Vine
Deloria, Jr.
Religious
sentiment and experience are foremost among the characteristics
which distinguish our species from the rest of the organic
beings in the world. Over the course of humanity's historical
journey, religious experiences have formed the basis of social,
political and economic institutions of both a formal and informal
nature. American Indians, and many other tribal peoples, represent
a long historical tradition in which religious experiences
and knowledge, and the requirement of ceremonial participation,
are spread more or less evenly throughout a small reasonably
homogeneous society. Although American Indians participate
in a large variety of religious traditions our concern here
will be with that portion of the Indian nation that continues
to follow traditional religious practices.
The United
States Constitution guarantees, in the Bill of Rights, that
the Federal government will not intervene in human social
processes to establish a state religion nor will it place
burdens upon the free exercise of religious duties and matters
of conscience. As the population of a nation increases and
its governing institutions are asked to perform more complex
functions, innocuous religious behavior once specific to small
groups of people becomes disruptive when practiced by increasingly
larger groups. In making the proper accommodations to satisfy
the followers of particular traditions, the exceptions in
the rules which govern mass behavior begin to take on increasingly
larger responsibilities. Accordingly, the contemporary social
and political scene in the United States has created a great
tension between practitioners of traditional American Indian
tribal religions and some of the other institutional practices
of mainstream society. Complex situations in which decisions
regarding land use policies, construction of private and public
facilities, and preservation of wildlife species and habitat
are new areas of conflict which now affect traditional religious
practices. We deal not so much with competition between religious
traditions as with the areas in which some religious traditions
and the secular arms of government meet, a situation not contemplated
by the framers of the Constitution.
Two Supreme
Court cases, Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective
Association (485 U.S. 439 1988) and Unemployment Division,
Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith (1105 S.
Ct. 1595 1990) and the recent amendment to the American Indian
Religious Freedom Act (PL 103-344, 42 U.S.C. 1996a) have created
a situation in which significant adjustments of Federal and
constitutional law have been or will be produced. New understandings
of traditional American Indian religions and an expanded philosophy
of the Federal responsibility for protecting aspects of Native
American traditions, already partially articulated in statutes
such as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation
Act, will require more sophisticated understandings, attitudes
and activities from all state and Federal agencies in the
very near future.
In order
to understand the complexity of this change, it is necessary
to distinguish some of the characteristics of the tribal religious
traditions from concepts and behavior that are familiar to
non-indigenous Americans. Attitudes originate in the expectations
which our knowledge of a subject encourages us to anticipate
and in the case of Native American religious traditions very
little accurate information is known. Many stereotypes exist
which place these few bits of knowledge in an unfavorable
or exotic/esoteric light. A review of some of the more commonly
identified characteristics of Native religions will enable
us to understand the context within which religious experiences
are occurring and producing behavior and activities that vary
considerably from the expectations of the various groups of
people whose religious traditions incorporate different perspectives.
Religious
Contexts
The Mysterious
Presence
Native
and tribal peoples experience and intuit beneath the plenitude
of physical entities in the natural world, the presence of
a mysterious, personal energy. One tribe may call this energy
Orenda, another tribe may describe it as Puha, a third may
refer to it as Manitou, and yet a fourth may refer to this
presence as Skan, implying energy with but a hint of personality.
In general these words indicate an apprehension of the basic
life-force of the universe which flows through or is found
in everything. Inherent in this concept is the idea of a guided
mission or plan which directs the universe to proceed along
certain lines. The task of our species is to become positively
aligned with that direction and maintain a balance between
the seen and unseen forces that constitute our world. Aside
from the words describing the existence of this energetic
presence, unlike western and world religions, there is little
effort made by traditional practitioners to achieve a clear
definition of the substance, the role, or the meaning of this
presence. There is, in fact, extreme reluctance to pronounce
the sacred name of this mysterious presence and consequently
the language of allusion and indirect discourse are used when
referring to this mystery. Many tribes have the same prohibition
on speaking the sacred name that we see in the Old Testament
tradition regarding the Hebrew God. Sacredness, in its first
and deepest encounter, requires that a boundary of respect
be drawn around our experience and/or knowledge of this personal
energetic presence. At the very deepest levels of religious
knowledge, Native people do not, and as a rule will not, speculate
on the basic functions of ultimate reality. They simply accept
it as a given.
