American Indian Relgion

Through out history, historians have had the ability to pass on the knowledge of the
past because of written documents and other forms of evidence that acknowledge
the existence of past civilizations and cultures. When there are no written
documents, whether lost or never created, it can be more difficult for historians to
explain past civilizations. The Native Americans were a group that kept no written
records. The information that we know today was passed down from generation to
generation through oral traditions. Despite the information we have, there is much
more that researchers don?t know about because a considerable amount of
information has either been lost or has been impossible to obtain. But from what we
already know,historians can conclude there are common characteristics that seem
to be shared by all of

the Native Americans. I will also include the creation myth of the Osage

Indians and the afterlife beliefs of the Lakota Sioux. Although there are many

points of contrast, the beliefs of Native Americans are distinguished by some

common characteristics (p.54 Nigosian). Some of these characteristics are

that they all seem to believe in the existence of a high god or vital force along

with lesser gods and spirits and that certain individuals possess sacred
power

and therefore can act as intermediaries between the tribe and the deities. In

the ceremonies associated with ritual and initiation, they engaged in certain

traditional rites that were designed to perpetuate the smooth operation of the

natural order, including human society, and they all believed that by repeating

stories or by storytelling they kept the world alive (p.54 Nigosian). Therefore,

the Native Americans viewed life evolving around a holy force that holds all

things together, which leads to the basic goal of staying in ?harmony with all

natural and supernatural powers (p.62 Nigosian).? This leads me to believe

that the spirits they had for different aspects of nature and their environment

were the primary deities they worshipped or venerated. ?By and large, however,
[Native Americans] believed that the aid of the high god may be propitiated by
ritual action (p.62 Nigosian).? And in spite of disparities among regions, the majority
of the Native Americans believed in the active roles of both good and evil spirits.
Amid the good spirits are mythical such as ?thunderbirds, as well as mountains,
rivers, minerals, flint, and arrowheads.?

The evil spirits were ?giant monsters, water serpents, tiny creatures that haunt

woods and ponds, and the spirits of the dead that come to inflict pain,

sorrow, or death (p.62 Nigosian).? Each tribe also had a ?culture hero,?

whose job was to socialize the tribe. In opposition or contrast was the

?antihero,? or better known as the trickster. Another common feature of

Native American traditions is creation myths. ?In these imaginative stories,

no

distinctions are made among gods, spirits, the universe, nature, animals, and

human beings. On the contrary, the stories imply a close mystical relationship

binding each element (p.64 Nigosian).? Although the Native Americans had

several types of creation stories, ?the two most common themes are those of

creation emerging out of chaos? and creation as a result of conflict between

good and evil forces (p.64 Nigosian). The following is a basic gist of the

Osage Indians?creation story. Once, the Osage Indians lived in the sky.

Wanting to know their origin, they went to the sun. The sun told them that

they were his children. Then they wandered about until they came to the

moon. She told them that she had given birth to that and that the sun was
the

father. Then she told them to go settle on the earth. When they came to the

earth, they found it covered with water. So they wept, because no on would

answer them, and they couldn?t return to their former place. While floating

around in the air, they searched for help from a god but with no avail. The

animals were there, too, and they appealed to the elk, the most finely and

most stately. The elk then jumps into the water and calls for the wind, which

then lifted up the water like a mist. The elk then provides land and food. As

for the concept of an afterlife, it seems that Native Americans were not as

concerned with the hereafter as they were with their immediate life. However,

an afterlife was a common belief that varied with the different tribes. Here is

an example, the afterlife belief of the Lakota Sioux. ?The Lakota Sioux

Indians have beliefs that are unique to their heritage. They believe in a

reincarnate religion with certain ideas about the afterlife. It is believed that a

person lives through four stages of life, or generations. These generations are

childhood, adolescence, maturity, and old age. When a person dies, one of

the four ?souls? from the generations travels along the Wanagi Tacanku

Southward, where the soul meets with an old woman who judges the soul?s

earthly virtues. She then directs it either to the spirit world, a hazy analog of

earthly life where there is an unending supply of buffalo and where people

rejoin their kin, or back to earth. If sent back to earth, the soul lives as a

ghost in order to haunt others and to entice them to join the soul in haunting

the living. Parts of the soul being sent back to earth illustrate the reincarnate

idea of this religion in that other aspects of the four souls are invested into

unborn fetuses. This receiving of the souls is what gives the fetuses life

(http://www.creighton.edu/~amd/afterlife.html). The Native Americans were

a very diverse peoples that many different aspects of religion that varied from

tribe to tribe. Interestingly, the Native Americans did not have a concept of

individual sin and salvation. If they did, it would have been possible that
they

would have had an entirely different set of beliefs. However, they did have

strong similarities that were equally important to each tribe. It was very apparent
that they loved the earth and that played a key role in terms of creation and an
afterlife.

