Focusing on three diverse indigenous traditions, Native American Religious Traditions highlights the distinct oral traditions and ceremonial practices.
Focusing on three diverse indigenous traditions, Native American Religious Traditions highlights the distinct oral traditions and ceremonial practices; the impact of colonialism on religious life; and the ways in which indigenous communities of North America have responded, and continue to respond, to colonialism and Euroamerican cultural hegemony.
Foreword 7
Preface 9
Timeline 12
Map 15
1: Religion in Action: Transcendence,
Thanksgiving, and Transformation 16
Religion on the ground 19
The Lakota Sun Dance 19
First Salmon ceremony on Puget Sound 25
The Dine Kinaalda 30
Conclusion 38
2: Philosophical Foundations: Religion
as Relationship 40
Lakota origins 41
Sacred power on the Northern Plains 43
To renew one's life: Inipi 45
Crying for a dream: Hanbleceyapi 45
Coast Salish traditions 47
The role of Transformer 47
Guardian spirits and spiritual power 50
Foundations of Dine traditions 54
Dine emergence 55
Dine notions of power 57
Conclusion 60
3: Defending Sacred Ground: Assimilation
and Resistance in the Colonial Era 62
1812-1960: Termination, assimilation, and removal 63
Indigenous responses: Reconstructing religious
and cultural life 69
The Lakota: The Ghost Dance 71
The Coast Salish: The Indian Shaker Church 75
The Dine: The Long Walk 79
Conclusion 82
4: Contemporary and Traditional: Native American
Religious Traditions Today 84
The American Indian Movement: Contemporary
political activism 84
The Native American Church 88
Contemporary Lakota spirituality: Situating the Sun Dance 90
Coast Salish longhouse spirit dancing 95
Dine chantways and sand paintings 97
Art Focus: Dine sand painting 98
Conclusion 104
5: Sovereignty, Ecology, and Religious Freedom
in the Next Millennium 105
Cultural survival: New Age appropriation, intellectual
property rights, repatriation, and sovereignty 105
Art Focus: Contemporary Coast Salish art 108
Ecological survival: The Black Hills, Devil's Tower,
old growth cedar, and Black Mesa 115
Conclusion: Toward a global indigeneity 124
Notes 127
Glossary 134
Pronunciation Guide 136
Suggested Further Reading 137
Index 141