NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIONS

Catalog description

This course examines the life-ways, oral narratives, ceremonies, and philosophies of selected Native American tribal nations and communities from the major cultural regions of North America, utilizing historical, anthropological, and literary approaches. No single Native spiritual tradition or culture represents all Native North American beliefs and customs. Thus, attention will be given both to similarities among different tribal groups, and also the great diversity among the hundreds of indigenous ways of life on the North American continent, both ancient and modern. Particular topics addressed include the following: healing traditions and maintaining personal and communal balance, pilgrimages to sacred sites, and, critically, Native American creation stories inform the manner in which Native communities approach the natural world, including plants and animals as "other-than-human" persons.