To look at Native American Indian?s belief system we also have to accept

their rituals and sacred tools use to communicate with the Gods.

?The white man?s reality are his streets with their banks, shops, neon lights and
traffic, streets full of policemen, whores, and sad-faced people in a hurry to punch a
time clock. But this is unreal. The real reality is underneath all this. Grandfather
Peyote helps you find it.? - Crow Dog

Peyote, a hallucinogenic plant that is commonly used as a recreational drug, has a

much greater meaning for members of the peyote religion. By examining the effects
of peyote along with its role in the rituals and beliefs of the Native American Church
it becomes apparent why it is such an integral part of the religion. The trade and
knowledge of this sacred plant was already well defined in regions of Mexico well
before European conquest and its ceremonial use was already underway in the
tribes of the area in which it grew. This religious use eventually spread through
North American regions. Along with its migration, the basic rituals and ceremonies
changed along the way. The organization of religion involving peyote and the
principle rituals had become commonly practiced among the Comanche and Kiowa
tribes by the mid-eighteen hundreds. The Native American Church formed in 1921,
beginning in Oklahoma. Soon after this initial formation, state and local
incorporation followed in!

many places and continue to do so to this day. (Aberle, 19) Now, some form of
peyote religion is common to most tribes of the North American continent. Peyote
(Lophophora williamsii) is a very small, low growing, fuzzy type of cactus. Most of
the cactus is actually underground in a long root. Both the flesh and roots can be
eaten.

When dried the flesh resembles brown overcoat buttons, which is where the term
peyote ?buttons? came from. Peyote isn?t found just anywhere. It grows in the wild
over only a small portion of the Southwestern United States known as the Peyote
Garden. Precisely, Corpus Christi, Texas, Deming, New Mexico,

Durango, Mexico and Puebla , Mexico bind the area in which this plant can be found
and harvested. (Aberle,5) Containing eight different alkaloids, the most important
being mescaline, peyote causes a number of effects.

The experience begins with an euphoric quality. It heightens the sensations to

sound, color, form and texture. Further into the experience, ?visions? begin to
occur. These visions can include detailed, realistic pictures and sounds. The
interpretation of these visions rather than the visions themselves are what peyotists
consider most

important. The peyote experience is characterized by a strong feeling of personal

significance of the internal and external stimuli encountered during the experience.
Many find themselves asking, ?What does this mean to me?? The Native American
Church came to the Indians during their darkest hour. It was around the time when
the last of the buffalo had disappeared from the plains. They were left starving,
helpless and with little of their old lives remaining to cling to. In the words of a
member of the NAC, Mary Crow Dog, ?The Native American Church became the
religion of the poorest of the poor, the conquered, the despoiled. Peyote made them
understand what was happening and made them endure. It was the only thing that
gave them strength in those, our darkest days.? It was obvious that a militant
religion could not have survived under white dominance. The formation of this
religion was a response to the degraded status on Native Americans. It?s goalinternal peace and harmon!

y rather than competition. This idea was highly relevant to the socio-economic
situation that these indigenous people were being faced with. For many, this was

exactly what they needed to continue on. Since the beginning, there has been
strong opposition to the Native

American Church by several groups. The traditionalist Indians opposed it believing

that it was a threat to traditional tribal culture. Modernist Indians as well as whites
opposed the religion also saying that it was heathenistic and backward. In the early
stages, peyote meetings were illegal not for the use of peyote, but because Native
American rituals in general were outlawed. But, in 1934, under John Collier, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs enacted a policy of non-interference with peyotism. There
have been state laws prohibiting the ?sale, use or possession of peyote?, but all
such laws have been repealed since the sixties (Aberle, 18).At the present, it is legal
for those acting on behalf of the Native American Church to buy or harvest peyote
for their religious needs. Most peyotism that is practiced today is identified with the
Native American Church (NAC).

It is a loosely organized group with numerous divisions. Within each division are
many local chapters, more commonly called moons. Attendance to meetings is
dependent on local and kinship ties. The local road chief can deal with all functions
of the religion, so no formal organization is necessary. In his book, David Aberle
noted that ?peyotism has not been marked by numerous schisms; if ?we all worship
the same God and all eat

