Aboriginal Body of Thoughts - Essay Example

Title: Aboriginal, koyukon, ojibway and Mayan philosophy.  Dated: April 27, 2009 The Native North Americans including Aboriginal, koyukon and Ojibway observe a variety of religious forms, philosophical believes and spiritual practices for the attainment of their fundamental believes and psychological needs of the human body. The current study will emphasize on the cultural values of the group along with their religious believes and subsequently the impact of Mayan philosophy on the whole body of knowledge (Rutherford, 2006)(1). There are proliferations of popularized versions of Indian religions ,cultures and philosophical believes into aboriginal body of thoughts and knowledge and subsequently shaped a coherent religious systems that included the concepts like cosmologies ,myths as transmitted orally from one generation to another. These myths have helped in the understanding of the universe and the societies of animals, plants, humans and other spiritual entities. The European contact most of the aboriginal people believed in the immortality of souls and the concept of an after life. The major features of after life was the presence of all the things that made earthly life happy and secure. The major characters of the Native Americans and the aboriginals are based on the shared elements as in the shape of shared cultures and believe with the sub artic, woodland, eastern, plains and southwest Indian cultures( Ward ,1997)(2). These segments are part of their philosophy and are recorded as under: a) Deity: A common concept of the philosophy is that of a dual divinity that is based on the fact that the creator is responsible totally for the creation of the world. The creator is also recognized in the religious rituals and also among the prayers. The second part of the divinity is a mythical individual that is also labeled as a hero or trickster who instructs new cultures, proper and codified behavior to all members of the tribe. They are also believing that there are certain spirits which control the factors like weather, spirits along with there interactions with the humans and other inhabitants. The creator is considered as a single spiritual authority in the shape of unity labeled as Wakantanka as in the case of Ojibwa's Manitou. b) Emergence of the Tribes: In the southwest the universe is believed to consist of many underground layers through which the human had to pass through. They finally emerged into the present world through a passage in the shape of a small hole in the ground that is called as the worlds naval. Most of the tribes believe that their ancestors are present in the North America since the inception of the humanity(Bartholomew (2006)(3). c) Creation: Different tribes are having different stories about the process of the creation. One set describes that in the beginning the world was inhabited by many people. Many of them were transformed into other creatures like animals. Aboriginal people are therefore having close bond with the animals because of their shared human ancestry in the past. This bond is visible in the frequent rituals in which the animal behavior is replicated. Each species has its own keeper or the leader for example a group of deer have their own leader in the shape of a big and strong leader. d) Sacred Texts: Most of the tribes have preserved their sacred and spiritual texts relating to believes as in the shape of oral tradition which passes on from one generation as in the oral texts. e) Afterlife: There is variety of believes regarding the issue of afterlife. Some of the tribes believe in the phenomenon of reincarnation that is a person being reborn either as a human being or as an animal in the after death process. Other groups believe that humans return as in the shape of ghosts or that people go to another world. f) Cosmology: Many of the tribes have distinct concepts of the world and its position in the universe. For example one thing found in some tribes who understands the universe as being composed of a set of layers in the shape of multiple layers and as per their believes the natural world is in the middle level of these layers. These layers are further thought to be linked by a common world tree which has its branches, stem and roots. The roots are in the underground shape; the trunk passes through the natural world and has its top in the sky world for the attainment of the desired results. The roots are the symbol which is in philosophical terms is used for the fundamental believes and concepts, the stem is the middle part of the human life and the top branches are the symbolic uses of the tactics and designs as formulated for the achievement of the desire results(Peter ,2005)(4). g) Shamans: The term shaman has its origin in Siberia and the term is used by the anthropologists to refer to all aboriginal healers in the philosophical manners. Spirits in the concept are treated as the central core of the whole philosophical system with the occupation of the shaman's body and the same spirits are instructed to participate in the whole public lodge positions. Drum beating and chanting are the tools which are used in the chanting aid for the whole process. Other times shamans enter into the trance and traverse the underworld of the spirits or go to other for distinct parts of the whole body. h) Vision Quest: According to the philosophical concept of the aboriginals, the boys during the puberty are encourage to participate into a period of meditation, fasting and physical challenge for the attainment of vision and intelligence which are essential requirements for a successful human life with material gains. Girls on the other hand are not usually eligible for a quest due to their monthly menstruation cycles which is considered as an important ritual cleansing for the whole human body in case of the females. The boys separate themselves from the tribes and go to a wilderness area for passing through the process the vision quest. The final goal is to receive a vision that will provide a guideline for the development of the rest of their lives. The goal is to achieve a vision that will guide his future developments for the rest of his life in a perfect manner. The boy will also struggle to acquire guardian spirit who will be close and helpful for his life. Adults in their future lives are working for the attainment of the highest standards through the process of meditation for a period ranging from one to four days and four nights for the purpose i) Renewal Celebrations: Among these cultures the sun dance is considered as a replay of the original creation with all its forces and the phenomenon has full filled many religious purposes including giving special thanks to the creator, to pray for the renewal of the people along with their health. It also provides an opportunity to the people for the promotion of socialization and friendship among all the members of the groups. Although it is quite difficult to make generalization about the Native American religions and their philosophies as influenced by the philosophies like Mayan philosophy, however, the study is designed to understand the subject through their basic characters and philosophies as