Similarities Between Catholic And Native Americans

Native Americans are the Same as Catholics?

Surprisingly, Native American and Catholic religions have as much in common as they have in differences. Native Americans have been practicing their individual, but very similar religions for thousands of years. Yet, in a brief period of time, they lost much their traditional religious practices due to the aggressive Catholic administration and missionaries in their efforts to “reform”, modernize, and educate Native American populations and their associated religions. The intolerance between these religions focuses on the differences. If they would focus on the similarities instead, the persecution, wars, and conflicts could be, if not eliminated, at the very least lessened to an extent where they could learn to respect beliefs and practices that differ from their own.
Each of the hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of different religions around the world each hold the belief that their rituals are the only vehicle to achieve
immortality. This is especially the case with both the Catholic and Native American religions. Catholics have not only disregarded their similarities, but have poured a huge amount of their resources into eradicating Native American religions and culture. Whereas, Native Americans were willing to add the Catholic God(s) and saints to their, already large, number of spirits, but did not want to lose their traditional, ancient, and necessary spirits and gods. They both have creation stores and myths about how life began by an omnipotent, all-knowing, benevolent creator, whose essence can be found everywhere. This can take many forms. Members of their respective societies that don’t practice their religion are shunned or are put under social pressure to join and partake of their ritual practices. Both religions allow members to pray individually or as a group, often with rhythmic music and chants. Although prayer request are sent to main spirit, or God, both religions have large numbers of more specific, beneficial spirits they can pray to. These spirits can provide them a variety of benefits ranging from protection from enemies or evil spirits, guidance, safe travel, purification, relief of mental or financial burdens, good health and healing, divination, and fertility problems. Both also have rituals for excising demons Although they both have many spirits, Catholics saints’ spirits can be found everywhere, while Native American spirits tend reside in more permanent, natural places such as geological anomalies such as unique rock formations, hills, mountains, rivers, springs, caves. Their spirits can take the form of many living things, such as wolves, owls, hawks, and bears. In contrast, Catholic beneficial spirits take non-earthly forms such as angels.
While both of these religions exert pressure on their society’s members to participate in traditional rituals, Catholics aggressively pursue people all over the world to convert to their religion, while Native Americans only include those with close personal associations such as members of their tribes. Both religions believe that their members will be exclusively able to have immortality and wonders in their afterlives. In the “happy hunting ground”, Native Americans will reside, in their body, in a place which includes an abundance of the most wonderful things found on earth, while Catholics believe that, although they will want for nothing, they will not have a physical body.
Although there are spirits that can be found everywhere, Native Americans tend to worship those found in natural places, which are be permanent. They must travel to these sites to worship and the rituals may be performed for many days and may even be as long as a month. Their sacred places not only include natural sites, but all the air and land as far as they can see and even can include the rain that falls on these areas. No one owns these areas; they are there for the benefit of the people who worship there. Their sites are as permanent as nature allows.
In contrast, Catholic sites are bought or donated, and are owned solely by them.
They collect the most expensive materials they can find and build massive and ornate buildings to worship in. These manmade buildings and can be abandoned, moved, sold, or demolished. Their sites are limited to what they can own. When entering a new area, they can acquire a site and create a new building. They can un-bless a site before abandoning it and can do this an unlimited amount of times. The Catholic religion is material based and portable. Their sites are temporary.
Even though these two religions have music and use instruments, the styles of music and instruments are very different. Native Americans use simple drums to emanate the beating heart of the Earth Mother. They dance while singing and chanting which can go on for days; only ending when the participants collapse in euphoric exhaustion. Nothing is written or formal and they individually dance, sing, and chant however they
wish.
This differs from the Catholic inflexible and formal music. They perform only what is dictated and use a hymnal provided by their superiors. Even their chanting is only a repetition of whatever the priest reads from a church provided text. Their organ or harp music is thought to be similar to the music that will be found in heaven. They sing the designated song, all in unison, for a very short period of time, often only a few minutes. This usually occurs not more than twice during a ritualistic service. The service always starts at the same time, on the same day and lasts for the same amount of time. The Catholics dress in the most expensive finery they can afford when attending these services which is vastly different from the Native Americans attire made by their hand of natural products such as animal skins, feathers, shells, and plant material,
If Catholics and Native Americans would learn to respect each other by focusing on their similarities instead of their divergences, could create a paradigm shift in not only our national view, but also our worldview. By this example, each of the hundreds, even thousands of different religions around the world could live in peace by ignoring their differences and focus, respect, and enjoy the similarities found in all religions.