Great Spirit

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Appeal to the Great Spirit, 1908 statue by Cyrus Dallin, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Appeal to the Great Spirit, Boston MFA - IMG 3401.JPG
Appeal to the Great Spirit , 1908 statue by Cyrus Dallin, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Great Spirit is an omnipresent supreme life force, generally conceptualized as a supreme being or god, in the traditional religious beliefs of many, but not all, indigenous cultures in Canada and the United States. Interpretations of it vary between cultures.

Contents

In the Lakota tradition, the Great Spirit is known as Wakan Tanka . [1] [2] According to Lakota activist Russell Means, a more semantically accurate translation of Wakan Tanka is the Great Mystery. [3] Often, Lakota language prayers begin with the phrase “Tunkasila”, which translates to “grandfather, Great Spirit.” [4]

In the Haudenosaunee tradition, the Great Spirit is known as "the Creator". Haudenosaunee men's lacrosse team captain Lyle Thompson, characterized it as "the Creator that lives in all of us. It’s in the sun. It’s in the moon. It’s in the stars and the water. It’s in the earth." [5]

In the Algonquian tradition, the Great Spirit is known as Gitche Manitou. [6]

Due to perceived similarities between the Great Spirit and the Christian deity, European colonial missionaries drew comparison between the two deities as a Christianization conversion technique. [7]

Conceptualization

The Great Spirit has at times been conceptualized as an "anthropomorphic celestial deity," [8] a god of creation, history and eternity, [9] who also takes a personal interest in world affairs and might regularly intervene in the lives of human beings. [8]

Numerous individuals are held to have been "speakers" for the Great Spirit; persons believed to serve as an earthly mediator responsible for facilitating communication between humans and the supernatural more generally. Such a speaker is generally considered to have an obligation to preserve the spiritual traditions of their respective lineage. [9] The Great Spirit is looked to by spiritual leaders for guidance by individuals as well as communities at large. [10]

While belief in an entity or entities known as the Great Spirit exists across numerous indigenous American peoples, individual tribes often demonstrate varying degrees of cultural divergence. As such, a variety of stories, parables, fables, and messages exhibiting different, sometimes contradictory themes and plot elements have been attributed to the same figure by otherwise disparate cultures.[ citation needed ]

Wakan Tanka

Wakan Tanka (Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka) can be interpreted as the power or the sacredness that resides in everything, resembling some animistic and pantheistic beliefs. This term describes every creature and object as wakan ("holy") or having aspects that are wakan; [11] tanka corresponds to "great" or "large". [12]

Prior to the Christianization of indigenous Americans by European settlers and missionaries, the Lakota used Wakan Tanka to refer to an organization or group of sacred entities whose ways were considered mysterious and beyond human understanding. It was the elaboration on these beliefs that prompted scholarly debate suggesting that the term "Great Mystery" could be a more accurate translation of such a concept than "Great Spirit". [13] Activist Russell Means also promoted the translation "Great Mystery" and the view that Lakota spirituality is not originally monotheistic. [11]

Chief Luther Standing Bear (1868–1939) of the Lakota Nation put it thus:

From Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit, there came a great unifying life force that flowed in and through all things – the flowers of the plains, blowing winds, rocks, trees, birds, animals – and was the same force that had been breathed into the first man. Thus all things were kindred, and were brought together by the same Great Mystery. [14]

Manitou

Manitou , akin to the Haudenosaunee concept of orenda , is perceived as the spiritual and fundamental life force by Algonquian peoples. It is believed by practitioners to be omnipresent; manifesting in all things, including organisms, the environment, and events both human-induced and otherwise. [15] Manifestations of Manitou are also believed to be dualistic, and such contrasting instances are known as aashaa monetoo ("good spirit") and otshee monetoo ("bad spirit") respectively. According to legend, when the world was created, the Great Spirit, Aasha Monetoo, gave the land to the indigenous peoples, the Shawnee in particular. [16]

Gitche Manitou

The Anishinaabe culture, descended from the Algonquian-speaking Abenaki and Cree, inherited the Great Spirit tradition of their predecessors. Gitche Manitou (also transliterated as Gichi-manidoo) is an Anishinaabe language word typically interpreted as Great Spirit, the Creator of all things and the Giver of Life, and is sometimes translated as the "Great Mystery". Historically, Anishinaabe people believed in a variety of spirits, whose images were placed near doorways for protection.

According to Anishinaabe tradition, Michilimackinac, later named by European settlers as Mackinac Island, in Michigan, was the home of Gitche Manitou, and some Anishinaabeg tribes would make pilgrimages there for rituals devoted to the spirit. [17]

Other Anishinaabe names for such a figure, incorporated through the process of syncretism, are Gizhe-manidoo ("venerable Manidoo"), Wenizhishid-manidoo ("Fair Manidoo") and Gichi-ojichaag ("Great Spirit"). While Gichi-manidoo and Gichi-ojichaag both mean "Great Spirit", Gichi-manidoo carried the idea of the greater spiritual connectivity while Gichi-ojichaag carried the idea of individual soul's connection to the Gichi-manidoo. Consequently, Christian missionaries often used the term Gichi-ojichaag to refer to the Christian idea of a Holy Spirit.

Native American Church

The contemporary belief in the great spirit is generally associated with the Native American Church. [18] The doctrine regarding the great spirit within this modern tradition is quite varied and generally takes on Christian ideas of a monotheistic God alongside animistic conceptions. [19] [20] The number of adherents to these contemporary beliefs in the great spirit are unknown, but it is likely they number over a quarter million people. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Anishinaabe traditional beliefs cover the traditional belief system of the Anishinaabeg peoples, consisting of the Algonquin/Nipissing, Ojibwa/Chippewa/Saulteaux/Mississaugas, Odawa, Potawatomi and Oji-Cree, located primarily in the Great Lakes region of North America.

Lakota mythology is the body of sacred stories that belong to the Lakota people, also known as the Teton Sioux.

In Lakota tradition, Škaŋ is the Motion of the universe. The Great Spirit, Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka, reflected upon himself and created the four Superior Spirits, Wi, Skan, Maka and Íŋyaŋ. In the beginning, Wakáŋ Taŋka, The Great Mystery, reflected upon itself and created the four Superior Spirits. The first was Inyan, the Rock. Íŋyaŋ created a companion, Makhá, the earth. Then Sky, or Škaŋ, was created to wrap around the first two. All was still dark, so lastly Wí, the Sun, was created to give light.

In Lakota spirituality, Wakan Tanka is the term for the sacred or the divine. This is usually translated as the "Great Spirit" and occasionally as "Great Mystery".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anishinaabe</span> Indigenous ethnic groups of the United States and Canada

The Anishinaabe are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, Mississaugas, Nipissing, and Algonquin peoples. The Anishinaabe speak Anishinaabemowin, or Anishinaabe languages that belong to the Algonquian language family.

Spirit of God may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gitche Manitou</span> Algonquian deity

Gitche Manitou means "Great Spirit" in several Algonquian languages. Christian missionaries have translated God as Gitche Manitou in scriptures and prayers in the Algonquian languages.

Chanunpa is the Lakota language name for the sacred, ceremonial pipe and the ceremony in which it is used. The pipe ceremony is one of the Seven Sacred Rites of the Lakota people. Lakota tradition has it that White Buffalo Calf Woman brought the chanunpa to the people, as one of the Seven Sacred Rites, to serve as a sacred bridge between this world and Wakan Tanka, the "Great Mystery".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midewiwin</span> Indigenous religion of North America

The Midewiwin or the Grand Medicine Society is a religion of some of the Indigenous peoples of the Maritimes, New England and Great Lakes regions in North America. Its practitioners are called Midew, and the practices of Midewiwin are referred to as Mide. Occasionally, male Midew is called Midewinini, which is sometimes translated into English as "medicine man".

Plastic shamans, or plastic medicine people, is a pejorative colloquialism applied to individuals who attempt to pass themselves off as shamans, holy people, or other traditional spiritual leaders, but who have no genuine connection to the traditions or cultures they claim to represent. In some cases, the "plastic shaman" may have some genuine cultural connection, but is seen to be exploiting that knowledge for ego, power, or money.

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Orenda is the Haudenosaunee name for a certain spiritual energy inherent in people and their environment. It is an "extraordinary invisible power believed by the Iroquois Native Americans to pervade in varying degrees in all animate and inanimate natural objects as a transmissible spiritual energy capable of being exerted according to the will of its possessor." Orenda is a collective power of nature's energies through the living energy of all natural objects: animate and inanimate.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manitou</span> Fundamental life force among Algonquian groups in the Native American mythology

Manitou, akin to the Haudenosaunee orenda, is the spiritual and fundamental life force in the theologies of Algonquian peoples. It is omnipresent and manifests everywhere: organisms, the environment, events, etc. Aashaa monetoo means "good spirit", while otshee monetoo means "bad spirit". When the world was created, the Great Spirit, Aasha Monetoo, gave the land to the indigenous peoples, the Shawnee in particular.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Native American religions</span> Systems of faith and worship of the Native Americans

Native American religions, Native American faith or American Indian religions are the indigenous spiritual practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Ceremonial ways can vary widely and are based on the differing histories and beliefs of individual nations, tribes and bands. Early European explorers describe individual Native American tribes and even small bands as each having their own religious practices. Theology may be monotheistic, polytheistic, henotheistic, animistic, shamanistic, pantheistic or any combination thereof, among others. Traditional beliefs are usually passed down in the oral tradition forms of myths, oral histories, stories, allegories, and principles. Nowadays, as scholars note, many American Natives renew their interest in own tradition.

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Great Spirit may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakota religion</span> Traditional religion of Lakota people

Lakota religion or Lakota spirituality is the traditional Native American religion of the Lakota people. It is practiced primarily in the North American Great Plains, within Lakota communities on reservations in North Dakota and South Dakota. The tradition has no formal leadership or organizational structure and displays much internal variation.

Ojibwe religion is the traditional Native American religion of the Ojibwe people. It is practiced primarily in north-eastern North America, within Ojibwe communities in Canada and the United States. The tradition has no formal leadership or organizational structure and displays much internal variation.

References

  1. ↑ Ostler, Jeffry. The Plains Sioux and U.S. Colonialism from Lewis and Clark to Wounded Knee. Cambridge University Press, July 5, 2004. ISBN   0521605903, pg 26.
  2. ↑ Marks, M., & Fauteck, L. (2007). Great mysteries: Native North American religions and participatory visions. ReVision, 29(3).
  3. ↑ Means, Robert. Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means. Macmillan, 1995. ISBN   0312147619 pg 241.
  4. ↑ Fund, College (2008-12-15). "Honoring Our Elders | American Indian College Fund". collegefund.org. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  5. ↑ McDonald, Thomasi (2023, November 16) | Duke Today.Recapturing the Indigenous roots of lacrosse
  6. ↑ Thomas, Robert Murray. Manitou and God: North-American Indian Religions and Christian Culture. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. ISBN   0313347794 pg 35.
  7. ↑ References: Schoolcraft, Henry R. The Myth of Hiawatha and other oral Legends, Mythologic and Allegoric of the North American Indians. J.B. Lippincott & Co. 1856. Brehm, Victoria. Star Songs and Water Spirits, a Great Lakes Reader. Ladyslipper Press. 2011.
  8. 1 2 Cave, Alfred A. Prophets of the Great Spirit: Native American Revitalization Movements in Eastern North America. Lincoln: U of Nebraska, 2006. Google Books. 2006. p. 3.
  9. 1 2 Cave, Alfred A. Prophets of the Great Spirit: Native American Revitalization Movements in Eastern North America. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 2006. Google Books. 2006. Web.
  10. ↑ "The Great Spirit". www.phy.duke.edu. Duke University . Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  11. 1 2 Rice, Julian (1998). Before the great spirit: the many faces of Sioux spirituality. University of New Mexico Press. ISBN   0-8263-1868-1.
  12. ↑ "Great". New Lakota Dictionary Online. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  13. ↑ Helen Wheeler Bassett, Frederick Starr. The International Folk-lore Congress of the World's Columbian Exposition , Chicago, July, 1893. Charles H. Sergel Company, 1898. p. 221-226.
  14. ↑ Nerburn, Kent The Wisdom of the Native Americans. MJF Books, 1999. ISBN   9781567319934 pg 15.
  15. ↑ Bragdon, Kathleen J. (2001). The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Northeast . New York: Columbia University Press. p.  18. ISBN   9780231114523.
  16. ↑ The Life of Tecumseh.
  17. ↑ The Americas: International Dictionary of Historic Places The Americas: International Dictionary of Historic Places; editors:Trudy Ring, Noelle Watson and Paul Schellinger. Routledge, Taylor & Francis; 1996; p. 349].
  18. 1 2 "Native American Church | North American religion | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  19. ↑ Hartz, Paula (2009). Native American religions. Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN   978-1-60413-111-6. OCLC   276406250.
  20. ↑ Garrett, Michael Tlanusta; Wilbur, Michael P. (October 1999). "Does the Worm Live in the Ground? Reflections on Native American Spirituality". Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. 27 (4): 193–206. doi:10.1002/j.2161-1912.1999.tb00335.x.
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