recorded on the basis of available knowledge on the subject. The Koyukon Indians inhabit a huge portion of the wild country in the north western interior Alaska in the North and the South of the Arctic Circle and belong to an Athapaskan linguistic family. Unlike that of the Ojibwa, the Koyukon have no conception of a single, unified and all powerful creator. The Koyukon universe is bound together through a tightly structured web of Spirits the abide within the plants, humans, animals and other living creatures. The philosophy of the Koyukon people is based on the oral history at the initial stages called as "Distant time by the Koyukon". According to that philosophy all creatures were humans, they remained in the human forms, lived in the human societies and also spoke human languages for making effective communications among themselves. At the distant time, some humans have died and were transformed into other living creatures like animals and plants. Through that practice they have retained a part of their original human qualities and personality traits. The group believes that other things like thunderstorms have their origins from the human shape that from the human spirit. All living things are believed to have a shared consciousness that can be modified in various forms by those who know how to modify. Furthermore animals can understand human languages and moves as displayed among them. The Koyukon rituals are more concerned with the pleasing the spirits for the achievement of the desired results. Many different factors have contributed to the building and holding of the cultures, religions and philosophies of aboriginal, koyukon and ojibway people through the cultural and geographical factors. Most of them have a certain animal are pattern in their original shapes that caused their formation. Some of these factors have combined to form and group together a culture or group of people with a distinct and unique philosophy and religion. Philosophy provides a code of thinking and attitudes towards fundamental believes and the religion provides a solid frame work for the designing of believes and standards as to purify the souls for the attainment of specific purposes including the spiritual; purposes, Religion permits the people within a specific culture to feel in a sense of unity among the members of the same religion which ultimately result in the shape of a tight knit bond among the members. Religions influences a culture with its effects on the social structure of the society, economics and economic entities, governments and the individual's personal lives for the attainment of highest targets as associated with the observance of the religious doctrines. Such religious effects are predominantly present in the ancient societies and civilizations where religion has permeated every part of the human society. The Maya culture and philosophy has emerged in many parts of the Central America and has provided an excellent example of how the philosophy and the religion have shaped a culture with distinct qualities. The culture still exists due to the tight bonding between the religion and the philosophy. The Maya culture has its own philosophy based on the concepts of their gods and their rituals and with its characteristics still holds the other ideologies with their unique influences. Many Native Americans have modified, adapted and manipulated both the religions that are Christianity and the traditional Indian spirituality so as to fit into their respective historical circumstances and to promote the concepts as relating to the Native American churches. The Maya culture and philosophy has originated in many parts of the Central America and provides a good example of how the religions shaped the cultures and philosophies on the basis of their fundamental believes and the concepts. The utilization of time and the adoption of an order are the unique features in the ordinary life of the believers or the central principles of Maya ideology which is one of the pioneer civilization with correct lunar calendar. Contrary to the other tribal believes including the aboriginals, Maya observe the world as an ordered and well disciplined arrangement. These people viewed the cosmos in their cycles and considered human as a part of the whole complete cycle. The circle in the Maya philosophy occupies a central position which is a symbol of movement and creativity. The order of foundation of Maya world started from the predictable movements of all the elements including the sky wanderers, the moon, the sun, the planets and the stars are the symbols as used for the passage of time. The whole process can be explained in the Maya philosophy as the tools which are used for studying the process as through the concept of constant change which is considered as an essential element for the element of growth and progress of the whole human society. The tips in Maya philosophy are used in the circular shapes as their camps in the shapes of circles which sit in the circles in all ceremonies as associated with this gradual change. The Maya philosophy has strongly been influenced from other prevailing philosophies as exist in the shape of Christianity that of the aboriginal people. The Maya believed that the earth is in a flat shape and also considers that the same planet is the gap of a huge crocodile residing in a pool of big water body among the water lilies. The philosophy on the concept of four huge gods which are called as Bacabs which hold up the four corners and the four trees each with different colors and with species distinction that is used to support the sky in its present shape(Charles ,2005)(5). The philosophy has influenced the philosophical believes of the aboriginal, koyukon, ojibway tribes in their original and indigenous religious traditions especially that exist with the strong influence of the Christianity. The philosophies as discussed above are having their unique and distinct standards and values. These philosophies are shaping the modes of thinking of the followers with their special aptitudes and interests however all these philosophies are being influenced from each other in their common characteristics. The philosophy of life moulds the behavior of the followers with special interest and direction. It is expected that in the coming years the aboriginal, koyukon, ojibway will maintain their unique philosophical concepts for the promotion of their causes and subsequent effects as through the course of actions as proposed in each type of the philosophy. Reference: 1. D. Rutherford, 2006.The Cambridge Companion to Early Modern Philosophy (Cambridge UP,) 2. Churchill, Ward (1997). A Little Matter of Genocide. City Lights Books. ISBN 0-872-86323-9. 3. Dean, Bartholomew (2006). "Salt of the Mountain: Campa Asháninka History and Resistance in the Peruvian Jungle (review)". The Americas 62 (3): pp.464–466.doi:10.1353/tam.2006.0013. ISSN 0003-1615. 4. Jones, Peter N. (2005). Respect for the Ancestors: American Indian Cultural Affiliation in the American West. Boulder CO: Bauu Press. ISBN 0-972-13492-1. 5. Mann, Charles C. (2005). 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. New York: Knopf Publishing Group. ISBN 1-400-04006-X. Read More