This document provides an overview of Aboriginal spirituality and balance traditions in Canada. It discusses key beliefs such as animism, creation stories tied to nature, concepts of reincarnation and death, and the importance of totems linking people to ancestry. The document outlines the origins of Aboriginal peoples in Canada approximately 15,000 years ago and how European contact beginning in the 16th century impacted Indigenous cultures and religions. Core elements of the Aboriginal code and ethics discussed include not interfering, prioritizing community, and sharing resources. Important rituals and practices explained include prayer, naming ceremonies, death rites, vision quests, and ceremonies like the powwow, sun dance, potlatch, sweat lodge, smudging,

1. ABORIGINAL
SPIRITUALITY
A Canadian Balance Tradition

2. Balance Traditions Overview
●The religions and faiths that fall into this
category are categorized by a desire to stay in
balance with their surroundings.
●Specifically they work to maintain balance
within themselves, their communities and the
natural world
●Eastern balance traditions include:
Confucianism, Shinto and Taoism. For this
course we will look at Native/Aboriginal
Canadian balance traditions

3. ● Consider the lyrics from the song
"Colours of the Wind" from Disney's
Pocahontas (next slide). How do these
lyrics reflect the definition of a
Balance tradition?

4. Colors of the WindYou think I'm ignorant savage
You been so many place, I guess it must be so
But still I can not see if the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know,
You don't know
You think you own whatever land you land on
The earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name
You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never
knew
Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue
corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the
mountain?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sun-sweet berries of the earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth
The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other,
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends
Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn
moon
Or let the eagle tell you where he's been
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind
How high does the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn
moon
For whether we are white or copper-skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountain
Need to paint with all the colors of the wind
You can own the earth and still
All you'll own is earth until
You can paint with all colors of the wind

5. ● Now, consider the lyrics from the song
"Mine, Mine, Mine" from Disney's
Pocahontas (next slide). How do these
lyrics reflect the way in which
settlers/explorers to North America
often viewed their relationship to the
land? Do we still see this attitude
today?

6. Mine, Mine, Mine
Ratcliffe: The gold of Cortes, The jewels of Pizarro
Will seem like mere trinkets, By this time tomorrow
The gold we find here, Will dwarf them by far
Oh, with all ya got in ya, boys, Dig up Virginia, boys
Mine, boys, mine ev'ry mountain
And dig, boys, dig 'til ya drop,
Grab a pick, boys, Quick, boys
Shove in a shovel, Uncover those lovely
Pebbles that sparkle and shine
It's gold and it's mine, mine, mine
English Settlers
Dig and dig and dig and diggety ...
Dig and dig and dig and diggety ...
Wiggins: Hey nonny nonny, Ho nonny nonny
Ratcliffe: Oh, how I love it! Riches for Cheap!
Wiggins: There'll be heaps of it ...
Ratcliffe: And I'll be on top of the heap!
My rivals back home, It's not that I'm bitter
But think how they'll squirm, When they see how I glitter! The
ladies at court, Will be all a-twitter
The king will reward me.
He'll knight me ... no, lord me!
It's mine, mine, mine, For the taking. It's mine, boys, Mine me
that gold! With those nuggets dug ...
It's glory they'll gimme, My dear friend, King Jimmy
Will probably build me a shrine, When all of the gold is mine
English Settlers: Dig and dig and dig and diggety
Dig and dig and dig and diggety-dig!
Smith:
All of my life, I have searched for a land
Like this one
A wilder, more challenging country
I couldn't design
Hundreds of dangers await,
And I don't plan to miss one
In a land I can claim, A land I can tame
The greatest adventure is mine!
Ratcliffe: Keep on working, lands, Don't be shirking, lands.
Mine, boys, mind, Mine me that gold, Beautiful gold
English Settlers: Mine, Find a mother lode, Then find another
load! Dig! Dig! and diggety, Dig! Dig! for that gold
All: Make this island, My land!
Ratcliffe: Make the mounds big, boys, I'd help you to dig, boys
But I've got this crick in me spine
Smith: This land we behold ...
Ratcliffe: This beauty untold ...
Smith: A man can be bold! It all can be sold!
Ratcliffe: And the gold Is ... Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!
English Settlers: So go for the gold, We know which is here.
All the riches here, From this minute
This land and what's in it is Mine!
Ratcliffe: Dig and dig and diggety-dig!
Hey nonny nonny nonny it's mine!

