Religion

Religion

When Europeans began arriving in North America in the sixteenth century, they encountered Native American traditions that dated back thousands of years. Although native peoples observed a wide variety of religious practices, they all believed in a supreme creator who was present in every aspect of nature. For instance, Native Americans in eastern North America (known as the Eastern Woodland tribes) believed they were only a small part of a harmonious world created by the Great Spirit. All of nature contained this divine spirit and was to be respected. Thus they changed their environment as little as possible, taking only what they needed. They thanked a tree for dying and providing them with wood for a fire. They thanked an animal they had killed for giving up its flesh to feed them and its skin to clothe them. The European view—that humans dominated nature and could change it for their advantage—made no sense to these people. Access to the spirit world came through dreams, which shamans (priests) interpreted for them. Often these shamans were women, who seemed to be more in contact with the spiritual realm because of their role in the miraculous event of childbirth.

Europeans did not recognize the basic similarities between Native American beliefs and their own Christian religions.

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