Native American Cosmology

The significance of the four directions and the duality of worlds is essential in understanding Native American cosmology as they are the two most unifying themes in the cosmology of the Americas. These were general themes that guided a tribe’s culture, intellectual and political situations, and their way of life. With this in mind, cosmology becomes a description of the different personalities and ideologies of each of individual tribes, while also highlighting and showcasing the intricate relationship and similarities among them. Because of these parallels, one can see how the widespread themes of having four significant directions and believing in the duality of worlds influenced the Native American theological culture throughout the Americas

For example, the San Juan Tewa Indians believed that there were four sacred mountains located at each of the cardinal directions. These mountains each had a lake or body of water at the peaks which connected the Earth to the celestial world. Along with the directions being pathways to the celestial world, each direction also had a shrine outside every pueblo in the tribe to honor and pay homage to the sun as it traveled along its path on the horizon. However, the San Juan Tewa was not the only tribe to believe that the mountains were important religious locations. The concept of sacred mountains at the four cardinal directions linking the heavens with the underworld is actually found in most complex cosmologies of the high cultures of both North and South America and shows how the four directions played an important religious role in many native cultures. For example, the Hopi Indians also believed that each of the directions had an important connection to the gods. However, their directions were based on where the sun rose and set during the summer and winter solstices rather than the true cardinal directions. They believed that the four mountains located at each inter-cardinal direction—Kishyuba in northwest, Nuvatikyauobi in the southwest, Wenima in the

The duality of world in Native American cosmology represents the sun’s annual journey along the horizon as a progression between different worlds, the worlds above and below. However, in addition to the sun, many tribes believed that only supernatural beings or powerful humans could travel between worlds and that these powerful beings had a connection with the deities. Furthermore, most tribes, other than the Hobi, believed in the hierarchy of the cosmos and the division of the above and below levels. For example, the Aztecs believed in thirteen layers in the above and nine layers in the below whereas the Cuna Indians of Panama and Kogi Indians of Columbia held the view that there were four levels above and four levels below. In many of these beliefs, the below, or the underworld, was the region of the dead where the sun traveled through at night while the upper levels represented the home of the gods and other supreme beings. This can be seen in the Mayans who, according to McCluskey in Cosmology, believed that there were three above different layers, each of which housed important theological figures. The lowest layer was also the invisible layer whereas the second layer housed the moon, Virgin Mary, minor constellations and the highest layer housed the sun, Christ, Saint Jerome, greater constellations. This