ANIMISM Aboriginal spirituality expresses a belief in animism. But what does that mean? Consider the following lyrics…

You think you own whatever land you land on, The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim, But I know every rock and tree and creature, Has a life, has a spirit, has a name.

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers, The heron and the otter are my friends, And we are all connected to each other, In a circle, in a hoop that never ends.

ANIMISM Animism is the belief that all things, both human and non-human, have spirits or souls, and that the person or animal lives on after death through the presence of that spirit.

POLY VS. MONO Aboriginal spirituality can be considered polytheistic – believing in many gods, as opposed to being monotheistic – believing in just one.

POLYTHEISTIC Most Aboriginal peoples believe in a supreme Creator. However, they also believe that power is given to other personified spirits who have less power than the Creator, but who also guide human activity.

POLYTHEISTIC Aboriginal spirituality turns to many spirits because Aboriginal people believe they have more than one specific need in nature or in life.

MANY SPIRITS A fisher strives to be on good terms with the spirit of the sea. A farmer wishes to please the spirit of the rain or the sun.

MANY SPIRITS A faith in supernatural and natural forces that connect human beings to all other living things is found in the life of almost all Aboriginal societies. The Inuit call the sea “The Sea Woman”, and the sky “The Sky Woman” The Algonquin call the sky “Grandfather”

LAST THOUGHTS “We know that we all are related and are one with all things of the heavens and the earth…May we be continually aware of this relationship which exists between the four-leggeds, the two-leggeds, and the wingeds. -Black Elk, a Sioux holy man, born 1863