World Religions. Part 2: Indigenous Religious Traditions. Our Class Web Site: Dirk s Contact Info

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1 Slide 1 World Religions Part 2: Indigenous Religious Traditions Our Class Web Site: Dirk s Contact Info Phone: (Bethany Church s main number) drodgers@bethanychurch.com Facebook Page: Pastor Dirk Rodgers Tumblr: Dirk s Web Site: Bethany Church Web Site:

2 Slide 2 There seems to be a broadly prevalent idea that the Indians lacked a religion Rather than being without a religion, every act of his life was according to divine prompting. Cited in Robert M. Wright, Indigenous Religious Traditions, Chapter 1 of Religions of the World, ed. Lawrence Sullivan (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2013), 31. Edward S. Curtis Image Source: m/2012/12/lessons-fromphotographer-edward-s.html ; accessed 11/12/2015

3 Slide 3 What are Indigenous Religious Traditions? Religious beliefs and practices limited to a particular people group, culture and geographic area

4 Slide 4 Other Terms for these Traditions Native Religions Oral Religions Folk Religions Primal Religions

5 Slide 5 The Challenge of Diversity Region Language Culture World-view

6 Slide 6 Common Assumptions within Most Indigenous Religious Traditions 1. All things share somehow in a universal, animating power ( mana ).

7 Slide 7 Image Source: skapi-frank-gspeck/prod html; accessed 11/12/2015 The Naskapi (Canada) For the Naskapi, the whole world is filled with soul, Mantu. The physical world is real, but just as real are the souls that animate it. Stars, trees, wind, thunder, fish, birds, animals, and humans are all activated by souls. Warren Matthews, World Religions, 6 th ed. (Belmont: Wadsworth, 2007, 2010), 16.

8 Slide 8 The Maori (New Zealand) The Kumara does not talk about its own sweetness. Image Source: accessed 11/12/2015 Maorian Proverb, cited in anga/default.php?pid=sp98 &parent=95, accessed 11/12/2015

9 Slide 9 Common Assumptions within Most Indigenous Religious Traditions 2. Spirits are everywhere present and active within our world ( animism ).

10 Slide 10 Shinto (Japan) Image Source: Kami can be elements of the landscape or forces of nature. Painting by Morikuni ( ) on/religions/shinto/beliefs/ kami_1.shtml accessed 11/12/2015 I do not yet understand the meaning of the word 'kami'. In the most general sense, it refers to all divine beings of heaven and earth that appear in the classics. More particularly, the kami are the spirits that abide in and are worshipped at the shrines. Motoori Norinaga, 18 th century Shinto scholar Cited in Accessed 11/12/2015

11 Slide 11 Jarai (Vietnam) Guardian spirit of a Jarai tomb in Kon Tum Province Image Source: accessed 11/12/2015 Animist beliefs are still strong and the Jarai world is peopled with spirits, the most famous of which are the kings of Water, Fire and Wind, represented by shamans who are involved in rain-making ceremonies and other rituals. Vets with a Mission, entral.html, accessed 11/12/2015

12 Slide 12 Common Assumptions within Most Indigenous Religious Traditions 3. Death marks a transition into another world, a belief that often manifests itself in the veneration of ancestors.

13 Slide 13 Zulu (Africa) For the Zulu, the ancestors live in the earth under the kraal (the circular arrangement of huts). Image Source: accessed 11/12/2015 Winfried Corduan, Neighboring Faiths: A Christian Introduction to World Religions, 2 nd ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2013, 222.

14 Slide 14 Korean Folk Traditions Many scholars identify two types of spirits namely the good or benevolent ancestor and the evil spirit or ghost The distinction between these two spirits is generally held to be the manner in which they met their deaths. Lee Kwang Kyu, The Concept of Ancestors and Ancestor Worship in Korea, Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 43 (1984), 199. A son sends his deceased father a message through the medium of fire at the conclusion of a sumptuous ancestor ceremony called Jaesa ( 제사 ). Just a few minutes later we devoured every last scrap of food on the table, and then some. Image Source: accessed 11/13/2015

15 Slide 15 Common Assumptions within Most Indigenous Religious Traditions 4. Certain individuals are gifted and often trained to engage with the spirit world and work with the universal life force ( Shaman ).

16 Slide 16 Algonquin Tribes (USA) Pete Bernard, Algonquin Medicine Man Image Source: accessed 11/14/2015 The Algonquian tribes of the Northeast (for example, the Ojibwa and the Cree) share a special shamanistic rite called the shaking tent ceremony. The shaman performs this ritual as a service for clients of his tribe. Corduon, 247.

17 Slide 17 Cachoeira Uapui (Brazil) Anthropologist, Robin Wright (left) attends the inauguration of a School for Shamans Image Source: accessed 11/30/2015 We pledge...to create new programs (such as shamanic art courses) and to explore ways in which the Western biomedical knowledge and the metaphysics of shamanism can benefit each other. Robin Wright, cited in accessed 11/30/2015.

18 Slide 18 Common Assumptions within Most Indigenous Religious Traditions 5. Traditions regarding the spirit world are best preserved through oral and ritual transmission from one generation to another. Mythologies are therefore a rich source of inspiration and direction.

19 Slide 19 Image Source: ki/yoruba_religion accessed 11/30/2015 Yoruba (West Africa) Yoruba artist, Stool for Eşu Priest or Priestess, late 19th-early 20th century, in the Princeton University Art Museum According to a very ancient Yoruba hymn, the story goes that 1700 Orisa gathered together to conspire against Olodumare, and to challenge his absolute authority and power over everything. Corduon, 247.

20 Slide 20 Tlingit (Alaska & Canada) Tagaban blends commentary, story, vision, spirit and honor. The performance features song, dance, music Gene Tagaban, The Raven Dancer Image and text Source: 11/30/2015 and regalia, as Tagaban shares contemporary and traditional Native American anecdotes.

21 Slide 21 Reflection Question #2 Do Indigenous Religious Traditions correctly assume that the world is filled with spirits with whom we must interact? Why or why not?