Indigenous Spirituality Research Articles

Indigenous Knowledge and Contested Spirituality in Canadian Nuclear Waste Management

Indigenous spirituality is often deployed in grassroots environmental movements as a strategy to revitalize cultures and contest a hegemonic worldview that continues to marginalize Indigenous Peoples. From this perspective, Indigenous spirituality serves as an epistemological foil that these social movements utilize to critique prevailing capitalist values, environmental degradation, and neo-colonialism. Indigenous spiritual knowledge is also being employed by government and industry as a strategy to enhance the prolle of their own political and commercial agendas. Indigenous spirituality has therefore come to signify a wide variety of meanings and concerns in environmental management and public discourse. This can be illustrated by considering how Indigenous spirituality has become a site of contestation between the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), the public body responsible for managing Canada’s used nuclear fuel, and the Committee for Future Generations (CFFG), a grass roots anti-nuclear organization, regarding the proposal to store nuclear waste in Northern Saskatchewan.

Learning from mistakes and moving forward in intercultural research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

ABSTRACTThe ongoing challenges in equitable research involving Indigenous peoples and their communities and ways to overcome these are discussed in this article. Central to this article is the narrative reflection of a non-Indigenous researcher following research on Indigenous spirituality, well-being and resilience in the Yaegl community of northern New South Wales, Australia, conducted between 2003 and 2010. Upon reflection several years after the studies, the researcher has identified several inadequacies in the ways in which the research was conceptualised, designed, conducted and supervised. In seeking to critically reflect on and learn from this experience, with the hope of contributing to better understanding and protocols in research with Indigenous peoples, as well as improved models of higher degree research (HDR) supervision in this space, the researcher has collaborated with an Indigenous academic to incorporate theory and Indigenous knowledge in highlighting considerations for better research training and practice.

Constituting De-Colonializing Horizons

Indigenous Theology was born in Central and South America in the 1950s and 1960s in response to a demand for contextual theology, which takes into account local socio-cultural realities and, in particular, the specific needs of the poor and the marginalized indigenous peoples in these contexts. The fact that for many indigenous peoples in Central and South America Christianity stood and stands for conquest, colonialism, discrimination, and the repression of indigenous lifeways has not inhibited the development of indigenous Christian theologies. Rather, within indigenous theologies, Christianity, with its controversial history, is seen to stand in a productive tension with Indigenous Spirituality. This paper examines this productive tension between Indigenous Christianity, Indigenous Spirituality and Western Christianity. It asks how both Christianity and indigenous spiritualities become (re)presented, (re)positioned and made meaningful—co-constituted—in relation to one another in a variety of ways in the public discourses of the World Council of Churches and Central and South American Indigenous Theologians. The paper shows how, from the point of view of indigenous theologies, to be simultaneously indigenous and Christian is to be engaged in an ongoing problematizing of questions of authenticity.

Energizing everyday practices through the indigenous spirituality of haka

ABSTRACTFor many Māori, the dominant Western episteme of materialism and individualism does not underpin a Māori way of intimately connecting to and knowing the land and contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand society. Occupational science can profit from the insights that Māori spirituality is nonetheless, spirituality and, in its divinity, can transcend and talk meaningfully to all cultures and peoples who choose to engage. In this paper, I investigate how Māori spirituality can inspire everyday practices through the medium of haka – Māori performance art. I investigate the nature of indigenous Māori spirituality and its relationship to art, proposing that Māori spirituality is a cultural framework that inspires, energizes, and synergizes all those who engage and share in its life force. I seek to create systematic foundations for everyday occupations based on kaupapa (goal, purpose), mārama (enlightenment, understanding), pono (truth, integrity), tika (right and correct conduct), aroha (love, passion), and mana (power, wisdom); concepts deeply rooted in Māori culture and history. Each concept is linked to form a foundational framework, with the performance art of haka being a medium to mobilize this framework, and in turn spiritually energize people’s everyday occupations.

The deployment of a 'sacred song' in violence in Zimbabwe: The case of the song 'Zimbabwe Ndeye Ropa Ramadzibaba' (Zimbabwe was/is Born of the Blood of the Fathers/Ancestors) in Zimbabwean Politics

The dominant narrative in the study of religion in Africa is that African indigenous religions are non-violent, peaceful and seek to promote healing and integration. In this paradigm, it is militant missionary religions such as Islam and Christianity that promote violence. Such an approach misses the key learning that no religion is violent in and of itself: only the determination of individuals and groups acting in the name of a particular religion is relevant as to whether/the extent to which a religion can be appropriated and deployed to perpetrate violence. This article explores the deployment of a song, 'Zimbabwe Ndeye Ropa Ramadzibaba' to justify 'sacred violence' to 'defend Zimbabwe against witches/enemies'. The central research question is: How is the song, 'Zimbabwe Ndeye Ropa.' appropriated and deployed to sacralise violence in Zimbabwean politics? The article describes the song and analyses some of the contexts in which the song has been strategically performed. The study seeks to underscore the manipulation of indigenous spirituality in justifying violence. Theoretically, the study challenges the naive claims that indigenous religions are 'pure and upright' in relation to violence.

