Huron
The Wyandot (Originally referred to by themselves as the Ouendat and also referred to as the Wendat and Huron) are a Iroquoian-speaking peoples who emerged in North America. The Wendat (Huron) origins are initially believed to be around the St. Lawrence Valley, then based around the Northern areas near Lake Ontario. Pre-contact and up to Early modern period Wendat were a horticultural people (mainly farmers who supplemented their diets with hunting and fishing, they also gathered berries and vegetables.) comprised of a confederation of four (or more) tribes who spoke mutually intelligible, and similar languages.
Related Terms
Huron > Arendiwane, Oki
Indigenous Spiritualities
Indigenous Spiritualities > Huron
Notes
Mythology
Images of God
In Huron cosmology, God is female, Aataentsic. "The mythic structures of the Huron cosmology were complex and multifaceted. Aataentsic was regarded as the great progenitress of the "island" or natural world upon which all human beings lived. A primary source of life, she also manifested as the moon. She was a powerful, sacred figure reflecting the matriarchal structures of Huron social order and could reveal herself through dreams to a chosen woman; on one such occasion, she claimed to be the one who ruled over all the Huron."[1]
The Nature of the Soul
According to Huron ontology, the soul had various powers and ability.[2]
Khiondhecwi the soul power which animates the body. Remains with body until it dies.
endionrra the ability to think and delibrate
oki andaerandi - paranormal perception
gonennoncwal - innate attraction to a variety of specific objects
esken a soul separated from the body, can move around in dreams and visions, connect with others
atisken part of the soul that remains with the bones
"The souls of the living were vulnerable to the powers of the master shamans (arendizuane) through both rites of healing and through acts of witchcraft."[3]
Good versus Evil
Only the Chosen
Oki were believed to be accessible to any individual through dreaming and visionary experience.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
Elder Brothers, the highest authority amongst all members of a particular animal species. [4]
Oki "The earth, rivers, lakes and rocks contained powerful spirits which might aid or hinder human beings. All of these sacred beings were called oki and those who had communication with such beings or who had power from such beings might also be addressed as oki"[5]
- In Huron Mythology animals play a key part and are all illustrated.
Etiological Myths
Big Turtle (Strong, sturdy, dependable. Hold all others upon its back)
Connections
Note below under sacred powers, it is the union with oki that results in the manifestation of sacred Arendi.
"The mythic structure of the Huron world was such that the intrinsic powers of that world freely interacted with every individual through dreaming and the medium of that interaction was conceptualized as a distinctive, experiential aspect of the identity of the individual."[6] (Deloria Vine quotes)
No mind/body dualism. Fluid connection with all things!!
Dreaming
Dreaming is a central feature of the "formation and dynamics of the Huron religious worldview..." Indeed, amongst the Huron, dreams are "regarded as a religious phenomenon." Dreams are an essential aspect of communication with the spirit world (see Huron cosmology)[7]
"Dreams provided one of the most fundamental means by which communication was maintained with the various sacred beings, either mythic or animal, that constituted the ultimate sources of spiritual empowerment in the Huron cosmology. Through dreams traditional values and teachings were validated and functioned to sanction the immediacy of a mythically defined cosmology. Dreams also3 provided a basis for ceremonial enactment and social interactions that reinforced the sacred character of the Huron world order." [8]
Dreaming provides transfer of Oki powers of healing. Dreams are recognized as direct form of communication with spiritual world.
Shamans possessed a special knowledge of the symbolic significance of dreams.
Equality and Sharing
The Harmony of Reciprocity [9]
Huron dreaming emphasized reciprocity and sharing. "the Huron practice of dreaming involved the continual redistribution of wealth among members of the community...Such actions expressed reciprocity on the human plane that in turn reflected the cosmological order which also involved the giving of "gifts" by the sacred beings. Such "gifts" also helped to balance social inequality and the dynamics of such redistribution grounded the social world in a dynamic pattern of sacred relations that had the highest religious sanctions..." [10]
Power and Authority
"Authority was a matter of personal empowerment through greater intimacy with the sacred powers, manifested paradigmatically as esoteric knowledge and the demonstration of consistent and mysterious ability by the master shaman." [11]
"The Huron religious life was not constrained by either dogma or a systematized theology, but proceeded through precedent, example and sacred narrative to illustrate the appropriate use of power, primarily for the benefit of others. " [12]
Sacred Powers
Arendi "Sacred power, or arendi, given by the oki, was manifested as any unusual or extraordinary ability or as the power to heal through the use of rituals and sacred objects obtained in dreams or visions. Because the dream was believed to be the medium through which power and success was revealed, a dream oki manifested as a specific figure which acted as a validating presence of the mythically defined cosmos. Dreaming was framed in an interpretive context of religious experience that attributed a sacred knowledge and authority to the oki which in turn inspired the dreams that revealed the means by which dreamers might actualize their power. In such a case, the power of the oki and the power of the individual were regarded as one in the same and the union of the individual with the sources of empowerment represented the strongest possible affirmation of the sacred character of the world" [13]
Reincarnation
The Huron believe in reincarnation[14] and have a complex view of the soul as having multiple .
