The main reason Lawrence Cunningham and John Kelsay use a phenomenological view point towards religion is for a better understanding. A better understand on a number of aspects for multiple different religions. The phenomenological approach helps them accomplish this by letting them look at religion in an un-bias way and be totally accepting of that religion’s traditions and ideas of sacred. They state in the text, “At its simplest, a phenomenological approach leads to an effort to understand religious thought and behavior from the point of view of the religious person.”, (Cunningham and Kelsay 4) this means that if that person says that a certain book or object is sacred we take them at their word that that book or object is sacred. Phenomenology is also geared towards creating a framework for understanding religious traditions.
Anthropologists can describe some of the ceremonies and rituals that the Sinagua practiced by studying the petroglyphs, artifacts, and by comparing them with other tribes, especially the Hopi. Some of the artifacts found were turtle shell rattles, feather bundles, medicine bags made of prairie dog skin that contained antelope hooves, and prayer sticks that were painted blue and green. The Sinagua believed in the supernatural and forces beyond the dominion of the human experience. The priests and witchdoctors of the tribe tried to control these forces through feelings, thoughts, and spells. The Sinagua performed ceremonies and rituals in a lot of different arrangements like rectangular community rooms, and kivas.
It is a technological dominance on a higher level. There is no individuality in the Brave New World, but an illusion individuality that is instilled with the unreal world. Yet, in the both worlds the struggle of the individual against technology is evident. In Brave New World, John was 'abducted' from a world of individuality into the perfect world of Bernard's and Lenina's collectivity. John looks at both worlds through the lenses of the religion he got from the Reservation-a mixture of Christianity and American Indian beliefs - and the old-fashioned morality he learned from reading Shakespeare.
English100. Baktybek Chakiev The writing styles in Sherman Alexie’s “Indian Education.” Sherman Alexie in “Indian Education” uses many different styles such as exemplification, directness, and an experience based on his real life. All of these styles are important and have significant meaning. Author also by using abovementioned styles touches main themes regarding judgments on the Native American culture, alcohol abuse, and the tragic history of events. I assume these themes are different in their own aspects, but all his themes have one thing in common: they help illustrate the unfortunate and ever-continuing story of the Native Americans overall.
When it comes to writing a study of another culture, the language used can sometimes highlight whether or not you truly understand the culture being studied. The language of Horace Miner’s Body Ritual among the Nacirema is used, for instance, to satirize the mistakes many anthropologists make when they assume other societies have religious/supernatural aspects in their cultures, regardless of if they do or not. The article that Horace Miner writes himself utilizes the chance to show how much some anthropologists get caught up in assumptions and rely on terms such as “ritual,” “ceremony,” and “magical” to explain practices that they are perhaps unfamiliar with. For example, Miner describes the bathroom as a “ritual” site or medicine as “magic” material. At the end of article, it is even stated that the Nacirema are “magic-ridden” people (Miner, 149), although most Americans are void of many practices involving supernatural and even religious aspects.
“Ethnocentric Perspectives on Shamans and Indigenous Spirit Belief Systems Through Time” By: Melissa Cahill From the mid 1600’s until today, Anthropologists’ opinions on Shamans and the spiritual beliefs of indigenous people have drastically changed. The writings of early missionaries and explorers portray a very ethnocentric view, allowing their own cultural values and norms to shape their opinions on Shamanistic ways of life. They spoke as if they were mocking the Shamans rather than studying them. Although early Anthropologists in the 1800’s still seemed to allow ethnocentric views to shape their beliefs, it was much less prevalent in their writings. They began to focus more on enlightening their readers on Shamanistic practices and ceremonies.
Views toward Native and/or African Americans. Colonial authors of the fifteenth and sixteenth century William Bradford, Cotton Mather, and, Sarah Knight, centered their literary writing on personal experiences. These three authors writing styles gave rise to different opinions regarding personal views toward Native Americans and/or African Americans. It is easy to determine differences and similarities between these authors when taking in account religious background, social upbringing and personal convictions that would later transform this literally era. A strong belief in Puritanism offered preconceived ideas regarding Native Americans in the 1500’s, which lead to William Bradford’s initial fear of barbaric creatures.
Tyler Lindsey Period 5 10/30/13 The differences between European and Native American beliefs The Native Americans and the Puritans had different beliefs but they had a similarity. They had the same idea of the dead passing over to a spiritual world. In my readings of puritan and Native American literature, I learned that they have a lot of different beliefs. The Puritans are a religious group who broke away from the Church of England to practice their religion freely. The Puritans believe that everything happens because of God.
However, that is the only similarity between them because the narrator struggles with his identity. The way Alexie shows this is using 1st person narration to get more insight into who the character is and why he reacts to certain situations. Gradually, readers get to see the narrator battling himself because he is an American Indian living in a contemporary world
The significance of the Native American characters reclaiming these symbols is to show that they also do/watch many of the things that an American would do. 2. The characters differ in the way that they resemble Indian culture. For example, Victor believes that his Indian culture should be shown through toughness, and by dominating others. Thomas, on the other hand, is