Native North American Religions

Just as there is no single American Indian “language” and “culture,” so there is no single American Indian “religion.” There once existed a diversity of Native peoples whose 2 million descendants today represent the heirs of many languages, cultures, and religious practices that still define Indian country. This world of experience included sacred ritual practices that Native peoples regarded as an essential part of secular, everyday life. Such practices were part and parcel of what it meant to be human within the varied cultures that differed from one another.

Time has altered the cultural context that sustained traditions of the past, and most contemporary Indians live very much like non-Indians. However, Native peoples still refer to a “traditional religion,” even though there was no religion, per se, that was common to all groups (nor did the word “religion” exist within the hundreds of Indian languages that were once spoken). As a field of study, Indian religion is a broad topic with a vast literature of mixed quality. It is also a contentious topic that often pits Indians against non-Indians who involve themselves in some way with the subject.

This overview focuses on religious practices that have prehistoric roots and that have continued, with modification, up to the present. It will also cite people who have been influential in the field, controversies that have arisen, and works that have been significant. The subject has drawn inquiry since anthropology's birth and will no doubt continue to do so regardless of the heated debates that periodically emerge.