The Globalization of Ayahuasca Shamanism and the Erasure of Indigenous Shamanism

AbstractAyahuasca is a hallucinogenic plant mixture used in a ceremonial context throughout western Amazonia, and its use has expanded globally in recent decades. As part of this expansion, ayahuasca has become popular among westerners who travel to the Peruvian Amazon in increasing numbers to experience its reportedly healing and transformative effects. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in and around the area of Iquitos, Peru, the epicenter of ayahuasca tourism, this paper focuses on some of the problematic aspects of western engagement with indigenous spiritual traditions. This engagement is usually based on idealized and romanticized notions of indigenous shamanism and an inability to digest its less palatable aspects, such as sorcery. Through ethnographic examples and ethnohistorical evidence, I show that the romanticization indigenous peoples is not benign. In fact, this one‐sided romantic image hides the complexity of indigenous peoples’ situations by erasing the injustices that they have experienced and continue to experience. I propose a more holistic approach to ayahuasca shamanism that views indigenous peoples not living in a fictitious harmony with nature but as people embedded in larger struggles and facing important challenges not the least of which is the recent commercialization of indigenous spirituality.

Special Section on Indigenous Spirituality

I suspect the reasons for this are several: a) Aboriginal Religious Traditions is an emerging area of study, therefore there are few religious studies scholars trained in this area; b) Religious Studies departments prefer to leave this subject in Native Studies; c) departmental budgets are limited; or, d) this area is so politicized that (to borrow Ronald Grimes’s assessment) no one but fools dare tread here. (p. 64)

A Cautionary Tale: Examining the Interplay of Culturally Specific Risk and Resilience Factors in Indigenous Communities.

Efforts to build empirical evidence for the protective effects of Indigenous cultural factors on psychological health have yielded mixed findings. We examine the interplay of previously hypothesized culturally relevant risk (discrimination, historical loss) and protective (spiritual activities) factors among Indigenous people. The sample includes 569 Indigenous adolescents (M age = 17.23, SD = 0.88; 51.0% girls) and 563 Indigenous adult caregivers (M age = 44.66, SD = 9.18; 77.4% women). Our central finding was that indigenous spirituality was associated with poorer psychological outcomes across several domains (depressive symptoms, anger, anxiety, somatization and interpersonal difficulties), but observed effects were attenuated once perceived discrimination and historical losses were added to statistical models. Thus, consideration of relevant stressors drastically changed our conclusions, underscoring the uncertain dynamics through which specific Indigenous cultural factors impact mental health. Researchers should work in collaboration with Indigenous communities to improve measurement and empirical investigation of these complex constructs.

Memoria Indígena Conference: Indigenous Spirituality and Identity of Missions

Memoria Indígena Conference: Indigenous Spirituality and Identity of Missions

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s Decolonial Aesthetics: “Leaks”/Leaks, Storytelling, Community, and Collaboration

In Centering Anishinaabeg Studies: Understanding the World through Stories (2013), Jill Doerfler, Niigaan Sinclair and Heidi Stark state that stories are “being used as theoretical frameworks guiding questions” in a number of fields. Anishinaabeg scholars have been “exploring issues and interests of their own communities” in ways that reveal “stories operating as different entryways . . . [and as] centres to Anishinaabeg Studies.” Doerfler et al note that in Leanne Simpson’s contribution to their volume, she approaches aadizookanaag and dibaajimowinan as “two types of stories” that reflect “interrelated forces, echoes, and parts of a greater whole.” Simpson’s poem “leaks” – like Cara Mumford’s short film Leaks – also reflect this approach. The performance of “Leaks” in the film Leaks is consistent with “spontaneous” resurgent eruptions of flash round dances associated with Idle No More; long-standing “grass-roots” forms of cultural, political and spiritual resistance; “traditional,” land-based Indigenous knowledge, language and spirituality; and contemporary Indigenous literary theory. My own reading of the poem views it as embodying new kinds of conversations between Anishinaabeg artists, but also between writers from different First Nations as well as between Indigenous and settler readers and critics.

