Aboriginal Spirituality

By Despina Ikik, Jamie Liddell, Zack Lopez, Tamkin Naghshbandi , Rachel Tam

35,000 - 15,000 BCE Scientists theorize

that people migrated from Asia to North America over the Bering land bridge

1000 CE The first recorded

meeting between Europeans (Norse) and Aboriginal peoples in Newfoundland

1784 CE the leadership of

Joseph Brant, Mohawks settle on the Grand River after being displaced following the

American Revolution

1800 CE

1815 CE

The code of

Handsome Lake dies,

Handsome Lake is

Aug 10

developed

1830’s CE Creation of

residential school system

1876 CE Indian Act is passed

1884 CE

1970 CE

Potlatch ceremonies

A residential school

are banned by the

is turned into the

federal government

Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford, Ontario

1990 CE Elijah Harper stops

Meech Lake Accord

The Oka Crisis explodes when plans for a golf course clash with Aboriginal sacred burial grounds

1998 CE Canadian

Government expresses profound regret to Canada’s Aboriginal peoples for past

mistreatment and issues Statement of Reconciliation

1999 CE The new territory of

Nunavut is created

 Cannot pinpoint an

origin/founder of Aboriginal spirituality  Origins are ancient beyond record, theory says they “came out of this ground”  Archaeological evidence supports that Aboriginal people migrated from Asia to North and South America by land bridge over Bering Strait (between Alaska & Russia), approx. 35,000 years ago

 80% of the world’s

Aboriginal peoples live in Asia  13% live in North/South America

 Currently, 800,000

Aboriginal people live in Canada, some in every province

 Many Aboriginal’s

believe that everything in the world is alive  All things human & nonhuman have spirits or souls

Known as Animism.

 Some say this belief is

polytheistic, believing in many gods  Believe in a supreme Creator  Black Elk, born 1863, Sioux

holy man from the Great Plains  His theory was that every living thing was related and we were at one with all of them

 Link Aboriginal people

to their mythical ancestors  They are protective entities (plant, animal or mythological being of a clean individual)  People of the same totem are considered to be close relatives and may not marry

 Connects earth to heaven  Integral to the sun dance  The white pine is key for

Iroquois because they gather around it to offer thanks to the earth

 With this device the

Aboriginals believe that bad dreams are filtered through the web and displaced into the universe and good dreams are held onto the web for you to hold on to

• Made by laying many

•

• • •

stones in a particular pattern Symbol of healing and connection with the elements All over North America Manifestation of spiritual energy Usually, there are four sections

• southern Ontario

• cleanse • Male elders lead • Dance around a cotton

wood tree • Gives respect to the Tree of the Universe • This lasts from dawn to noon • A huge feast of meat and fish follows

• in the Great Plains

• 8 to 16 days • Summer • Banned in the 1880s

but is practised now What they do: • Prayer • Promises • Dance

 Northwest Pacific coast  Banned in 1884, ban lifted in 1951  Celebration of

important events  Songs and dance are performed to the Great Spirit  Host distributes wealth  The more they give away, the more prestigious the host becomes.

 Great Plains nations  Renews the soul and

helps to regain focus  Cleanses bodies  A sauna like dome is built and participants go inside  Prayers and sacred pipes are also shared

 Sub Arctic to Great

Lakes region  Represents the values and beliefs of the supernatural world  Communicate with spirits  Build a cylindrical

tent  This is ceremony always at night

 Practised all over  Cleansing, purification  Burns sweet grass and

Tobacco

 Prayers are passed down through generations by

telling and retelling stories and events  Elders and Shamans memorise the stories and

become “keeper” who then pass them on to younger generations

 Ancestry: 2001: 1.3 million report Aboriginal

ancestry [4.4%/ total population]  2001: 1 million identified as being Aboriginal  Aboriginal fertility > above overall Canadian birth rate

 Medicine: “medicine men” (rarely women)  Medicine men > only people to pronounce

illness/disease  Use plants + magic  Methods/ Plants used in 21st Century :  Lemongrass, tamarind, red ash

 Religion changeable, absorbs elements of other

beliefs  “Feeling of oneness and belonging”  Spiritual connection to land  Ceremonies (corroborees): totems, community gathering, story telling, dreaming, storytelling