|
PART ONE
begins with an exploration
of Native American concepts of God, Creation and Spirituality.
"I think God has many names. We might call him the
Creator. We might call him God. We might call him Allah.
He has many names, but there’s only one God."
Dale Phillips, former Chair, Cocopah tribe
"Our God is a living God. He is the creator of everything.
Even us. And we have to respect the sun, wind, rain, the
fire, the water. We have to respect everything because
it belongs to God."
Edgar Perry, White Mountain Apache, Elder; educator
"...today, people
are trying to define the concept of the Great Spirit,
the concept of the Creator ...in Navajo...We call that
the inherent supernatural qualities. ... there
are spiritual entities in all four directions that’s how
we try to maintain, our sane-ness and maintain a sense
of harmony and balance." Our concept of God is directly
associated with the cycle of life. You know, with the
four seasons... the four parts of the day... That’s what
regulates our mind, our behavior; our attitude."
Dr. Anthony Lee, Dine College, Tsaile Arizona
TRIBAL SPECIFIC
...I am the eagle that flies.
And I fly all over the world.
And the chants of hi-yuh, hi-yuh,
I am all around, like the eagle.
(song) Rupert Encinas , Spiritual leader - Tohono O’ohdam
Nation
The spiritual foundation
of many tribes involves respect for Earth, Water, Air
and Fire (or in some cases sunlight.) But there are numerous
examples of specific differences: The special role of
the saguaro cactus among the Tohono O’ohdam... The role
of dreams and visions among the Cocopah... The relationship
with the rocks and layers of The Grand Canyon among the
Havasupai.
CONTRASTS
There is an identifiable
contrast between Native American spirituality and traditional
Christianity.
"there’s a bigger concern about
the souls of the people (today) as they live:
How to keep the human community going well,
than it is (concern about) souls after they’re dead..."
Professor Donald Bahr, Ph.D.
Anthropologist Arizona State University
THE MIXTURE
And yet, the most common
thing is tribal-specific spirituality mixed with Christianity,
as seen in the nature and trappings of the Catholic Mass
at Santa Rosa village.
"And so there’s many people - just about everybody
-
baptized a Christian, and just about everybody is
buried a Christian."
Professor Donald Bahr, Ph.D.
Anthropologist Arizona State University
NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH
The other significant phenomenon
is the growth of the Native American Church (examined
in detail in Part Two,) a significant element of the Pan-Indian
movement - It is an inclusive religious entity that crosses
traditional tribal and non-tribal theological lines; and
emphasizes a strong social and emotional support system
for those who participate.
THE TALKING CIRCLE
A personal support system is a critical element of the
Pan-Indian movement, a valuable practice is called a Talking
Circle.
THE SWEAT...
has historically been a
practice of many tribes, although it’s use has spread
significantly during the past thirty or forty years with
the pan-Indian movement. It is a purification ceremony
As with many Native American activities, the sweat ceremony
is divided into four parts; or has four rounds.
THE URBAN INDIAN:
SOMETIMES A DILEMMA
"...And a lot of
times, Native American Indian people move to the city
because there are no jobs on the reservation. So they
come and move to the city, they live here, they bring
up their families. And at one time, they had the cultural
teachings and they knew a lot about their tradition, as
when they move into the city and they raise their kids
in the city, their kids don’t get it."
Heidi Quintana, Navajo
Such youngsters can have
a difficult time with the dilemma of trying to be part
of two worlds.
A YOUNG WOMAN REMEMBERS...
"I never knew my
Indian language.. I never even knew half of the cousins
that I met, or my uncles or my aunts. I didn’t know about
any of the ceremonies or any of those things. ...and moving
back to the reservation - having to walk to school every
day, having to live without electricity, having to haul
water, having to, not having running water having to build
fire, having to do my homework by kerosene lamp..."
Heidi Quintana, Navajo
PART TWO
BREATH...
The creation stories of
many Native American tribes, as well as Judaism, Christianity
and Islam - as written in the book of Genesis - tell of
God forming man from the elements of earth, and breathing
in to him, life. But, more so, in many native beliefs,
breath is a medium for carrying prayer to the Creator;
particularly breath given scent and visible form when
mixed with smoke - often the smoke from tobacco. In other
cases, smoke alone - not mixed with breath but made by
ceremonially burning certain plants, plays a spiritual
and protective role.
SMOKE...
"And I always think that, you know, God has a line
to his place and nobody ever sees that line but I realize
that the key is that smoke because the smoke has no limitations
- it can reach all the way into the heavens. "
Dinna Uqualla, Havasupai, Supai Village
MYTHOLOGY OF THE
"GIFT" OF TOBACCO
"...they only had
one leader at that time which did all the talking. And
so the Coyote is always doing something. He was the supernatural
- ...the next time they met, he brought this tobacco...
So when they start using this tobacco in this round house
and they passed this tobacco, it gave the chance for every
man who was present at that time to express themselves,
to say something..."
Rupert Encinas, San Xavier District, Tohono O’ohdam
'JUNITKAJA' (O’ohdam
word)
"We call it JUNE IT KA JA. JUNE IT KA JA in our language
means to smoke; to come together and smoke, and talk about
the importance of things that were going on, give them
personal expressions."
Rupert Encinas, San Xavier District, Tohono O’ohdam
PURE TRADITIONAL
TOBACCO, NO ADDITIVES
"The old timers
never had any problem with it because it was pure tobacco...
Tobacco of the coyote... It had no other additives to
it... And there was probably not as much addiction as
there is now..."
Emmett White, Gila River Pima
SMOKE FROM OTHER THAN
TOBACCO
The Navajos certainly use
smoke. But according to Dr. Anthony Lee it is not from
tobacco, but from various plants that grow naturally on
their huge reservation. These sacred species are treated
reverently.