7. “We know that we all are related
and are one with all earth… May we
be continually aware of this
relationship which exists between
the four-leggeds, the two-leggeds
and the wingeds…”
- Black Elk

8. Origins and History
●Many indigenous peoples, believe that
they “came out of this ground”
●Other Aboriginal groups around the
world have similar beliefs regarding
their origins.
●They understand that they came from
the land and that all life is thus
connected both physically and
spiritually.

9. Origins and History
●Scholars say that they
begin to appear in
Canada approximately
15,000 years ago.
●Most scholars agree
that these Native
peoples crossed a land
bridge over the Bering
Strait that connected
the western tip of
Alaska to Russia.

10. Origins and History
●In the 16th
century French explorer Jacques Cartier
arrived in north America and made contact with the
Aboriginal peoples. European contact had a variety of
cultural/religious impacts:
●As early as 1701 treaties were signed to define promises and
obligations relating to land, hunting and fishing rights.
●Missionaries worked to convert aboriginals to Christianity and
attempts were made to assimilate aboriginal peoples into
European culture.
●Reserves were created
●The Indian Act (1876) allowed for the establishment of
residential schools run by Christian Churches.
●In 1885 the Potlatch was banned. In 1895 Aboriginal
ceremonies, dances and festivals were banned.

11. Origins and History
●Righting Past Wrongs:
●1951 – Ban on Aboriginal ceremonies is lifted.
●1982 – The Canadian charter of rights and freedom
guarantees the rights of aboriginal peoples.
●1998 – the government of Canada apologizes for its
past treatment of aboriginal peoples.
●1999 – Nunavut is established.
●2008 – Prime Minister Harper and the churches
involved apologize for the residential school system
and a commission is established to investigate the
legacy of that system.

13. Origins and History
●At the time of European contact each of the
Aboriginal nations had its own language,
spiritual beliefs and practices. Today there are
more than 60 Aboriginal languages in Canada
= great diversity.
●Until recently Aboriginal cultures have been
oral (they have relied on memory and memory
keepers).
●Today some sacred ceremonies and teachings
are still considered too important to pass on in
written form.

14. 15000 – 13000
BCE
Migration from Asia
to North America.
604 – 479 BCE
Lao Tzu (604 – 532)
Confucius (551 – 479)
Early signs of Shinto
371 - 289 BCE
Mencius (390 – 305)
Chuang Tzu (369 – 286)
Hsun Tzu (298 – 238).
200 CE
Shinto – Chinese
religions appear in
Japan.
456 – 536 CE
Taoism assembling of the 3
caverns (3 truths of
Taoism, Confucianism and
Buddhism).
142 CE
Taoism
emerges.
1000 CE
First known contact
between Europeans
and N.A. Aboriginals.
1130 – 1200 CE
Confucianism’s 4
Books.
1945 CE
State Shinto Abolished
1800 - 1869 CE
Code of Handsome Lake
Creation of Residential Schools
State Shinto Founded

15. BALANCE
TRADITIONS:
CREED/BELIEFS

16. Aboriginal Beliefs
●Cosmocentric - (unit one)
●Cyclical - (i.e. Hindu understanding of
time/universe)
●4 Widely Held Beliefs:
●Animism – All things have a spirit
●Creation Stories – Origins tied to nature
●Death and the Afterlife - Reincarnation
●Totems – Links to ancestry

17. Cherokee Creation Myth
Long ago, before there were any people, the world was young and water covered everything.
The earth was a great island floating above the seas, suspended by four rawhide ropes
representing the four sacred directions. It hung down from the crystal sky. There were no
people, but the animals lived in a home above the rainbow. Needing space, they sent Water
Beetle to search for room under the seas. Water Beetle dove deep and brought up mud that
spread quickly, turning into land that was flat and too soft and wet for the animals to live on.
Grandfather Buzzard was sent to see if the land had hardened. When he flew over the earth,
he found the mud had become solid; he flapped in for a closer look. The wind from his wings
created valleys and mountains, and that is why the Cherokee territory has so many mountains
today.
As the earth stiffened, the animals came down from the rainbow. It was still dark. They
needed light, so they pulled the sun out from behind the rainbow, but it was too bright and
hot. A solution was urgently needed. The shamans were told to place the sun higher in the sky.
A path was made for it to travel--from east to west--so that all inhabitants could share in the
light.
The plants were placed upon the earth. The Creator told the plants and animals to stay awake
for seven days and seven nights. Only a few animals managed to do so, including the owls and
mountain lions, and they were rewarded with the power to see in the dark. Among the plants,
only the cedars, spruces, and pines remained awake. The Creator told these plants that they
would keep their hair during the winter, while the other plants would lose theirs.
People were created last. The women were able to have babies every seven days. They
reproduced so quickly that the Creator feared the world would soon become too crowded. So
after that the women could have only one child per year, and it has been that way ever since.

