Religion and Faith

More opinions, voices and commentary on Native spirituality.
Winona LaDuke is a Native American activist, who runs the White Earth Land Recovery Project in northern Minnesota. She was Ralph Nader's vice presidential running mate on the Green Party ticket in the 2000 election. LaDuke writes about the struggle to protect sites that are sacred to Native Americans.
Healing is an important part of American Indian spirituality. The medicines comes from nature. The knowledge about which plants to use has been passed down for centuries.
Father Bill Mehrkens is a priest at St. Mary's Mission on the Red Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. He says living on the reservation has changed his thinking about Native American spiritual ways.
Some of the most common terms, symbols and beliefs involved in Anishinaabe spiritual practices.
Many Indian people have lost touch with traditional ways. Worship was illegal for generations of Indians.
The U.S. government and Christian churches spent more than 150 years trying to eliminate American Indian spiritual practices. Ceremonies were banned. People were put in prison. Children were sent to government boarding schools. But the spiritual beliefs survived. Indians young and old are returning to traditional ways. Some call the traditional life "walking the Red Road." They believe old ways are bringing new life, and new hope, to Indian Country.
Ceremonies are the most visible part of American Indian spirituality. But to the Anishinaabe, there's much more to walking the Red Road than the occasional ceremony. Anishinaabe people say their spiritual beliefs influence everything they do, every decision they make.
For those who practice spiritual rituals, the heart of the Red Lake Reservation is the town of Ponemah. Christianity flourished in many reservation communities. But it never gained a large following in Ponemah, population 1,000.