Manifestations
of the Mysterious Presence
In spite
of the speculations of non-Indian scholars, and the sometimes
compliant agreement of some Native spokespeople, Native peoples
do have a keen sense of the historical process and of the
passage of time. Consequently the cumulative historical experiences
of each tribe have been distilled over millennia into a complex
network of interrelated stories and scenarios in which the
interactive experiences of these people with this mysterious
power have taken concrete historical-event form. Most tribal
traditions begin with the process of creation, continue with
migration traditions in which the people move through a variety
of worlds, through changing conditions within a particular
world, or in pilgrimages across now-familiar landscapes to
arrive at designated locations where they are instructed to
live. A significant proportion of ceremonial activity enacts
the primordial experience of creation or migration and is
understood as the primary balancing of cosmic forces to ensure
continued existence of the world as we know it.
During
the course of the historical journey made by each American
Indian tribe, events of major significance take place and
various personalities emerge which represent the dominant
expressions of this mysterious universal power for the life
of any particular tribal people. These personalities are not
"gods" in the sense that peoples from the western
tradition describe their historical religious personalities
but they are endowed with a sacredness which stands in direct
contrast to secular activities and beliefs. These personalities
are more generally described as "spirits" which
is to say that while they have specific roles to play in the
creation and continuation of the physical universe, and in
the definition of meaning for human societies, they are also
known by specific personality traits which in turn define
their relationships with human beings and with each other.
Each
and every entity that helps to constitute the natural world
is believed to partake of the mysterious personal energy and
to have parity with every other entity in the sense that all
together share responsibility for the physical world and for
the creation of meaning within its moving processes as seen
in the passage of time. No entity in and of itself has value
exceeding that of any other but the roles which various entities
are asked to play may vary considerably in significance when
understood from the human perspective. Given this cosmic parity,
there is very little emphasis on "worshiping" these
other entities. Rather the concentration is that of petitioning
the spirit to assist the human in certain kinds of tasks and
in certain kinds of situations. Ceremonial focus could be
said to consist of petitions and thanksgivings for past assistance.
Understanding
the Nature of Symbolism
In the
western European religious tradition, in its American stepchild
(American Christianity), and in some of the non-western world
religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism we find a great complex
of symbols which remind us of the basic features of religious
story lines. Symbols "stand for" realities that
we acknowledge as being important to our religious expression.
While the symbol may invoke great emotional response in those
who see it, there is a sense in which the symbol serves primarily
as a communications device and does not, in and of itself,
participate in the religious experience. In the western context,
when we say that a symbol "represents" a certain
religious reality, we intend to communicate the importance
of remembering how that particular thing fits into the total
scope of our religious understanding. But we intend to convey
the meaning that the symbol "stands for" another,
higher reality, and that the symbol is not, in and of itself,
sacred. Hence we are generally speaking of a device for recalling
important teachings.
The Native
American and other tribal traditions do not use symbols in
this sense. When a religious practitioner in an American Indian
ritual or ceremony states that a rock represents the earth
or a familiar mountain, the designation means that the earth
or the mountain is actually present in the ceremony, present
in the same way as if the entity had personally sent a representative
to the ceremony with full instructions to participate in the
proceedings. Insisting that the entity is actually present
means that the ceremonial event is a real and integral part
of the ongoing cosmic process. The event then has a historical
content and is not simply an occasion when clarity of purpose
or communication has been established. In a real sense it
is a special kind of intervention in the cosmic process to
give meaningful focus to future activities. When the Sioux
could no longer use the buffalo in one of their ceremonies
there was great debate over which of the new domestic animals
brought by the white man could be safely used as a substitute
for the bison. Similarities in morphology, function, personal
characteristics, and ways of relating to human beings were
discussed before it was agreed that the sheep could be used
as a substitute for certain kinds of rituals. But some ceremonies
have simply been abandoned because they were so animal or
bird-specific that substitution could not be made. As an example,
occasionally participants in an Eagle Dance will relate how
they found themselves suddenly high in the sky circling the
dance pavilion, actually experiencing what it means to be
an eagle. Other times in Visions, the Eagle appears at first
as a human being and then becomes transformed into an eagle.
In these two instances we see the sacred dimension of being
able to experience what other entities feel and understand
about the world. People can feel what it is like to be a plant
or animal and, we assume, these other creatures can know what
it is like to be human.
Ritual
Activity
The purpose
of the physical universe, in its most pristine sense, is the
coordinated participation of every entity in the activity
of full realization of potential. In its purest form the Native
American view of the universe is a ritual expression of possibilities
and potential performed by various entities coordinated in
fulfilling relationships. This expression depends on the awareness
of every entity of its responsibility and the relationship
of that role to the functions performed by others. The ceremony
is a coming-together of the various entities and the merging
of the various experiences of individual time to produce a
ceremonial moment in which something new in the cosmos takes
place.
