Aliens and Religion, Part 9 - American Indian Religions
Origins in the Stars and Star People
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Religion and Aliens
Fallen and Risen Spoiler Free!
This post continues a series of objective, non-judgement views of various religions’ views on the potential of extraterrestrial life. See the previous posts on Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism and Other Christian Faiths, Islam Judaism, the Dharma faiths, the ancient faiths, and Theozoology and World Ice Theory for more.
American Indians and Aliens: Time and Sources
American Indians, sometimes referred to as Native Americans, Indians, Indigenous Americans, or First Nations in Canada, are a diverse collection of various emigration waves into the Americas possibly starting from 15,000 to 30,000 years ago. As such, many differences between the peoples of the Western Hemisphere developed over time. There is no one American Indian creation story, nor in many cases is there one origin story for a single nation. Additionally, cultural diffusion has led some stories to be interpreted in the light of modern-day thoughts of extraterrestrials. This survey of American Indian beliefs seeks to look at stories as they were understood at the time of documentation.
American Indian Stories: Otherworldly Origins and Living Stars
A review of American Indian origin stories revealed many nations' believed that they came from inside/under the Earth or were formed from the clay. However, a minority of stories have above-Earth or space-origins. These stories, combined with traditional openness to a rich spiritual cosmos, make many traditional American Indian beliefs open to the possibility of alien life.
One Iroquois creation myth had people existing in the sky when the world was at first a massive ocean. Only after animals began bringing mud up to the surface to form land do these sky humans settle on the planet.
Meanwhile, the Pawnee believed the stars and constellations were living things. In their cosmos, Star That Does Not Walk Around, North Star, was the chief of all the stars and constellations. Additionally, the Pawnee believed the Morning and Evening Star married and had children. These children were the first people, who the stars placed on Earth.
The Pleiades: Home and Also Living
Ancient peoples across the globe held the Pleiades constellation in high regard. The constellation’s ability to be seen in both hemispheres, rising at the start of winter in the northern hemisphere while setting at the beginning of summer in the southern hemisphere, brightness due to its proximity to Earth, and obvious clustering of stars gives it prominence many religions. American Indian faiths are no different, with some nations believing the stars were their original homes.
The Anishinaabe peoples of the Great Lakes region up into Canada claimed their origin in the Pleiades. The haanwanArt website explains the Objibwe Star Map, which describes one of the nation’s origin story.
Bagonegiizhig is translated into English as the Hole in the Sky. Called the Pleiades on Western star charts, Bagonegiizhig (depicted as a ring with inlaid spider-and-sun designs around which seven sister-guardians can be seen dancing) is a star cluster in the greater constellation of Taurus. This is the Hole in the Sky through which Giizhigookwe (Sky Woman) (or, according to a very old tradition, Asikibaashi, Spider Woman; see the figure in the bottom right corner) lowered the first anishinaabeg (humans) to the Earth. It is through the same Hole in the Sky that the jiibayag (soul-spirits) of deceased humans ascend and travel toward their final destination in the Jiibay-miikana (Milky Way).
The Cree Nation, another Anishinaabe people, share a similar origin story.
Another Objibwe story, the The Star-Maiden, has stars having human-like daughters that people are able to marry. These Star-Maidans lived in space though they were able to have children with men.
Elsewhere, the Huron, an Iroquoian people, thought the Pleiades were seven sisters who would visit Earth to dance.
Star People: A Catch-All Term
The Star People concept has been overrun by new interpretations related to UFOs and “ancient Astronauts.” The traditional understandings of the term varied by culture. The Lakota Sioux believed babies were given a wanagi, a soul from a star. When a person dies, the wanagi returned to space, ending up in the Big Dipper. This made Sioux “star people.” Another Lakota teaching stated Star People were the spirits of their ancestors.
Meanwhile, the Cheyenne people believed the haztova hotoxceo, “two-faced star people,” were giant creatures who lived in the plains when the Cheyenne arrived.
The Huron thought Star-people were spirits capable of relations with humans, who lived in a country described as “very pleasant” and the “foliage was richer than that of the earth, the flowers more delicately colored, the air softer and more fragrant, and the birds and beasts more graceful and harmless.”
One Blackfeet creation story says the creator, A’pistotooki, made humans and star people on Earth. However, humans became jealous of Star People and even killed a Star People child. In response, the Star People moved to the sky. It was the Star People who convinced the creator to drown the Earth in a global flood as revenge.
A variety of other stories depict Star People as demi-gods or tricksters similar to “little people.” Some modern people believe Star People are in fact extraterrestrials as currently understood in Western culture.
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Until Next Time
Thank you for reading this newsletter post. Next time, we will continue look at non-American science fiction, this time interviewing a Nigerian science fiction creator. After that, we will continue the religion and aliens series by looking at some Twentieth-Century Religions (see previous editions of Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism and other Christian Groups, Islam, Judaism, the Dharma faiths, Ancient Religions, and Theozoology and World Ice Theory.
As always, please leave a comment with any questions, reviews, thoughts, whatever about Fallen, Risen, or whatever else I have discussed. I promise to reply!