Indigenous traditions and the Academic Study of Religion

Done by

1. anthropologists (Wasn’t the first)

Challenge: Emic

1. (from the perspective of the observed culture)/eric (from the perspective of the observer)

• Indigenous Traditions 

1. Tend to be oral traditions 

2. Tend to be place based

3. Typically,do not have concept of “religion” analogous to western concept

4. May have belief in afterlife, but tend to emphasize rewards and punishments in this life

5. Tend to emphasize tribal collective identities 

6. Ancestor veneration/worship

7. Ancestors life = path to life

8. Sacrifice as a way of relating to God/s, ancestors, and sacred powers

9. Local Traditions

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