Religion In Indigenous America

Throughout history, religion has been a driving force of practically every aspect of life for nearly every single society ever to have existed. For most community-based societies, such as the tribes of Indigenous Americans, religion is also found to be community-based and stresses cooperation over dominance of any sort, which in turn leads the economical structure of the society to be community-based, allowing for each member of the community to have an equal share of the resources available. The concept of a society’s economic structure to closely mirror the religious beliefs of a society also proves true for agrarian societies, such as Rome, whose religious belief places a single man at the forefront of religious occurrences and thus imposes …show more content…
Work was shared by all, with men contributing to the community resources through hunting and women contributing through farming. There was no hierarchical monarchy in either the Sioux or Seneca tribes, though there were members of the tribe who held positions like the Shaman, or medicine doctor, for the Sioux, and the Chieftain for the Seneca. Both the Shaman and the Chieftain derive their power from the community and are appointed (and ousted) by the elder women of the tribe. What’s more is that both the Shamen and the Chieftain were also required to put in the same amount of work as all of the other men of the community, addressing the responsibilities of their other role after a day of work. This sharing of power and responsibility further illustrates the cyclical flow of the community, as does the relationship the tribes had with nature. To further explain this relationship, Chief Seathl writes “Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove, has been hallowed by some fond memory or some sad experience of my tribe,” (Novak, 367). This clearly shows that the tribes believe that though the people who inhabit the earth may change, their energy and memories are forever recycled throughout the course of …show more content…
Economically, the Roman Empire relied on the exploitation of conquered colonies to support the city itself and the citizens of the city were then forced to support the nobles and the monarch, thus the resources were funneled from the low masses to the exalted few in a pyramidical flow atypical of an agrarian society. Rulers like Caesar Augustus and Emperor Constantine sat atop this pyramid and, as Herzog writes, “They viewed themselves as the rightful owners of all lands and assets of the state, which they could confiscate and redistribute as they pleased,” (Herzog, 59 ). This triangular system of organization also put men at the top, in a dominant position over