All stories so far...

The history of the Indians is definitely one of many struggles. Especially struggles with their ways of religion. In the first story we read called "The Man to Send Rain Clouds" by Leslie Marmon Silko we learned of one kind of Indians known as the Pueblos. They are portrayed as very religious in their own way. Their way for funeral rituals is an example of their beliefs. When Teofilo died Leon and and Ken found him and put white paint across his forehead, blue across cheek bones, yellow under nose, and green across his chin. Also, they threw pinches of cornmeal on his body. The last thing they wanted was for the priest to drop holy water on him so he was assured plenty to drink. This would also make sure that rain would come which was a necessity in their culture. When Leon went to ask the priest to drop holy water on his grandfather the priest was very hesitant. It was against his religion to do this, but he compromised with Leon because they both wanted his soul to be at rest. (The picture above shows a Pueblo Indian tribes home.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO2g9tgWjbU&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2Fvideosearch%3Fhl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial%26um%3D1%26q%3Dreligion%2520%2520pilgrims%26ie%3DUTF-8&feature=player_embedded#t=17
(Pueblo Indians doing their cultural Eagle Dance)

In the second story we read called "The Way to Rainy Mountain" by N. Scott Momaday we were introduced to another tribe of Indians called the Kiowas. Momaday writes this story through telling of his grandmothers involvement with the Kiowas and previous history of the Kiowas. A big part in the Indians history was also the never ending attempts at converting them. They believed that the beliefs of Indians were wrong and they were to stop them from their beliefs. The Kiowas were driven to staked plains due to the nonstop advancement of U.S. cavalry. They had their own religion and for the Kiowas they believed in the Sun Dance which was known to them as the divinity of the sun. Momaday's grandmother was at the last Sun Dance ritual. During this ritual soldiers from Fort Sill came to disperse them. They not only did this, but they also slaughtered their herds and left them to rot. The Kiowas left forever and never returned to their medicine tree because of this. (The picture above shows the place where the Kiowas held their Sun Dance ritual.)

http://www.strimoo.com/video/16318636/kiowa-celebration-dance-par-31de88ie30-MySpaceVideos.html
(Kiowa Celebration Dance)


In the third story we read called "Pilgrim Plantation" we learned about the pilgrims. They had to leave their home so that they were able to express their own views on religion. They thought the ways of the church of England were not completely right so they chose to create their own. They were considered a separatist group which was illegal. So they decided to leave England. They ended up in America landing some time later on Plymouth Rock. There they went through struggles like all do, but they received seeds and other things from Indians they met that kept them alive through the harsh winter. Although almost half died even more would have without those things from the Indians. Sometime later they befriended the Indians and met Squanto who taught them how to plant more crops and other things. They also later held the first Thanksgiving amongst one another. (In the picture in the top right it shows the first landing of the pilgrims and shows there religion through the man kneeling looking up at the sky. Top left shows pilgrims and Indians befriending one another. Below the first Thanksgiving is shown.) As you can see each one of these stories shows some struggles that the characters have come across when it comes to having their own religion. They were all forced to give one thing or another up due to their own beliefs. They also, all have their own ways of showing their religion. For example, the pueblos with their funeral ritual, the Kiowas with their Sun Dance, and the pilgrims with their separation from the church of England (along with separation of beliefs from the church).