Native American Indian religion
Through out history, historians have had the ability to pass on the knowledge of the past because of written documents and other forms of evidence that acknowledge the existence of past civilizations and cultures. When there are no written documents, whether lost or never created, it can be more difficult for historians to explain past civilizations. The Native Americans were a group that kept no written records. The information that we know today was passed down from generation to generation through oral traditions. Despite the information wehave, there is much more that researchers don't know about because a considerable amount of information has either been lost or has been impossible to obtain. But from what we already know, historians can conclude there are common characteristics that seem to be shared by all ofthe Native Americans. I will also include the creation myth of the OsageIndians and the afterlife beliefs of the Lakota Sioux. Although there are manypoints of contrast, the beliefs of Native Americans are distinguished by somecommon characteristics (p.54 Nigosian). Some of these characteristics arethat they all seem to believe in the existence of a high god or vital force along
But, in 1934, under John Collier, the Bureau of Indian Affairs enacted a policy of non-interference with peyotism. It grows in the wild over only a small portion of the Southwestern United States known as the Peyote Garden. Peyote meetings are always held for a purpose, commonly to cure, thank the Great Spirit for past blessings, to deter evil and promote good. The organization of religion involving peyote and the principle rituals had become commonly practiced among the Comanche and Kiowa tribes by the mid-eighteen hundreds. This religious use eventually spread through North American regions. It is a loosely organized group with numerous divisions. ! For generations the differences among tribes have kept them from uniting to achieve progress in gaining rights. Theanimals were there, too, and they appealed to the elk, the most finely and most stately. However, they did havestrong similarities that were equally important to each tribe. In opposition or contrast was the"antihero," or better known as the trickster. There is the road chief, who leads the meeting, a drummer chief, who does most of the drumming, a fire chief, who is! in charge of tending to the fire and a cedar chief, who creates the cedar smoke throughout the night. Interestingly, the Native Americans did not have a concept of individual sin and salvation.
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