The Inspir=Ed Project: A Holistic Early Childhood Program for Enhancing Parent-Child Well-being

All Indigenous communities have a time-tested child-rearing knowledge base that reflects and honors their cultural beliefs and historical experiences. Many of these communities emphasize group harmony and collaboration and respect for the natural environment—competencies that are increasingly important on our crowded and depleted planet. Unfortunately, Indigenous peoples are often marginalized within their own countries, and experience disproportionately high rates of poverty. Poverty and the associated lack of access to nutritious food, quality health care services, and education can prevent children from reaching their full potential. The authors of this article consider how to integrate Indigenous knowledge, spirituality, and priorities with research-based best practices for education and development. They describe a program that uses culturally relevant materials, storytelling, and music to encourage parent-child bonding and positive familial and community interactions, all designed to contribute to optimal child development in disadvantaged Aboriginal communities in Australia.

A Gathering of Native American Healers: Exploring the Interface of Indigenous Tradition and Professional Practice.

This article reports insights from a 4-day Gathering of Native American Healers at the University of Michigan in October of 2010. This event convened 18 traditional healers, clinically trained service providers, and cross-cultural mental health researchers for a structured group dialogue to advance professional knowledge about the integration of Indigenous healing practices and conventional mental health treatments in community-based mental health services for Native Americans. Our thematic analysis of transcripts from five Roundtable sessions afforded several key insights and understandings pertaining to the integration of Indigenous healing and conventional mental health services. First, with reference to traditional healing, the importance of a rampant relationality, various personal qualities, Indigenous spirituality, and maintenance of traditional life and culture were accentuated by Roundtable participants. Second, for traditional healers to practice effectively, Roundtable participants posited that these individuals must maintain personal wellness, cultivate profound knowledge of healing practices, recognize the intrinsic healing potential within all human beings, and work for the community rather than themselves. In speaking to the possibilities and challenges of collaboration between Indigenous and conventional biomedical therapeutic approaches, Roundtable participants recommended the implementation of cultural programming, the observance of mutuality and respect, the importance of clear and honest communication, and the need for awareness of cultural differences as unique challenges that must be collaboratively overcome.

Indigenous Spirituality: Insights for a Life‐Affirming and Life‐Sustaining Economy of Life

The Ecumenical ReviewVolume 67, Issue 2 p. 203-207 Economy of Life Indigenous Spirituality: Insights for a Life-Affirming and Life-Sustaining Economy of Life Lovely Awomi James, Lovely Awomi JamesSearch for more papers by this author Lovely Awomi James, Lovely Awomi JamesSearch for more papers by this author First published: 27 July 2015 https://doi.org/10.1111/erev.12152Citations: 2Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume67, Issue2July 2015Pages 203-207 RelatedInformation

History is What Hurts: Queer Feelings, Alien Temporalities in the Work of Gloria Anzaldúa

The Chicana lesbian writer Gloria Anzaldúa believed that indigenous spirituality could be carried in the mixed-race ‘blood’ of the mestiza, and tapped into psychically. This psychic access could then bring up, as if from the depths of time, an authentically indigenous, if alien, soul-sensibility into the mestiza consciousness and thus into the present. Following Suzanne Bost, I think of this process as a way of ‘feeling pre-Columbian’. I argue that Anzaldúa used this feeling to queer the notion of historical change through a long and inaccessible time as, instead, a spatial and therefore crossable distance. In this paper, I trace a genealogy of what might loosely be called ‘New Age’ transnational Latin/o American notions that the indigenous psyche occupied a different (and more spiritual) temporality as groundwork in understanding how Anzaldúa comes to her complex envisioning of a bodily and psychic, queerly indigenous space outside popularly received ideas of historical time and cultural change. This intellectual genealogy illuminates how Anzaldúa comes to this rejection of ‘history’ as such, and to her formulation of an intimately alien, foldable psychic space outside time and historical change.

New age spirituality: rethinking religion

Introduction: 'All mixed up': thinking about religion in relation to new age spiritualities, Ingvild Salid Gilhus and Steven J. Sutcliffe PART I: RETHINKING NEW AGE SPIRITUALITIES 1. New Age, World Religions and Elementary Forms, Steven J. Sutcliffe 2. 'All over the place': The Contribution of New Age to a Spatial Model of Religion, Ingvild Salid Gilhus 3. Towards a New Paradigm of Constructing 'Religion': New Age Data and Unbounded Categories, Liselotte Frisk 4. On Transgressing the Secular: Spiritualities of life, Idealism, Vitalism, Paul Heelas 5. Hiding in Plain Sight: The Organizational Forms of 'Unorganized Religion', Ann Taves and Michael Kinsella PART II: COMPARING NEW AGE BELIEFS AND PRACTICES 6. Narrow New Age and Broad Spirituality: A Comprehensive Schema and a Comparative Analysis, Norichika Horie 7. Dolphins and other Humans: New Age identities in Comparative Perspective, Mikael Rothstein 8. New Age, Sami Shamanism and Indigenous Spirituality, Trude Fonneland and Siv Ellen Kraft 9.

