(1) In chapter 2, the textbook author uses various terms for “indigenous religions”: traditional, aboriginal, indigenous, tribal, nonliterate, primal, native, oral, and basic. Select four or five of these terms and discuss why you believe each of those terms is applicable to the religions covered in this chapter.
(2) Why do so many indigenous religions have such a reverence for nature? (3) Discuss several of the sacred practices that are common in indigenous religions. (4) Discuss the state of indigenous religions today.
Short Answer Questions: (5) What is animism? Animism is the belief that non human entities such as animals, plants of inanimate object possess souls. (6) In general, what is the relationship between the human and animal worlds among indigenous religions? Indigenous religions express strong relationships with nature.
(7) How do indigenous religions, in general, select their “sacred spaces”? Indigenous religions, in general, select their sacred spaces by where there founders had a spiritual revelation, natural place that stands out from the surrounding environment, or a place where there ancestors lived or hunted/farmed.
(8) How are ancestors viewed in most indigenous religions? In most indigenous religions ancestors are very highly esteemed and believed to hold great wisdom. (9) What “big events” in life are usually marked by ceremonies in indigenous religions? (10) What is a taboo? What are some examples of taboos in our modern culture, and are they religious or cultural in nature?
A taboo is a religious or social custom that is frowned upon in ones culture. A example of a taboo in today society is; a respected well known businessman see a homeless person and takes him out to lunch. This association usually viewed as a taboo by our culture. (11) What is a shaman, and what role does the shaman play in indigenous religions?
A shaman is a person who is believed to have access to the physical and spiritual world. They are believed to posse supper natural powers, which can be used for healing.
