http://members.aol.com/porchthree/nativeam.htm - Native Americans

Interfaith   Religion and Beliefs for an Internet Generation

Native American Spirituality might be defined as the indigenous religious traditions of the many peoples who inhabited the Americas prior to contact with Europeans from 1492 onward.  The customs, rituals and iconography varied tremendously throughout the Americas.  Attempting to compare them with the formalized written traditions of Asia, Europe and the Middle East is an exercise in futility.

Native American Spirituality was (and is, for those still practicing it) part and parcel of living. It involved a relationship with the natural world as opposed to a weekly or daily schedule of worship services. With few exceptions there was no priesthood or system of temples.  Above all, there was no written record and, but for a very few cases, no inscriptions or monuments.
 

"WE also have a religion which was given to our forefathers, and has been handed down to us their children. It teaches us to be thankful, to be united, and to love one another! We never quarrel about religion."

Thus spoke the great Seneca orator, Red Jacket, in his superb reply to Missionary Cram more than a century ago, and I have often heard the same thought expressed by my countrymen.

I have attempted to paint the religious life of the typical American Indian as it was before he knew the white man. I have long wished to do this, because I cannot find that it has ever been seriously, adequately, and sincerely done. The religion of the Indian is the last thing about him that the man of another race will ever agounderstand.

First, the Indian does not speak of these deep matters so long as he believes in them, and when he has ceased to believe he speaks incaccurately and slightingly.

Second, even if he can be induced to speak, the racial and religious prejudice of the other stands in the way of his sympathetic comprehension.

Third, practically all existing studies on this subject have been made during the transition period, when the original beliefs and philosophy of the native American were already undergoing rapid disintegration.

There are to be found here and there superficial accounts of strange customs and ceremonies, of which the symbolism or inner meaning was largely hidden from the observer; and there has been a great deal of material collected in recent years which is without value because it is modern and hybrid, inextricably mixed with Biblical legend and Caucasian philosophy. Some of it has even been invented for commercial purposes. Give a reservation Indian a present, and he will possibly provide you with sacred songs, a mythology, and folk-lore to order!

My little book does not pretend to be a scientific treatise. It is as true as I can make it to my childhood teaching and ancestral ideals, but from the human, not the ethnological standpoint. I have not cared to pile up more dry bones, but to clothe them with flesh and blood. So much as has been written by strangers of our ancient faith and worship treats it chiefly as matter of curiosity. I should like to emphasize its universal quality, its personal appeal!

The first missionaries, good men imbued with the narrowness of their age, branded us as pagans and devil-worshipers, and demanded of us that we abjure our false gods before bowing the knee at their sacred altar. They even told us that we were eternally lost, unless we adopted a tangible symbol and professed a particular form of their hydra-headed faith.

We of the twentieth century know better! We know that all religious aspiration, all sincere worship, can have but one source and one goal. We know that the God of the lettered and the unlettered, of the Greek and the barbarian, is after all the same God; and, like Peter, we perceive that He is no respecter of persons, but that in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is acceptable to Him.

Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa)

There is currently much heated debate over who is qualified to describe and teach about Native American Spirituality within the academy.  The same atmosphere pervades the popularization of Native Culture in print, on the Internet and in public displays.  In short, it is impossible for this reference page to guarantee the accuracy and authenticity of the material referred to.  Although we have asked folks with Native American backgrounds to check these references for grossly objectionable material, the list presented here remains our responsibility.  With that understanding we offer our customary warning: Caveat Lector, let the reader beware.

Because of  similarities found among many nativistic and shamanic traditions, you may wish also to visit our listings for Shamanism.

Resources for Native American Spirituality are collected under the following headings:

