1. www.OneWorldInsight.com Native Sacred Ways Everything is alive Indigenous peoples Circle of right relationships Native mystical experiences We are caretakers of the earth Contemporary issues

2. www.OneWorldInsight.com “Everything is alive.” Indigenous spirituality is a particular approach to life, not a separate experience like going to church.

3. www.OneWorldInsight.com Indigenous Peoples The original inhabitants of the land This is 4% of the world’s population Kept hidden in the Americas for the past 500 years since the conquistadores Went underground 200 years by Aboriginals when Christian missionaries appeared in Australia

4. www.OneWorldInsight.com Going way back…. Archaeological discoveries show that methods used by shamans have been around for at least 20,000 years.

5. www.OneWorldInsight.com Tenochtitlan in 1500s – now lies beneath Mexico City 500 years ago in Mexico…

6. www.OneWorldInsight.com Circle - symbol of unity

7. www.OneWorldInsight.com Relationship with Spirit Supreme Being is “Wakan Tanka” or “Great Spirit” to the Sioux African phrases are “the one who is met everywhere” and as “the one who exists by himself

8. www.OneWorldInsight.com In Africa… “Our ancestors are our saints. Christian missionaries who came here wanted us to pray to their saints, their dead people. But what about our saints?”

9. www.OneWorldInsight.com “How you might feel toward a human being that you love is how you might feel toward a dry leaf on the ground and how you might feel toward the rain in the forest and the wind.” Hawaiian Kahuna

10. www.OneWorldInsight.com Mystical Experience by Early Americans “…everything is light. Everything is vibrating with very small signals, like waves of music, very smooth. Everything shines with a blue light. And you feel a sweetness. Everything is covered with a sweetness, and there is peace. It is a sensation like an orgasm, but it can last a long time.” Tlakaelel, of the Toltecs of Mexico

11. www.OneWorldInsight.com Nigerian Creation Story “When time began, where the earth now exists there was only a vast watery area, with a dim and misty atmosphere, the domain of Olokun. The other Orisa lived in an upper world of light until Obatala decided to go down to see if some solid land could be created…”

12. www.OneWorldInsight.com African slaves brought to the Americas lost their individual and group identity. Kwanzaa has been created to re-establish those identities by celebrating the first fruits of the harvest.

13. www.OneWorldInsight.com Santeria now… African Voodoo plus Catholicism Popular in the Caribbean with approximately 50,000 followers in the United States today.

14. www.OneWorldInsight.com Boarding schools tried to stop the native sacred ways “Kill the Indian and save the man.” The American Indians The Alaska Indians The Australian Indians The Mexican Indians

15. www.OneWorldInsight.com Leonard Crow Dog Lakota Medicine Man “Life is holiness and everyday humdrum, sadness and laughter, the mind and the belly all mixed together. The Great Spirit doesn’t want us to sort them out neatly.”

16. www.OneWorldInsight.com Mother Earth “In contrast to the industrial world’s attempts to use and dominate the earth, native people say they consider themselves caretakers of their mother, the earth.”

17. www.OneWorldInsight.com Your Comments… Winona LaDuke, of the Anishinaabe LaDuke says that we “…need to consider an amendment to the U.S. Constitution in which all decisions made today would be considered in light of the impact on the seventh generation from now.”

18. www.OneWorldInsight.com Native Ways Summary Everything is sacred Circle of right relationships Native mystical experiences We are caretakers of the earth We should consider our actions in light of seven generations into the future

19. www.OneWorldInsight.com Notes These slides are designed to accompany an oral presentation that compliments the book “Living Religions” written by Mary Pat Fisher and published by Prentice-Hall. The serious student would benefit greatly by using this book as an excellent additional source of information. Anyone duplicating this free presentation by One World Insight should be aware of copyright laws protecting some of the pictures and perform due diligence to make sure of their appropriate use.