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Native American Worldview
Native American WorldView
For the church to reach the Native American, it must first understand the context, or the culture in which it witnesses (see Acts 17). The Native American worldview has nine distinct characteristics.
1. There is no natural/supernatural dichotomy.
The Western culture has adopted a worldview with the spiritual realm (Supernatural) apart from the natural world. The natural world obeys scientific laws. In this worldview the events we see always have causes, and miraculous interventions are quite out of the ordinary. There is a sacred versus secular view of reality.
In truth, there is what contemporary theologians are referring to as the "excluded middle". In this world view, God can and does intervene in our world creating His Kingdom. Miracles are ordinary. The Native Americans have always held the view that the dichotomy did not exist. From this perspective the Native American worldview is much closer to the Biblical worldview concept.
2. Native Americans have a worldview that places them at one with nature.
This is in contrast with the Western culture worldview that places man as master over nature. In the Western culture, man assumes Nature's resources can be exploited, manipulated, and consumed for the purpose of profit. Native Americans perceive a balanced relationship between man and the environment.
The Biblical viewpoint is that man has been given authority over nature (Genesis 1:28-30). Man has been given this authority in stewardship; that is, man is held accountable as to how he uses these.
3. The Native American has a qualitative view of time.
This is in contrast to the quantitative view of time held by the Western culture. To the Native American, an event begins when it is appropriate. As with the Hebrew world view, Indian events occur in a certain time-phase, or zeitgestalt. Decisions are made at opportune, or kairos, moments. Most Indian languages have no time symbols. Priority belongs to the significant thing that is being done at the present time.
This is in contrast to the commodity view of time held by the Western culture. In this Euro-American view, time can be sold, purchased, borrowed, wasted, killed, made up, or (if you run afoul of the law) done.
4. The Native American sees land as something that can not be owned by the individual, and some land (such as the mountains) as sacred.
This is in contrast to the Western cultural view, which treats land as a commodity like time. The concept of individual land ownership was alien to the Indians. The concept that the white man "stole" the Indian's land is alien to the Indian world view, as also the idea that someone could purchase land from the Indians. The issue of land ownership has been one of the main sources of conflict between the Western culture and the Native American culture.
5. The Native American is much more subject to familial and peer pressure than the Westerner.
The American culture admires individualism and anyone who overcomes unsurmountable odds to make it on their own. The Native American, in contrast, is much more subject to cultural, familial and peer pressure, and often fails to "succeed" because of strong pressures from the family or the community. A decision for Christ threatens the integrity of the group or family, making it appear as if the new convert is rejecting his or her family.
6. Power to the Native American has meant the ability to achieve a bountiful harvest, successful hunt, or a healthy birth. The Indian way is to seek power by worshipping the sun, Mother Earth, and the spirit world. Power is often accomplished through traditional ceremonies.
In the Western culture, power is generally associated with the accumulation of money, land, possessions, knowledge, or fame. Success is equated with the accumulation of these.
To the Native American with its supernatural orientation, if a hunt fails or a baby dies, it has been because he or she did not have enough power. If there is sickness, the question was "Who caused this?", not what. The name of the game is to accumulate enough power to survive in a mysterious world. There is a particular concern of powerlessness among the Native Americans today, hence a new reach for the power they believe they have lost. Even the Indians who have accepted Christ often believe they remain powerless, and as a result have far more faith in their traditional rituals than the church rites in bringing them peace, happiness, and success.
Traditional ceremonies were thought to give the Indian power. For this reason there is a strong move in the contemporary Native American cultures to restore many traditional ceremonies, such as the "Sun Dance".
In the spiritual realm, power is dunamis, the ability to do (1 Cor. 4:20). Unfortunately, the Indian often "adds on" to his existing rituals and ceremonies his or her new faith rather than trusting Christ completely. Christ cannot take His place at the center of the Indian's worldview until He is perceived as the Source of power (dunamis): past, present, and future. This raises a theological dilemma. Has the new dispensational supernatural world view of the church today hindered the receptiveness of a people group whose functional belief system is supernatural?
7. In the Native American view, children are raised participating in adult activities.
Native American children are taught they must respect and obey their parents because of the sacrifices of the parents. The children are taught that as they are weak, the parents are strong for them. As the parents become old, they become weak and the children, now adults, must care for them. Family ties are close, and often a behavior problem of a family member is hidden to protect the family unit.
This is in contrast with the Western cultural view, where adults participate in the children's activities. The care of the elderly, impoverished, and the sick is often delegated to some type of institutional care, whether private or governmental.
8. Native Americans see themselves as part of a large social unit (such as an extended family) and are much more supportive of each other's needs than in the Western culture.
Native Americans do not need to be reminded to meet their brother's or sister's needs. They do it instinctively. They feed each other, clothe the poor, provide shelter, and quickly provide other emergency needs.
9. Native Americans have a very spiritual outlook on life.
Although there is much variation of the spiritual expression within the different tribes, there are some common expressions. All Indian tribes believe in one Supreme Being. The peace pipe is considered a medium of prayer to the Great Spirit and attending spirits for many plains tribes. Failing to show respect for the pipe or using it improperly could be viewed as a cause for disaster.
