given great importance an invisible force that is present all around, and their priests, the shamans, helped the people connect with the force spiritually. The Native American gave a lot importance to a person's spiritualism and connecting the same in their day-to-day lives. Also, the spiritual world was important, and the Native Americans believed that there was a connection between this world and the natural world.
Unlike other world religions, American Indians do not believe in institutionalizing their religion. They do not follow a church; rather they believe in personal experiences. Many settlers on seeing the sweat lodge ceremonies thought that the Native Americans were idol worshippers and therefore considered them to be pagans and heathens. However, this is not the case. The religion was practiced within a tribe and family and the associated rituals were viewed by the Native Americans as a journey, which helped to connect the person with the creator. The Native Americans saw everything with a different perspective. They believed that all animate and inanimate things around them had life, even rocks and mountains. They did not see religion as the Western culture did. They did not believe in past and present, heaven and earth, and living and dead. For them, spirituality was a way of life and it also formed an important part of their culture.
However, when the European settlers came and started competing for land, many Native Americans lost their sacred lands and they were sent to reservations. These sacred lands had special meaning to them and they could not see them desecrated by the settlers. Unfortunately, this did happen to make way for increasing inhabitants.
Besides their own tribal religions, many Native American tribes also practiced Christianity, as this was the religion brought in by the European settlers. Then there was the Longhouse religion, which was introduced by the Seneca Handsome Lake in the year 1799. It was practiced by the Iroquois tribe. Similarly, many religions were practiced by the Native Americans, such as dreamer, Indian shaker, drum, earth lodge and ghost dance.
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Wikipedia: Native American Religion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_religion
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We all know that the Native American Indians were the first inhabitants of the United States. It is sad that when the European settlers came, they pushed these indigenous people away from their land into reservations. Today, different groups are fighting for the Native Americans, so that they are treated as equals in the society. Maybe if people try to learn more about the history of Native American Indians, they will understand this group better and help in bringing them into the mainstream society without feeling inferior. 