American Indian Religious Traditions: An Encyclopedia

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Название: American Indian Religious Traditions: An Encyclopedia

Автор: Suzanne J. Crawford, Dennis F. Kelley

Издательство: ABC-CLIO

Год: 2005

Количество страниц: 1340

Язык: English

Формат: pdf

Размер: 6.5 Mb

How is peyote used in Native American religious ceremonies? How do various tribes conduct the rites of birth, adolescence, marriage, and death? What is potlatch and why was its practice forbidden? Readers will learn how religious tradition influences Native American social, political, and material culture and vice versa.

The purpose of these volumes is to compile a "set of articles to define the study of American Indian religious traditions" as they are understood by the people within the communities. More than half of the nearly 100 authors are of Native American descent. The editors felt that it was important to represent the true nature and context of Native religious life, and to that end, they have taken some liberties with the encyclopedia format, making the index in the third volume essential for locating specific information. In some entries, first-person accounts and the citing of Native elders as authoritative sources represent further departures from standard encyclopedia conventions.