Obviously,
within the physical universe, it is extremely difficult to
correlate the "times" of each entity to produce
this moment of complete coordination. The world as we experience
it, therefore, is a product of the activities of all entities
as they attempt to correlate their personal times with the
larger cosmic process. "Religion" as practiced and
experienced within American Indian tribal communities is a
series of rituals with various origin points in the past practiced
in an effort to bring harmony and coordination to the present
physical universe.
Unlike
the Mass or the Passover which both commemorate past historical
religious events and which believers understand as also occurring
in a timeless setting beyond the reach of the corruption of
temporal processes, Native American religious practitioners
are seeking to introduce a sense of order into the chaotic
physical present as a prelude to experiencing the universal
moment of complete fulfillment. Consequently Native American
rituals are designed to deal with immediate adjustments of
the situation confronting human beings. What may appear to
be the most insignificant ritual may actually have great significance
in formulating the completeness of the whole. A healing ceremony,
for instance, would adjust the health condition of the person
receiving the healing, the spirits participating would be
able to bring their healing powers into the physical universe,
and the other entities, birds, plants, and animals, would
experience joy and fulfillment in assisting in the corrective
measures being taken.
Participation
in ritual activity places on the practitioner a moral/ethical
burden in which responsibility for the well-being of the other
entities which assisted in the ceremony are assumed. Even
when the ceremony requires the killing of a bird or animal
or the complete destruction of the plant, it becomes the task
of humans to ensure that the other entities have not made
sacrifices of their lives in vain. In a real sense, for most
Native American traditions, the human being acts as facilitator
for a variety of other entities in creating the ceremonial
or ritual moment and setting to generate the experience of
cosmic completeness of all participating entities. Rituals
which ensure the continuation or renewal of the world, or
which express thanksgiving for the physical world as we know
it can be said to be performed for the benefit of other creatures
and only minimally for our species.
Kinds
of Ritual Activities
The mysterious,
personal energy which exists in all things gives each entity
a basis for experiencing completeness through participatory
rituals when individual identities are seen as physical expressions
of the commonality of energetic life. That is to say, the
other creatures of creation also find fulfillment in the rituals
and their own species' historical experiences are enhanced
by their participation. Eagles become more powerful as their
participation in rituals increases, and their relationships
with other birds and animals becomes more significant. Rituals,
therefore, are not restricted to human activity alone and
some tribes describe the behavior of plants and animals as
ritual practices in which completeness is found without human
assistance. Divining the meaning of plant and animal rituals
may sometimes produce imitative human behavior. The Plains
Indians must certainly have copied the dance of the prairie
chicken in some of their rituals although the event during
which this incorporation was made is now unknown. Dances honoring
the deer, bear, buffalo or other game animals may also have
been transferred from wholly animal behavior to human ceremonial
importance. Dances for animals in one sense are also suggestions
for footwork and expression made by humans to their animal
relatives.
Healing
The rituals
and ceremonies in which we have an interest for the purposes
of this report are those in which human beings, on behalf
of other entities, ranging from the Sun, the planet Mother
Earth, mountains and rivers, different species of plants and
animals, and finally specific groups of people and particular
individuals become the focal point and prime participants.
The dominant purpose of these rituals and ceremonies are to
bring order out of a chaotic situation.Therefore, in modern
terms we see healing as the primary goal. Healing can be understood
as the means by which adjustments are made in the physical
universe so that all entities can function in a manner much
closer to their innate Potential. Renewal ceremonies, such
as the one described in Chapter Seven, conducted at Fort Hood,
are healing activities on behalf of the human beings who participate
and the medicine wheel which was originally constructed to
serve that purpose.
Thanksgiving
Closely
related to the healing activity is that of thanksgiving, which
could be described almost as preventive healing in the sense
that properly maintained sets of relationships do not create
tensions and conflict. Thus ceremonies and dances are performed
primarily to honor birds, fish, animals, and particular locations
of Native American concern. These ceremonies are the means
by which humans give thanks for their good fortune in having
relationships with the rest of creation, the thanks being
given to particular creatures or locations. The First Salmon
ceremony of the Indian nations of the Pacific Northwest and
some of the Southwestern United States eagle ceremonies are
good examples of this kind of activity.
