Dieri Bevenda Cherokee Term Paper

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Dieri, Bevenda, Cherokee structures of religious belief and touch upon tribal beliefs about god and gods, key myths and rituals

The Dieri, an aboriginal tribe of Australia, the Oklahoma tribe of the Cherokee, and the Bevenda may all be subsumed under the common category of 'native people,' when comparing such indigenous faiths with the common faith of those who colonized these individuals, namely white Christians. However, upon closer examination of the religions practices of these groups, there emerge equally striking differences between one another that belay such easy elision under the term 'native.'

The Cherokee, first and foremost, were shamanistic in their ways of religious belief and practice. Although, to some outside observers, the Cherokee religion and medicine seemed primarily reliant upon herbs for medicinal treatment and as an efficacious way of accessing the spiritual realm, in fact these herbs were not viewed as inherently sacred in and of themselves. They were seen as aids that, through the expertise of a shaman, could help the gifted shaman create a bond or a link with the spiritual world. The shaman's expertise was what made the ritual, his prayers, and the herbs both useful and sacred.

The emphasis on shamanistic healing highlights how, for the Cherokees, concrete issues such as physical and mental healing, and functioning effectively in the specifics of a harsh environment formed the focus of Cherokee ritual. Practice thus was more important either than endowing physical objects with permanent magical powers Cherokees, or embarking upon elaborate philosophical exposition. The physical was less sacred than moments of time created by the shamans.

John Mooney, an early observer of the Cherokee noted that the ceremony and verbal chanting was seen as merely aiding the shaman's unique ability to heal and to bridge the gap between the present world of humans and the world of the ancestors he was attempted to access.

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Even Cherokee rituals of fun, such as the 'ball game' that provides the skeleton for the modern game of lacrosse, had a strong spiritual component to their rules, and quite often players would appeal with prayers or to shaman for aid in their games. Thus the barrier between the secular and the sacred, so important to modern Christianity, was of far less importance to the Cherokee -- in fact it was virtually nonexistent.

Cherokee creation myths speak of the Earth as a great island floating in the sea, held in place by four cords placed at the four directions and attached to the sky vault, The earth is also spoken of as being formed from a water beetle's movement.

In other Cherokee creation myths animals, plants, and other natural phenomena, have prominent places. There is no reference to a Creator as a singular force or entity, and in fact there is no beginning point in time, rather the earth comes into being in a kind of 'between time." "In the aforementioned myth recorded by Mooney, it is stated that the maker of the plants and animals is unknown," although contemporary Cherokee certainly do speak of a Creator -- however if this reference is due to Christian influence upon the Cherokee cosmology, it cannot be determined at this date.

The difficulty of translation is always a crucial factor to keep in mind when evaluating accounts about native tribal views. One of the most vexing problems arises in regards to the Dieri, whom are….....

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