Contemporary Religions in Canada

1. Contemporary Religions in Canada Canadian Aboriginal Spirituality: Some Typical Components

2. Canadian Aboriginal Spirituality • “I’ve never yet met an Indian atheist”—David Bird • To understand Aboriginal spirituality, you have to come to terms with a particular history • Small scale, frequently nomadic hunter-gatherer societies, surviving in harsh climates • Suddenly, their traditional way of life turned upside down by a number of intrusions • European takeover of traditional lands, resulting ultimately in being confined (and in many places ultimately crowded into) to “Indian reserves” • Outlawing and banning of most traditional religious practices • Radical attempts at assimilation through the church-school system • All of this leading to widespread socio-cultural “meltdown” of traditional structures—traditional socio-religious values are not lost, but social structures in which they once existed are shaken to the core

3. Canadian Aboriginal Spirituality • What has emerged in the post-residential school aboriginal community in terms of religion/spirituality? • Religious Diversity • Adherence to forms of Christianity (Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, Pentecostal, etc.) • Return to forms of Traditional Aboriginal Religious practices (both pan-Indian and localized “reconstitution” of ancestral religions) • A mix of the two, adopted and practiced at varying levels of devotion

4. Canadian Aboriginal Spirituality • Religious Dynamics at play in contemporary Aboriginal spirituality • Aboriginal Christianity has adopted to varying levels aspects of traditional Aboriginal practices • E.g., Since 1984 Catholic church allows Aboriginal ceremonies like “smudging” to be a part of mass • E.g., Anglican band council in a reserve in Saskatchewan would not allow an Aboriginal healing circle to be established on their reserve • E.g., Some Aboriginal Pentecostal churches regard “going Native” as akin to a return to “devil worship”; others are re-integrating Aboriginal aspects to their worship (e.g., Inuit); typically the integration of any Traditionalist component into these churches will involve conflict

5. Canadian Aboriginal Spirituality • Religious Dynamics at play in contemporary Aboriginal spirituality • Their has also been an attempt to revive the religion of the ancestors in what is frequently labeled “Traditionalism” • This is an attempt to re-construct ancient rituals and practices of one’s tribal ancestors • This has run on two tracks • Pan-Indian Spirituality—a free exchange of ideas and rituals between disparate North American Aboriginal nations, e.g., Black Elk’s works a sort of “Bible”; pow-wows, medicine wheel • Local tribal revivals—an attempt to rediscover localized rituals and practices

6. Canadian Aboriginal Spirituality • Religious Dynamics at play in contemporary Aboriginal spirituality • It remains the case that most native peoples in Canada will still self identify themselves as “Christian” (much more so than the population at large) • In practice, in terms of religiosity, expect some mix of Traditional and Christian

7. Canadian Aboriginal Spirituality Items of interest for understanding Aboriginal Spirituality • medicine wheel • tobacco • smudging • pow-wow • ancestors and funeral feasts • pipe-carriers/medicine man

8. Canadian Aboriginal Spirituality