A Study of Siouan Cults: Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1889-1890, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1861, pages 351-544Dorsey, James Owen
Religion
A Study of Siouan Cults: Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1889-1890, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1861, pages 351-544
Dorsey, James Owen
Siouan Indians -- Religion
Referring to Mr. Eells, the Nez Percé missionary, and to Mr. Williams,
who has been laboring among the Chippewas, Mr. Peet observes:[278]
There are four or five points on which both missionaries seem
to be agreed * * * These four doctrines--the existence of
God, immortality of the soul, the sinfulness of man, and the
necessity of sacrifice--seem to have been held in various
modified forms by all the tribes in North America.
On the next page[279] he gives a classification of native religions, by
which he means those of America. He says that these religions may be
divided by geographical districts into several classes:
(1) Shamanism, by which he seems to mean the worship of the wakan
men and women. “Among the Eskimos, Aleuts, and other hyperborean
nations, who subsist chiefly by fishing.” (2) Animism, by which he
probably means the worship of “souls” or “shades,” including ghosts,
as every object, whether animate or inanimate, is thought to have a
“shade.” This belief, he says, is found in its highest stage among
tribes that formerly dwelt in British North America, between Hudsons
Bay and the Great Lakes. These tribes subsist by hunting. (3) Animal
worship, practiced by a class partly hunters, partly farmers, dwelling,
say, between 35° and 48° N. lat. (4) Sun worship, the cult of the
tribes south of 35° N. lat., and extending to the Gulf of Mexico.
(5) Elemental worship, which he defines as “the worship of rain,
lightning, the god of war and death,” found in Mexico and New Mexico.
(6) Anthropomorphism, a religion which gave human attributes to the
divinities, but assigned to them supernatural powers. This prevailed in
Central America.
THE AUTHOR’S REPLY.
§ 361. But what do we find prevalent among the tribes under
consideration in this paper?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account