Significance Of Ritual In North American Indian Religion

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draw some
parallels to the more common sweat lodge ceremony. If a recurring spiritual
theme appears in separate rituals, it can be considered evidence of a consistent,
structured belief system.

The use of smoking pipes in Native American cultures is a popular and
very ancient practice. Direct predecessors of the modern pipe appear 1,500
years ago, and other less relevant pipes can be found as far back as 2,500 years
ago. The distinguishing characteristic of the sacred pipe is that the bowl is
separable from the long stem, and the two parts are kept apart except during
ritual use. The pipe is seen as a holy object and is treated with much respect.
This type of ceremonial pipe was used by tribes ranging from the Rocky Mountain
range to the Atlantic, and from the Gulf of Mexico to James Bay. It did not
penetrate into Pacific coast or Southwest cultures, where tubular pipes were
preferred. Inter-tribal trading helped the practice of this particular ritual
spread rapidly, ...

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the course of the ceremony, the pipe is seen as the center of the
cosmos, and all directions radiating out from this center each have their own
symbolic significance. East traditionally represents birth or beginning,
originally taking this meaning from the rising of the sun. The significance of
the direction west also is derived from the sun, this time the path the sun
follows represents the path of life. The interpretation of these two directions
seldom varies from tribe to tribe, since the sun is always of great spiritual
importance to primitive cultures. Most commonly the direction south is seen as
representing growth and nurturing, which implies a female gender. The ...

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