Souls
All living beings have souls, including animals, which can be communicated with after death. [15]
Further Reading
Barbeau, C. M. 1914 "Supernatural Beings of the Huron and the Wyandot." American Anthropologist, Vol. 16: 288-313.
Barbeau, C. M. 1915 Huron and Wyandot Mythology. Department of Mines and Geological Survey, Anthropological Series #11. Ottawa: Government Printing Bureau.
Hewitt, J.N.B. 1885 "The Iroquoian Concept of the Soul." Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 8:107-116.
Kinietz, W. V. 1940 "The Indian Tribes of the Western Great Lakes." Michigan University, Museum of Anthropology, Occasional Contributions, Vol. 10:1-160.
1939 The Long Journey to the Country of the Hurons. G. M. Wrong, ed. and H. H. Langton, trans. Champlain Society, Pub. 25. New York: Greenwood Press. [Orig. 1632]
Tooker, Elizabeth. 1964 An Ethnography of the Huron Indians, 1615-1649. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bull. 190. Washington: Smisonian Institute.
Trigger, Bruce G. 1976 The Children of Aataentsic: A History of the Huron People to 1660, 2 Vols. Montreal: McGill University Press.
Footnotes
- ↑ Irwin, Lee. “The Huron-Jesuit Relations: Contesting Dreams, Confirming Worldviews.” Religion 22 (1992): 259–70. p. 260.
- ↑ The following from Irwin, Lee. “Myth, Language and Ontology among the Huron.” Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 19, no. 4 (December 1, 1990): 413–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842989001900403. p. 416-7.
- ↑ The following from Irwin, Lee. “Myth, Language and Ontology among the Huron.” Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 19, no. 4 (December 1, 1990): 413–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842989001900403. p. 416-7.
- ↑ Irwin, Lee. “The Huron-Jesuit Relations: Contesting Dreams, Confirming Worldviews.” Religion 22 (1992): 259–70. p. 260.
- ↑ Irwin, Lee. “The Huron-Jesuit Relations: Contesting Dreams, Confirming Worldviews.” Religion 22 (1992): 259–70. p. 260.
- ↑ Irwin, Lee. “The Huron-Jesuit Relations: Contesting Dreams, Confirming Worldviews.” Religion 22 (1992): 259–70. p. 260.
- ↑ Irwin, Lee. “The Huron-Jesuit Relations: Contesting Dreams, Confirming Worldviews.” Religion 22 (1992): 259–70. p. 260.
- ↑ Irwin, Lee. “The Huron-Jesuit Relations: Contesting Dreams, Confirming Worldviews.” Religion 22 (1992): 259–70. p. 260.
- ↑ Irwin, Lee. “The Huron-Jesuit Relations: Contesting Dreams, Confirming Worldviews.” Religion 22 (1992): 259–70.
- ↑ Irwin, Lee. “The Huron-Jesuit Relations: Contesting Dreams, Confirming Worldviews.” Religion 22 (1992): 259–70.
- ↑ Irwin, Lee. “The Huron-Jesuit Relations: Contesting Dreams, Confirming Worldviews.” Religion 22 (1992): 259–70.
- ↑ Irwin, Lee. “The Huron-Jesuit Relations: Contesting Dreams, Confirming Worldviews.” Religion 22 (1992): 259–70.
- ↑ Irwin, Lee. “The Huron-Jesuit Relations: Contesting Dreams, Confirming Worldviews.” Religion 22 (1992): 259–70. p. 260.
- ↑ Irwin, Lee. “Myth, Language and Ontology among the Huron.” Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 19, no. 4 (December 1, 1990): 413–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842989001900403.
- ↑ Irwin, Lee. “Myth, Language and Ontology among the Huron.” Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 19, no. 4 (December 1, 1990): 413–26. p. 419. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842989001900403.
