The Tohono Oodham people, like all Native Americans, are closely connected to the land. They are called the "Desert People." They embrace the harsh landscape because they recognize it as their place. This fundamental connection serves as the basis for our continued research regarding spiritual and cultural beliefs arising from their unique landscape. We want to see how the desert itself informs their religion. We are specifically interested in visiting many of the sacred sites (such as the Shrine of the Living Children) that serve as physical representations of these beliefs. We hope to visit and observe first-hand how the modern Tohono Oodham people use and preserve these sites in order to understand how spirituality might have been changed in the post-contact era.
Posted by doneganm at April 25, 2005 08:50 AMThis to both Ann and Meredith:
It may be totally obvious to you (having done the reading and so on... which I haven't), but I'm curious about what people actually DO at the shrines (e.g., at many Catholic [and other...] shrines, visitors leave something behind, or take something away as a reminder)?
And should we be distinguishing specific places from the general notion of sacredness of landscape? Thus, Kitt Peak seems like it's 'sacred' in a diffuse way, rather than being the focus of specific ritual behavior/activity. "How the desert itself informs their religion" is diffuse in this sense --not to say it's less interesting, but it's surely harder to pin down than, say, the specific activities of pilgrims to a site.
Posted by: Hugh at April 25, 2005 03:56 PMYeah Meredith, definitely want to see how the landscape informs their religion, but also in doing so its effect on their culture. The inherent inseperable aspects of those two elements, religion and culture, for the Tohono O'odham would, I think, make it so the two would both be formed by the landscape through each other and directly through their relation to the landscape. Dude, our dyad rocks.
Posted by: anne at April 26, 2005 01:00 PM