Characteristics Of Native American Religion

The native american religion combined elements of Christianity with Native beliefs. It rejected white-American culture, which made it difficult to control the “tribes” by the United States. Many of these groups had their own beliefs though many of them were similar in the major aspects. At the time of Europe contact, all but the simplest indigenous cultures in North America developed religious systems that included “cosmologies”, which explains how those societies had come into being. The members of most tribes believed in the immortality of the human soul and an afterlife, the main feature of which was the abundance of every good thing that made earthly life secure and pleasant. Native American religions are the spiritual practices of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

The animals, plants, landscape, and other environmental elements play a major role in the religion of Native Americans. Many of the legends passed down were an attempt to explain events that occured in nature. Native American religion includes a number of practices, ceremonies, and traditions. These ceremonies are in honor of a number of events. The practice of taking certain hallucinogens was commonly used to gain greater insight or to communicate with the gods. Ceremonies include feasts, music, dances, and other performances. Symbolism is often a common part of Native American religion. Animals were used to represent certain ideas, characteristics, and spirits. Some tribes used animals to tell the story of creation. In the past, Native American religion was not classified as a religion. Their beliefs were not understood and the complexity of their religion was not