Role.

Shamans in Native American culture were religious leaders and were believed to have extraordinary powers. Their most important function was not preaching or administering religious rites but healing. Shamans were also the Native Americans' physicians. Indians believed that one's physical condition was linked to his or her spiritual condition. It was up to the shaman to determine the cause of a person's illness—what was missing from that individual's spirit—and then to suggest a cure through prayer, surgery, or other means.

Power.

With a greater connection to and understanding of the supernatural world (they were thought to mediate between the human and spirit world), shamans were tremendously respected in Native American societies. After revealing that they possessed shamanistic powers, made evident to them in dreams or visions, shamans went through initiation ceremonies to demonstrate further...