Articles

Reverence of Nature and a Higher Power in Indigenous Peoples' Cultures

Rosemary I. Patterson, Ph.D.

For thousands of years Indigenous people around the world have demonstrated in their cultures and rituals a kinship with nature, gratitude for the bounty of natures' provisions and reverence to a higher power credited with setting this in motion. Evidence of this worldview is seen in the dances, clothing, dwelling places, rituals and art of Indigenous peoples around the world.

In French Polynesia, Marquesan folk dancers are adorned in ornate costumes of bird feathers and plumes as they recreate the dance of the white tropic bird as it appears to hover in the incredibly strong winds that assault the craggy valleys of their island home.

In British Columbia, striking masks representative of the consciousness dwelling in animals and nature are worn by the First Nations Dancers as they conduct the ritual of the Potlatch. Resurgence of life is celebrated as Spring returns and the breeding cycles of animals guarantee a continuation of their species on the planet. Man's animal nature must be restrained and the spirit of the Hamatsa or Cannibal dancer must be led back from his spell in the darkness of winter to the light of Spring and the customs of his clan by innovative relatives.

In Hawaii, tapa-clothed, ancient hula dancers reverently imitate the dancing of their Goddess Pele over the lava flows of the Kilauea Volcano and/or the motions of the Hawaiian hawk as it circles and dives at its prey.

In Australia, elaborately painted Aborigine dancers reverently recreate the motions of their hunter/gatherers as they dance the motions of the fire-setting and stomping that allows them to capture the elusive prey of the grasslands and desert areas. At other times, members of their clan take part in the "Dreaming" rituals that they believe contain co-creation features that allow mankind to participate with a higher power in manifesting the future.

In Alaska, ornate white-seal costumes are worn by the participants as a three-year-old girl dances her initiation dance before the entire population of her village. Drum rhythms and encouraging smiles accompany the little girl as she takes her first steps into a bigger community than herself and her parents. In the little girl's village, preparations are already underway to build the seal skin boats that will allow selected villagers to hunt the Bowfin whale in the traditional fashion.

Creation legends permeate Indigenous peoples' cultures and testify to their closeness to and reverence for nature and the animal world.

In Australia it is hypothesized that it was a giant serpent that carved the meandering river systems of Northern Australia as it purposely moved through its territory. In Hawaii the Goddess Pele is given credit for moving the volcanic eruptions of the volcanoes from Kauai to Maui and then to Oahu and presently the Big Island of Hawaii. The Kumulipo, a very ancient Hawaiian chant, speaks of the movement of creatures from the sea to the land and the gradual evolution of mankind. Aloha Aina (love of the land) permeates most of Native Hawaiian chants and songs. Names of places and particular features of certain places fill the lyrics of Hawaiian music and songs even today.

Oceans were the traffic highways for the thousands-of-years for old native peoples on the coasts of North America and the Pacific. In British Columbia, elaborately carved dugout canoes with bird and animal heads cruised up the rugged coast of British Columbia. In Polynesia, sensitivity to the changing patterns of the stars and ocean currents plus the flight patterns of migratory birds allowed great voyaging canoes to reach lands as far away as New Zealand, Easter Island, Tahiti and Hawaii.

Shamans (priests sensitized to earth, sea and sky patterns) guided the cultures and rituals of Indigenous peoples for centuries. In Hawaii and Alaska, for example, it was customary to chant, asking the spirits of salmon, whales, and other animals being hunted to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of the hunter's villagers. Belief in an after life and even reincarnation of the soul or spirit of all living things was rampant. Fishing shrines and ancient ceremonies all over the ocean coasts testify to the belief in the interrelatedness of all living things.