Native American Religion
Introduction
Jennifer Graber’s The Gods of the Indian Country: Religion and the Struggle for the American West focuses on the Kiowa Indians. Jennifer Graber is a renowned author and an associate professor of Religious studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Through the book, she describes the cultural transformation and the physical displacement of Indian Americans who were popularly known as the Kiowa Indians. It demonstrates the role that Religion played during the American’s hundred years struggle to acquire, explore and seize their motherland between 1803 and 1903. The issue that pushed me to select the book is my interest in the role of religion on contemporary issues ranging from politics and social life. It also explores the clash of rival economic systems and racial ideologies. During the nineteenth century, white Americans sought the cultural transformation and physical displacement of the Native people. The story depicted a clash of rival economic systems and racial ideologies intertwined in a profound religious struggle.
Modern-day religion should be understood in the context of our daily issues and problems. Though the book describes issues that might have occurred several years ago, it comes out as a masterpiece to understand the role of religion in our present times. During the nineteenth century, Americans went out in a spree to seek cultural transformation and the physical displacement of American Indian nations. Though many consider this as a clash of rival economic systems and racial ideologies, it was a spiritual struggle. During the struggle, the Kiowa were faced by forces including soldiers, missionaries and government operatives making them adopt spiritual rituals in the hopes of using their sacred power. Protestants and Catholics were expected to stand for the Kiowas but unfortunately, they wanted an Indian Country. They insisted on the primacy of the white Christian civilization and the need to transform the lives of native peoples. In the end, the representatives of religion were at the forefront in support of policies that broke treaties and appropriated native land. The topic is therefore important to understand the impacts of proper use and misuse of religion in the contemporary world. The book examines both Catholic and Protestant efforts to evangelize and Native Americans and shape federal Indian policy.
Reconstructing the Authors Arguments
As a summary, the book presents more than fifty illustrations many of which are presented by the Native Americans. The book tells a big story with several players yet it manages to maintain the trail of the ideas it aims. The book as Graber calls it a “big book” in his acknowledgment, the books present multi arguments. The author grabs the opportunity to narrate the 19th-century American religion. The book begins with an opening vignette about Kiowa Sun Dance and the Quaker school teacher. This is followed closely by two important reasoning or arguments. These two arguments form the basis for the question of the role Christianity has to play in a contemporary set up. The first reasoning is based on the argument that the Christian missionaries as well as the reformers, who were calling themselves Indian friends ate that time presented themselves as an alternative to native annihilation and destruction. The Christians, according to Gaber appeared with Bibles and soothing words but clothed in wolves sheep. They seemed to have had a strategy to acquire land and chive native peoples’ cultural transformation in a peaceful. The other white colonialists had appeared in arms stirring up resistance from the natives at the very beginning of their expedition. The self-identified friends of the Indians. According to the author, they were no less colonial when compared to white supremacists. What appeared as benevolence was in actuality genocide and colonialism.
In the second argument, Gaber focusses his reasoning on the Kiowa Indians and how they responded to the ravening white settler colonialism. The white settlers came in intending to garb and reduce the land that was owned by the natives. Besides the grab, the white setters also thought to change the way of living of the natives and even break the tribal bonds. By interfering with the integrity of the Native’s identity, they would easily erase the identity of the Indians. When people cannot remember their identity it becomes the easiest way to begin colonization. The attempt to break the tribal bonds of the people looked like a divide and rule tactic. This would easily foster disunity among the natives, and scattered people are so easy to rule and colonize. As a response to the attempts, the Kiowa resorted to practices of making kin, giving gifts and engaging diplomacy. Religiously, they also engaged the sacred power. What follows are arguments and actions of the whites, Christian, reformers and the Kiowas leading to a book presentation that appears complicated yet well-articulated. It also provides an opportunity to interrogate the gods of the Indians. According to the Kiowas, the continuation of established spiritual beliefs and practices was able to sustain them in the face of great challenges. They made alliances with powerful neighbors such as Comanche with whom they shared the Sun Dance ritual. The Gods of the Indians present a deep look at a Native American Society and their settler-colonial conquerors. The efforts were characterized by reliance upon faith in the face of both success and failure, joy and sorrow.
Comparison with other authors
Among the authors who also passionately describe similar scenes as those expressed by Gaber is Joel W. Martin. In his book Sacred Revolt: The Muskogeees struggle for a New World, Martin describes the Muskogees struggle along the Gulf of Mexico. The like the efforts describe by Gaber and like the other culture, these struggles were characterized by the Indian societies enlisting the aid of the supernatural in controlling the natural and social world. Each set of the tribe just like the Kiowa had a set of observances that were devoted to a higher being. The sacred power is seen engaged through dance, peyote, and mission churches in both situations. The individuals tried to appease powerful spiritual entities with private prayers and sacrifices of valuable items. The items commonly used in both situations included furs, tobacco, and even food. The two authors all bring out the role of religion in preserving the heritage of the people. In Gaber’s scenario, the Kiowa were faced by Protestants, Catholic leaders, missionaries and reformers who came in as friends, teachers, and protectors something that is not brought out in the story by Martin. Martin brings out the proper use of religion in strengthening the natives while Kiowa produces both the misuse and the proper use of religion.
The other author who also portrays a similar story is James H. Merrel. The author presents, The Indians’ New World: Catawbas and Their Neighbors from European Contact through the Era of removal. Just like the other stories, this is a story of native agency, creativity, resilience, and endurance. Published in the year 1989, it tells the history of the Catawbas and their neighbors in the Southern piedmont. The story brings out a similar but more thrilling story in studying the Native Americans. Together with the Gods of the Indians, these books passionately serve as a model for the study of the Indian heritage and way of reintegration into American history. In a similar effort like the previous authors, this book emphasizes the ingenuity and strength of will by which the Catawbas coped with disaster and preserved their identity as a people. The Catawbas were having both the black and the white neighbors in a similar setup as the Kiowas. The reasoning of the two books is pegged on the efforts of the Indians to preserve the identity against the invasion by the colonialists and imperialists. The struggle is also brought out as religious since the Indians are depicted as seeking the intervention of a higher power.
A Personal Response
As a personal response to Graber’s work, it presents important contributions to issues about the role religion has to play in the contemporary world. The author plays close attention to the concept of religion and how it was used and misused in equal measure. The Catholics and the Protestants seemed to misuse religion to gain native land and even colonize them. The need to Christianize and civilize the Kiowa was a good move but it did not have to come to the expense of the natives’ land and freedom. The Kiowa’s also responded by defending their sovereignty. The book, therefore, fits in the field of indigenous studies through the efforts of the author to keep the Indians’ land and nations at the center of the focus.
The author is persuasive in his idea brought out in the book. The books cover the 19th century and chronologically folds into three main sections namely: open lands closed lands and divided lands. It articulately tells the story of the America nation sprouted from a land that was considered an Indian country and was primarily under the patronage and custody of the Kiowa Indians. It ends when what was initially an Indian settlement changing to a white settlers’ property. Despite all these, the Kiowa’s maintain their connections with kin, land and sacred power. The fight put up by the Kiowa’s were worth it and the efforts by the white colonists were a misuse of religion. Through the book, the author introduces a variety of persons, including Christian reformers, Kiowa leaders, US leaders, and their policies as well as the Kiowa children. These provide clear evidence that is convincing and persuasive, providing a demonstration and picture of the situation in the 19th century. The sacred power is seen engaged through dance, peyote, and mission churches. The big book also gives an intimate feel. The glossary and the appendix are also quite engaging. In a nutshell, the book is a model piece for those having a special interest in American religious history.
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