Was Native American rituals worshipping God or where they paganistic?

Question

The Native Americans practiced many rituals, and still do. Are they paganistic or are they a form of worship to God?

Answer 1

some of you are saying great spirit, no that is what they called the god of the white man after they were forced to worship the white mans god and become christians. the white men actually took the children and made them practice christianity. the children were taken away from thier families and taken to a home something like an orphanage and made to speak english and forced to never speak in thier own native tongue. they forced the adults the same way. any way,the natives did not worship the same god as the white men until the whites came here and they were not worshipping the devil. some tribes used peyote as a drug to go to certain places that were sacred. thier god helped them to respet nature and others. sure there were some bad tribes just like today. but why do so many think that if you arent christian then you are dirt. the gods of the native americans were worth worshipping too. and if the white man wouldnt have fdorced the natives to serve thier god and speak english and "took them out of the heathen way they were living" then maybe it would be a better world today. go read a few books about how it really was, and dont believe everything in the history books and get to know how gentle and kind they were. and they didnt disrespect the earth or anything on it either. could that have been the results of worshipping a good god or gods maybe? think about it and read,read,read. merry christmas!
p.s. if the white mans god told them to do that to such fine and gentle people then im glad i am not a christian. but i dont really think that the christian god told them to do that. i think it was somebody from the other side. what do you think? p.s. so far i think cris c is the closest to the best answer i have seen. good work cris c!!!!!!!!

Answer 2

Since there were/are about 500 + different tribes in North America alone that question is a little difficult to answer. A little of both.

More settled tribes in the east seemd to practice religions that were more in line with worshipping God and some, specifically the Cherokee accepted Christianity almost immediately since it was so similar to what they already knew and practiced.

Nomadic Western tribes were a bit different with Peyote and such. Thats not to say, however, they were less "spiritual".

A proper answer to this would end up sounding like a college level course outline.

Answer 3

Actually, there were rain dances. The Native Americans were much more rational than today's Christians. They didn't pray to a supposedly all-knowing god or any god, they did rituals for rain without a mention of god. If there were only Natives in our world, everyone would be happy without god.

Answer 4

This all depends on which God you are talking about, and which tribe.

For the most part Native American Tribes are animists in their religion, however, some do worship the Great Spirit as Creator.

Answer 5

Blackfoot mythology
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The Blackfoot are a tribe of Native Americans who currently live in Montana and Alberta. They lived north and west of the Great Lakes and came to participate in Plains Indian culture.

Contents [hide]
1 Cosmology
2 Misc
3 The Buffalo Dance
4 Source



[edit] Cosmology
In Blackfoot mythology there is also a supernatural world, dominated above the natural world by the sun, and below by the beaver. The sun is sometimes personified by the part human Napi, or Old Man. The area in which the Blackfoot lived was created by Old Man exploring the area on his way north. (Nettl, 1989)

The numbers four, the cardinal directions, and seven, the six principle points and center, are important in Blackfoot mythology. Communication occurs between the supernatural world and Blackfoot through visions of guardian spirits, during which useful songs and ceremonies may be imparted, such as that of medicine bundles. Ceremonies include the Sun Dance, called Medicine Lodge by the Blackfoot in English. Napi also gave the Blackfoot visions, and by implication Blackfoot music: "Now, if you are overcome, you may go and sleep, and get power. Something will come to you in your dream, that will help you. Whatever these animals tell you to do, you must obey them....Whatever animal answers your prayer, you must listen to him." (Nettl, 1989)


[edit] Misc
Apikunni is the inventor of tobacco and made the first war-time killing with an aspen stick.

The Sta-au are a type of ghost, specifically the ghost of cruel men and women. Most deceased lived in the certain part of the hills, but the Sta-au would hang around camps. They caused bad luck and harm to living people, especially near sunset and after dark.


[edit] The Buffalo Dance
One of the primary sources of food and other needs was the American Bison. The typical hunting method was drive a herd off a cliff and butcher them after they died at the bottom of the cliff. Similar methods were used in ancient Europe.

The night before, the shaman ceremonially smokes tobacco and prays to the sun. His wives are not allowed to leave their home, nor even look outside, until he returns; they were to pray to the sun and continually burn sweet grass. Fasting and dressed in a bison headdress, the shaman led a group of people at the head of a V formation. He attracted the herd's attention and brought them near the cliff; they were then scared by other men hiding behind them, who waved their robes and shouted. The bison ran off the cliff and died at the rocks below.

According to legend, at one point the bison refused to go over the cliff. A woman walking underneath the cliff saw a herd right on the edge and pledged to marry one which jumped down. One did so and survived, turning into many dead buffalo at the bottom of the cliff. The woman's people ate the meat and the young woman left with the buffalo. Her father went in search of her. When he stopped to rest, he told a magpie to search for his daughter and tell her where he was. The magpie found the woman and told her where her father was located. The woman met her father but refused to go home, frightened that the bison would kill her and her father; she said to wait until they were all asleep and would not miss her for some time. When she returned to the bison, her husband smelled another person and, gathering his herd, found the father and trampled him to death. The woman cried and her husband said that if she could bring her father back to life, they could both return to their tribe. The woman asked the magpie to find a piece of her father's body; he found a piece of his spine. The woman covered the bone with her robe and sang a song. She was successful and her father was reincarnated. Impressed, the woman's husband taught them a dance which would attract the bison and ensure success in the hunt and which would restore the dead bison to life, just as the woman had restored her father to life. The father and daughter returned to their tribe and taught a small group of men, eventually known as I-kun-uh'-kah-tsi ("all compatriots"), the dances.




Joe F. Salazar

The Blackfoot also dance the Grass Dance, which they absorbed from the Assiniboin in the 1890s. (Nettl, 1989, p.106)

Answer 6

I'm a christian, so I believe any God other than the God of the bible is a false god. So I believe Native Americans worshipped false gods. It's not to say they are not people just like me and deserve to have a choice to worship as they choose, but in my opinion it is worshipping false Gods.

Answer 7

They worshipp god in a way but there rituals are to the creation of god like wind and such!!!
they also believe in a all powerful which is the spirit

Answer 8

They worship the creation, not the creator. Therefore, they could be considered Pantheistic. Pantheism is also a natural development of animism. They are concerned with the spirit world, with many references to animal spirits and all aspects of nature, as well as the "great spirit".

Answer 9

Pagans worship gods.

Answer 10

The Lakota Sioux are very monotheistic....their Great Spirit is so much like the god of the Bible it amazes me. I have great respect for the Lakota...and many of them are dedicated Christians...they had no trouble making the step to Christianity because we are so similar.