Unit 2: Aboriginal Spirituality Introduction: Origins, Groups in Canada, Beliefs, Creation Stories

Origins No single founder Ancient/beyond records Two theories of Aboriginal origin/history in the Americas: 1. They “came out of this ground,” meaning they were here before any record. 2. They migrated from Asia to North and South America by crossing a land bridge over the Bering Strait (between Alaska and Russia) 35,000 years ago.

Origins

Origins Archaeologists have found Aboriginal artifacts dating back beyond 10,000 years Examples: Wampum (beaded belts), animals paintings on rocks, bones representing burial rites, and wooden carvings. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULyRPpYHxdo

Aboriginal Spirituality Around the World Huge diversity of Aboriginal spirituality. Indigenous peoples live in every area of the globe. 80% of world’s 300 million Aboriginal peoples live in Asia. 13% in North and South America.

Aboriginal Cultural Groups in Canada Canada’s Aboriginal population just passed 1 million!! (2013 data) Canada has 6 distinct cultural groups

Cultural Groups in Canada Arctic: Inuit Snow, ice, seals, walrus, whales, caribou, harpoons, dog sleds, igloo, clothing from animal hides and fur, waterproof boots with seal skin, seal oil for heating and cooking, coats from polar bear fur, stone carvings

Subarctic: Cree, Ojibwa Thick forests, mountains, elders storytelling

Northwest Coast: Haida Totem poles, yarn out of cedar bark, harpooned whale, trapped salmon, dugout canoes, annual prayers for salmon swimming upriver

Plateau: Salish Foothills of Rocky mountains, log huts and pit houses in the ground

Plains: Blackfoot, Plains Cree, Sioux Bison used for everything - food, tipis, clothing, containers, tools, etc.

Northeast Woodlands: Iroquois, Algonquin, Mi’kmaq, Mohawk, Cayuga, Seneca rich soil for excellent farming - corn, tobacco, squash, beans. Longhouses, dome-shaped homes, bear, deer, moose, deerskin for clothing, moccasins from buffalo

Beliefs - Animism Aboriginal spirituality and beliefs are a cultural extension of survival interaction with their physical environment. Everything in the world is alive. All living things reside in close connection and harmony with one another and move in cycles. Aboriginal peoples recognize the powers around them: in the heavens, in human ghosts and spirits, in animals and plants, and in the weather. Animism: all things, human and non-human, have spirits or souls, and that person or animal lives on after death through the presence of that spirit.

Beliefs - Animism Most Aboriginal peoples believe in a supreme Creator. Other spirits have power to guide human activity. Inuit call the sea “Sea Woman.” Iroquois call the sky “Sky Woman.” Algonquin call the sky “Grandfather.”

Beliefs - Animism Aboriginal spirituality turns to many spirits because Aboriginal people believe they have more than one specific need in nature/life. Example: A fisher strives to be on good terms with the spirit of the sea. A farmer strives to please the spirit of the rain or sun. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkV-of_eN2w

Beliefs - Animism Black Elk, Sioux holy man from Great Plains said, “We know that we all are related and are one with all things of the heavens and the earth…May we be continually aware of this relationship which exists between the four-leggeds, the two- leggeds, and the wingeds…”

Beliefs – Death/Afterlife In general, Aboriginal religions have no precise belief about life after death. Some believe in reincarnation as a human or animal after death Others believe humans return as ghosts, or go to another world Others believe that nothing definite can be known about one’s fast after life Combinations of beliefs are common

Beliefs – Death/Afterlife Example: Sioux of Great Plains believe that four souls depart from a person at death. One of them journeys along the “spirit path,” and is judged by an old woman. She determines whether the spirit should carry on to reconnect with ancestors or return to Earth as a ghost. Other souls enter fetuses and are reborn into new bodies.

Beliefs – Death/Afterlife Example: Northeast Woodlands, Iroquois believe that souls/spirits can enter man-made objects like fishing nets or spears. Inuit pay homage to the souls of killed animals by facing the animal in the direction from which it came so that its soul can return. Upon killing a seal they give it a drink of water so that the spirit can re- enter the sea. Every year, they collect all the seal bladders caught previous year and throw them back in the sea, so that the seals can reproduce. Other groups believe the souls inhabit stars of the Milky Way.

Beliefs –Totem Poles Links Aboriginal peoples to their ancestors. Represent their animal/spirit guide Protective entities – plant, animal, or mythological being – of a clan or individual. Totem poles can tell stories or represent a clan or tribe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH GNnBqDCZc

Beliefs – Creation Stories Beliefs and creation stories passed down through storytelling. Traditional Aboriginal storytellers earned the right to be a storyteller. Usually Elders. They are important in teaching and in preserving the history of the group.

Beliefs - Creation Stories Each Native American group has its own Creation story to explain that group’s origins, which grew out of their experiences. Stories reflect their beliefs in the interrelationship of people, animals, and the natural environment. Offers a response to questions of existence: Where do we come from? Why certain things in the environment are the way they are? Where we go when we die?

Creation Story – Northeast Woodlands The creation story of the Northeast Woodlands is the “Turtle Island” story. They believe that after a great flood, water covered the Earth. Several water animals and birds tried to bring some mud to the surface of the water. Eventually the muskrat succeeded. Sky Woman (the sky) then spread the mud on the back of a turtle and created North America, or Turtle Island. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX4GJTtSigY

Creation Story – Northwest Coast Their creation story is the story of the Raven. Where the Raven coaxes the original people out of a clamshell onto the land. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ1khnqqhVM

Creation Stories Group work Assignment BUT FIRST, complete map!!!