Polygamy In The Great Spirit

Marriage was very common and a repeated act. Divorce within the Shawnee was common but there is no report of polygamy. When marriage did happen the man had to receive the goodwill of the bride’s family, specifically her brothers, uncle, and then the father; in that order. Gifts were given to the bride’s family. Once the acceptance of gifts were exchanged the marriage could commence. To the Shawnee religion and science were the same. There is no distinction. To them there is one giver of life called “The Great Spirit”. The Shawnee did not believe in forcing their religion upon others. So, they did not believe in other cultures trying to impose their religions upon them. They did not respect the white men who tried to impose their Christianity faith upon them. To the Shawnee “The Great Spirit” would take care of them and used “magic” to cure themselves. They used remedies of herbs and sunlight to ward away the spirits of the evil that were inside the body. The fact was the Shawnee did believe in witches. Witches to them were not healers. If a person became well “to fast” that Shaw men would be accused of witch craft, and like the whites, would burn them at the stake or make a long incision in the body to extract the witch

The whites came upon the land and right off started a relationship with many Indian tribes of trade. The Shawnee were one of those tribes. The Shawnee would hunt more game to relieve them of their hide, and trade the hide off to the settlers for manufactured products. This cycle started out ok. Over the years the trade actually placed the Shawnee into debt with the settlers. They could not capture or kill enough animals to trade for the equipment the Shawnee gained, such as weapons. The Shawnee, though, would keep trading because the other tribes would do the same and who ever had the better equipment had the best protection. This became a vicious cycle, except with the