Often it seems that in our day and age religion has taken a back seat to science and reason. Many see religion in the same context as folklore, mythology, or as merely moral philosophy. I think this is especially true in the United States of any religion that is not mainstream Protestant Christianity. Even Christianity is not as strong as it once was. However, it does bear relevance in our lives, because the majority of people in the United States still practice some form of Protestantism. However, the focus of this paper is Native American religion as presented in Gardens in the Dunes as a counter to the progress of Protestantism and science. Specifically, I will be looking at the scene of the coming of the Messiah. What is interesting about …show more content…
What is the purpose of creating a real religious experience in this novel? I think the cause is that Silko is attempting to legitimize cultures that are not mainstream white protestant viewpoints, especially Native American cultures. By creating this scene, Silko is trying to tell us that her ancestors religion and culture is just as real as our own. It is not a folklore or a myth, and it has just as much power as any other form of religion. Gardens in the Dunes is based around the idea of different cultures and the connections between the old cultures and new cultures. Silko is concerned with how new religions come to dominate and delegitimize the religions that came before them. We see this when Hattie, Edward, and Indigo travel to Europe. Here the readers are shown how Celtic “folk” religions came to be dominated by the religion of Roman gods and goddesses and then that religion came to be dominated by Catholic Christianity which later was dominated by Protestant Christianity. Then even later the “religion” of reason and science came to push aside the protestants. As each new wave moved in they claimed that they were the true religion. They each slowly eradicate the religion and the culture that came before them. The funny part is that all of this religious expansion also seems to be primarily westward moving. Silko is making a point of westward cultural domination and setting the Western United States as the last …show more content…
It is an attempt to fight back against the powers of “progress” that are attempting to oppress and eradicate her cultures viewpoint. Through the usage of Christian elements such as calling the Messiah, Jesus, she is attempting to prove that the two religions can coexist and both be true. It is not necessary to eliminate one culture in order for another culture to occupy the same space. It is possible that both cultures might believe the same ideas, but view them differently. As Silko shows that the two religions could live in harmony. Unfortunately, the dominant culture of this story, the white protestant males, sees this ritual as a threat to their power. They do not want minority groups banding together to rebel. Though this ritual is completely peaceful (beyond the fact that they think a storm will wipe away those who are hurting the earth a.k.a. “the white man”) the Indian Police and white militia come to stop the ghost dance. I think this displays another point that Silko is trying to make. The dominant culture will fear the minority rising up to defend themselves. This theme is repeated over and over throughout the novel as those who oppose the dominant thinking are oppressed. This includes Hattie, the Celts, those girls who resist in the boarding school, and all of the
The English took their land and disrupted their traditional systems of trade and agriculture. As a result, the power of native religious leaders was corrupted. The Indians we...
In the text “Seeing Red: American Indian Women Speaking about their Religious and Cultural Perspectives” by Inés Talamantez, the author discusses the role of ceremonies and ancestral spirituality in various Native American cultures, and elaborates on the injustices native women face because of their oppressors.
In the times of colonies when land was untouched there was a distinct hatred between the native Indians and the new colonists. As one reads the essay: A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, written by Mary Rowlandson in 1682, one will understand this hatred. Although the Indians captured Mary Rowlandson, with the faith of God she was safely returned. The reader learns of her religious messages and how she turns to God for safety and strong will. One sees how her Puritan beliefs are of the strong New England Puritans way of life. The reader also understands through her words how she views the Indians and their way of life.
John Farella. The Main Stalk: A synthesis of Navajo Philosophy. Navajo Religion. (Tuschon: University of Arizona Press, 1984)
Sabina Magliocco, in her book Witching Culture, takes her readers into the culture of the Neo-Pagan cults in America and focus upon what it reveals about identity and belief in 21st century America. Through her careful employment of ethnographic techniques, Magliocco allows both the Neo-Pagan cult to be represented accurately, and likewise, scientifically. I argue that Magliocco's ethnographic approach is the correct way to go about this type of research involving religions.
The Native Americans religion "reflected their cultural practices" (Lauter, 5). The Indians religious practices were associated with their me...
Another example was the individualization of spirituality that came with the various denominations of Christianity, forced by missionaries. Traditionally, their spirituality was community driven in relation with not only humans but with all “relatives,” such as mountains, rivers, animals, etc. While this example has religious implications as well, it also illustrates the cultural shift from community focused to individual salvific gain which takes away from the connection with
Mary Rowlandson’s memoir The Sovereignty and Goodness of God was indeed a compelling, thorough and praise worthy piece of literature. Rowlandson, not only recollected a chapter of her life, she delivered a solid visual of the circumstances during Metacom’s War. Rowlandson being a minister’s wife, a Puritan and pious women, gives us her journey with the Indians. Without any hesitation she narrates the journey she experienced and in the following essay, I will be discussing portions of her journey, and the significance of religion in her life.
Over the history of our country Native Americas have long since been oppressed in trying to practice their Native Religions freely, and openly. It wasn’t until the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) of 1978, which “acknowledged the unique nature of Native spirituality” (Limb & Hodge, 2008, p. 618). This law stated that the policy of the United States would be to protect and preserve the right of Native Americans to believe and practice their traditional religions. This was the first major step in the United States history that sought to protect Native Americans and their rights to self-expression of spirituality.
Cabeza de Vaca’s Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America shows that while Christians thought themselves superior to natives, both sides were diverse and could commit good, bad, or neutral behavior towards each other. Therefore, the Indians and the Christians were much more similar than different. This is apparent in de Vaca’s accounts of Indian to Indian behavior, Christian to Christian behavior, and Indian to Christian behavior (and vice-versa).
For at least fifteen thousand years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus and Thomas Hariot, Native Americans had occupied the vastness of North America undisturbed by outside invaders (Shi 2015 pg. 9). Throughout the years leading up to Columbus’s voyage to the “New World” (the Americas) and Hariot’s journey across the sea, the Indians had encountered and adapted to many diverse continents; due to global warming, climatic and environmental diversity throughout the lands (2015). Making the Native Americans culture, religion, and use of tools and technology very strange to that of Columbus’s and Hariot’s more advanced culture and economy, when they first came into contact with the Native Americans.
roots of the sea couch grass. The dune will grow as more and more sand
Ed Christopher Vecsey. NewYork: Syracuse University Press, 1981. - - - . Native Religions of North America: The Power of Visions and Fertility. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
America is a melting pot of culture and race. Thus, bringing many different types of religious faiths to today’s society. Whether the beliefs are ancient, new, reconstructed or if people have no faith at all, it is all in America. It is difficult to scrutinize one religion without it concerning another. All religions have diverse beliefs ranging from; the belief of...
"Partnership for Understanding World Religions and Spirituality - Virginia Commonwealth University." Partnership for Understanding World Religions and Spirituality - Virginia Commonwealth University. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. .