Exam 2: Indigenous Religions: North America and Africa

Much as with major world religions, what is the purpose of many indigenous stories?

Leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament in South Africa, there were popular assertions that the South African sangomas, the traditional healers and diviners, would magically have an impact on the outcome of the games.

Africa is home to____________, nearly every form of ecological niche found on Earth, and hundreds of ethnic groups who together speak more than a thousand languages.

Magic is the power to control events through supernatural or mysterious means.

A common element in Native American beliefs is the

There is a sharp distinction between the sacred and the profane in indigenous religions.

Describe the Ghost Dance movement. What beliefs were associated with it?

The "council tree" is a feature of which creation story?

Indigenous people study the formations of birds in flight, quartz crystals, or animal entrails to predicuture events.

Describe how the Articles of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People that are listed in this chapter help to combat the legacy of colonialism, especially in terms of religious traditions.

_____________ is a religious movement beginning in 1870 involving Native North Americans who believed that by practicing it, they would be liberated from white oppression.

African religious worldviews are kept strictly separate from economics and politics on the continent.

Contrary to popular beliefs about how time is conceived of in African festivals, they celebrate historical events such as the acts of kings and famous conquests and should be understood as practicing a _______ view of time.

The separation between ________ and _________, championed in one form or another in nearly all Western democracies, is predicated on a particular vision of religion as something that can be extracted from public life and quarantined in its own sphere.

All stereotypes, negative or positive, fail to see Native Americans as fully real human beings.

Explore the effect of modern society on an indigenous religion such as the Yoruba.

For many native religions, the spiritual world connects with the physical world. In what way are they thought to connect?

During special festivals, especially the Annual ______ Festival, the Yoruba priestess brings messages from the divinity to the entire community or to individuals within and outside the community.

This Iroquois creation narrative begins with the story of how the whole earth grew from a bit of soil placed on the back of a giant _______.

Among the Ndembu of Zambia, ________ is seen primarily not as something that resides within the body but rather as a communal condition caused by imbalances in relationships with spirits, kinfolk, and members of one's community.