Vision
Quests
Some
people see a hierarchy of rituals present in some of the tribal
traditions. Viewed cross-culturally, the Vision Quest is the
most common way of producing the religious leaders of each
successive generation. In a Vision Quest, a young person secludes
himself or herself in order to receive a foreknowledge of
their life's religious vocation. This particular ritual is
a sophisticated effort to discern the specific goals of the
temporal processes which seem to direct Native American lives
and to place the coming generation in synchronous relationship
with them. This ritual is now being revived in a large number
of tribes in an effort to reduce the juvenile delinquency
problems. In general it consists of a four day fast, under
the supervision of an elder, performed by an Indian boy or
girl at the onset of puberty. In more precise terminology
the Vision Quest is also done by traditional practitioners
to maintain their relationship with higher spiritual powers
and to ask for additional specific powers or to gain information
on particular subjects.
The original
goal of this research project was to locate sacred sites connected
primarily with the Vision Quest ceremonies because these rituals,
being primarily initiatory, were essential to the continuing
process of providing medicine people and spiritual leaders
for Native American communities. It was anticipated that conflicts
between traditional spiritual practitioners and military installations
might revolve about the question of access to sacred sites
on military lands for Vision Quest purposes. As the number
of probable sacred sites increased it began to appear that
the Vision Quest problem might not be as severe as anticipated.
The mass of materials began to dictate a much different arrangement
of data and the inclusion of other kinds of sites which have
the potential for becoming publicly acknowledged by religious
leaders of Native American communities. The changing nature
of Native American religious concerns now appears to be more
aggressive in identifying and protecting locations that would
not have been made public in the past. As more sacred sites
become a part of Native American and non-Indian awareness,
there is no question that Vision Quest activities will be
seen as part of more sacred locations. However the sense of
urgency with respect to the Vision Quest locations, inspired
perhaps by the Northwest Indian Cemetery Protection Association
problems with the government, is considerably less than anticipated.
In actual practice, DoD base commanders can expect that requests
for memorial and condolence ceremonies related to existing
sites already known or burials uncovered during construction
or use of installation lands will be the most numerous. It
is highly unlikely that new use requests would be made by
present-day practitioners. The resolution of the problem of
the medicine wheel and cemetery at Fort Hood would be the
exception not the rule in these cases.
Condolence
The last
kind of Native American ritual activity which may be encountered
that might depend on access to a particular location deal
with condolence, mourning, or memorial activities. In some
of the tribal traditions these ceremonies greatly resemble
similar kinds of services performed by the Christian priests
and ministers and Jewish rabbis. Basically they help people
deal with the loss of loved ones, commemorate members of the
community who have been helpful or respected, and sometimes
provide a direct linkage between generations of people separated
by time and the passage of years. Some years ago a mixture
of traditional Sioux spiritual leaders and Sioux priests and
ministers cooperated to perform a memorial and reburial ceremony/service
for the people's remains found in the excavation of a village
near the Big Bend of the Missouri. In practice we can anticipate
that DoD base commanders will have more contact with these
ceremonies than with the Vision Quest, World Renewal, or other
ceremonies.
Rituals
and Sacred Places
Of particular
importance for this study, for DoD, and for the state and
Federal agencies who will be dealing with the religious/cultural
concerns and practices of Native Americans is the relationship
of particular locations to the practice of traditional Native
American religions. Tribal religions view the landscape as
an integral part of religious experience because it is not
only the locus for human experience but the earth itself is
a living entity and manifests its relationship to all forms
of life by sustaining them. Landscapes have interlocking sets
of locations which are holy in and of themselves because they
are the most specific means whereby the earth can relate to
lesser entities.
Over
the course of thousands of years, Native Americans have discerned
the various sacred sites which have power; that is to say,
manifest the energy and concern of the earth. Sometimes several
tribes will have discovered the sacredness of a site and become
aware of the proper ceremonies that must be performed there.
Bear Butte and the Sangre de Cristo mountains of New Mexico
are good examples of multi-tribal sacred sites. A number of
mountains in southeastern Utah have the same status. Within
traditional occupancy areas and along ancient migration routes
are more locations that have a religious significance to particular
Indian tribes. The knowledge of these locations has been passed
down within certain families who performed ceremonies for
many generations.
In contrast,
western and some other world religions also have sacred places
and shrines but these sites generally mark the location where
historical religious events took place: Mt. Sinai, Mecca,
Jerusalem, and other locations. Through ceremonial activities
these religions set aside or consecrate locations that then
take on significance for the followers and becomes the focus
of ceremonial activities. These religions also have the practice
of consecrating a location and establishing a shrine where
practitioners can worship. The consecration then removes the
location from the secular world and places it within the scope
of continuing religious activities.
When
dealing with public lands or lands controlled by Federal agencies,
it is possible to provide non-Native American religious bodies
with tracts of land which they can consecrate and use for
religious purposes. The location can be almost anywhere of
convenience. Native American religious traditions, however,
can only use a specific location which is already known to
be sacred. In use of geographic locations, therefore, the
non-Native American religious bodies can accommodate almost
any assignment and make use of it; Native American religious
bodies must use particular locations or they cannot continue
their ceremonial life.
