Wild Indians and the Devil: The Contemporary Catawba Indian Spirit World
1985; University of Nebraska Press; Volume: 9; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/1184575
ISSN1534-1828
Autores Tópico(s)Mormonism, Religion, and History
ResumoT HE CATAWBA INDIANS of South Carolina are an important remnant of the once powerful Siouan tribes of the Southeast. From shortly after the American Revolution to well into the 20th century, this nation numbered from one to two hundred souls. Depleted in numbers, speaking a language unrelated to the more numerous and prosperous Cherokee, Creek and Choctaw nations, culturally demoralized, and starving for contact with their own race, the Catawbas nearly slipped into a cultural vacuum before 1800. By the 1760s their nation was surrounded by non-Indians. By 1800 most were nominal Baptists while a few were Presbyterians. It may be assumed that the old religion, one probably dominated by woodland spirits, was already racing to extinction. One might expect that by the time the traveling Mormon elders won the hearts of the majority of the Catawbas-between 1883 and 1900-the old religion would have been largely forgotten, for the Catawbas had experienced profound cultural shocks during the century before the Mormons arrived. In fact, the Mormons converted Baptists and Presbyterians, not pagans, to the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Yet today, in spite of a very long contact with Christianity, an incredibly rich spirit world exists that reflects Catawba impulses from both native tradition and Christianity.
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