Question about the differences between tribes. (rituals, Creator, beliefs, blood)

[OneoftheLost]

Ok, now I have a very primitive, very basic understanding of the Native American spirituality, but I'm assuming that based on the different areas and cultures of various tribes, as well as time periods, do all the tribes practice similair Spiritual beliefs, or are there differences in each tribe, like different sects of a religion, or am I looking at this in the wrong fashion since from what I can see most native americans view their spirituality as a part of their lifestyle, not a religion persay.

I dunno its confusing. A little help?

[painted wolf]

Naturally there are differences among nations.
There are some similer beliefs especally amomg closely related Nations. (for instance ammong the Iriquoian nations)
All tribes believe in ritual clensing and so on, but each Nation does it in its own way.

Naturally the Religion of the Aztec and Mayans was/were vastly different than say the Inuit or Penobscot.

Religion is often difficult to seperate from the rest of the culture, in Native peoples you can't really practice the faith on a part time basis. There is no church on sundays.

here is a good place to start to learn about the 300+ FIrst Nations.
http://www.native-languages.org/home.htm

wa:do

[OneoftheLost]

Wow, hey thanks, that is alot of information. Going to have to start looking through it....

Erm, hope you don't mind me asking, but what exactly are you? (cherokee, Sioux, Iriquoian, Mayan, etc.)

[painted wolf]

not at all...
I'm Cherokee by blood. (but I get it from my father so it "doesn't count" )
However I live in New England so I have more exposure to the Micmak, Abanaki, Penobscot, and other area nations. They have influenced me greatly as I have grown up

wa:do

[Caina]

Originally Posted by painted wolf

not at all...
I'm Cherokee by blood. (but I get it from my father so it "doesn't count" )
However I live in New England so I have more exposure to the Micmak, Abanaki, Penobscot, and other area nations. They have influenced me greatly as I have grown up

wa:do

Me too, Baker Roll. But I grew up with Navajo and Peublo, and now live by the Nooksack

[TurtleGirl]

Originally Posted by OneoftheLost

... native americans view their spirituality as a part of their lifestyle, not a religion persay.

This is basically it in a nutshell, though I can mainly only speak to the Cherokee way. For the most part spirituality was a deeply personal practice and wasn't organized like religion. It was very much entwined in daily life. There were, however, regular ceremonies performed by the nations. The Cherokee had the Seven Ceremonies. There were also frequent "rituals" (for lack of a better word) such as going to water or smudging.

As painted wolf pointed out and to borrow from Jethro Tull a bit, Creator's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays.