Basic Beliefs

• The Great Spirit is a universal force that forms the basis of all nature and created everything in it, including human beings. It is not a personal deity such as the God of the Bible and cannot be imagined in human terms. Everything in the universe has a living spirit. These spirits can affect people in both positive and negative ways. People should live in balance with the universe and the spirit. Each individual should find his own sacred path through dreams and visions. Humor is an important element of the sacred because human beings sometimes need to be reminded of their foolishness.
  
  

Oral Tradition

• Unlike religions such as Christianity or Judaism, traditional Native American religions aren't derived from sacred scriptures such as the Bible or the Koran. Instead Native American religions are based on oral tradition. While many of these oral traditions include tales of heroes and important leaders, most Native American religions cannot be traced to a Jesus-like or Buddha-like founder, but developed organically over the course of thousands of years. Unlike written laws such as the Ten Commandments, each tribe's unwritten codes of conduct were taught by example rather than memorization and became part of a person's everyday life.
  
  

Shamanism

• A shaman is an important figure in many Native American cultures. Shamanism is found in every part of the world and is one of the oldest forms of religious practice in the world. Anthropologists believe it may date back 25,000 years. A shaman, also called a medicine man or medicine woman, serves a tribe by acting as a healer and a go-between between the human realm and the world of the spirits. According to the anthropologist Michael Harner, they treat the ill by entering a state of ecstasy, called a trance, through ritualistic practices such as consuming hallucinogenic plants, drumming, chanting and dancing. Shamans believe that these practices lead them into an alternate spiritual dimension where they cure sickness by defending the soul from spiritual attacks or even forcing disembodied souls back into the body.
  
  

One Sacred Way

• Followers of traditional Native American religions don't divide their world into the sacred and the secular. Instead they typically act with a constant awareness of the spiritual world. In many Native American cultures, ordinary life and religion are so closely intertwined that they don't even have a word for religion. Even ordinary household goods may have a spiritual dimension. For example, when a Native American craftswoman creates a basket, she may pray to the spirits of the grass as she cuts it and weave spiritual symbols into its design.