Numerous indigenous peoples occupied Alaska for thousands of

years before the arrival of European peoples to the area. The

Tlingit people developed a matriarchal society in what is today
Southeast Alaska, along with parts of British Columbia and the
Yukon.
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Oudaism claims a historical continuity spanning more
than 3,000 years. It is one of the oldest monotheistic
religions, and the oldest to survive into the present day.
The Hebrews / Israelites were already referred to as
O
 in later books of the Old Testament Bible such as
the Book of Esther, with the term Oews replacing the
title "Children of Israel." Oudaism's texts, traditions and
values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions,
including Christianity, Islam and the Baha'i Faith.
!uslims believe that God is one and incomparable.
They also believe that Islam is the complete and
universal version of a primordial faith that was
revealed at many times and places before, including
through the prophets Abraham, !oses and Oesus.
Based on the Five Pillars of Islam are five basic acts
in Islam, considered obligatory for all !uslims. The
Qur'an presents them as a framework for worship
and a sign of commitment to the faith. They are
(1) the Shahada (creed), (2) daily prayers,
(3) fasting during Ramadan, (4)almsgiving,
(5) the pilgrimage to !ecca at least once in a
lifetime.
V Taoist propriety and ethics emphasize the Three Oewels of the Tao:
compassion, moderation, and humility

V Buddhism --- an awakening or enlightenment to help sentient beings end

suffering, achieve nirvana, and escape what is seen as a cycle of suffering
and rebirth.

V Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system focused on

human beings as teachable, improvable and perfectible through personal
and communal endeavor.

V Shinto is the indigenous spirituality of Oapan and the Oapanese people. It is

a set of practices, carried out diligently, to establish a connection between
present day Oapan and its ancient past.

V Bahá'í faith teaches that humanity is one single race and that the day has
come for its unification in one global society.
Alaska has been identified, along with Pacific Northwest states
Washington and Oregon, as being the least religious in the U.S.
According to statistics collected by the Association of Religion
Data Archives, only about 39% of Alaska residents were members
of religious congregations.
Evangelical Protestants had 78,070 members, Roman Catholics
had 54,359, and mainline Protestants had 37,156. After Catholics
and the largest single denominations are !ormons with 31,000,
Southern Baptists with 22,959.

!any Aleuts were converted to the Russian Orthodox religion

during the 18th century, and small Russian Orthodox
congregations are still active on the Aleutian Islands, in Kodiak and
southeastern Alaska, and along the Yukon River.
Native Alaskanǯs view of the world is quite
different from the Western perspective. Alaska
Natives are descended from peoples who
believed in a dual existence: the physical and the
spiritual. That is, the physical world that they
lived and walked in was only one aspect of
existence; controlling the physical and giving it
"life" and character was its spiritual counterpart.
This basic belief was the foundation of all Alaska
Native cultures and was their "world view."
 North Alaskan Eskimos - Religion and Expressive Culture
The traditional religion was animistic. Everything was believed to be imbued with a
spirit. There was, in addition, an array of spirits that were not associated with any
specific material form. Some of these spirits looked kindly on humans, but most of
them had to be placated in order for human activities to proceed without difficulty.
Harmony with the spirit world was maintained through the wearing of amulets, the
observance of a vast number of taboos, and participation in a number of
ceremonies relating primarily to the hunt, food, birth, death, the life cycle, and the
seasonal round. In the 1890s a few natives from Southwest Alaska who had been
converted by Swedish missionaries began evangelical work in the Kotzebue Sound
area. About the same time, Episcopal and Presbyterian missionaries from the
continental United States began work in Point Hope and Barrow, followed by
members of the California Annual !eeting of Friends in the Kotzebue Sound area.
After some difficulties, the Friends were successful in converting a large number of
people, and these converts laid the foundation for widespread conversions to
Christianity throughout North Alaska. Today, practically every Christian
denomination and faith is represented in the region.
Read more: http://www.everyculture.com/North-America/North-Alaskan-Eskimos-Religion-and-Expressive-
Culture.html#ixzz1I129Noz7
The traditional ceremonial cycle consisted of a series of rituals and
festivals related primarily to ensuring success in the hunt. Such events
were most numerous and most elaborate in the societies in which
whaling was of major importance, but they occurred to some degree
throughout the region.

Intersocietal trading festivals were also important. The traditional cycle

has been replaced by the contemporary American sequence of political
and Christian holidays.

Read more: http://www.everyculture.com/North-America/North-

Alaskan-Eskimos-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html#ixzz1I12nogRe
 
 

The totality of
socially transmitted
behavior patterns,
arts, beliefs,
institutions, and all
other products of
human work and
thought.


 


 
  

 Indigenous culture Case Studies:
should be viewed a
1) Bethel Potluck
potential part
Dinners
of the solution
to Indigenous 2) Culture of Abuse
disadvantage not as
part of the problem 3) Traditional Family
Support systems