Native Spirtual Belief Essay, Research Paper

Valorie Sheker

P-86

My Native Spiritual Belief

Mission Statement:

The Tribe’s vision is to be a tribal community known as a caring people, dedicated to the principles of honesty and integrity, building community, individual responsibility and self-sufficiency through personal empowerment, and responsible stewardship of human and natural resources; a community willing to act with courage in preserving tribal cultures and traditions for all future generations.

History and Background:

The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon includes over 20 Tribes and bands from western Oregon and northern California that were relocated to the Grand Ronde reservations in the 1850’s. These included the Rogue River, Umpqua, Chasta, Kalapuya, Molalla, Salmon River, Tillamook, and Nestucca Indians who had lived in their traditional homelands for over 8,000 years before the arrival of the first white visitors. They lived off the land — fish and game were plentiful, and what they couldn’t catch in the rivers or hunt in the forests, they acquired by trade with other Tribes,

and later, with the non-Indians.

The Grand Ronde reservation was established by treaty arrangements in 1854 and 1855 and an Executive Order of June 30, 1857. The Reservation contained over 60,000 acres and was located on the eastern side of the coastal range on the head-waters of the South Yamhill river, about 60 miles southwest of Portland and about 25 miles from the ocean.

In 1887, the General Allotment Act became law. Under the law, 270 allotments totaling slightly over 33,000 acres of the Grand Ronde Reservation were made to individual Indians. With these allotments came a provision, which allowed the Indian lands to go from federal trust status to private ownership after 25 years. The purpose of the Act was to make farmers of the Indians. However, the result of this action was the loss of major portions of the reservation to non-Indian ownership. Then, in 1901, U.S. Inspector James McLaughlin declared a 25,791 tract of the reservation “surplus” and the U.S. sold it for $1.16 per acre.

In 1936, under the Indian Reorganization Act, the Tribe was able to purchase some lands to provide homes for residents of the reservation. However, the Tribe’s attempt at recovery was brought to an abrupt end in 1954 when Congress passed the Termination Act, which severed the trust relationship between the federal government and the Tribe. For nearly thirty years, between 1954 and 1983, the members were landless people in their own land. The termination policy robbed the Tribe of its social, economic, and political fabric, leaving a scattered population and poverty, which led to a wide range of health, education, and social problems.

In the early 1970’s, efforts began to reverse the tide of termination. From the state of social, economic, and political disarray, tribal leaders began the arduous task of

re-establishing the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. On November 22, 1983, with the signing of Public Law 98-165, the Grand Ronde Restoration Act, the task was accomplished. In addition, on September 9, 1988, the Tribe regained 9,811 acres of the original reservation when President Ronald Reagan signed the Grand Ronde Reservation Act into law. The reservation lies just north of the community of Grand Ronde.

With restoration and the re-establishment of the reservation, tribal efforts have focused on rebuilding the tribal institutions and developing tribal service programs to meet the needs of the tribal members. They have provided the Tribe an opportunity to create a viable community, contribute to the local economy, and provide for the eventual achievement of tribal self-sufficiency.

I. Concrete Experiences

It’s not something that everyone can experience, being Native American. In 1987,

I was enrolled as a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, roll #2236. I have known about my native heritage every since I can remember, my mother and relatives reminded us often.

Being a tribal member is a wonderful experience on many levels. For instance I

have an immediate family, mother, sisters, grandparents, cousins, and then I have an extended family of 4000, the rest of the tribe. We as Native Americans consider ourselves as one family; all children and elder care are everyone’s responsibility. This makes me feel secure in knowing that if anything ever happened to me, my children would have ample love and care from not only their immediate family but also from the entire tribe.

Spirituality within the native community is unique. Many of our Native families

today have been devout Christians for generations. Most follow a personal faith that combines traditional and Christian elements. My family and I combine the Christian and Native faith. It is ironic that the wine that is the Christians’ most sacred substance, used in the Mass to represent the blood of their God, has caused such a trail of devastation within Native populations. And the Natives’ most sacred substance, tobacco, has caused major health problems for so many Christians.

Some of our religious beliefs are; there is a Creator who is responsible for the

creation of the world and is recognized in religious ritual and prayers, along with the Creator there is also a mythical individual, a hero or trickster, who teaches culture, proper behavior and provides sustenance to the tribe. Where Christian church is usually held inside a building, we build a Sweat Lodge. Our lodge is built out of cedar, arranged in a circular pattern and placed in a natural setting. The Grand Ronde people see the interior of the sweat lodge as representing the womb of Mother Earth, its darkness as human ignorance, the hot stones as the coming of life, and the hissing steam as the creative force of the universe being activated. The entrance faces east, source of life and power, dawn of wisdom, while the fire heating the rocks is the undying light of the world, eternity.

The sweat lodge ceremony consists of two kinds of giving, giving to yourself

and giving to all the things around you. That means giving your spirit and your energy to the Creator, trees, rocks, family, animals and friends. My sons and I practice this form of prayer often, as my Uncle Mike Reibach is a sweat lodge leader. The feeling I come away with after attending ceremony is one of peace and spiritual fulfillment.

I feel our native culture and religion should be valued. Natives have made many contributions to North American society, an awareness of concern for the environment, food staples such as corn, beans, squash, potatoes and sweet potato, the original oral contraceptive, over 200 drugs, derived from native remedies.

Sweat Lodge in Grand Ronde

II Observations/Reflection

Before entering the lodge everyone who is a participant must purify their body,

mind and spirit. The purification is done with sage or cedar smoke; the smoke is then fanned upon the body with an eagle feather. My spiritual beliefs are very important to me. I believe that the ultimate purpose of my life is to truly know who I am: and to instill faith, community values and family unity in my sons.

This is an experience that I share with my sons, who were quite frightened at first. The lodge is dark, no light enters, when the lodge leader pours the water on the red hot rocks to create this purifying steam it becomes very hot, at times even hard to breath. My sons being younger were allowed to sit on the women’s side with me this made them feel secure. When they began to get to hot I would let them crawl behind me and lay close to where the lodge walls met the ground, this is where little outside air comes in and is cooler. My sons soon became accustom to the sweat lodge ceremony and now sit on the men’s side.

Generalizations:

During my first years in Grand Ronde I had a difficult time adjusting to being a single parent, I believe that the experience of prayer within the lodge helped me become a better person and parent. My sons adjusting to having only one parent at the same time were able to pray to a higher power for guidance and understanding. With the help of our lodge leaders we were counseled and found peace within our new family surroundings. It has been six years since my sons and I attended our first sweat ceremony, I feel I have been active in creating a loving safe environment for them by showing them that there are many types of prayer and as long as we choose one, we will have the love and grace of god to guide us.

Bibliography

GrandRonde WEb Page

personal Experience