Indigenous/Native Spiritual Traditions

Individuals whose spiritual beliefs, moral code, ceremonies and traditions have been passed down through generations relying heavily on a central figure who serves as priest/priestess, healer, magician, diviner, the mediator between the living and the ancestors, and the repository of ancestral memories and knowledge. Central to many indigenous/native traditions is a belief that the Great Spirit created the Earth and its people. Others believe that humans came from a sky-world, that the Earth is the Mother of all life, and that plants and animals have spirits that must be respected, honoured and cared for. It is a holistic concept of not only human life but also the life of the world and all things in it, both animate and inanimate, wherein all things are related and interconnected. Native spiritual and cultural traditions include a wide variety of rituals, ceremonies and celebrations including thanksgiving rituals, pipe ceremonies, potlaches (organized meeting for special ceremonies such as name-giving, birth, rites of passage, treaties and weddings), healing circles, sweat lodge ceremonies (unique events or ceremonies that take place in specially constructed lodges whose purpose is purification, healing, and thanksgiving to the Great Spirit or Creator), and pow-wow’s (gatherings for the purpose of socializing and celebrating which may feature feasts and gift-giving).