Introduction to Native Peoples’ Traditions
Myth of the “Vanishing Indian”
Native Americans have lived in North America for over 13,000 years. The continued presence and rich diversity of contemporary Native communities in the United States discredits the pervasive myth that there are no more Native Americans. Download (PDF)...
Millennia of Religious Diversity
Many traditions of belief and ceremonial life correspond to shared language families and common geographic areas. However, with more than 200 distinctive languages native to the landmass that is now the United States and a wide diversity of religious...
Religion as a Way of Life
One of the few common elements within the diversity of Native traditions is the idea that all dimensions of social life are profoundly integrated. Instead of “religion,” the broader term “life-way” is often used to describe the traditions of Native...
Struggle and Survival: Native Ways of Life Today
Many of the historical and contemporary interactions between Native Americans and the United States government have involved material and cultural dispossession. Within the context of dispossession, there have been concerted efforts by Native American...
Many Local Traditions
Native American traditions are diverse, but many share strong emphases on oral discourse, orientation toward the land, and the existence of a spirit world. Additionally, all Native traditions have had to respond to colonization, dispossession, and...
Anishinaabe Ojibwe Ways
The Ojibwe, also known as Chippewa, traditionally inhabit the Western Great Lakes region. Over the centuries, many Ojibwe have converted to Christianity or integrated Christian practices and beliefs into their religious traditions. Ojibwe religious...
Apache Women’s Initiation and Divine Renewal
The Apache people, based in the Southwest of the United States, have many spiritual rituals, ceremonies, and myths. One prominent rite of passage of the Mescalero Apache, the initiation ceremony for a girl into womanhood, involves the entire community’s...
Sacred Pipe of the Lakota Sioux
The Sioux, or Lakota, people of the American Great Plains are well known for their resistance to colonization and assimilation in the 1870s. Sacred pipe ceremonies of the Lakota Sioux are meant to provide spiritual grounding and power for Lakota as they...
Haudenosaunee Iroquois Religion and Politics
The Iroquois nations in the regions of New York, Pennsylvania, and southeastern Canada refer to themselves collectively as the Haudenosaunee, “the people of the Longhouse." In this peace-making government, political positions and relationships are...
