Native American Religion

8 Pages 2039 Words

Native America Religion

“Native Americans practice some of America’s most spiritually profound, historically resilient, and ethnically demanding religions.” Joel Martin.

Many Native American stories of creation talk about how the first humans were birthed from the earth’s surface. The earth, in this instance, resembled the “mother”. The oldest tales talk about how “she” nurtured the proto humans in her womb until they were ready to emerge and become full fledged humans.

Native American spirituality can affect many aspects their lives. It can affect things like what stories they can tell, what they can eat, wear, paint, marry, make love, and even design their homes. A symbolic quote used by many Hopis (a form of religion) is Our land, our religion, and our life are one. This is still used by many Hopis today.

In Alaska there is a tribe called Koyukon they followed the same quote, though gave it different meaning. To them the sacred dimension of life was unlike those of the Hopis, theirs was to hunt and observe the animals.

Before the elders left the underworld, it is said that they were asked what type of life they wanted to live and they chose a hard life of harvesting blue corn, and the god Masaw, taught the to do this. They lived for years, and some still do believing that this is their calling and a natural way of life.

More than 210 years ago a European named John Heckewelder wrote this: “the hunter, a member of the Delaware Indian nation, shot a bear and the musket ball broke its backbone The animal fell and set up a most plaintive cry, something like that of a cougar when he is hungry. The hunter instead of giving him another shot, stood up close to the bear, and addressed him in these words “Hark ye! bear; you are a coward and no warrior as you pretend to be. Were you a warrior, you would show it by your firmness and not cry and whimper like an old woman. You know, bear, that our tri...