Lesson 2 Chapter 2 And 3 Reading Response

Christopher Cunningham Dr. Vladimir Thomas PHIL-1304-TC011 ( Introduction to World Religion) 6 June 2009

Lesson 2 Chapter 2 and 3 Native American and African Religions

1: The Sun Dance is a ceremony practiced by a number of Native American tribes. It was widely practiced among the Arapaho, Asbinboine, , Cheyenne Shoshone, Sioux, Blackfeet and many other tribes mostly found in the plains, each tribe had It’s own rituals and methods in performing the dance but had common featurs Which involved dancing, singing, praying, drumming, the experience of visions Fasting and sometimes mutilations which was quite rare. The purpose of the Sun Dance is to celebrate the spiritual rebirth of those participating in the dance As well as the particpants relatives , as well as the regeneration of the Earth with all It’s elements. It shows a continuity between life and death- a regeneration. It Shows there is no true end to life but a cycle of true death’s and rebirths. All nature Is intertwined and dependent on one another. This shows a commonality of all Things on Earth. The ritual, involving sacrifice and supplication to insure harmony Between all living things . Though prominent in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s It is still practiced amongst many Native American tribes today, mostly by the Shashone in Wyoming, and some areas in Canada by tribes from the plains such as the Ojibwa, Cree, Salteaux Blackfeet tribes (Siksika, Kenai, and Piikani), as well as the

Canadian Sioux (dakoda and nikoda) and the Dene and Canadian Assiniboines.

2: The religions of Africa have undergone extreme difficulty in trying to perserve Their traditional religions in the hundred years. For example when the European Colonial empires came to the continents to Africa they tried to break up traditional Tribes trying inforce other forms of life and authority upon them. Following World War 2 Africa began to divide into more then forty nations which began to break up Tradtional tribal ways of life, with modernization, urbanization and increase of Population becoming more frequent respect for religion culture and their way of Life began to decrease. Still there are many that continue to practice traditional Religion while incorporating other beliefs of other religions into their belief system Such as Christianity and islam, examples include the adoption of a supreme High God, In many places the belief in lesser spirits have been adopted into traditional religions, they Include the christian belief of saints and islam’s belief of Jinns. In the religions of the Wolff tribes of the west for example there is the belief of Jinns in which diviners believe They have the power to control. In other parts of the African continent similar beliefs can Be found amongst many so called voodoo cults that are similar to the Christian belief in Many ways and have been Christianized, these belief systems are found mostly in the United states, particulary urban areas. Finally the struggle for national independence Has been an issue amongst many prominent African American leaders from Islam And Christianity, they include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa which have helped shape the way the African culture

Has understood modern religion and way of life.