• FAQ Basics

• Overviews and MegaLinks

• North American Cultures

• Central and South America

• Books and Writings

• Wisdom, Prayers and Sayings

• Rituals and Spirituality

• Mythologies and Traditions

• Webrings, Search Engines, Extensive Links

• Other Topics

FAQ Basics               Website Address Prefix all:   http://
Native American Spirituality A VaEdu FAQ	cti.itc.virginia.edu/~jkh8x/soc257/nrms/naspirit.html
Native American Spirituality An OCRT FAQ	www.religioustolerance.org/nataspir.htm
Native American Religions Encarta Encyclopedia Article	encarta.msn.com/index/concise/0vol40/0ABC3000.asp
Overviews and MegaLinks
Indigenous Peoples' Literature A Substantial Collection	www.indians.org/welker/index3.htm
****Native American Resources A Megasite Directory	hanksville.phast.umass.edu:80/misc/NAresources.html
American Religions & Spirituality An Academic Mega Index	academicinfo.net/nativeam.html#religions
Line in the Sand In Defense of  Native Culture	purl.oclc.org/NET/sand/
Lisa Mitten's Native American Links ****An Outstanding Topical Resource	info.pitt.edu/~lmitten/indians.html
American Indian Culture Research Ctr. A New Attempt at Understanding?	www.bluecloud.org/dakota.html
North American Cultures
Innu History and Culture In the Far North	www.innu.ca/culture.html
****Lakota Siouxian Resources Superlative is Understatement	maple.lemoyne.edu/~bucko/lakota.html
Religions of Newfoundland & Labrador Beothuks, Micmacs and Inuit	www.mun.ca/rels/native/index.html
Central and South America
Maya Culture (change fd"eye" to fd"el" if link is bad)	indy4.fdl.cc.mn.us/~isk/maya/mayastor.html
Aztec Religion Deities, Priests and Practices	members.aol.com/spdtom/index.html
Three Indigenous Groups Tukano, Kuna, Iņupiat=N. America	www.nmnh.si.edu/biodiversity/aislynn1.htm
Inka Prophecies of the End of Time An Andean Native Perspective	www.thefourwinds.com/prophecies.htm
Nagual Ring -- 21 sites Nagualism, Toltecs, Toltequity, Tensegrity, and teachings of Carlos Castaneda's don Juan	home.sprynet.com/sprynet/eplotkin
Nagualism (Toltec), and Shamanism Mystical traditions of Mesoamerica	www.resonate.org/toltec/
Books and Writings
The Soul of the Indian The Writings of  Charles A. Eastman	etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgibin/browse-mixed?id= EasSoul&tag=public&images=images/modeng&data= /lv1/Archive/eng-parsed
Native American Electronic Texts Books and Other Writings Online	hanksville.phast.umass.edu/misc/NAetext.html
Native American Spirituality Books From Museum of American Indian	www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmai/naspirit.htm
Reading List for Many N.A. Groups From Museum of American Indian	www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmai/start.htm
A Booklist for Children Includes several traditions.	falcon.jmu.edu/schoollibrary/natreligion.htm
Wisdom, Prayers and Sayings
Spirit of the Wolf Contemplation -- Prayers and Speeches	www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1224/wolfsprt.htm
Traditional Indian Code of Ethics An Illustrated Creed	www.nucleus.com/4worlds/cover.html
Earth Prayers for the Great Spirit An Anthology of Native Prayer	www.indians.org/welker/greatspi.htm
Native American Wisdoms An Anthology of Sayings	www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/2165/wisdom.htm
The Journal of Prophecy of Native Peoples Worldwide	members.xoom.com/nativepeople/frameset1.htm
Rituals and Spirituality
A Lakota Sioux Site Good Spirituality Links	www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/3976/Hawk.html
Navajo Ceremonials Blessingway and Sand Paintings	hanksville.phast.umass.edu/navajo/ceremonials.html
****Hopi Way: Cloud Dancing Extensive Prophecies, Rituals, Spirituality	www.timesoft.com/hopi/
Seven Sacred Ceremonies of the Lakota A Geocities Website	www.geocities.com/Area51/2769/ceremonies.html
The Plains Indian Sun Dance And the Symbolic Role of Animals in it.	www.fortunecity.com/victorian/stone/20/Animal1.html
First Nations Spirituality (Geocities) Links to N.A. Spirituality pages	www.geocities.com/RainForest/3718/native.html
Articles on Spiritual Heritage An Interesting Missionary Approach	www.bluecloud.org/religion.html
Bearded Wolf Lists Many Ceremonies and Rituals	www.erols.com/brddwolf/wolf.html
Sacred Journeys Vision Quest and Earth Spirituality	www.mother.com/~serene/toc.htm
Native American Beliefs & Practices Several short examples	www.nhc.rtp.nc.us:8080/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo /natcult.htm
Mythologies and Traditions
Lakota Creation Myth A Siouxian Perspective	www.sju.edu/~dcarpent/1141/Lakota/CreationMyth.html
White Buffalo Calf Woman Lakota Spirituality	indy4.fdl.cc.mn.us/~isk/arvol/buffpipe.html
Native American Mythology Encyclopedia Mythica	www.pantheon.org/mythica/areas/native_american /topics.html
Native American Myths and Legends A Superlative Compendium	pubpages.unh.edu/~cbsiren/myth2.html#amerind
Webrings, Search Engines, Extensive Links
Religion Webrings We Belong to This One The largest of these are listed below.	www.webring.org/ringworld/soc/religion.html
Native American Ring 400+ websites	www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring= natam;id=332&list
White Buffalo Webring 240+ websites	www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=whitebuff&list
Other Topics
Shamanism in a Modern World An Essay	www.thefourwinds.com/shamanism.htm
Shamanism -- General Overview An OSU FAQ	www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet /shamanism/overview/faq.html
Shamanism -- Useful Definitions An OSU FAQ	www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet /shamanism/newsgroup-faq/faq.html

Artwork Credits:
Native American Pottery Icons from Poison's Icons
Red Pipestone Ceremonial Pipe derived from Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers