Aboriginal Spirituality

Question 1

Definition and significance of wampum

Answer 1

A wampum is a beaded belt. It is used to record agreements. It can depict spiritual belief and practice from centuries ago.

Question 2

Describe the disagreement concerning the origins of aboriginal people and explain each idea

Answer 2

This conflict is creationism vs. evolution or religion vs. science. The aboriginal community believe they came from the ground (a spiritual take on origin). Scientists believe the aboriginal people came from Eurasia and crossed the Bering straight after the ice age. It cannot be traced because it is the land of the indigenous population.

Question 3

How do archaeologists know indigenous people have been in the americas for a long time?

Answer 3

They have found aboriginal artifacts, such as wampums, rock paintings, burial sites and wooden carvings from 10 000 years ago

Question 4

What are the 6 main cultural aboriginal groups in Canada?

Answer 4

Subarctic, Plateau, Great Plains, Arctic, Northwest Pacific Coast and Northwest Woodlands

Question 5

What are the general differences between these 6 groups.

Answer 5

As examples, they all have clans represented by animals, but these animals vary. Their religious beliefs and practices may also differ.

Question 6

Describe key points of the Subarctic cultural group.

Answer 6

• thick forests and mountains to the east, rock and swamp on the Canadian shield and many lakes and rivers in the prairies
• Innu, Montagnais, James Bay Cree, the Dene
• hunted deer and caribou

Question 7

Describe key points of the Plateau cultural group.

Answer 7

• Kootenay nation
• live at the base of the Rocky Mountains
• Hunt elk, bear and caribou

Question 8

Describe key points of the Great Plains cultural group.

Answer 8

• seven languages
• thirty nations: includes Sioux, Cree, Siksika/Blackfoot
• dependant on the buffalo: used for everything including shoes, shields, etc.

Question 9

Describe key points of the Arctic cultural group.

Answer 9

• Inuit nations including Mackenzie, Labrador and Caribou

- depend on the seal for boots, bags, clothing, etc.

Question 10

Describe key points of the Northwest Pacific Coast cultural group.

Answer 10

• Haida, Tlingit and Salish nations
• dependant on the sea and live on cedar houses on the beach
• harpooned whales and trapped salmon
• carved totem poles

Question 11

Describe key points of the Northeast woodlands cultural group.

Answer 11

• Iroquois live at st. Lawrence river and lakes
• live in longhouses
• farmed the three sisters: corn, squash and beans
• formed six nation confederacy: Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora
• clans/families were defined by animals
• connection to and reliance on nature was the source of spirituality

Question 12

Definition and significance of animism

Answer 12

Belief that everything in the world is alive/ all things have spirits or souls. Living things live in connection and harmony with each other. In aboriginal spirituality, even spirits return to environment

Question 13

Describe aboriginal spirituality and it’s belief in god(s).

Answer 13

Can be described as polytheistic, believing in many gods, instead of monotheistic, believing in one god. Most people believe in the supreme creator, but other spirits are personified, such as sky woman or the sea woman. Aboriginal spirituality is matriarchal.

Question 14

Definition and significance of creation story and examples

Answer 14

Story explaining the beginning of man, important role in indigenous culture to question existence. “Turtle Island” (NE woodlands) - a woman falling from the sky who is helped by the animals to create North America or the world. Another (NW Pacific) - raven coaxes humans out of clamshell onto land

Question 15

Significance of death and afterlife stories and examples

Answer 15

Reincarnation is a common belief. Sioux - four souls depart from a dead person, one along the spirit path, others are reborn into new bodies. Arctic - face animals towards where they are from so they may return there.

Question 16

Definition and significance of totems

Answer 16

• link to ancestors
• protective entities (plant, animal, mythological being) of families
• those with same totem are close relatives and cannot marry

Question 17

Significance of rituals and practices

Answer 17

Ceremonies keep spirituality alive along with art and symbol. Connects one to ancestral beliefs.

Question 18

Definition and significance of the morning dance

Answer 18

Ojibwa - (A.K.A. Wabeno) participants fast and cleanse themselves, then a male elder plays a drum an leads a dance around a selected tree. Each dancer touches tree to give thanks, then at midday feast. Pays homage to the “tree of the universe”

Question 19

Definition and significance of the Sundance

Answer 19

Great Plains Nations - In early summer, participants starve themselves for four days, then dance around the “tree of the universe”. Then stab their own chests with pointed hooks and pull out flesh to give body as sacrifice to creator, the only thing that is truly ours. This is in exchange for the benefit of the suffering, such as healing, and pays homage to the sun’s life-giving powers.

Question 20

Definition and significance of the potlatch ceremony

Answer 20

NW Pacific Coast - Feast, dance and song is hosted for an important event. The more wealth the host gives away that day, the more status they earn for their clan. This honours the Great Spirit

Question 21

Definition and significance of the sweat lodge

Answer 21

Great Plains - Lead by a shaman, participants gather around heated stones soaked with water in a confined space. Perspiring heavily cleanses the body physically and spiritually. Prayers and a sacred pipe are shared. This renews the soul.

Question 22

Definition and significance of the shaking tent

Answer 22

Subarctic - a circle about a meter in diameter is formed from poles and wrapped in hide or bark. The shaman enters the tent and communicates with the spirits to ask for guidance. People tell the shaman what they need help with. It happens at night. This represents the aboriginal peoples’ belief in the supernatural world and it’s close relationship to the living

Question 23

Definition and significance of oral teachings

Answer 23

Elders and Shamans pass on stories and lessons though speech. Sometimes totems, necklaces or wampums are used to help retell the story. This passes belief and prayer through generations.

Question 24

Definition and significance of elder

Answer 24

A person recognized to have great wisdom and experience who tells tories and passes on knowledge, a keeper of tradition.Share skills for the future and are highly valued. Traditional Knowledge (knowledge of the elders) is taught in schools and elders are representatives of aboriginal people in most councils.

Question 25

Definition and significance of false face society

Answer 25

Iroquois group whose members have great knowledge of medicine and perform rituals. They wear masks carved from living trees. Their masks represent the powerful beings who live in the forest.

Question 26

What impacts have aboriginal and european people had on each other?

Answer 26

• Europeans: tools, but also suffered near extinction from disease and warfare, and they took away their culture
• Indigenous: new agricultural techniques

Question 27

What were residential schools and what impact have they had?

Answer 27

Aboriginal children were forced into schools that teach european culture and were stripped of their native culture, taught it was wrong to practice their traditional ways. They were assimilated. The people lost their culture and lost connection with their true ancestry, the adults now have turned to alcoholism and drug addiction.

Question 28

What was the standoff at Oka?

Answer 28

Near the resort town of Oka is a Mohawk reserve. Businessmen wanted to expand a golf course into native land, over burial sites even, so there was an armed standoff at the border of the land. The native community sang and danced, representing their strength more symbolically with no chance against the guns.

Question 29

What has the Canadian government done recently to reconcile?

Answer 29

It acknowledged it’s impact on aboriginal culture and formally expressed regret. It also created an action plan to help heal those wounded by residential schools.

Question 30

What is the significance of Nunavut to the aboriginal community?

Answer 30

This land allows some aboriginal groups to modernize their societies through self-government to maintain culture.

Question 31

What was the conflict if the Smudging Ceremony?

Answer 31

Some aboriginal people purify themselves by burning tobacco and sweetgrass, putting ash on their bodies and inhaling the smoke. It is a religious belief, but there is a no smoking rule on school property and the fire is a safety hazard.