Indiginous Terms
Elder
a senior member of an Indigenous group who is deemed to have special leadership qualities and is widely believed to be very wise.
First Nation
a term widely used in Canada to describe Indigenous people of a specific language and cultural group, typically identified with a specific territory.
Inuit
Indigenous peoples who live in the Arctic, usually above the treeline.
Fourth World
a term used to describe Indigenous peoples around the world.
Traditional Territories
the lands occupied and used by a specific Indigenous group in the generations before the arrival of newcomers, most often from Europe.
Missionaries
members of a religious organiza- tion or church, usually associated with a Christian denomination, who seek to convert members of other faiths to their own.
Race for Souls
contests between denominations, usually Catholic and Protestant, to claim religious dominion over a specific Indigenous group, usually through conversions and baptism
Smallpox
a deadly virus, perhaps the most serious in history, that spread throughout the world during the age of European expansion and was responsible for the deaths of millions of Indigenous peoples.
Traditional medicines
local products, particularly herbs and other plants, used by Indigenous healers to treat illness.
Shaman
an Indigenous spiritual and religious leader.
Communitarian
describes a belief that the needs of the group are central to society and that the authority of the individual is often subsumed by the requirements of the larger population.
Polygamy
the practice of a man having more than one wife.
Revitilization Movements
efforts by Indigenous religious leaders to rebuild their society, often through efforts to rehabilitate traditional beliefs and customs
Syncretistic movements
intense spiritual revivals that combine elements of Indigenous and other (typically Christian) religions.
Residential Schools
special boarding schools for Indigenous children, designed to both convert them to Christianity and prepare them for integration into mainstream society.
Potlatch
a gathering or feast, often with spiritual elements, in which the host family redistributes much of its wealth to guests.
Anti colonial
against external control or domina- tion, typically by a different ethnic group and often associated with protests against European imperial powers.
Vision Quest
an intense spiritual experience, typi- cally involving prolonged deprivation, during which participants make contact with their guardian spirit.
orality
the deep and powerful influences of oral tra- ditions, such as storytelling, elders’ lessons, dances, and singing, on cultures that do not communicate extensively through writing.
Pan-Indigeneity
the convergence of Indigenous traditions around a set of common practices that collectively highlight the commonality of Indigenous cultures and worldviews
Peace Pipe
originally smoked to mark the end of conflict and the creation of alliances and trading relationships; now one of the most widely recog- nized Indigenous traditions evoking spiritual powers to support human endeavours
Metis
people of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry, typically French-speaking and associated with the Catholic Church.
Great Spirit
one of many names given to the domi- nant or most prominent spirit within Indigenous knowledge and faith systems.
Mortuary Poles
in West Coast Indigenous cul- tures, large carved totem poles that recognized the lives of individuals and ancestral ties.