Native American Religion - Coursework Example

Native American Religion If one takes a close look at the human civilization, one can not help noticing that religionplays an extremely important role in its development. It also would not be an exaggeration to suggest that up to a certain extent the above mentioned social institution reflects the peculiarities of the human development. That is why it is particularly important to study religions that might be found all over the world, not only the most widely spread ones, but also those which are spread among a relatively small group of people. This paper will analyze Native American religions claiming that they reflect the peculiar world view of the aboriginal people of the Americas which can be easily seen in different characteristics that these religions possess. To begin with, it would be important to provide a definition of a religion. Thus, one might note that religion is a system of beliefs that is spread in a certain community of people who are bound with emotional experiences; features myths and rituals as well as a developed ethical system, having material expression of religious practice and the notion of sacredness. As one can easily see, this definition relies on several elements that might be found in every religion, differentiating it from any other social institute. There is no doubt that in different cases some elements might be missing or exaggerated. So, religion is an important concept that feature a set of elements. Native American religions should be recognized as religions since they feature all the elements that were mentioned in the previous paragraph. Thus, they have system of beliefs that is being passed from a generation to generation. They are practiced in a defined community of people, often limited to a tribe. People who comprise the tribe are connected through common emotional experiences which allow them to feel united. The religions in question have myths that they use as basis of their belief system. In addition to that, each of the religions has various rituals that are being practiced by the people who follow this spiritual tradition. Moreover, the latter often affects lives of the former with the help of various ethical principles, visible in their daily life. Some objects, most often natural one, are regarded as sacred. Finally, there are different material expressions of religions such as rituals, individual practices. As one can easily see, Native American religions should be viewed as religions since they feature all the elements. In spite of the fact that the above mentioned consideration are quite logical, there are instances when Americans courts refused to recognize Native American religions as such because of the increased role of nature in their practice. Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to suggest that in their decision justices were guided by the Christian world view and Western perception, according to which religion inevitably puts emphasis on metaphysical dimension of the universe. However, there is no doubt that such approach towards Native American religions is not able to reflect their characteristic aspects and leads a person to false conclusions about their nature. The first characteristic of Native American religions that should be taken into close consideration is animism. As the very name suggests, this is a world view, according to which every object in the world has a soul. In other words, this religion encourages people to see every object that they encounter as a living one, regardless whether it is a rock or an animal. Moreover, the religion does not make a distinction between souls of people and souls that are found on other objects. That is why Native Americans might respect a tree or a river as much as they would respect another person. In a word, from the point of view of this religion, the world is filled with living souls. The next important characteristic of Native American religions is the attitude towards nature. Thus, the people who followed the above mentioned spiritual tradition believed that nature should be seen as Mother who gives when a person needs something; in other words, the European point of view on the nature as the object of exploitation and production of resources seems senseless for them (Steinberg, 21). Indeed, whenever Native Americans had to take something from the nature they would try to make an offer in return, suggesting that they are giving something back as well. This shows a completely different approach towards treating the environment which is largely focused on maintaining the balance in the world. The third characteristic feature of Native American religion is the widely spread religiousness which can be see in almost every aspect of life of a person, especially in hunting. Since the latter involves killing an animal, the hunters would first ask for forgiveness and then kill it. In addition to that, the people tried not to waste any part of the animal, using anything that can bring them any benefit. This is quite different from the European approach towards hunting, when an animal was killed in order to get a certain part of its body. Native Americans understood that by killing an animal they distorted the balance in the world, so they tried to minimize the harm that they do by hunting only when it was extremely necessary. This shows that the religion in question had a profound impact on different areas of social life. As it has already been mentioned, Native Americans worshiped the land as Mother Earth, so the next essential element of this religion is manifested in agriculture. To begin with, one should note that raising crops was often seen as a religion act. For example, some tribe maintained raising crops even though the majority of their food came from other sources. Another important aspect might be seen in the following: when cutting a tree, Native Americans would make an offer to it, just like their do before hunting an animal down. Thus shows that they did not want to take more than they had to, being afraid of starting a conflict with the gods. So, the agriculture of Native Americans was aimed to producing crops just enough to feed all the people in the tribe. Finally, considering the peculiarities of religions in question, one should point out that followers of these religious traditions often used various substances in order to alter their perception of the world and contact the world of spirits. Indeed, Native Americans are known to smoke tobacco of a very high concentration or consuming peyote which is known for its narcotic substances. Nevertheless, there journeys were not the only way to contract the spirits. Small sacrifices were made every day and many of the routine actions were filled with religious meaning. However, the true experience was often associated with intake of substances. This means that these spiritual traditions also engaged tobacco or peyote in their rituals. Having examined all the characteristic features that were mentioned in the previous paragraphs, one is able to make the following conclusion: Native American religions truly reflect the unique world view of the aboriginal people which differs their beliefs from the world religions such as Christianity. Thus, these people believed in numerous souls that can be found in every object on earth. They also perceived nature as their Mother and not as source of resources. Hunting and agriculture were filled with religious significance which encourage people to give something in return for the things that they take away from nature. Finally, the above mentioned religion often encouraged people to use mind altering substances to contact the spirit world. Works Cited Steinberg, Theodore. Down to Earth: Natures Role in American History. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Print. Read More