Reddit reviews Circle Of Life: Traditional Teachings Of Native American Elders

Hey there, /u/Apollo_Manton. Honestly, I think some of the people in this thread are being a bit dickish, so I'm going to try to provide you with a satisfactory answer and some resources.

So I guess I would start by saying that asking for a summary of "Native American Spirituality" is similar to asking for "Asian Spirituality," in that you can have hundreds of different spiritual views existing on a single continent. Asian spiritualites include ideas from India, China, the Middle East (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all technically come from Asia), indigenous cultures in eastern Russia, Tibetans, and hundreds of others. Native American spirituality can be thought of as even more broad, because America is two continents, while Asia is really just two thirds of one continent (considering Europe is in Asia). That's first of all.

Having said all that, there are certain common themes which can be found in a great deal of indigenous cultures around the world, not only in the Americas but also in Australia, Asia, Africa, and even in Europe before the Neolithic invasions. Some of these themes include respect for the Earth; respect for humans, other animals, and plants; and taking only what is needed.

If you are interested in the subject, I have several books to recommend. The first is called Circle of Life: Traditional Teachings of Native American Elders by James David Audlin. If you don't read any other books, read that one. It is excellent, and is one of my personal favorite books, not only on this subject but in general. It's well-written, readable, informative, and enjoyable. Audlin (also known as Distant Eagle) has Lakota heritage, but is also familiar with Cherokee and several other indigenous spiritual traditions. In addition to that, he is quite familiar with several Asian religions, including Christianity (he is an ordained minister), Judaism and Islam, and he frequently draws comparisons between native spirituality and newcomer religions.

If you search for this book on Amazon, there is a newer edition called "Circle of Life: A Memoir of Traditional Native American Teachings." I recommend the older edition, because it is shorter, somewhat clearer and more accessible.

There is another book called The Wisdom of the Native Americans, by Kent Neburn. This book is much shorter, an easy read, and is almost entirely quotes from famous Indians in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries. It's worth looking through, and will give you a very good summary of the native worldview. There is an entire chapter dedicated to the difference between native spirituality and Christianity which is quite good.

Another book I recommend is The Other Side of Eden, by Hugh Brody. Brody is a Canadian anthropologist who lives for several years with different indigenous groups in Canada, including the Inuit. This book is partially about his experiences, but is also about the history of humanity and how it relates to the story of Adam and Eve in the bible. It does a great job documenting the differences - and the relationship - between Christianity and indigenous spirituality during the European invasion. I recommend it because it is good, and because it will provide you with a broad perspective on human history that few people have, even among the educated.

One more book is Conversations with God, by Neale Donald Walsch. While not directly about native spirituality, it gives an excellent overview of spirituality in general, and is worth a read if you are interested in those topics. It is far more compatible with indigenous philosophies than with the Abrahamic religions, and it provides a refreshing and reasonable approach to the concept of God.

Finally, I recommend this YouTube video, Toby Hemenway: Redesigning Civilization with Permaculture. Permaculture is a design technique that was developed in Australia in the 1970s, but was largely inspired by the success of indigenous cultures before the European invasions. In this video, Hemenway gives a general overview of the historical and agricultural differences between Native America and Europe, and it's an enjoyable lecture.

As far as your second question, which asks for a basic description of beliefs and worldview, it's not really possible to reduce it to a basic description, just like you probably wouldn't be able to give a basic description of the Bible or the Quran in a few paragraphs. The best description available for that, in my opinion, is Audlin's book, Circle of Life. Any short description anybody can give here will not do justice to the rich traditions and philosophies that made up the various spiritual ideologies of the peoples who thrived in this continent before Columbus's arrival.

And having said all of that, I will try to give the best summary I can of native spirituality.

First, comes the idea of respect. Respect is the cornerstone of functional living. If you respect others, they will respect you. This goes not only for other humans of all nations, but for non-humans of the other nations, too - the dog nations, the fish nations, the bird nations, the plant nations, and so on. The spirit, my spirit, your spirit, whoever's spirit, does not die, but changes form. Reincarnation is very much a thing. The spirits of the grandparents are in the great-grandchildren, that kind of thing. Respect for all of life is a great priority. Respect does not necessarily mean do not kill, but it does mean, be thankful for the gifts given to you by members of other nations.

I would buy land and books.

With the land, I would set up ecovillages, and I would (also) set aside vast areas where the plants and animals would be able to rejuvenate uninhibited.

I would find like-minded people, and I would ultimately try to integrate them into the enviornment with the wolves and the buffalo and the other animals. Humans can, and have been, ecologically sustainable organisms in natural environments. Not all agriculture is bad. Many Native American groups practiced agriculture in harmony with the rest of the environment.

I am also not against technology. A bow and arrow is technology, any tool that people use is technology. I am, however, against plastics and other harmful chemicals.

I would also build an army with the people who come to live on my land. There is no shortage of people - homeless people, high-school and college dropouts, homeless children, the unemployed, environmentalists, and lots of people I talk to IRL would be down for this idea.

I would learn assorted martial arts, I would teach them to others, and I would have the others teach them to more people, and we would spend a lot of time on it. This would be both for the health benefits and the self-defense benefits. It would be an army of ninjas, who also grow their own food and are self-sustaining. This will be great in case of societal failure or economic collapse. I would also teach/learn as many natural survival skills as I can. The goal of the army would be to establish peace and not wars, and to help people achieve independence (from money, oil, and industry) while also keeping a healthy relationship with the environment and the other animals.

We would also care for our children. We would raise them to be physically healthy and open-minded. We would not overshelter them, or put taboos on their sexuality, and we would make it the job of the entire community (especially the elders) to educate and take care of them. We will not over-shelter them or raise them to be weak. We will teach them how to socialize with each other in healthy ways, in an open, nurturing, loving environment. We'll also make it official policy that everything we do is done with the well-being of the next seven generations in mind.

There are also some books that I would want to buy and distribute. They include Circle of Life Traditional Teachings of Native American Elders, by James David Audlin, The Other Side of Eden, by Hugh Brody, The Conversations with God trilogy, by Neale Donald Walsch, The Art of Shen Ku, by Zeek, The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, by Thom Hartmann, A Practical Guide to Setting Up Ecovillages and Intentional Communities, by Diana Leafe Christian, and I'm sure there's lots of other good ones. You should really conduct your own search, but I feel all the ones I've listed have valuable information and the power to change the ideas of large groups of people. Anything on Native American culture, history, and philosophy, or on organic gardening, or self-sustainability in general. I might even set up my own bookstore or library, now that I think about it, and make more money. I'm definitley not against making money, because everyone in our world believes in money and money is power in our society.