Native American EXAM 1 STUDY GUIDE 1 Monism A belief that a wide variety of things can all be traced back to a single element Vision quest 2 a Communal Vision Quest such as the Sun Dance and the Ghost Dance usually involves circle dancing round danc ing for long periods of time b Individual Vision Quest preformed during rights of pas sage where boys and girls would go into the woods and would not return to the tribe until they had a vision If they could not get a vision some would resort to cutting off fin gers to increase their chances and show their dedication The vision that they received could influence their name and totem Other vision quest preformed later in life in volved the use of strong Tabaco and Peyote Peyote is a small cactus that heightens one senses when smoked or ingested Ghost Dance Movement Started in 1889 when Wovoka aka Jack Wilson had a prophecy of a new era of peace reunion with the living and the dead and Replenishment of the natural world and buffalo He believed the white man would be de stroyed peacefully through means such as an earthquake Indi ans who believed his prophecy practiced the ghost dance which involved dancing for days in which people would often pass out The U S government made the dance illegal The Wounded Knee massacre resulted when Indians still preformed the dance the U S military killed hundreds of Indians Ghost shirt A shirt that was worn by people who followed the Ghost Dance Movement They believed the shirt was bulletproof but that was not true 3 4 6 7 9 5 Wovoka The prophet who started the Ghost Dance Move ment Aka Jack Wilson Peyote a small cactus that grows in Texas and Mexico When ingested causes psychoactive properties Its considered an ille gal drug in America unless you are a Native American Employ ment v Smith was a case that made it legal for Native Ameri cans to use Peyote for religious practices Buffalo Buffalo were central to survival for many Native Amer icans and because of this they were highly respected Native Americans would ask the animal for forgiveness for killing it be cause they believed it had a soul After hunting a buffalo all parts of it were used somehow 8 Taboos a Land of the dead Native Americans have a deep respect for the dead and as a result often will not touch the dead People who do touch the dead can be sent away from the tribe for a set period of time Often times outsiders are used to handle dead Native Americans b Menstruating women women were considered to have ei ther good or bad powers but were at the peak of their power when they were menstruating Menstruating women could curse a man just by looking at him and ruin his hunt ing skills for the rest of his life She could also curse his tools and weapons Due to this they were often sent away from the rest of the village until they were done NAGPRA 1990 the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act was established This act gave Native Ameri cans control over artifacts and skeletal remains of their ances tors Artifacts that were locked away in museums would also have to be returned Any sites found with Native American arti facts have to be reported to the government and the tribe as well 10 Sacrifice Common items to sacrifice were grain animals and wine Humans were rarely sacrificed except the Aztecs 11 Badgers and Bears connected with healing 12 Wooing Wohpe Native American story that explains why the winds blow the way they do African 1 Orisha lesser deities in African religions 2 Ancestor veneration Africans believe that when their ancestors die that the ancestors can still influence their life Ancestors can be angered if they are not properly buried and mourned and can come back to hunt you In extreme cases they can also come back and kill you Ancestors enforce moral and social codes 3 Divination Diviners often act as spiritual healers and can con tact ancestors before special events They can predict the future in three ways 1 Casting nutshells and observing the patterns 2 Gazing into a bowl of water 3 Casting dice 4 Ogun He is considered the African god of Iron and also automo biles Dogs are used to sacrifice to him 5 Rites of passage 1 ghost child Due to high mortality rates among infants children are not celebrated or named for the first week of their life Africans believe that the child can be possessed by an evil spirit called a joc that wants to hurt the family If the child survives past the first week they are then highly celebrated and given a name 2 circumcision Circumcision is a right of passage for both males and females in African culture It is not preformed however until puberty It is considered abnormal not to get circumcised and can result in the individual being sent away from the tribe or not allowed to get married Females wearing Songe masks preform female circumcision 6 Voodoo The word voodoo comes from the word spirits It is a re ligious practice that is misunderstood in today s culture Not all voodoo is bad 7 Living water Water is considered sacred to Africans They be lieve that spirits can live in the water and because of this water is not to be boiled or chemically treated because it could harm the spirits The water must come from a moving source such as a river or spring to be considered holy 8 Sacrifice Food and water were commonly sacrificed Animals and humans were rarely sacrificed Aboriginal 1 2 3 4 Dreamtime Dreamtime is central to Aboriginal religion and is considered the creation period of people and Animals Ancestral beings dreamed and the stuff they dreamed became real Abo riginal people believe that when they dream they are seeing im ages from the creation period Stories of the dreamtime are of ten told to children The rainbow serpent is one of the stories told to children which describes the creation of mountains and lakes Ancestral beings Ancestral beings are essentially human and are associated with tangible forms such as animals plants and the landscape which is a record of their activities Ancestral be ings can create natural objects or be represented by natural ob jects but Aborigines do not believe in animism Ancestral beings also taught people how to hunt make tools and they created the laws and taught the proper ways to preform ceremonies Three fold connection The three fold connection is repre sented by the elbow It is sustained by the three rituals below Ritual a Re enactments of totemic beings lives and invoke their powers to sustain the tribe b Male and female initiation called a
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