North American Shamanism - Questions for my project...

[diehard993]

Ok. I've chosen to do a project in Social Studies on North American Shamanism. The truth is, I've googled it, and come up with some good, solid information. I've also included information that I had already known from previous research. But I do have a few questions remaining, that I'd like to include in my presentation.

-Do the Sioux, Blackfoot, Mi'kmaq, Iroquois, and Algonquin (Most Abenaki) all practice Shamanistic rituals?

-Do Shaman's, as they are valued in the Native community, nescessarily have to be Native or Oriental?

-What herbs are used in Practices throughout Northern America (canada), (like Peyote in the South)?

Much help appreciated, thanks...

[kenwih]

yes.



salvia d.

[Splam]

You'd probably get better answers on shamanism in better living through chemistry. But the native americans in mexico atleast used magic mushrooms, morning glory, salvia, peyote and other stuff for their rituals. I don't think the Canadian natives have many shamanic rituals (not many natural hallucinogens are native here), because cactuses and stuff don't grow here, even though peyote has to be legal in Canada for the natives.

[diehard993]

quote:Originally posted by Splam:

You'd probably get better answers on shamanism in better living through chemistry. But the native americans in mexico atleast used magic mushrooms, morning glory, salvia, peyote and other stuff for their rituals. I don't think the Canadian natives have many shamanic rituals (not many natural hallucinogens are native here), because cactuses and stuff don't grow here, even though peyote has to be legal in Canada for the natives.

Yeah man. I'm Native, so I like to fuck with cops and stuff, burning sage in public and telling them to fuck off when they see me. My project isn't really gonna focus on the drugs, but more on how Shamans are respected in their communities...I don't feel like going up to the reservation to learn all that stuff, so I decided to ask on here....I know ArmsMerchant knows alot about it.

[MonsieurGnosis]

quote:Originally posted by kenwih:

yes.



salvia d.

That was used by the Mazatecs of Mexico. Keep in mind that they didn't smoke it, they used the quid method. The salvia page on erowid should have something about that.

[Viraljimmy]

Tobacco?

[The_Rabbi]

ArmsMerchant is a shaman. I'd really suggest you go post this in Paranoid Delusions, you'll get more responses.

[LostCause]

[quote]Originally posted by diehard993:

[b]

-Do the Sioux, Blackfoot, Mi'kmaq, Iroquois, and Algonquin (Most Abenaki) all practice Shamanistic rituals?

[/b[

- Yes.

-Do Shaman's, as they are valued in the Native community, nescessarily have to be Native or Oriental?

- No.

-What herbs are used in Practices throughout Northern America (canada), (like Peyote in the South)?

- I'm not incredibly well versed in North American religious beliefs... But, you're forgetting yage, and I'm sure lot's of other stuff.

Cheers,

Lost

[Run Screaming]

quote:Originally posted by diehard993:



-Do the Sioux, Blackfoot, Mi'kmaq, Iroquois, and Algonquin (Most Abenaki) all practice Shamanistic rituals?

Yes.

quote:-Do Shaman's, as they are valued in the Native community, nescessarily have to be Native or Oriental?

Define your terms. What's "native"? Some form of shamanism has been practiced by every tribal society on earth: Siberia, Australian Aborigine, ancient European... Read Mircea Eliade's book, Shamanism.

quote:-What herbs are used in Practices throughout Northern America (canada), (like Peyote in the South)?

Much help appreciated, thanks...

They don't all use drugs. Read Shultes Hallucinogenic Plants.



[This message has been edited by Run Screaming (edited 03-31-2006).]

[ArmsMerchant]

^ Some good stuff up there.

Don't forget to be precise in your terms--all shamans are spiritual healers, not all spiritual healers are shamans.

Most tribal societies have shamans, some do double duty as priests. The amount of respect we get varies with the tribe--Korean shamans are often women, usually rank socially somewhere between bar tenders and hookers.

All shamans work in an altered state of consciousness, but we use various ways to obtain it--drugs, sonic driving, ecstatic dancing, sleep deprivation being the most common.

As far as I know, only Hawaiian shamans typically use sheer meditation, which is tough--took me about ten years to get the hang of it.

Other good books--Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman; Sandra Ingerman, Soul Loss and Retrieval.

Hope this helps.