The first Nations, with their tribal religions, often worshipped corruptible images of man, birds, and reptiles. The tribes of the Northwest coast have been called the children of the Raven. The Raven was known as the trickster-creator. Many of these Indians believed their "cultural hero" (raven) created the world and could assume the form of a man or bird. He lived an immortal life, and could change like the wind.
The Indians of the Northwest, for example, maintained a close cosmic relationship to animal life. Many of the tribes believed that the Salmon people in the underworld put on the dress of salmon each year and sacrificed themselves as food for mankind and the animals. In order not to offend the Salmon people, these Indians took the salmon bones and returned them to the water so that the Salmon people would return the next season.
Some Northwest Indians also believed in the sisiut, a double-headed serpent. He was both evil and good, with powerful means of divination. The families of the Northwest also had their totem spirits. The entrance to each home was marked with this totem spirit.
The primary person in the tribe with the greatest power with the spirit world was the shaman. The shaman had the power to heal, to find lost things, and to predict the future. The bear spirit for many tribes was the spirit of the shaman. If the shaman in the tribe failed to cure a disease and the patient was lost, the shaman was at risk from vengeance-seeking relatives. This custom put the early missionaries with their abilities to heal using medicines and prayer at risk when they "failed".
For most North American tribal people, salvation is achieved by restoring order and balance in nature. It will occur in the hereafter, but he seems to gain some of it in the mortal life. The cultural observances and rites are a means to this end. To the Christian, in contrast, the relationship between God and man is restored only through Jesus Christ.
The contrast of the world view with the white culture is perhaps best seen in a speech given by Chief Seattle in 1854 as he watched the disappearance of the Indian. Although not theological correct in places from a Judeo-Christian perspective, it summarized the Indian world view:
"Every part of this earth is sacred to my people.
The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water
but the blood of our ancestors.
Each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes
tells of events and memories in the life of my people.
The water murmur is the voice of my father's father.
The rivers are our brothers; they quench our thirst;
they carry our canoes and feed our children.
So you must give to the rivers the kindness we would give to any brother.
Remember that the air is precious to us;
that the air shares the spirit of all the life that it supports.
The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath
also receives his last sigh.
Will you teach your children what we have taught our children,
that the earth is our mother.
Whatever befalls the earth befalls all the sons in the earth.
This we know - the earth does not belong to man.
Man belongs to the earth.
Tribe follows tribe and nation follows nation,
like the waves of the sea.
It is the order of nature, and regret is useless.
And when the last Red man shall have perished
and the memory of my tribe shall have become a myth to the white man;
these shores will swarm with the invisible dead of my tribe.
Tonight when the streets of your cities and villages are silent and you will think them deserted,
they will throng with the returning host that once filled
and still love this beautiful land.
The white man will never be alone."
Native American people view the land, mountains, rivers, animals, and lakes all as sacred. Mount Rainier in Washington was one of the most sacred mountains of all. Spirit Lake (near Mount St. Helens) was named from a Salish word and was believed to be haunted by evil spirits of destruction.
Trends in the Native American Culture
1. The Native American family, though strongly intact, has become increasingly unstable
This is due to a number of factors:
· Loss of economic base and its impoverishment.
· Decline of the role of the male.
· Increasing role of the government in providing family functions.
The results of this instability include:
· Lack of control; that is, the family is less able to control its members.
· Loss of role models.
· Loss of emotional security.
· Increase in strife between families.
· Increased use of alcohol.
· Youth and behavior problems.
· Academic underachievement.
· Increase in homelessness.
· More child neglect and abuse.
With the disintegration of the family unit, the children suffer the most.
· In 1988 on the Macah Reservation in Neah Bay in NW Washington there were 42 births, 85% of which were to unmarried women.
· In 1988 on the Warm Springs Reservation east of Portland there were 130 births, of which 70% were to unmarried women.
· Divorce rates for Native American women are 2-3 times higher than for U.S. Whites.
· There is a dramatic rise in children born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. FAS is 33 times higher than with non-Indians.
· Teen suicide is five times the national average for Native American boys and girls. One in six adolescents have attempted suicide.
· Alcohol mortality is 10 times the rate of all other combined races In Portland this is 23.7 per 100,000 (1987) versus 6.0 for the U.S. as a whole..
· Tuberculosis is 7.4 times greater than the normal. In Portland, the rate of Tuberculosis among the Indians is 4.7 per 100,000 (1987) versus .5 per 100,000 for the U.S. as a whole.
· Diabetes is 6.8 times higher than with non-Indians. In Portland this is 26.9 per 100,000 (1987) versus 9.8 for the U.S. as a whole.
2. There is a disintegration of traditional Male Role
The two primary areas for a man to prove himself in the past were in warring and hunting. Warriors risked their lives for the good of the community. They had respect, self-worth, and a sense of pride. As hunters, they provided for their family: food, clothing, and shelter. This gave a man honor, respect, and self-esteem.