Book review: African Traditions in the Study of Religion in Africa: Emerging Trends, Indigenous Spirituality, and the Interface with other World Religions, written by Afe Adogame, Ezra Chitando, and Bolaji Bateye Book review: African Traditions in the Study of Religion, Diaspora and Gendered Societies, written by Afe Adogame, Ezra Chitando, and Bolaji Bateye

Book review: African Traditions in the Study of Religion in Africa: Emerging Trends, Indigenous Spirituality, and the Interface with other World Religions, written by Afe Adogame, Ezra Chitando, and Bolaji Bateye Book review: African Traditions in the Study of Religion, Diaspora and Gendered Societies, written by Afe Adogame, Ezra Chitando, and Bolaji Bateye

Navajo Sci-Fi Film: Matriarchal Visual Sovereignty in Nanobah Becker's The 6th World

IN THE FINALE OF THE FIFTEEN-MINUTE ONLINE FILM The 6th World, Navajo director and screenwriter Nanobah Becker superimposes her nation’s traditional creed Są’ah Naghai Bik’eh Hozho across the face of Mars to signal that her heroine will found a successful community on the red planet in a futuristic Navajo way (2012a). Becker explains that “walking in beauty into old age” is the harmonious vision that her film’s final scene and words impart (Becker 2012b). Her inclusion of a specific American Indian Nation’s spirituality and actors into a science fiction future is unprecedented in recent popular science fiction film. Reflecting anxieties of secularization, environmental change, international wars, and economic woes, CGI science fiction films Avatar (2009), 2012 (2009), Cowboys and Aliens (2011), John Carter (2012), and Cloud Atlas (2012) incorporate indigenous spiritualities as they replicate antiquated stereotypes of noble savages who fulfill the non-native’s desire for material security, longevity, or love (Adamson 2012:154). In contrast, Becker’s The 6th World is an example of what Michelle Raheja defines as “visual sovereignty,” a film’s conscientious representation of an indigenous community’s struggles for political, spiritual, and cultural independence (Raheja 2011:4). Because visual sovereignty is

Afe Adogame, Ezra Chitando & Bolaji Bateye, eds., African Traditions in The Study of Religion in Africa: Emerging trends, Indigenous Spirituality and the Interface with other World Religions (Surrey/Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Co. 2012). xiv + 264 pp. $89 hardcover.

Afe Adogame, Ezra Chitando & Bolaji Bateye, eds., African Traditions in The Study of Religion in Africa: Emerging trends, Indigenous Spirituality and the Interface with other World Religions (Surrey/Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Co. 2012). xiv + 264 pp. $89 hardcover.

Intracultural Interreligious Learning: Openings Toward Contextualization

AbstractThe authors developed and co‐taught a course on Korean indigenous spiritualities designed primarily for Korean Christians to reflect on whether such spiritualities might hold resources for their religious lives. Engaging students directly with the spiritual practices, texts, and representatives of the traditions, the course encouraged students to voice their understandings of these traditions on their own terms, and the extent to which they might hold resources for Korean Christianity. Starting each class session with pair discussions (in Korean, if desired), and then sharing the pair responses with the larger class for fuller discussion gradually developed intracultural interreligious openness to the Korean indigenous heritage. Two non‐Korean students brought “outsider” questions and responses to the conversation. Students reported that the learning experience was successful and valuable.

Spirituality and Religion in Response to Substance Misuse Among Indigenous Australians

The ongoing quest for effective ways of preventing and managing alcohol and other drug use-related problems among Indigenous Australians has spawned a variety of approaches, including AA-based treatment, population health-based preventive approaches, and various forms of cultural healing. This paper examines two inter-related sources of ideas and strategies: firstly, the emergence since the 1970s of evangelical Christianity in some Aboriginal communities as a response to profound changes, including increased access to alcohol. The second is the attempt to invoke Indigenous spirituality as an alternative to both western Christianity and western biomedical intervention models. We also discuss the representation of Australian Indigenous spirituality within New Age and related discourses.