Documents for "North American indigenous peoples, Religion":

• Ghost Dance central ritual of the messianic religion instituted in the late 19th cent. by a Paiute named Wovoka. The religion prophesied the peaceful end of the westward expansion of whites and a return of the land to the Native Americans. The ritual lasted five successive days, being danced each night and...

• kachina spirit of the invisible life forces of the Pueblo of North America. The kachinas, or kachinam, are impersonated by elaborately costumed masked male members of the tribes who visit Pueblo villages the first half of the year. In a variety of...

• manito name used among Native Americans of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock to describe the supernatural power that permeates all things (see animism ). The idea of a supreme and personified manito,...

• Native American Church Native American religious group whose beliefs blend fundamentalist Christian elements with pan-Native American moral principles. The movement began among the Kiowa about 1890 and, led by John...

• peyotism religion of some Native North Americans in which the hallucinogenic peyote button is used as the sacramental food. It is the most widespread indigenous contemporary Native American religion. Peyotism teaches an ethical doctrine much like those of the monotheistic...

• sun dance ceremony typical of the Plains Indians of North America. The ceremony was performed in the summer and lasted from two to eight days. Some of the ceremony was secret. Smoking, fasting, and other...