Religion
American colonists believed that Native Americans were “Godless Savages” and that they were doing the right thing by imposing Christianity on them. Christian religions still try to do this influencing in other parts of the world. Christians are taught to spread the word and convert. The Native Americans weren’t necessarily forced into Christianity rather than being convinced that it the right thing.[1] In fact, magazine and newspaper articles of that time stated that many Indians decided to convert. Native Americans were spread out all over the nation, which made their religion diverse throughout the different tribes and different lands. The Americans went around the country and told the Indians that they were all being moved to reservations in order to decrease the ongoing conflicts. Even though this was a valid part of it, the real reason was that the Americans saw the Indians as an obstacle to American progression.
The Native Americans where forced into Christianity, which resulted in many more unnecessary changes to their culture. All Indians had to change their names into more traditional Christian names and also cut their hair to look like the rest of the Christian children. Many activities done at their schools were influenced by religion. The Indians learned many religious chants in music class and the school band received complimentary reviews from various local catholic publications such as the Indian Sentential and The Tidings.[2] In todays schooling system, we have the freedom to practice any religion we choose. Many Native American children had no choice because they were taken at very young ages to Mission Schools. Mission schools were established to try and convert the Indian people. These schools gave the Indians English Christian names and prohibited the use of their own names, they punished them for speaking their own language, cut their hair, stripped them of their clothing and religious artifacts, and degraded their belongings into worthlessness.[3] The Native Americans were even forced to pray towards a belief they knew nothing about. A young girl at one of the schools describes her experience as she is forced to pray:
“...the last half hour of each day...each girl set up in the middle of her cot...bowed
head changed...’Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the lord my soul to keep’...each word
spoken in unison without expression”[4]
This girl was offended that she was forced to pray. The Native Americans showed that it meant nothing to them by praying with blank expressions. The Native American children were forced to live at the Mission School and only visit home one or two days out of the year for Christmas.[5]
The Native Americans where forced into Christianity, which resulted in many more unnecessary changes to their culture. All Indians had to change their names into more traditional Christian names and also cut their hair to look like the rest of the Christian children. Many activities done at their schools were influenced by religion. The Indians learned many religious chants in music class and the school band received complimentary reviews from various local catholic publications such as the Indian Sentential and The Tidings.[2] In todays schooling system, we have the freedom to practice any religion we choose. Many Native American children had no choice because they were taken at very young ages to Mission Schools. Mission schools were established to try and convert the Indian people. These schools gave the Indians English Christian names and prohibited the use of their own names, they punished them for speaking their own language, cut their hair, stripped them of their clothing and religious artifacts, and degraded their belongings into worthlessness.[3] The Native Americans were even forced to pray towards a belief they knew nothing about. A young girl at one of the schools describes her experience as she is forced to pray:
“...the last half hour of each day...each girl set up in the middle of her cot...bowed
head changed...’Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the lord my soul to keep’...each word
spoken in unison without expression”[4]
This girl was offended that she was forced to pray. The Native Americans showed that it meant nothing to them by praying with blank expressions. The Native American children were forced to live at the Mission School and only visit home one or two days out of the year for Christmas.[5]
The Indians were also forced to stop practicing many different religious rituals, including the Ghost Dance, Sun Dance, and Peyote Cult. The Ghost Dance was a huge part of the Native American religion. If the dance was performed properly, it would reunite the Native Americans with the sprits of their dead ancestors. This helped protect the tribe and bring peace and unity to the Indians throughout the region. After this dance was banned, the Native Americans were furious and many tribes continued to partake in the dance. This led to the Battle of Wounded Knee, where hundreds men, women, and children of Indians of the Lakota tribe were gunned down due to the practice of their religious dance.[6] Few Indians were able to escape from this assimilation but some found little ways around it. Many Native Americans also practice Christianity in combination with another tribal religion.
Native Americans also believed that their land had religious powers that would protect them.[7] This made it hard on the white men to try and relocate the Indians to new lands. This started a conflict with the Navajo Indians who wanted to conserve their land and their traditional way of life. After much conflict, the missionary movement was put in place to try and convert more Native Americans into Christianity in a more peaceful manor. The Roman Catholic Church sent men and women to Indian tribes across the country, where they preached, distributed Bibles, and established schools.[8] Little effort was made at that time to understand Indian culture or to try to find a fair solution to the situation. In more recent years, government authorities have become more supportive towards the practice of native spirituality. In 1978 the Congress of the United States passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, a final expression of kindness toward Native American people and their spitituality. Since the act there have been very little conflicts about Native Americans and their religion.
[1] Diana Eck, Native American Religious and Cultural Freedom, http://www.pluralism.org/reports/view/176 (2005).
[2] Clifford E. Trafzer, Jean A. Keller, Lorene Sisquoc, Boarding School Blues (University of Nebraska Press, 2006), 165.
[3] Diana Eck, Native American Religious and Cultural Freedom, http://www.pluralism.org/reports/view/176 (2005).
[4]Clifford E. Trafzer, Jean A. Keller, Lorene Sisquoc, Boarding School Blues (University of Nebraska Press, 2006), 65-98.
[5]Diana Eck, Native American Religious and Cultural Freedom, http://www.pluralism.org/reports/view/176 (2005).
[6] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History (New York: W.W. Norton and Company Inc., 2012), 608
[7] Native Americans and Christianity, American Eras, http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2536601076.html (1997)
[8] Native Americans and Christianity (1997)
Native Americans also believed that their land had religious powers that would protect them.[7] This made it hard on the white men to try and relocate the Indians to new lands. This started a conflict with the Navajo Indians who wanted to conserve their land and their traditional way of life. After much conflict, the missionary movement was put in place to try and convert more Native Americans into Christianity in a more peaceful manor. The Roman Catholic Church sent men and women to Indian tribes across the country, where they preached, distributed Bibles, and established schools.[8] Little effort was made at that time to understand Indian culture or to try to find a fair solution to the situation. In more recent years, government authorities have become more supportive towards the practice of native spirituality. In 1978 the Congress of the United States passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, a final expression of kindness toward Native American people and their spitituality. Since the act there have been very little conflicts about Native Americans and their religion.
[1] Diana Eck, Native American Religious and Cultural Freedom, http://www.pluralism.org/reports/view/176 (2005).
[2] Clifford E. Trafzer, Jean A. Keller, Lorene Sisquoc, Boarding School Blues (University of Nebraska Press, 2006), 165.
[3] Diana Eck, Native American Religious and Cultural Freedom, http://www.pluralism.org/reports/view/176 (2005).
[4]Clifford E. Trafzer, Jean A. Keller, Lorene Sisquoc, Boarding School Blues (University of Nebraska Press, 2006), 65-98.
[5]Diana Eck, Native American Religious and Cultural Freedom, http://www.pluralism.org/reports/view/176 (2005).
[6] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History (New York: W.W. Norton and Company Inc., 2012), 608
[7] Native Americans and Christianity, American Eras, http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2536601076.html (1997)
[8] Native Americans and Christianity (1997)