Ryan Smith

Research Post 1

October 25, 2012

The State of Native American Religion, Post I:

Theft of Sky, Theft of Ground

Questions, I

Questions involving the religion of Native Americans are massive to begin with and only expand as they are studied. For one, there is no one distinct body of people who can be called Native Americans—hundreds of groups may fall under this term. And what is meant by religion? Are we concerned with general spiritual beliefs? Differences from Western (and even Eastern) ways of thinking? Specific religious texts? The ways into such a labyrinth are many, and the way out unclear. Reading Black Elk Speaks opened secret doors for me (or windows, or whatever metaphor you prefer) into a never-considered sort of spiritual thinking. Partly, this is from the eloquence of the book’s narrative, but Vine Deloria, Jr.’s introduction may have been the actual catalyst. His words are bold (but just how assuming?), and thought-provoking: in our hands is something to rival the Western and Eastern religious traditions, in all their power, and inescapability. It takes religious movements time, he says, to expand, refine, and take root, before they explode into gorgeous, satisfying fruition.

And I would like this to be true, frankly. I may not believe in it, as they say, but I have a certain Bokononist’s desire to see beautiful ways of thinking and living prevail, their objective truth aside. So what is true here? I want to ask, simply, is this religious movement possible, or is it (however noble) wishful thinking? There is almost certainly too much here to grasp at once, so I may extend this research directly into another post—if I’m not led to a path more narrow. To stay with paths, it is my hope that approaching such a broad topic from different perspectives will be something like putting together a puzzle, with each piece saying little on its own, but contributing to an illuminating “big picture.” Limiting research to the Black Elk/Sioux tradition does not appear possible—the support may be, as in the case of Hilda Neihardt, too quiet—so while I will take closely related sources as they come, the research will generally concern the current state of Native American religion. Too reduce repetition, I will use the term Native American (and its abbreviation) and Indian interchangeably, with as much respect as possible.

“Is Religion Possible? An Evaluation of Present Efforts to Revive Traditional Tribal Religions”— Vine Deloria, Jr.

http://libproxy.uhcl.edu:2093/stable/pdfplus/1409362.pdf?acceptTC=true

Vine Deloria, Jr. is a big name in Native American activism, and seemed a sensible place to begin. In this brief essay, he reflects on the state of Native American religious traditions, namely by considering the dominant-culture response of either forbidding these traditions—in the case of the government—or quasi-practicing them, in the case of well-meaning but misguided New Age types. Wondering about the spread of traditional practices, he comes to realize that Indians themselves are doing some proselytizing—namely, the Sioux, who seem more inclined to this than other tribes. This, however, is a recently new development, as the vast majority of Indian peoples see their practices as tribe-specific, intended for the use of a particular culture, in a particular place, during a particular time. This also means that each tribe’s religious practices are specific to that tribe. I was reminded of one of the course’s creation stories—James E. Seaver’s descriptions of native people in the Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jeminson—how the Indians acknowledged the likeliness that Christianity was true and useful for white people, but wholly unsuited for them—their own beliefs and practices were much more appropriate, thank you. Ideas such as this seem to be fairly common in Native American thinking, and further complicate the standard Western notion of “objective truth.” The nature of religious experience for native peoples is similarly unusual for non-Indian: the basic workings of reality are already in place for each tribe, but each person’s religious experiences are unique, and may or may not affect the beliefs and practices of the rest of the tribe. Despite these differences, Deloria acknowledges a millennial trend in modern Indian belief, quite possibly adopted from contact with Christianity; these ancient beliefs, he thinks, may be valuable to teach human beings better planetary stewardship after a possible cataclysm. The essay ends with a useful look to the future: “In a real sense we cannot 'revive' a religion for that is going backwards. What we can do is respect religious traditions and allow them to take us forward into the future. That is all the old ways promised they would do” (Deloria 39).

“Plastic Shamans and Astroturf Sun Dances: New Age Commercialization of Native American Spirituality”—Lisa Aldred

            http://libproxy.uhcl.edu:2200/journals/american_indian_quarterly/v024/24.3aldred.html

Lisa Aldred’s article begins by describing the various ways in which New Age culture has appropriated and literally bought into Native American spirituality. As in Deloria’s piece, appropriated practices lose their authenticity when they are removed from their community contexts, often becoming offensive or comical—such as the innocuous “care crystals” for pets, or the brazen selling of “sweat tents.” The general Native American response has been various forms of outrage, each revealing different travesties. The highly commercial nature of New Age takes on Indian religion is relatively overt: books on the subject sell millions of copies, and classes promoting or teaching N.A. spirituality are taught for hundreds of dollars per person. These religious products may momentarily sooth existentially distraught Americans, but the commodification of sacred practices has divorced them from their original meanings. Native Americans also scoff at the touted “religious freedom” of such people, remembering that their religious freedom has often been of no concern to the country’s government and people. Indians are also well aware of the romanticizing of their spiritual beliefs, which is conveniently sympathetic while simultaneously absolving any responsibility or guilt concerning the oppression and elimination of said culture.

