Week 1 lecture 1 Indigenous religions Introduction o Formed by a certain community or nation o Related closely to the community s or nation s sense of identity and o Having stayed uniquely connected to that community or nation It seems all religions are grounded in local communities Local communities change through time so religion changes o Indigenous religions are typically thought of as tribal small scale primal but they aren t savage superstitious or childish o Indigenous religions borrow practices and ideas from other traditions syncretism o Syncretism History of foreign subjugation during colonization A mixed religious situation Different religious traditions coming together in the same place Example Haitian vaudou Enslaved Africans brought to Haiti from France assimilated catholic influences of their French overlords and combined them with influences from the African religions Indigenous religions and western scholarship o Study of comparative religion started in 19th century focused particularly on indigenous religions Scholars felt that Western religions were off limits due to university support by state sponsored churches Many key terms in comparative study of religion are taken from indigenous religions but not applied to scholars own traditions Totem mana taboo shaman all come from indigenous religions meaning power o In descriptions of indigenous religions exotic features were frequently exaggerated and similarities to western faiths were minimalized Information coming from devotees themselves but from foreign explorers traders and missionaries o Accounts mostly post date the period of first contact with Europeans Any changes in indigenous culture fostered by that contact were already underway o Reports of indigenous religions given to arm chair anthropologists in Western Europe Imposition of foreign theoretical frameworks on these societies by Western European scholars Africa o In the late 1800 s actual field research was carried out by professional ethnographers o This led to recognition that proper study of religions entails field research textual evidence written and oral and archaeological evidence o Assuming archaeologists view that humanity originated in Africa is correct then presumably the first religions started there too o Today the largest number of indigenous religion adherents perhaps even 200 million are found in sub Saharan Africa Thinks 200 million is an underestimate because some Christian and Islam adherents incorporate indigenous religions in their own religions o Portuguese navigators were the first to make contact with the Africans in the 15th century Europeans felt that Africans were on par with them or even superior to them o With the start of the Atlantic slave trade in the late 15th century Africans began to be described in negative terms to make slavery more appealing in Europe Descriptions included denial that Africans had any religion o Yet by the late 1800 s scholars in Europe were positing theories of evolution tracing religion s origins to Africa The idea of progression from primitive African beliefs to o Africa has over 1000 religious traditions often intertwined or o In general they focus on human life in this world and desire help from spirits deities or ancestors for everyday matters very practical o They are also concerned with a supreme being viewed as the source o The supreme being s role for the community differs depending upon overlapping of all life the tradition Most communities lack a specific shrine for the supreme being although they have shrines for lesser deities who are more immediate o Most critical matters are thought to be controlled by a supreme being ex birth death life giving resource of water When water doesn t come to you in a pipe then water comes from the sky rain only comes for half of the year so lots of rituals are devoted to bringing rain if the community has acted immorally the rain won t come o Notion of the otiose deity a distant being who interacts with humans through intermediaries African religious thought Western monotheism o Reflects complex hierarchies of African societies indirect contact with god shows the greatest amount of reverence o In West Africa lesser deities have their own detailed mythologies Yoruba orishas o In West Africa trickster deities are important seen not as evil but loving disorder and chaos reset the game board to make the world a productive place Christian missionaries saw the struggle between good and evil in the world so they associated trickster deities with Satan By contrast African religions in line with indigenous religions in general believe in complementary dualism commingling of forces that enhance life and death o First understand another perspective before judging his or her religion o In African religious practices rituals prayer animal sacrifices other offerings are seen as methods of practical communication with spirits or gods Belief that such rituals release life forces that give nourishment to gods and spirits which is then given back to practitioner thus both are nourished Humans consume libations liquids and food after it has been offered to gods to show commitment to ceremony at the very least it s a sign of respect to the dead o Life transition rituals marriage birth death are often called rites of passage by scholars Stages of separation taken from the parent liminality threshold put one foot through the door and keep the other foot in the room Can learn everything you need to know before getting to the next step reintegration reintegrated into society as a new person Arnold van Gennep French ethnologist o Statues and masks are prevalent in African religion Statues in some cases used to summon a god but the god is not believed to be contained in the statue Masks in ritual dances they permit a spirit god or ancestor to Ritual Witchcraft manifest itself o Evil and suffering are attributed to witchcraft in many African religions o Belief that witches are persons with souls that travel beyond their bodies to assault and consume souls of others or to posses the spiritual essence of valuable people posses may be involuntary Chance misfortune is attributed to witchcraft Witches society is seen as precise antithesis of regular society They may know how a bad thing occurred but not why They then use divination to learn why They wonder why a person died when they did We just put it up to change o Witches typically are more selfish and don t get along with
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