18. For other creation myths see Appendix

19. Totems:
A totem is a being, object, or symbol representing an animal or plant that serves as an emblem of a
group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe, reminding them of their ancestry
(or mythic past).In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a
totem. Normally this belief is accompanied by a totemic myth. They have been around for many
years. They are usually in the shape of an animal, and every animal has a curtain personality, e.g
Owl:
The Owl - Wisdom, silent and swift and wise.

20. BALANCE
TRADITIONS – CODE
Sacred Writings and Ethics

21. Aboriginal Code
●Aboriginal traditions are mostly oral in nature
(i.e. do not have a written language)
●This means that they have a very rich and
complex story telling tradition
●However this make it difficult to study
Aboriginal sacred texts
●Read The Code of Handsome
Lake in the textbook on page 46

22. Handsome Lake
● Handsome Lake, a great leader and prophet, played a
major role in reviving traditional religion among the
Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse), or Six
Nations Iroquois Confederacy. He preached a
message that combined traditional Haudenosaunee
religious beliefs with a revised code meant to revive
traditional consciousness to the Haudenosaunee after
a long period of cultural disintegration following
colonization. This message was eventually published
as the "Code of Handsome Lake" and is still practiced
today.
● For more information and to read the Code of
Handsome Lake see appendix.

23. Core Ethics (Code)
●Do not Interfere
● Modeling behaviour and leading by example
are valued. Ordering, giving advice or
interfering with behaviour in a demanding way
is not.
●The Community is Important
● As a member you are expected to do your job
(and do it well) for the community.
●Everything is Shared
● One takes only what is needed from the
environment to survive, ensuring there is
enough left over for others. Similarly everyone
gets enough.

24. BALANCE
TRADITIONS – CULT
Practices, Rituals and Symbols

25. Prayer (Cult)
●Prayer is used to recognize God’s greatness and to
express thanks for all of the Creator’s gifts.
●Individuals, families and groups celebrate with a
variety of sung and spoken prayers, usually
spontaneously and from the heart.
●Occasionally prayers involve offering a gift or
sacrifice.
●A prayer of thanks is used to communicate with the
creator before and after waking, sleeping, hunting,
planting, etc..
●In earlier periods time was also set aside to pray, fast
and make sacrifices to charm evil spirits that played
havoc with daily life.

26. Aboriginal Milestones (Cult)
●Birth and Naming Rituals
● To learn the right name for a child, the
name giver (grandparent or an elder)
enters into a period of fasting,
meditation, prayer or dreaming. The
name revealed by the spirit is given to
the child in a special ceremony.
● As a person matures their name may
change as it expresses their relation to
the spirit power.

27. Aboriginal Milestones (Cult)
●Death
● Rituals vary among Aboriginal
peoples.
● Generally believed that those
who have died need to relearn
what it is to be a spirit.
● Tradition requires a waiting
period of one year to allow for
this transition. At that time
some form of Death Feast is
held for the spirit of the person
who has left.
● Most Aboriginals believe the
spirit lives on in some form,
either with the family or in a
different realm (one that can
be contacted).

28. Aboriginal Milestones
●The Vision Quest
● Read the account of a vision quest of
Oliver Pahdopony (appendix iii)
● What is a Vision Quest?
● Why is it important to Aboriginal peoples as
a milestone from childhood to adulthood?
● What are the 3 elements of the Vision
Quest?

29. Aboriginal Rituals Chart
Copy the following chart into your notes
and, using the internet and your own
research, fill it out to the best of your
ability.

30. ABORIGINAL RITUALS CHART
Ceremony Tribe or Area
and When
What is
involved?
Ceremonial or
ritual aspects
The Powwow
The Sun Dance
The Potlatch
Ceremony
The Sweat Lodge
Smudging
Sacred Pipe
Ceremony

31. The Sun Dance

32. The Potlatch Ceremony

33. The Sweat Lodge

34. The Shaking Tent

35. Aboriginal Symbols -
Assignment