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NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURAL VIEWS.   Term Paper ID:30713 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Discusses four books that illustrate the sacred and secular as one.... More...

4 Pages / 900 Words 4 sources, 11 Citations, MLA Format $16.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Discusses four books that illustrate the sacred and secular as one. Mary Crow Dog's "LAKOTA WOMAN," N. Scott Momaday's "HOUSE OF DAWN," Ricardo Pozas' "JUAN THE CHAMULA," Thomas Sanchez's "RABBIT BOSS." The sacred as an integral part of the environment of Native Ameicans. Role of ancient religion to health and identity. Paper Introduction: The four books, Mary Crow Dog’s Lakota Woman, N. Scott Momaday’s House of Dawn, Ricardo Pozas’ Juan The Chamula and Thomas Sanchez’s Rabbit Boss illuminate the fact that the sacred and secular are inextricably interwoven together in Native American culture. Unlike modern contemporary society that compartmentalizes the sacred and secular as mutually exclusive entities in life, the Native Americans view the sacred as a vital part of their environment, their existence and their identity. When the White people encroach upon the Native Americans’ lives by decimating their sacred sites and forbidding them to engage in their sacred activities, the Native Americans’ sense of identity begins to disintegrate. In their books, Crow Dog, Momaday and Sanchez aptly capture the tragedy of Native Americans who are stripped of their religious beliefs and thus Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. In order to heal this individual, the ilol has tosacrifice the chulel of a hen or rooster for the chulel of the powerfulpeople. In their books, CrowDog, Momaday and Sanchez aptly capture the tragedy of Native Americans whoare stripped of their religious beliefs and thus their identity. House Made of Dawn. In this song, the house is constructed with forces of nature, suchas the "dawn," the "evening light" and the "female rain." These forces arealso connected to a Male deity that is manifested by the lightning. Scott. Although he is provided with a job and some money in the city ofLos Angeles, Abel ultimately returns to the reservation because he yearnsfor the natural world. Unlike modern contemporarysociety that compartmentalizes the sacred and secular as mutually exclusiveentities in life, the Native Americans view the sacred as a vital part oftheir environment, their existence and their identity. Even moreimportantly, their very identity is rooted in their religion. Works CitedCrow Dog, Mary and Richard Erdoes. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.Pozas, Richard. The four books, Mary Crow Dog's Lakota Woman, N. Berkeley: U of California P, 1962.Sanchez, Thomas. The exploitation of the land and the punishmentof the Native American people for adhering to their religious customs andtheir way of life have led to the disintegration of Native Americanidentity. For example, when the young girl first has her period,an elaborate sacred ceremony occurs to celebrate her transition fromgirlhood to womanhood. Therefore, the healing ceremony consists of prayers to the Earth,Heaven, and Moon, along with the sacrifice of the rooster. The medicine ceremony isaccompanied by the beating of drums and the singing of traditional Indiansongs (Crow Dog and Erdoes 97-1 ). The animal of an ilol, or a medicine man,is considered to be wiser and healthier than other animals. Without theirreligion, they become disoriented and atrophied in a world dictated byWhite people and their way of life. Similarly, Abel in Momaday's novel is also unable to adapt to whitesociety. Lakota Woman. In her autobiography, Crow Dog asserts that the ancient religion ofNative Americans lies at the heart of their identity. New York: HarperPerennial, 199 .Momaday, N. When the Whitepeople encroach upon the Native Americans' lives by decimating their sacredsites and forbidding them to engage in their sacred activities, the NativeAmericans' sense of identity begins to disintegrate. Furthermore, religion is also interrelated with medicine and healing.According to the Chamula tribe, each individual is also represented by achulel, an animal who lives in the mountains. Anindividual falls sick when the chulels of powerful people such as warlockscaptures his chulel. Therefore, theilols are blessed with the divine capacity to take care of other people. When the smoke flies up into the sky, it is an indicator that she has"acted true to her ways" and her life will be blessed with good fortunes(Sanchez 111). New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1973. When White peopleinvaded Native American lands, they punished Native Americans for prayingtraditional prayers, taking sweat baths and using sacred pipes. In addition, religion also plays a critical role in marking themilestones of life. Scott Momaday'sHouse of Dawn, Ricardo Pozas' Juan The Chamula and Thomas Sanchez's RabbitBoss illuminate the fact that the sacred and secular are inextricablyinterwoven together in Native American culture. They are dependent on theirreligion to mark their rites of passage and to heal the sick. Once thisceremony is performed, the individual is healed (Pozas 89-9 ).Even today, Native American Indians also attend peyote (a type of cactus)ceremonies in order to receive their medicine. When the animal is healthy,the individual is also healthy. For Native Americans, the sacred is an integral part of theireveryday existence and the environment. Rabbit Boss. Abel, one of the protagonists in Momaday's novelfeels inspired by the colored canyons to construct a creation song (59).The Native Americans also consider animals such as the golden eagles to besacred: "Even so, deprived of the sky, the eagle soars in man'simagination; there is divine malice in the wild eyes..." (Momaday 57).Tosamah's grandmother also has tremendous respect for the sun, which isderived from the sun dances practiced by the Kiowa people (Momaday 132).Therefore, Native American people experience their religion in theirphysical environment and integrate religion into their everyday life. In Juan, Pozas depicts how Juan'smother begins the day by "greet[ing] the first rays of the sun...kneel[ing] down to kiss the ground, and beg[ging] the sun to protect us andgive us health" (47). Juan The Chamula. From their perspective, their religion isthe foundation of their everyday existence. For example, the Washo girl who is having her periodis expected to starve for four days in order to test her fitness. More significantly, this sacred ceremony banishes hergirlhood completely in order to offer the young girl a fresh clean startfor her life as a woman. When Native Americans are not allowed to practice their religiouscustoms, they act out by abusing alcohol and beating their wives (Crow Dogand Erdoes 5). Among the Native Americans who live in the city,only Ben, his friend, realizes that Abel is unable to cope with life inwhite society because his identity is interwoven with the natural world.The song Ben sings to Abel, "House made of dawn," encapsulates theinterconnections of nature, religion and identity in Native Americanculture. Based on the above discussion of the four books, it is evident thatthe sacred and the secular cannot be considered as separate spheres of lifefor the Native American Indians. Byforbidding Native Americans from pursuing their religion, the White peoplewere instrumental in destroying the essence of the Native America people(Crow Dog and Erdoes 92-3). She hasto climb up to the hilltop with her sister and start a bonfire (Sanchez 1 8-1 ). At thesame time, this house is transformed into a house of worship and a homethat will restore the strength and identity of the Native American Indians(Momaday 146-7). If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.