Mrs. Mungo, others with Native American heritage, a question

[TravelingChris]

While I know you don't speak for all NA, I am just asking about your experiences and knowledge. Are most NAs Christian or are they practicing Native religions?

[mommaduck]

Our family, extended family, and most that I have met are Christian. There are of course those that have chosen other faiths or no faith at all. "Native religion" can be a diverse and controversial topic, and will depend on various areas, tribes, and who is "practicing" it (aka there are non natives that believe they practice some modern invention that is tagged as "native spirituality" co-opting native practices and putting their own spin on it.

Edited September 23, 2010 by mommaduck

[Once Again]

All the NA's I know (myself included) are Christian. I am a member of the Muscogee Creek, one of the five civilized tribes. I think the majority of the 5 civilized tribes are Christian.

[Luvmy3kids]

My really good friend is Native American and she is not a Christian. She is definately more spiritual, but will not label or call herself a Christian. She is actually struggling right now because her husband is Catholic and has started to teach the kids different prayers, etc. She is trying to balance it with her own beliefs, but it is hard.

[Wish]

This would definitely depend on the person (since most people don't practice their ancestor's beliefs). Sure, some are probably into the whole shamanism nature thing, but probably most are into more mainstream religions, like Christianity or atheism (for the purpose of belief or lack of it, I consider atheism a religion).

[SailorMom]

I would say my relatives are "culturally Christian" - but believe in a very spiritual, "God's spirit resides in everything", every religion is ok, type of spirituality/Christianity.

[mommaduck]

May I ask the background of the question (simply because I'm a curious person by nature)?

[Mrs Mungo]

Our family, extended family, and most that I have met are Christian. There are of course those that have chosen other faiths or no faith at all. "Native religion" can be a diverse and controversial topic, and will depend on various areas, tribes, and who is "practicing" it (aka there are non natives that believe they practice some modern invention that is tagged as "native spirituality" co-opting native practices and putting their own spin on it.

 

:iagree:

 

There are also Christian NAs who perform certain rites as a nod to their heritage, without actually attaching the spiritual beliefs behind them.

[mommaduck]

:iagree:

 

There are also Christian NAs who perform certain rites as a nod to their heritage, without actually attaching the spiritual beliefs behind them.

Exactly. Or even some that see some practices as an equivalent of a Christian practice, I've heard of this as well.

[TravelingChris]

We are living in the DC area and near the time we first visited here, we went to the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. None of really liked the museum (other than the cafeteria) however my middle got the impression or misimpression that all or most Native Americans are practicing the Indian religions. Now I have to say that she never noticed that one of her friends when she was little was a Christian Indian, our pastor at one church was an Indian, and we had a number of Indians attending our church in NM.

[TravelingChris]

Oh, and we didn't like the layout and the emphasis of that museum. We have been to other museums with Indian art or exhibits that we liked.

[PiCO]

While I know you don't speak for all NA, I am just asking about your experiences and knowledge. Are most NAs Christian or are they practicing Native religions?

 

I think the religious makeup of NA communities is fairly comparable to the rest of the country, as far as Christian and non-Christian percentages go.

 

There was a huge push to convert all NA to Christianity throughout the history of the US. You know how Christians love to convert the "unsaved..." (I think that was a tragedy- a lot of NA culture was lost through conversion. Not to mention other native cultures around the globe, starting with Europe.)

 

My mother was NA, she grew up with 7 brothers & sisters. Their family was not Christian. Two of the sisters converted to Christianity and did not speak to the rest of the family for decades (because no one else was interested in conversion.)

 

One of my uncles used to foster a lot of NA children. They like to place NA kids with NA families, so he was high on the list. A local social worker tried to get him off the foster parent list because he's not a Christian, and she thought all foster kids should go to Christian families.

[athena1277]

Oh, and we didn't like the layout and the emphasis of that museum. We have been to other museums with Indian art or exhibits that we liked.

 

We were very disappointed in it also. Dd was very interested in reading/learning about Native Americans when we went there. It had very little to teach or interest kids.

[mommaduck]

Indians are from India ;)

 

There is a Native American Museum in Baltimore. I wonder if it would be better. A friend of mine that lives in that city sent me a picture of the outside wall of it (it has a mural).

 

If anyone is ever out in IL or near St Louis, Cahokia Mounds has a nice museum...but it is specific to the People of the Cahokia Mounds.

Edited September 23, 2010 by mommaduck

[PiCO]

Indians are from India ;)

 

There is a Native American Museum in Baltimore. I wonder if it would be better. A friend of mine that lives in that city sent me a picture of the outside wall of it (it has a mural).

 

There's a great NA museum in Phoenix- the Heard Museum.

[TravelingChris]

I am not the one who named the Smithsonian museum and I believe I used the term Native Americans in the original question. Or I guess I could have used the Canadian term- First nations.

[mommaduck]

I am not the one who named the Smithsonian museum and I believe I used the term Native Americans in the original question. Or I guess I could have used the Canadian term- First nations.

I was funning you. That's why I ;)