The Encyclopedia of World Religions

Native American religions S 315

or destroying their own property. Shamans, who acquired their powers through prayers or visions, performed the roles of healers. From visions, too, people learned about dances, an important kind of ritual performance. In much of what is now Canada and Alaska, native peoples believed that spirits controlled the herds of animals on which their lives depended. They sought to ensure good relations with the ani mals through ritual. For example, they protected the remains of a slain animal from being eaten by dogs. In some cases they talked with the slain ani mal politely, offered it gifts such as tobacco, and held feasts in its honor. In the far north, Eskimos told stories about the person who controlled sea life. Some called her Sedna. The European invasion of the Americas changed Native American life immensely and brought pressure to convert to C HRISTIANITY . Many Native Americans did adopt Christianity, but many also continued traditional practices at the same time. For example, the well-known Lakota figure Black Elk ( c. 1863–1950) was buried holding both his sacred pipe and a rosary. Native Americans have also used religion to resist European incursions. Many Native Ameri cans had visions about resistance. They include such figures as Handsome Lake (1735–1815; Sen eca), Smohalla ( c. 1815–95; Wanapum), John Slo cum (1841–97; Squaxin Island Tribe, Coast Sal ish), Wodziwob (d. c. 1872; Northern Paiute), and Wovoka ( c. 1856–1932; Northern Paiute). The last two spurred on the G HOST D ANCE . In the past several decades religion has influ enced militant indigenous resistance movements, such as the American Indian Movement, often known by the acronym AIM. Religion has helped motivate legal action to redress grievances, for example, the efforts to recover ceremonial lands. It has also played a major role in reviving indigenous culture. Examples include the Native American Church, well known for its use of peyote; the Sun Dance; teachings about the sacredness of the earth; and sweat lodges. Native American teachings, sometimes newly invented, have also figured prom inently in New Age teachings in North America.

tant for their descendants is the memory of their forced resettlement west along the “Trail of Tears.” West of the Mississippi, in the region of the Great Plains, Native Americans had different lifestyles and religions. Some groups, such as the Hidatsa and Pawnee, lived in villages, but many others, such as the Comanche and Lakota, were nomadic hunt ers. Crucial to these people’s religion was a VISION , which provided them with their personal spiritual helpers. Native Americans on the Great Plains often sought visions through practices such as prolonged fasting. Helpers would often appear in the form of birds or animals. These people often practiced elab orate rituals. An example of such a ritual is the Sun Dance, which some groups held every summer. It was common for participants to purify themselves in a SWEAT LODGE before the rituals. In what is now the southwestern United States, people known as Pueblos had elaborate ceremonies to further growth and encourage rain. Kachinas, masked figures, played an important part in them. Also well-known are kivas, chambers partly under ground in which Pueblo religious societies met. The Navajo hold elaborate series of rituals known as “sings,” used to heal and create social and nat ural harmony. Their sand paintings and weaving work often illustrate their complex notions of the structure of the universe and the emergence of the Navajo people from the center of the Earth. Among the Native Americans of California, as among many other Native Americans, shamans or medicine men played important roles as healers. These people also used religious means, as was common, to further the growth of crops. In addi tion, Native Americans in California had ritual soci eties into which people were initiated. In southern California one such society cultivated visions by ingesting a hallucinogen known as datura. Perhaps the best-known feature of Native Americans of the Northwest coast is the totem pole. The images carved on totem poles represent super human beings. Particularly important supernatural beings for these people were the salmon, on which their lives depended. These people held elabo rate ceremonies known as potlatches, in which the wealthy outdid one another in giving gifts