“Sacred Lands and Human Understanding”—Vine Deloria, Jr.

http://www.bobbybridger.com/bb_about_hh_sacredlands.html

Changing paths, another article by Vine Deloria, Jr. presents the problem of sacred lands and the government intrusion thereof. Despite the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Resolution Act, which instructs “federal agencies to accommodate the practice of traditional religions wherever possible,” cases brought up by Indians in order to protect traditionally sacred lands are routinely ruled against; as seems to classically be the case between dominate (white) culture and Native American relations, hopeful words are put on paper, then ignored or directly violated. After this predictable—though no less disheartening—description, Deloria speaks about religious ceremonies “required to keep the balance of the natural world intact,” the heart of Native American spiritual practice: “Indians are not falling away from their traditional ceremonies; they are being forced to abandon them by the United States government.” In this concise but powerful statement is a possible answer, something to sate my curiosity a bit. Certainly, many Native Americans have converted to Christianity or another religion, and others have simply drifted (or leaped) into modern secularism, but non-practice by force is something else entirely. And it makes unfortunate sense, considering the geographic nature of such beliefs and practices. The article goes on to differentiate between different forms of sacredness, and also explains that the great threat to N.A. religion is not competing religions—since neither Western nor Eastern religions have such fundamental connections to landscape—but the capitalist ventures of energy companies, ski resorts and the like.

“Preservation as Perpetuation”—Marcia Pablo

http://libproxy.uhcl.edu:2200/journals/american_indian_quarterly/v025/25.1pablo.html

In this letter (or possibly a converted speech), Marcia Pablo—“a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes”—asks for the respect of tribal belief, “Cultural Truths”, and sacred land. Echoing Deloria’s concerns about the impossibility of practicing local religion separated from the their ancestral homes, Pablo explains how government takeover of land not only dislodges native people, but disrupts the natural cycles of the earth itself—in this case, by unwarranted digging. Interestingly, in her short time, the author adds another dimension to the idea of sacred places; Indian connections to the land are historical relationships, in a sense: “The First Nations of this continent did not have a written history in book form, as did the non-Indian peoples who came here. Our history is written within our unique and specific cultural landscapes. These places hold the memories of our ancestors, speak to us in the present, and are crucial to our survival, as Indian people, into the future” (18). It is interesting to juxtapose a written history with a geographic one, instead of making the standard oral comparison. Native Americans, then, pass down stewardship and care of the land as history, much as Westerners pass down information in the form of written records. These methods seem disparate, yet each has a different sort of value; the first anchoring people to the earth which supports them, and which they in turn must nurture; the second, fostering intellectual discussion and providing disembodied records for future generations. (Though one may say a mountain’s history may be a much more permanent, and poignant, record than a book’s). Indian religious practice, as described by Pablo, is explicitly tried to the ancestral home of each tribe, and is unthinkable or impossible without such a relationship.

Questions, II

While I have found it somewhat difficult to directly ascertain the state of Native American religious practice—as predicted from the start, admittedly—several new ways of thinking about the possibilities have helped thus far. Reading reactions to the appropriation and warping of Indian religious practices has given me insight into the nature of those practices, and their function for the people who traditionally perform them; spiritual practice may be both inherently communal and deeply personal, but it is not a mystic commodity. Considering the political struggles between native peoples and the US government over sacred land and places puts the standard “Indians are connected to the land” generalization into a deeper perspective; as noted, religious beliefs are intimately tied to a specific people, inhabiting a particular place, lasting for a certain amount of time. To be disconnected from sacred places—and perhaps any land which supports and nurtures is holy—or to watch these places be destroyed or built over, is to be profoundly disconnected from the possibility of meaningful spiritual practice.  

This last thought is, perhaps, a way into the next research post. So much of Native American spiritual culture and religious practice is so deeply rooted in the land of their ancestors it seems difficult—and possibly erroneous—to identify a sort of abstract, religious “truth” which is disconnected from such places and rituals. Further research may present political struggles for sacred land, or examine the ways and reasons traditional religious practice is being abandoned or preserved. Some preliminary scouting reveals two other options: the necessity for dedicated Native American Studies scholarship, and the possibility of Indian nationhood. These topics may work together or converge, or they may dissipate and make way for a more worthwhile road.

Works Cited

Aldred, Lisa. “Plastic Shamans and Astroturf Sun Dances: New Age Commercialization of Native American Spirituality.” The American Indian Quarterly 24.3 (2000): 329-352. Web. 25 October 2012.

Deloria, Jr., Vine. “Is Religion Possible? An Evaluation of Present Efforts to Revive Traditional Tribal Religions.” Wicazo Sa Review 8.1 (1992): 35-9. Web. 25 October 2012.

Deloria, Jr., Vine. “Sacred Lands and Human Understanding.” Hoka Hey! (1992). Web. October 25 2012.

Pablo, Marcia. “Preservation as Perpetuation.” The American Indian Quarterly 25.1 (2001): 18-20. Web. October 25 2012.