Native Americans Beliels and Practices

Native Americans Beliefs and Practices
Name
Institution
Date
The historic religious beliefs and practices of the Cherokees
The Cherokees believed in the existence of a Great Spirit and a Bad spirit. According to their understanding, the Great Spirit created the black, white, and red people and allocated them specific areas of residence and a particular way of life (Hartz, 2009). The white men (the Great Spirit`s favourite) were to be manufacturers; the Africans were to engage in agriculture, while the red people should be hunters the rest of their lives. Cherokees land was sacred, and they assumed that the Great Spirit would only listen to them if they prayed from their land (Hartz, 2009).
The Cherokees worshipped the Great Spirit in small, tightly knit communities (Brown, 2015). They lived in small designated groups. Before killing any animal, they humbly went before the Great Spirit in prayers to ask for His permission. Failing to pray before slaughtering any animal was considered sinful. Individuals who consumed such meat would fall sick (Frazier et al., 2013). From Cherokees` standpoint, the eagle was the spirit messenger of the Great Spirit and special ceremonies such as the eagle dance were part of Cherokees religious life.
Cherokees significant historical beliefs and the related social, cultural and theological practices.
The Cherokee Indians sternly believed in their unity. As a consequence, they embraced unanimous decision-making as a community in case of a problem (Brown, 2015).

Moreover, the people did occupy their ancestral land without dividing it among themselves, they knew every Cherokee had a right to the land. As a way to remain linked to their ancestors, the people highly valued and protected anything left behind by the dead such as land. To further foster unity, Cherokees held various religious ceremonies such as the eagle dance together (Brown, 2015). Also, when one of them died, they would watch a night vigil to comfort the bereaved family until the allocated burial day.
How historical beliefs and religious practices have been influenced by the dominant American culture.
Following the introduction of education by the missionaries and unavoidable interactions with the Americans, a wave of change swept across the Cherokee land. Christianity replaced their traditional way of worship. The people discovered that the Great Spirit is God and the Bad spirit is Satan. Subsequently, they stopped some religious ceremonies such as the eagle dance and embarked on Christian-related ceremonies such as Christmas celebrations (Brown, 2015). The people also stopped the restricted community worship and freely mingled with other races when worshipping God. Peyote had been used for decades by the Cherokee people as a sacrament, this also changed.
Current religious beliefs and practices and how they are seen in the daily life of a typical member of the community
Having embraced change, the Cherokees understood that God will listen to their prayers even if they did not pray on their ancestral land. As a result, the Cherokees can pray on any other land; in churches and mosques (Lexmond, 2014). Cherokees initially practiced religion in small, tightly knit communities locking out foreigners who were considered sinful (Brown, 2015). Nonetheless, presently, the people openly mix with other tribes and races in worshipping God (Lexmond, 2014). Some typical Cherokee members believe in Jesus Christ and celebrate Christmas to mark His birth.
Elements of the traditional religion that a Christian would need to consider when sharing the Christian faith/gospel with the person from this community
One critical element that Cherokees believe in is unity (Brown, 2015). A Christian will need to convince a person from this community how God and Christianity foster unity among the people. Secondly, the Cherokees believed that the Great Spirit had an angel, the eagle. The evangelist will have to relate the eagle to God`s angels and the Holy Spirit as God`s messengers.
References
Brown, M. (2015). A Christian Nation: How Christianity united the people of the Cherokee Nation.
Frazier, S. B., Goad, S. I., & Wolyniak, M. J (2013). The Science and Philosophy of Cherokee Indian Medicine: A Natural Alternative to Western Solutions.
Hartz, P. (2009). Native American Religions. Infobase Publishing.
Lexmond, A. (2014). Assimilate or Perish: The Assimilation of the Cherokee Tribe in the Nineteenth Century. MS thesis.