Essay On Native American Religion

For Native Americans, religion was their way to understand and harmonize with the world around them. They used different types of rituals to maintain a morally neutral universe. However, with the encounter of European colonists, Native Americans experienced a constant struggle for religious freedom and survival. The encounter caused a major cultural and religious shock for the Native Americans as their religion could no longer provide answers as to what they were experiencing. The Native Americans acted in predominately in two different responses: to convert to European Christianity or fight preserve to their traditional religion.
During this time of religious insecurity, Christian Missionaries stepped in to convert Native Americans to follow Christianity. Specifically, these missionaries were Moravian Missionaries, who preached less of the word of God, and more of the love of Jesus
(Class Lecture 2). The similar themes to native religions and the use of music and images aided in the missionaries’ overall success. Although many Native Americans did not one-hundred percent convert, they still turned to similar forms of Christianity or at least incorporated some Christian values and practices into their lives.
Other Native Americans, however, were not as peaceful in their attempt to adapt to the European’s encounter.
They chose to fight back in order to preserve their native religion. The Native Americans created a hidden set to beliefs to reinforce their identity as Indians and strengthen their will to survive and resist (Class Lecture 11). Some of their rituals began to intensify in response to European challenges (Class Lecture 11). For example, the Mourning War was a community ritual for the Iroquois that was meant to replenish the spiritual power in the tribe after one or some of the members were killed by an enemy tribe (Class Lecture 2). The Iroquois would kill or capture a member of the same enemy clan that killed their member in order to compensate for their loss. This ritual was performed in an effort to preserve universal harmony among spiritual forces of the Earth. After the Europeans arrival, the Mourning War ended, due to sheer murdering replaced logical rituals. The Native Americans also resorted to eating these captives to attain/ maintain spiritual power (Class Lecture
2).
In addition to the older practices, Native Americans created new rituals to try to “fix” the Earth as well as ward off evil, or in this case, the Whites. These rituals or dances include the “Booger Dance” and the “Ghost Dance.” The Booger dance was a ritual performed by the Cherokees to imitate the Europeans by acting Awkward, ridiculous, and menacing (Class Lecture 11). The Ghost Dance, however, had a more symbolic meaning to the Native Americans. This dance came about in response to the deep poverty and depression due to white contact towards the end of the Great Indian War (Class Lecture 11). Its purpose was to restore the Earth’s resources and bring the deceased Indians back to life. According to Lakota belief, the Native Americans thought that the Whites had upset the Earth, causing all of the buffalo to disappear to inside the earth. The only way to restore the balance was to rid the world of the Whites by supernatural means (Class Lecture 11). The European- Americans, however, saw the Ghost Dance as a final form of retaliation, and killed those who were caught practicing it. For Native Americans, the Ghost Dance was futile and brought about religious collapse for the Native Americans.
Like any religion, changes to the environment are not easy to overcome. In the case of the Native Americans, the struggle to preserve their beliefs was an extensive one. The threat to their religion and their way of life is rooted in the arrival of European colonists. In the midst of the Native Americans religious uncertainty, some chose to adapt to the new religion of Christianity. Other Native Americans, on the other hand, used this circumstance to reinforce their Indian identity and fight to preserve their religious history and current practices. Overall, this conflict was ineffective for the Native Americans as it resulted in religious collapse.