Sacred
Objects
Perceiving
a living universe, manifested by the presence of the mysterious
life energy in everything, tribal religious traditions understood
objects used for religious purposes as possessing the mysterious
power which made the universe function. Rituals almost always
require the participation of the other creatures of the creation
and consequently ritual practices require the collection of
plants and animals, minerals and clays, stone, and some ceremonial
form of setting these objects aside once they have been used
ritually.
Objects
used in rituals may have sacred significance for only a duration
of time, while some ritual objects are thought to have existed
since creation. As an example of time-limited objects, the
Zuni make war gods of wood which have status and an active
function within the Zuni ceremonial life but which, after
a designated period of time, are then placed in special locations
where they are returned to the natural world through the processes
of decay and erosion.
The classification
of objects as having ceremonial potency depends upon the designated
practitioners of the respective tribal religious traditions
and not upon use or misuse or possession by secular individuals.
In terms of designation or classification of objects which
might be found on United States military lands, the best course
of action for DoD resource managers concerned about the treatment
of those objects is to contact practitioners of the most probable
Native religious tradition and seek their advice on how to
handle the situation.
Sacredness
within the traditional Indian religions does not depend upon
a hierarchical arrangement of ceremonies or objects, but upon
existing and possible future sets of relationships between
living entities. Attempting to evaluate the relative importance
of certain kinds of practices or materials from outside the
religious context is difficult if not impossible. Forcing
religious experiences into foreign interpretive frameworks
does violence to the understanding of the factors that are
actually involved. Misunderstandings and transfers of emphasis
can lead to embarrassment and conflict that is unnecessary.
A great
deal of Native American religious knowledge has been lost
over the last century. Consequently many locations which would
have invoked a sense of reverence long ago may not have the
same status among practitioners of the religion today. The
purpose of existing and contemplated Federal and state laws
which seek to grant access to sacred sites or set aside locations
of the gathering of ritual objects is in accord with the resurgence
of many tribal traditions which have been illegally and immorally
suppressed during the immediate past. These efforts are good
faith attempts to reconcile the practices of traditional Native
religions with the requirements of mass society and its institutions
today.
In terms
of the expectations which DoD base commanders can anticipate
that relate to sacred objects, apart from personal goods which
might be found in burials, the objects most important will
be those natural substances that were or are used in ceremonies.
Already several U.S. military installations have worked out
arrangements with a tribal government allowing gathering of
plants. While sacred objects are represented by a much wider
variety of religious paraphernalia, such as prayer feathers
and wands, strips of cloth, and designed figures made during
ceremonies, concern in general should focus on the plants
and minerals which are necessary for ritual use.
Summary
The context
within which Native American religious expression is found
and understood is that of a living universe which has, as
its basic ground, a mysterious personal energy that pervades
and energizes everything. Although this great energy is to
be found in every entity which humans encounter, it is the
specific manifestations of this energy in historical events
that particularizes the sacred into sets of powers and personalities
with whom the tribal community has a relationship.
Traditionally
many societies have reached the conclusion that a "High
God" or solitary deity exists by reference to the orderliness
of the natural world or through the demonstration by logical
reasoning. This deity is intellectually and conceptually pleasing
but we do not find it present in very many Native American
religious traditions. Instead we find vaguely defined beliefs
inside vast and very complex ceremonial practices. Since the
mysterious power can manifest itself in the historical moment
without projecting a sense of absolute revelation, in the
western European and American sense, there is no conflict
among or between tribes as to the form and substance of ultimate
reality.
The basic
requirement of Native American ritual activities is that all
creatures of creation be granted access to the ceremonies.
The transformation of natural objects without specific instructions
from the spirits was regarded as a violation of the integrity
of the other entities. Therefore, use of natural objects usually
conforms closely to their original state. A good example of
this practice is in the treatment of peyote for religious
purposes. The Native American Church does not alter the peyote
button in any way, since that would be a violation of the
spirit of the plant. Indian people regard the processing of
the plants to find a chemical derivative as a dreadful act.
With the exception of placing sacred objects at certain locations,
traditional Native American people do not, as a rule, attempt
to construct buildings such as churches and chapels at sacred
sites. Everything in the physical world is believed to have
its own integrity. The task of religious practitioners, therefore,
is to create the minimum disruption of the site and cause
the minimum disruption of the lives of other creatures while
performing ceremonial functions on behalf of these entities.
