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Forty thousand years ago, Siberians traversed the Bering Strait
to enter the Western Hemisphere. The emigration to America occurred
in three waves: the Amerind (ca.40,000 BCE), the Na
Dene (ca.7000
BCE), and the Eskimo/Aleut (ca. 3000 BCE). Tribes were organized
in linguistic families such as the Algonkian and Athapascan in North America; the most concentrated population occurred
in Central and South America. In these cultures spirits were
understood to guide the primary activities and events of human
life (including hunting, fishing, sex, puberty, disease, and
death).
Characteristic
features of Native American religion included the master
of the animals, a protective spirit of a species or all
animals. Shamans (ecstatic medicine men) used supernatural
powers to cure the sick. Totemism was a mysterious
religious bond between human clan and guardian animals. There
was mostly a high god and many atmospheric gods,
such as the gods of thunder and wind. The Earth Mother
was understood to work silently, influencing everything on the
face of the earth. The culture hero (e.g. the raven,
coyote, blue jay, and others) appeared as a trickster,
who also introduced humankind to cultural institutions. Most
North American hunting cultures did not have creation myths,
though the earth-diver myth was an exception. Foraging societies
held first fruit rituals, and hunters were careful to treat
slain animals with deference so that they might return to life
nearby. Native cultures became more agricultural sometime after
about 3000 BCE, and the thanksgiving rituals of hunting cultures
now became more associated with planting, sprouting, sowing,
and harvesting. Myths and rituals included the Star Husband
Tale, the Dream-Guessing Rite, the Corn Maiden myth, and
sacred tobacco-smoking rituals.
Societies
in Meso-America (Central
America and Peru) tended to be theocratic, hierarchical,
and authoritarian and they featured a massive sacrificial system.
Many of the influences spread to the southern portions of North
America in the pre-Classic period (1000 BCE to 200 CE).
The Classic period (200 CE to 900 CE) saw growth and
vitality among Mayans and others; the post-Classic-period
(ca. 1300 CE) included the founding of the Aztec empire.
This era was soon followed by dramatic losses and retrenchment
throughout the Americas in the face of European expansionism
and imperialism.
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