DIFFERENT PLANT'S
SMOKE FOR DIFFERENT AILMENTS
"...We go to geographic
locations and we make offerings. And we tell the plant
exactly why.... .......we’re taking the plant and in what
way the plant is going to be used. And of course it’s
for the purposes of healing; to heal a person."
Dr. Anthony Lee, Dine College, Tsaile, Arizona
NORTH AMERICAN CHURCH
MEETING (Peyote Sacrament)
When we asked if we could
observe a meeting, we were told, "No, but you may fully
participate in one." To which we agreed. As with any church,
a primary purpose of a gathering is prayer. It has its
own liturgy of rituals, and last from dusk to beyond sunrise.
In our case - in early summer - that totaled eleven-and-one-half
hours. Participants sit on the ground, usually on pillows,
around the parameter of a teepee. Men and women participate
together - this in contrast to some Native American ceremonies
which are separated by gender. Meetings usually involve
members of multiple tribes, and often a sprinkling of
non-Indians. There are protocols regarding how one enters
and exits the teepee; and always facing the fire. Tobacco
and corn husk paper is passed around; rolled, and smoked.
Blessings are offered. Throughout the night individuals
have the opportunity to offer songs, typically in their
native language... and to speak to the gathering....
"The significance
of peyote in the Native American church ceremony is that
we become one with God. In other churches, you TALK to
God. But with the peyote, it helps you, it enlightens
you, it helps you to meditate. It helps you to focus on
concerns which you may have... But symbolically it’s the
same as sacramental wine or the host in other churches."
Austin Nunez, Chairman San Xavier District, Tohono O’ohdam
HEALING / CURING
In the 1960s, Professor
Donald Bahr began forty years of study of O’ohdam spirituality,
including practices relating to certain sicknesses believed
by O’ohdam people to be exclusive to them. In the process
he developed a friendship with a Tohono O’ohdam Medicine
Man named Juan Gregorio, who in his native language, explained
on audio tape, the causes, diagnoses, and cures for what
are called Staying Sicknesses. From these recorded conversations
- included, in part, in this program - Bahr, Gregorio
and others authored a book titled, Pima Shamanism and
Staying Sickness.
CURING PROCEDURES
"So... the person
usually doesn’t know what it is that’s making him sick;
what kind of dangerous object. For this he has to go to
a Medicine Man ....who may be able to find out in a hurry;
sort of like a quick check up event that’s called Kulanmada.
Or it may take all night in a big long ceremony which
is called Duajida. During the ceremony the Medicine Man
sings, and studies things.... After the Medicine Man finds
out what’s the matter, then the sick person has to find
someone who knows how to do a cure; a singing cure, and
also a blowing cure for that kind of dangerous object.
It’s not the same person as the Medicine Man. And it’s
done at a separate occasion. This, too, could take all
night; although sometimes it just takes, ah, a few hours
for a cure, which is called in O’ohdam Wusota - which
means, the blowing The blowing is sometimes done just
with the breath alone. And sometimes it’s breath accompanied
by tobacco smoke. But it seems like it’s the breath, and
not the smoke that really makes the difference. Although
it’s understood that what smoke does is add visibility,
and also a scent to the breath .... so that a person’s
breath can be detected farther away that if it were just
breath without any smoke mixed into it. And the idea is
that wherever the smoke is, so is the breath there, too....
And for these people breath is really the same as soul."
Professor Donald Bahr, Arizona State University
SMOKING COMMERCIAL
TOBACCO
"Smoking for Native
Americans is especially dangerous because of the fact
that we have so much sugar diabetes and when we are diabetic,
our body is having a hard time maintaining its balance
anyway. So when we put the chemicals that are in cigarette
smoke into our bodies, we’re harming that natural health
that we already have that is trying to counteract the
effect of diabetes, and so that adds to our problems if
we smoke. "
Vikki Stevens, MD, San Carlos Apache
CULTURAL PRESERVATION
"There’s a lot
of things that we use here from the earth and from the
trees that help us in our healing that was given to us
by our Jiosh, what we call him today, and of course Elder
Brother before he left said, I will give you these things.
I will give you these things and I will leave them with
you. If you don’t take care of them and you don’t use
them, then I will take it back."
Emmett White, Gila River Pima
SONGS
Some tribal songs are strictly
social...some tell stories of history and mythologies...
Others are sacred, and might only be sung during certain
seasons of the year, or at certain times of day. Many
old tribal songs have been lost altogether. In other cases
the song itself may be known and sung, but the exact meaning
or significance is lost.
DANCE
As with song, Some tribal dance are strictly social...
some tell stories of history and mythologies... Others
are sacred. Many tribes dance in this program. At Supai
Village, a dance group called The Guardians, performed
the Ram Dance for our cameras.
GAMES
Through the ages, Native
American tribes developed and participated in their own
sports and games. These activities often included elements
to build and test strength and endurance, particularly
in young people.
LEGENDS
All American Indian tribes have their own legends handed
down through the years. We are told several, including
those of the Blue Heron... the Owl...and the Guardian
Rocks.
LANGUAGE
The cultural asset most
at risk, and the focus of perhaps the greatest effort,
is language! Historically, the number of Native American
tribes was in the range of five hundred, speaking as many
separate languages or dialects. Today, that number is
greatly reduced. We see Apache Elder/educator Edgar Perry
teaching the Apache language to kindergarten children.
Among the Havasupai at the bottom of the Grand Canyon,
their native language is well known.
"Well, almost all the tribes are losing their language.
This is the ONLY tribe that is still - at least 90% of
the people are completely bilingual, including the children,
which is really rare in this day and age."
Professor John Martin Arizona State University
|
![[INDIAN]](http://historyaz.com/indian.jpg)
