I Become Part of It: Sacred Dimensions in Native American Life

by D.M. Dooling (Editor), Paul Jordan-Smith (Editor)

Essays discuss the spiritual traditions and outlooks of the Indians of North America

Genres: Religion

292 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1992

Reviews

[Kevin Cain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often maligned and misunderstood, the Native American culture eludes most people whose only perspective is Western thought and norms. How could it be understood against the cognitive backdrop of philosophies that hold cold logic at their heart? How else does one appreciate a culture but through a look into its myths?
This book combines academic analysis of the cultures of several nations(Lakota, Cheyenne, Blackfoot) interspersed with the stories that comprise the canon of mythology of the same; the stories that give a glimpse of how those people conceive the world they occupy and the forces that inform their spirituality.
Breaking yourself away from the mindset and viewpoint you perceive as ‘natural’ or ‘accepted’ will always serve as a means of growth. Perhaps some view interest in another’s culture as an affront to their own, but I can think of little else as life-affirming as to expand one’s consciousness and to recognize the similarities shared among cultures. Sometimes it’s necessary to strip away the costumes to recognize, but it’s there.
Through this book I’ve garnered a deeper understanding of how the material world is an expression of the spiritual, the sacred. I see now and appreciate more fully the rituals and dance of Native American peoples as the channeling of the sacred/spiritual through the material being. They experience the world as a material manifestation of the sacred, that material & sacred relate not so much as opposing sides of the same coin, but that they are one another.

[Andy Fraenkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect balance of articles and stories of the Native American traditions from a variety of authors.