CHAPTER 1 Indigenous Religious Traditions Robin M. Wright CHAPTER OUTlinE Introduction Beings and Their Relationships Common Elements of Indigenous Religious Creating the World and the Day: A Baniwa Account Traditions from the Northwest Amazon “We Are from the Forest, Earth, and Air”: Universal Study and Discussion Questions Knowledge Key Terms Maintaining Life and Health through Ritual For Further Reading Contact, Displacement, Prophecy: Indigenous Suggested Websites Religious Traditions over Time Notes Cosmogony: The Primordial Times of Creation Cosmology: Space, Time, and the Orderly Structures of the Universe Introduction The category “indigenous religions” of the Orthodoxy, and other so-called world religions world merits an encyclopedia all its own. For, that were complicit with colonialist expansion as many tribal peoples as there are in the world and its repression of the “other peoples” (indig- today, each has its own set of beliefs and rites enous), their rites and beliefs. For centuries, that relate humans and all other living beings colonial societies have denied that indigenous to the ultimate sources of life. Insofar as pos- peoples had “religions” at all; as the great pho- sible, this chapter will present a “tip-of-the- tographer of Native North American cultures iceberg” sort of perspective on the common Edward S. Curtis stated, “There seems to be a concerns expressed in these traditions. I prefer broadly prevalent idea that the Indians lacked to use the terms indigenous religious traditions a religion. Rather than being without a and not indigenous religions because the term religion, every act of his life was according to religion by itself has a colonial connotation for divine prompting.” many indigenous peoples, which reflects their The difficulties in discussing “indigenous historical relations with Christianity, Russian religious traditions” also lie in the fact that, 31 32 Fig. 1.1 Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl) potlatch with dancers and singers in photo by E. S. Curtiss. RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD THE OF RELIGIONS unlike the “world religions,” which have a cen- system of meanings regarding what they believe ter of faith, a body of orthodox doctrine (with to be the ultimate reality. a multitude of local traditions), a relatively uni- Similarly, while scholars can find relative fied politics, a meta-narrative, and a corpus of agreement in meaning among the followers theological texts to which both scholars and of a single “world religion” for notions such as laypeople can refer, indigenous religious tra- “soul,” the “afterlife,” “the person”—with indig- ditions can only be characterized by diversity enous religious traditions, there is such a diver- recognizing that each “people” (or “tribe” or sity of perspectives that, although it is possible “nation”) has a unique vision of how the uni- to speak in general terms about some aspects of verse came into being, is structured, shapes these notions, there are nevertheless wide varia- peoples’ behaviors in life, and can undergo peri- tions in the ways each of them is understood. ods of total collapse followed by regeneration. Indigenous religious traditions, in short, are Those visions are communicated and trans- characterized by heterodoxy in contrast with the mitted mainly through oral narratives or per- orthodoxy of the world religions. There is no set formative remembering of primordial acts in of unique features characterizing all indigenous collective ceremonies. No single set of features religious worldviews. For the purpose of under- can be applied to the creator deities of indige- standing some of their similarities and differ- nous peoples, nor do indigenous peoples neces- ences with the so-called world religions, we will sarily understand the “function” of “creating” in explore the beliefs and practices in a variety of the same way as non-indigenous peoples, since indigenous traditions, but without making any each indigenous culture has elaborated its own claims to universalities. 33 Some Common Elements in continuity of the order established in primor- C Indigenous Religious Traditions dial times, through the ritual means bestowed hapter 1: on humans in the primordial past. Indigenous peoples have traditionally I On the most general level, native traditions sought to forge their ways of life in consonance ndigenous share one or more of the following features in with all other forms of life in their natural sur- their worldviews, or orientations to ultimate real- roundings. This has profound consequences for ity: (1) They attribute enormous importance R understanding their spiritualities. Firstly, all of eligious to ancestral lands, sacred geography, and local life is conceived in terms of innumerable short- sacred sites, which are seen as portals to the pri- and long-term cycles, from the short cycles of T mordial past through which people can receive flowering plants and the alternation of day and raditions the original life-force of their own deities or night to the longer cycles of human life, the ancestors. (2) Access to sacred knowledge