MCCCD Official Course Competencies:

REL203  19986-20035

American Indian Religions

1.

Describe both academic and popular Euroamerican views of American Indian at the time of contact, during the development of European hegemony, and in the modern period. (I)

2.

Explain the importance of stories, myths, songs, and rituals. (II)

3.

Identify the significant religious personages and practitioners in American Indian religious traditions. (III)

4.

Compare and contrast American Indian and Western concepts of time, space, and other dimensions. (III)

5.

Describe how American Indian integrate religious world views and traditions into everyday life. (IV)

6.

Compare and contrast American Indian views of human religious responsibility with those of Euroamericans. (IV)

7.

Describe examples of the twentieth-century American Indian religious movement. (V)

MCCCD Official Course Outline:

REL203  19986-20035

American Indian Religions

I. Euroamerican Perceptions of American Indian

A. Historical contacts with Euroamericans

B. Popular and academic views of American Indian

II. American Indian Religious Orality

A. Stories, myths

B. Songs

C. Rituals

III. American Indian Cosmology

A. Religious personages

1. Creators

2. Tricksters

3. Culture heroes

B. Religious practitioners

1. Shamans

2. Religious leaders

3. Witches, sorcerers

C. Time, space, and other dimensions

IV. American Indian Values

A. Integration of religion and life

B. Kinship of all life

C. Sharing and reciprocity

D. Power and responsibility

V. Religious Development and Change

A. Historical Christian and Native interactions

B. Twentieth-century religious movements