Cherokee Religion

Cherokee spiritual beliefs are held in common among the Cherokee people, native American peoples who are Indigenous to the Southeastern Woodlands who today live primarily in communities in North Carolina (the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), and Oklahoma (the Cherokee Nation and United Keetowah Band of Cherokee Indians). For traditional Cherokee, spirituality is woven into the fabric of everyday life. The physical world is not separated from the spiritual world. Cherokee cosmology includes the concept that the universe is composed of three distinct but connected worlds: the Upper World and the Under World, which are the domains of the spirits, and This World, where humans live. Humans do not rule or have dominion over the earth, plants or animals, but live in coexistence with all of creation. Humans mediate between thr three worlds in an attempt to maintain balance between them. Plants, animals, and other features of the natural world such as rivers, mountains, caves and other formations on the earth all have spiritual powers and attributes. Cherokee culture persisted through multiple attempts by Christian missionaries to convert them. Strong ties to Selu, the corn mother in their creation story, places women in a position of power in their communities as the harvesters of corn, power that women are not willing to part with. To the traditional Cherokee, the concept of balance is central for every aspect of social and ceremonial life. For example, women balance men, summer balances winter, plants balance animals, and farming balances hunting. Cherokee once beleived that all human diseases were imposed by animals in revenge for their being killed by humans, and that each species invented a disease with which to avenge themselves on humanity. Ritual purification is traditionally important for maintaining spiritual balance. Cherokee bathe in rivers year-round, even in the winter, as one method of purifying themselves. Creation myth states that the first human beings were a brother and sister. Once, the brother hit his sister with a fish and told her to multiply. She gave birth to a child every seven days, so soon there were too many people. Humans began to hunt animals, and the population grew so rapidly that a rule was established that women can only have one child per year. During the early times, the plants, animals, and people all lived together as friends, but the dramatic population growth crowded the earth and the animals had no room to roam. Humans also killed animals for meat and displaced them to claim their habitats for themselves. The animals held a meeting to discuss what should be done to protect themselves. The Bears met first and decided that they would make their own weapons like the humans, but this only made matters worse. Next, the Deer met and came to the conclusion that if a hunter was to kill a Deer, they would develop a disease. The only way to avoid this disease was to ask the Deer's spirit for forgiveness. Another requirement was that the people only kill animals when necessary. The council of Birds, Insects and small animals met next and concluded that humans are so cruel they created a host of diseases to infect them with. The plants heard what the animals were planning. Since they had always been on friendly terms with humans, they vowed that for every disease made by the animals they would provide a cure. Every plant serves a purpose. When a medicine man does not know what medicine to use, the spirits of the plants instruct him.