Primitivism - A Tribal Religion

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Primitivism - A Tribal Religion

"We regard them as the sons and daughters of the earth and sky, brothers and sisters of animals and plants, who live by nature’s ways and do not upset the delicate balances of their ecological zones; gentle hunting folk who are still in touch with the magic and myth that we ourselves so badly need" (Smith, 381). This quote from Huston Smith summarizes the Primitivism essence of its nature. Primitivism is an ancient religion, sometimes referred to as a tribal religion because groupings of its people were small in numbers. This religion continues today in parts of Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, Siberia, and Indians of North and South America.

Primitivism is an oral religion, very few things were written down. Most of the writing was in the form of drawings and art. Being an exclusively oral society, the orality protected the memory of its practitioners making it possible to remember countless tales and stories to pass on to the next generation. The orality also enabled the capacity to sense the sacred through nonverbal channels.

Tribal religions are deep-rooted in place as opposed to space. Space is abstract, but place is concrete. For example, a square foot in Florida is the same as a square foot in China; however Florida and China are two very different places. The idea being: you are the rock, you are the tree, you are the river, you are the grass, etc… The analogy in “The World’s Religions” of the first Onondagan to enter college is a wonderful example. Oren Lyons returned to his reservation on his first break from college and went fishing with his uncle. His uncle started to question him, “Who are you?” Oren answered in many ways, “I am your nephew”, “I am an Onondagen”, “I am a human” and no answer satisfied his uncle. His uncle replied to him, “Do you see that bluff over there? Oren you are that bluff. And that giant pine on the other shore? Oren, you are that pine. And this water that supports our boat? You are this water.” (Smith, 371).

Another essential part of Primitivism is the presence of eternal time. Tribal people look toward the future as opposed to the past. Primal time is one that is hard for most people to comprehend, because it is not linear, but is temporal, an eternal now. Its focus is more of a casual sequence rather than a chronological one.

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