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Nativistic Religious Movements Among Indians of the United States Nativistic religious movements among Indians of the United States Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Daugherty, Mary Ann Parke, 1940- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 04/10/2021 02:43:02 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/551744 NATIVISTIC RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS AMONG INDIANS OF THE UNITED STATES by Mary Ann Daugherty A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1 9 6 4 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR Assistant Professor of Anthropology PREFACE This study was undertaken in absentia from the University of Arizona under a Summer Research Fellowship for Graduate Assistants from the National Science Foundation. I wish to acknowledge the assistance of San Diego State College for making the college library available for research. I also wish to thank my advisor, Dr. Malcolm Me Fee, and the mem­ bers of my thesis committee. Dr. Edward P. Dozier and Dr. Raymond Thompson, for their help. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS P a g e A B S T R A C T . ................................................................................................................... v i TH E P R O B L E M ............................................................................................................... 1 In tro d u c tio n ..................................................................................................... 1 D efin itio n of T e r m s ........................................................................................... 2 S u m m a ry of P re v io u s R e s e a r c h ................................................................... 3 H ISTO RICA L C O N T E X T ........................................................................................... 7 A Review of Indian-White Relations ................................................. 7 P ro b le m s of th e In d ian T o d a y ........................................................................ 9 NATIVISTIC MOVEMENTS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI .... 11 D e la w a re P r o p h e t - -1 7 6 2 ................................................................................ 11 Shaw nee P r o p h e t- - 1 8 0 5 . ................................................................................ 14 H an d so m e L a k e - -1 7 9 9 ........................................................................... 20 K an ak u k - -1820 ......................................................................................... 24 NATIVISTIC MOVEMENTS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST . 28 W ashani--Pre-contact ..................................................................................... 28 Iro q u o is C u lt- -1830 .......................................................................................... 29 S m o h a lla -- ! 850 .................................................................................................... 29 K o la sk in --1 8 7 0 ...................................................................... 33 S h a k e r is m - - ! 882 ............................................................................................... 34 P o m -P o m C u lt--1 9 0 4 ................................................................................ 42 N A TIV ISTIC M O V EM EN TS O F T H E S O U T H W E S T ............................... 47 Pueblo Revolt--1680 ............................. 47 N a k a id o k lin --1 8 7 0 ............................................................................................... 47 D ahgodi y a h - -1 9 0 0 ............................................................................................... 48 Big John Edwards--1921 ................................................................................ 49 iv V TABLE OF CONTENTS--Continued P a g e NATIVISTIC MOVEMENTS OF THE BASIN AND PLAINS .... 52 The Ghost Dance--1870 ........................ 52 T he E a r th L o d g e C u lt........................................................................... 54 B o le -M a ru .......................................................................... 55 T h e G h o st D a n c e --1 8 9 0 ................................................................................ 59 A PA N -IN D IA N N A TIV ISTIC M O V E M E N T .................................................. 67 P e y o te C u lt- -1885 .......................................................................................... 67 R E S U L T S O F T H E S T U D Y ................................................................................ 79 C o m p a ris o n of th e M o v e m e n ts ................................................................. 79 Conclusions ........................ 81 S u m m a r y ........................................................................................................ 86 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 87 ABSTRACT Nativistic religious movements among the Indians of the United States from 1680 to the present day are discussed. These movements sought by supernatural means to restore selected elements of aborig­ inal culture. In most cases the cults were begun by one individual who based his teachings on a vision experience. Some of the problems which beset the Indian peoples following contact with Europeans are examined also. These include the intro­ duction of new diseases, the depletion of game herds causing loss of sustenance, and the discrimination against the Indians by the dominant peoples. It is theorized that these difficulties, coupled with the sub­ ordinate political position of the Indians resulted in many individual Indians becoming maladjusted. It is concluded that these maladjusted Indians were responsible for the initial acceptance of the movements. v i THE PROBLEM Introduction On a cold night in 1762 the air rang with excited voices as the Delaware Indians discussed a strange new religion, a miraculous faith with power to free the Indian lands from the encroaching W hites. Today, two centuries later, as dawn breaks over the prairie, the descendants of these same Delawares reverently contemplate the "Father Peyote" while the last notes of the Water Song bring to a close the night-long ritual of the Peyote Way. These two seemingly unrelated events have much in common. Both are manifestations of the many religious movements which arose among the Indians of the United States following their contact with Europeans. These new faiths were attempts on the part of the Indians to seek supernatural aid to protect their lands, their means of sustenance, their customs, and their very lives from the ravages of the European conquest. Often these religions took a m ilitant tone, exhorting the faithful to expel the hated intruders. On other occasions the new cults promised that the Whites would vanish magically if only certain practices were followed. Several movements did not include anti-white hostility in their doctrines but taught instead accommodation and peaceful coexistence with the conquerors. 1 2 It is my intention to compare these movements in an attempt to discover the factors which were responsible both for their formation and their popularity. To this end the history, ceremonial pattern, and doctrine of each movement will be presented against a backdrop of Indian - White relations during the past 200 years. A discussion of the problems of the individual Indian during this period will follow, lest in our study of these religions as social phenomena we forget the im por­ tance of the individual worshipers who created and supported them. Definition of Terms Since this paper deals with the problems which arise when two cultures come into prolonged contact with one another, it is necessary to define a few basic term s used to describe such situations. Invalu­ able in examining the phenomenon of culture contact is the concept of acculturation. Though this term has been defined by many, e. g. Redfield, Linton, Herskovits (1936: 149) and Spicer (1961: 379), I prefer the definition by Herskovits (1958: 10) which sees acculturation as "comprehending those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into contiguous first-hand contact, with subsequent changes in the original cultural patterns of either or both groups.11 Acculturation may be distinguished from the process of diffusion in that the latter does not imply first-hand con­ tact. Both these term s differ from assimilation, a concept used to 3 describe
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