This is a theme that runs through the kinds of categories discussed in the chapter, such as animism, ritual dances, sacrifice, taboos, vision quests, the spirit world, and life after death. The underlying idea appears to be that there is a harmony to nature, and that when this harmony is disrupted bad things happen. Humans contribute to this disruption by harming nature or ignoring the natural cycles, but can also repair the harmony through observing the correct rituals and understanding that they are but part of the natural order. This identification of humans as part of nature, even a lesser part that is ruled by the spirits forces and guided by animal totems, is a distinct feature of these religions.
Nevertheless, interactions between European missionaries and Native Americans show that the latter grasped the challenge posed by European religious beliefs. Since there was some sense of a supreme creator in many Native American religions (although he was distant and unapproachable and sometimes impersonal), missionaries often made an appeal to this as the same God believed in by Europeans. I'd like to give some quotes from notable chiefs who raised questions about this idea of God, and about why they should accept the religious beliefs being offered by Europeans:
From Chief Red Jacket:
There
was a time when our forefathers owned this great island. [The Seneca, like many
other tribes, refer to this continent as a “great island.”] . . . The Great
Spirit had made it for the use of Indians. . . All this He had done for His red
children because He loved them. If we
had any disputes about hunting grounds, they were generally settled without the
shedding of much blood. But an evil day
came upon us. Your forefathers crossed
the great waters and landed upon this land.
Their numbers were small. They
found friends not enemies. They told us
they had fled from their own country for fear of wicked men, and had come here
to enjoy their religion . . . You say that you are right, and we are lost. How do we know this to be true? We understand that your religion is written
in a book. If it was intended for us as
well, why has not the Great Spirit given it to us; and not only to us, but why
did He not give to our forefathers the knowledge of that book, with the means
of understanding it rightly? We know
only what you tell us about it. How
shall we know when to believe, being so often deceived by the white
people? Brother, you say there is but
one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit.
If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much
about it. Why not all agree, as you can
all read the book? . . . We are told that your religion was given to your
forefathers and has been handed down, father to son. We also have a religion which was given to
our forefathers, and has been handed down to us, their children. We worship in that way. It teaches us to be thankful for all the
favors we receive, to love each other, and to be united. We never quarrel about religion. Brother, the Great Spirit has made us
all. But He has made a great difference
between His white and red children. . .
. Brother, we do not wish to destroy your religion, or to take it from you. We only want to enjoy our own.
From Tecumseh:
Sell
a country?! Why not sell the air, the great sea, as well as the earth? Did not
the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his children? How can we have confidence in the white
people? We have good and just reasons to believe we have ample grounds to
accuse the Americans of injustice, especially when such great acts of injustice
have been committed by them upon our race, of which they seem to have no manner
of regard, or even to reflect. When Jesus Christ came upon the earth you killed
him and nailed him to the cross. You thought he was dead, and you were
mistaken. You have the Shakers among you, and you laugh and make light of their
worship. Everything I have told you is the truth. The Great Spirit has inspired
me.
From Chief Seattle:
Your God is not our God. Your God loves your people and hates
mine. He folds His strong protecting arms
lovingly about the white man and leads him by the hand as a father leads his
infant son. But He has forsaken His red
children—if they are really His. Our
God, the Great Spirit, seems also to have forsaken us. Your God makes your people wax strong every
day. Soon they will fill all the
land. Our people are ebbing away like a
rapidly receding tide that will never return.
The white man’s God cannot love our people or He would protect them. . .
Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors—the dreams of our old men,
given them in the solemn hours of night by the Great Spirit, and in the visions
of our sachems—and is written in the hearts of our people . . . Your dead cease
to love you and the land of their nativity as soon as they pass the portals of
the tomb and wander away beyond the stars.
They are soon forgotten and never return. Our dead never forget the beautiful world
that gave them being. . . . Every part of this soil is sacred in the estimation
of my people.
These quotes show sophisticated responses to the European message. They raise questions about how we know God and God's will, how we understand the problem of evil and suffering, and how we explain the relationship between different groups of people. They ask questions about salvation and redemptive revelation. I believe these are the kinds of questions that must be asked and discussed if there is to be progress made between discordant groups.
