The Native American Spirit World

Paper Summary:

This study is restricted to consider only those Native American cultures in North America, that are well-known and which provide certain insights into the construction of the spirit world for these particular people. This is still a relatively broad group of people. Nevertheless, there are common themes that run throughout Native American mythology in North America with regard to the spirit world.

From the Paper:

"It would be ridiculous to suggest that Native American mythology, specifically regarding the belief in a spirit world, is monolithic. After all, when we are speaking of Native Americans, of whom are we speaking? Should we broaden our discussion to include all the various tribes and cultural groups throughout North and South America? Can we actually expect that beliefs in the Spirit World would remain consistent across such great geographical, climatic, and cultural divides? Of course, such an argument would be reductive and would provide very little useful information regarding the spiritual beliefs of any Native Americans. For the purpose of this study, I will restrict myself to consider only those Native American cultures in North America, and even then I will restrict myself further to those cultures that are well-known and which provide certain insights into the construction of the spirit world for these particular people."

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