spirit

1240 Words3 Pages

A great majority of Native Americans literary works share the presence of faith and belief, which they consider in the Native American culture as the motivator to understand life. The spiritual sanctuary in Native American culture occupies a very important part in their culture and controls their routine life. Natural phenomenon, which the Native American culture believes, has a great power and affects their destiny. The holy people, wise elders and chiefs in the Native American tribes, are the compass and they are known for their knowledge. This paper is going to analyze three great examples of stories that present the uniqueness of the Native American culture: "The Flood" by Joy Harjo, "The Sacred Weed", and "The Singing Spirit" by Charles A. Eastman. In these three stories, the elders’ stories not only create the presence of the spiritual sanctuary in the Native Americans culture, but it also helps the tribe members to preserve their unique identity. The stories are the sources of the spiritual hymns and their unique identity. The storytelling theme is an essential part to understand the religion of the Native American culture because they are the provenance of faith and their unique identity. These stories picture their ceremonies and lives. Their simple life based on their reliance on the land makes a strong relationship between the Native Americans and their land. It also, at the same time, shapes their identity and their culture. Joy Harjo, in "The Flood", presents her version of the water snake myth. The poem is about the story of a girl who got deceived by the water monster. Joy Harjo says," This story is not accident, nor is the existence of the water snake in the memory of the people as they carried the burden of the myth from Alabama to Oklahoma… memory into the broken heart and no one will ever forget it"(lines 8-10).Culture identifiers are names

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