Native Americans religion and tradition
- Created by: Rhiannon Lawrence
- Created on: 08-05-14 19:33
View mindmap
- Native Americans Religion and Tradition
- Medicine Men had contact with the spiritual powers
- medicine men had strength, courage and understanding of both the visible and invisible worlds
- used to describe members of Native American tribes
- who were important for their connection to the power of the spirits.
- "Making medicine" meant to appeal to spirits via prayer, ritual or ceremony.
- Native American religion was closely linked to Nature
- believed humans are part of nature and not masters over it.
- believed in a life-force called the Great Spirit which was present in nature
- it was not a sentient (conscious) entity in the way that the god of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith is.
- The Great Spirit could not be given human characteristics
- For Native Americans, nature had a spiritual dimension
- was therefore not just a set of commodities and resources for exploition
- Oral History means no books
- Native American oral history made their history seem less changeable than it really was
- Oral history can be fragile
- Native Americans had little immunity to the diseases settlers brought from Europe.
- Terrible epidemics- including smallpox, influenze and typhus- killed off many of the old people
- this meant many stories were lost with them
- The Native Americans didn't have writing
- important ideas and histories of the tribes were passed from generation to generation by telling stories
- Circles and Animal spirits were important
- Native American beliefs emphasised the interdependence of all things.
- they saw all things as being connected
- this meant circles were spiritually important to them.
- they saw all things as being connected
- Believed all things have spirits.
- successful hunting relied on a sort of religious bargaining
- this was carried out through rituals including dances, field craft and skill with the bow or riffle
- successful hunting relied on a sort of religious bargaining
- believed even non-living things in nature like rocks and mountains had spirits
- activities like mining could easily be believed to upset the spirits
- Native American beliefs emphasised the interdependence of all things.
- Medicine Men had contact with the spiritual powers
Comments
No comments have yet been made