Spirituality and the Modern World Essay

Total Length: 515 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

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North American Spirituality and the Modern World

The role of the following themes in North American tribal religions: nature, place/location, rituals, visioning, sacred beings, the afterlife and traditions.

There is a great variety of different themes in tribal religions. The native religions are passed down through oral traditions. Anthropology also made great contributions to understanding the traditional customs of the North American tribal peoples during the 1800s when these peoples were on the brink of extinction. Even to this day many of the activities that are carried out within these religions are completely private because of the inhibitions that grew out of the persecutions of the tribal people during colonialization.

Most of the tribal religions are somehow based on space. For example, a tribe might worship a particular feature of nature such as a place called "Holy Mountain" or "Niagara Falls." Many of the celebrations were also well-planned and required a great deal of preparation. For example, the natives would collect a certain kind of tea or prepare a large dinner. Most of the religions also have a supreme being. The Cheyanne people have a supreme people that they referred to as the great unknown for example.


Nature plays a central role in most of the religious beliefs in the tribal nations. Animals and animal spirits play a role in almost every religion. The religions will seek balance and harmony with nature as well as look to nature to help them understand how to live in balance within the natural surroundings. Native peoples seek to not cause problems for any of the natural systems and "Mother Earth." Today, many of the nations are involved in environmental sustainability.

• The impact of Western Civilization on tribal religions in North America, how these religions survived and what contributions they may make to the future.

Due to laws and regulations regarding religious belief, many of the tribal religions were either driven underground or they became extinct all together. President Jimmy Carter, in the 1970s, actually signed a law that allowed freedom of religion for the native people. However, many of the different tribes or nations do not currently have a native religion because of the laws that were passed that banned them. There were about one thousand religions total in the tribal nations and about 300 survived. Today, many of….....

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"Spirituality And The Modern World", 08 September 2015, Accessed.27 June. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/spirituality-modern-world-2156278