peyote,? this is sufficient.? The use of peyote for members of NAC is not simply for
the pleasure of doing so. It is taken as a religious adjunct, aiding in heightening the
level of this special experience. It supplies a feeling of personal significance, which
is central to reflecting on one?s self, relationships, ethics and in bringing new
meaning to these things. There is also believed to be medicinal benefits to peyote.
Many Indians claim that it has powers to heal the mind and body. Peyote gives the
ability to ?get into the power? to the peyotist. Mary Crow Dog wrote about ?feeling
the strength surging through your body?. The fact that no two peyote experiences
are the same and the fact that you can never predict how a particular experience
will turn out make this power all the more real. This concept of power is common to
all Native Americans. It has to do with feeling close to God, or the Great Spirit. This
sacred plant also serves as a unifier for the Native Americans. For generations the
differences among tribes have kept them from uniting to achieve progress in
gaining rights. In the peyote meetings, tribal differences are forgotten. ?No longer
are we Navajos, Poncas, Apaches or Sioux, but just Indians.? (Crow Dog, 101) The
fact that peyote unified native people attracted more and more members during the
Indian Civil Rights Movement during the sixties because unity was a major goal of
the movement that the NAC helped to promote. Although loosely organized, all

members of the NAC had a basic system of beliefs and an ethical code that they
hold as a guide on how to live their lives.

First of all, peyote is believed to be the immaterial personification of power, often

referred to as the ?Peyote Spirit?. The Great Spirit is the ultimate source of this
power. By taking peyote it is thought that one can communicate with the Great
Spirit through visions. The ethical code, commonly referred to as the Peyote Road,
consists of four main parts: brotherly love, care of family, self-reliance and
avoidance of alcohol. It is believed that if a person follows the Peyote Road faithfully
it will lead them to ?tranquility in this life as well as bliss in the next world?. On the
other hand, those who lapse morally in these regards will pay during the peyote
meeting, both physically and spiritually (Aberle, 13). The rituals of the Native
American Church vary greatly in specifics from tribe to tribe. The Navajo prefer
shaping their altar like a half moon, while other tribe may shape their altars
differently. Some tribes conduct the peyote meetings in a tipi used especially for
that purpose, while other tribes opt to use a regular room in a house. However,
there is a set of basic rituals that are common to all tribes in the United States.
Peyote meetings are always held for a purpose, commonly to cure, thank the Great
Spirit for past blessings, to deter evil and promote good. It is hoped that the prayers
of the participants will accomplish the given purpose. The participants gather at
sundown for the ceremony that will last until dawn. There are generally four
officiates required for the ceremony to take place. There is the road chief, who leads
the meeting, a drummer chief, who does most of the drumming, a fire chief, who is
in charge of tending to the fire and a cedar chief, who creates the cedar smoke
throughout the night. The use of prayer, song, drumming and the joint eating of the
peyote at various times throughout the night as well as the drinking of cold water at
midnight and early morning are all key elements to the ritual. These practices are
all believe to be forms of communication with the Great Spirit. During prayer, there
is a staff passed around the meeting to all male participants. The staff is considered
male, so females are not allowed to pray with the staff. It is believed that when you
pray with the staff, your thoughts travel up it and messages from the Great Spirit
travel back down. The drums also aid in the communication. It is said that when a
man drums, you can ?read his mind?. Everyone also takes part in the peyote songs.
Typically, the songs do not contain words, but whether or not to add words is up to
the singer. The Church members believe that with peyote to guide you, the
meanings of these songs can be deciphered. The drum itself is symbolic of the
Indians? heartbeats. The Fire Chief starts a fire in the center of the gathering. It is
said to represent the eternal life that passes from one generation to the next. The
smoke from the cedar incense is then sprinkled over the fire at various times during
the night. It is believed to represent all green, living things and to purify everything
that the smoke touches. The feather fan and the gourd are also integral parts of the
ceremony. The gourd is representative of the Spirit Voice. While the songs are going

on, the feather fan is waved in the air to catch the songs. These fans can be made
of different types of feathers, all of which symbolize something different. For
example, the Water Bird Feather Fan is a chief symbol of the peyote religion and is
used to bless the water before drinking

it, while the Hawk Feather Fan is a symbol of understanding. All of the materials
used during the ceremony are considered to be sacred and symbolic of something
the Indians consider important. These materials help in the communication with the
Great Spirit, which is the ultimate goal of the meeting. Peyotism is, indeed, a unique
religion. The members of the Native American Church take this ?powerful medicine?
in order to communicate directly with the Great Spirit. They follow a strict ethical
code and believe that peyote will help them understand their lives more fully. I
greatly admire the idea of reflecting on one?s own situation in order to live a
tranquil, honest life. The religion was formed as a way of unifying Native Americans
and helping them accept and deal with the situation they are faced with. Peyotism
has proven largely successful in achieving these goals, making it a wonderful thing
for the indigenous people of this country.

Bibliography:
Aberle, David
F. The Peyote Religion Among the Navajo. Vol. 52. New York: Wenner-Gren
Foundation, 1966. Crow
Dog, Mary and Richard Erdoes. Lakota Woman. New York: Harper Perennial,
1991. Hultkrantz, Ake.
Native Religions of North America. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers,
1987. Mercado, Leo.
?Peyote religion: Spiritual Soul Food?. 8 Mar.1999.
http://www.csp.org/nicholas/A57.html.