is life of social units, to the longest cycle of all: gained by those who have undergone the trials the cosmos, which—like human life—is born, and privations of initiation or are apprentices grows old, transforms to the spirit world, and to the religious specialists. (3) Great value is regenerates in a new cycle. Concepts of human invested in kinship obligations (consanguin- life cycles are thus modeled on other life cycles eal and affinal) and their fulfillment, which of the world around them and the larger cos- are considered to be the arena of harmony and mos in which their world is situated. From the conflict, as well as key features in native peo- time children begin to become aware of the ples’ orientations to ultimate reality. (4) The ways of the world, they are taught to be mor- sacred traditions are transmitted principally ally responsible for respecting and maintaining by oral and performative means, through nar- these cycles. ratives about prior worlds, when communica- The extent to which indigenous religious tions between humans and other-than-human traditions have developed calendric modes beings (animals, spirits, deities) were normal. of time passage, the cycles sometimes can be (5) They emphasize demonstrations of gener- extraordinarily long—for example, the Maya osity, giving thanks to the creators for the gift and Aztec of Central America are celebrated of life and abundance, showing humility and for having developed “long count calendars” rejection of displays of individual power and that last tens of thousands of years, starting arrogance, seeking to abide by the “ways” of from the calculated date of creation to a fore- the ancestors, and being respectful to animals seen “end-time,” followed by the regeneration or other nonhuman beings. (6) They recognize of life. It is remarkable how indigenous cultures the sacred powers of the spirits and deities and the world over celebrate cosmos-generating rit- their material embodiment and emplacement uals with such calendric precision that the reli- in this world. These powers can be overwhelm- gious specialists guard and transmit the times ing—dangerously mixed blessings that impart of long-cycle transitions over many generations to humanity special knowledge—or they can be (e.g., the new fire ceremony of the Aztecs, cel- focused in benevolent, caring, strong leadership ebrated every fifty-two years; or the Sigi cer- that guides humans through their life crises. emony among the Dogon of Mali, which are (7) They share responsibility in ensuring the celebrated in cycles of sixty years). 34 is called animism. All beings in nature are ani- mate, exercise intention (hunting, making shel- ters, performing rituals); however, the bodies of nonhuman beings (birds, fish, trees, stones) differ from humans and amongst themselves. Consequently, their perceptions of, and per- spectives on, the life around them, their rela- tions to other kinds of beings, and their senses of time and space vary. While many indigenous peoples believe that distinct kinds of beings may RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD THE OF RELIGIONS share similar cultural patterns, the perceptions of these “other peoples’ ” own worlds—which are biologically, historically, and culturally situ- ated—in turn shape the ways they understand and relate to each other. So, according to the stories, a human may see a vulture (of the “vul- ture people,” considered to be a potentially treacherous tribe) eating grubs from a rotten log on the ground, but from the vulture’s point of view, it is actually catching live fish from a pool Fig. 1.2 Dogon masks, Mali, Africa. of water. The vulture, from its perspective, sees as living food what humans see as rot; the rot of the vulture in turn can ruin the corporeal beauty of human beings, making what was once beau- Dogon mask dance. They are actors in tiful become ugly with an abominable stench. a cosmic theater, aiming to re-create the Shamans are prime examples of what it creation of the world, of men, of vegetable means to have a multi-perspectival point of view and animal species, and of the stars. What of the “worlds” that constitute the cosmos since is happening is that this period of danger they have been schooled in the mastery of the and disorder that has been brought about knowledge and powers of the “other peoples” in by death is now brought to an end by the order to communicate with them. When a sha- evocation of the fundamental moments in man’s soul transforms into a jaguar, to the out- the genesis of the universe. The audience, side observer, it may look like he is “snuffing” or enthusiastic but solemn, watches with great drinking a psychoactive, but from the shaman- attention the development of the different jaguar’s point of view, he is actually “drinking stages in the ritual. the blood of a deity,” that is, incorporating its Secondly, humans are one among many life-force, which enables the shaman’s soul to kinds of animate beings who share in life- transform into an other kind of being, a jaguar forces, or “souls,” and whose “ways of life” or spirit, and fly into the other world of the deities.