Description
Book SynopsisBefore invasion, Turtle Island--or North America--was home to vibrant cultures that shared long-standing philosophical precepts. The most important and wide-spread of these was the view of reality as a collaborative binary known as the Twinned Cosmos of Blood and Breath. This binary system was built on the belief that neither half of the cosmos can exist without its twin; both halves are, therefore, necessary and good. Western anthropologists typically shorthand the Twinned Cosmos as Sky and Earth, but this erroneously saddles it with Christian baggage and, worse, imposes a hierarchy that puts sky quite literally above earth. None of this Western ideology legitimately applies to traditional Indigenous American thought, which is about equal cooperation and the continual recreation of reality.Spirits of Blood, Spirits of Breath examines traditional historical concepts of spirituality among North American Indians both at and, to the extent it can be determined, before contact. In doing so
Trade ReviewMann's book raises some interesting and valuable contributions about forms of balance that are central to many Native North American religious traditions. As someone whose area of expertise lies outside the field of Native American religious studies itself, she offers a unique way of analyzing primary source material. * Sarah Dees, Iowa State University, The Pomegranate *
This latest work by Mann is a dense, in-depth look into different tribal beliefs and traditions that even some Natives may not know, especially intertribally, all strategically laced with a biting wit to drive home memorable points and object lessons. ... [the book] is very thought- provoking, so much so that at times one must stop to really consider what is being said. One must take time to stop and contemplate in this written form the enormity of the crimes against Native cultures and peoples. * Red Haircrow, Native American and Indigenous Studies *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; List of Figures ; Introduction: Style, and Sources, and Methods-Oh, My! ; Chapter 1. "Grandfather God" and the Missionaries: "Totally Good for Nothing" ; Chapter 2. The Twinned Cosmos of Serpents and Thunderbirds ; Chapter 3. Sweats of the Living and the Dead ; Chapter 4. Visions and Dreams ; Chapter 5. Giants and Dwarfs ; Chapter 6. Afterlife, Resuscitation, and Reincarnation ; Chapter 7. The Harmony Way ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index
