Liam Mackenzie

2016

Throughout history other races have been put down for their cultures and beliefs. Especially in the Colonial Era, when colonists were just meeting the Native Americans, they did not accept the Native Americans religion. “Dance is used to connect the Powhatan people with the spirit world, through the help of the shaman. Dancing, also a ritual, was observed by John Smith during the settlement of Jamestown. He did not understand their culture, but observed that each dance lasted three days with each day ending in a feast…The Powhatan have a strong connection to their spiritual and religious beliefs. Belief in the spirits, guide daily actions and influence the Powhatan traditions and rituals,”(Article by Megan Heutmaker, The Spiritual or Religious Beliefs of The Powhatan). Unlike the colonists’ culture, the Native Americans were not trying to please their spirits, as Christians strived to please God. The Native Americans’ goal was simply to look upon their spirits. Each ritual they performed was to try to get a glimpse of their God, the Okee. The daily actions that they performed had miniscule hints, always trying to lure the Okee into their mind. The actions that guided the Native Americans’ everyday life were thought of as wrongdoings in the colonists’ eyes. Even John Smith, who was known for his good relations with the Powhatans, was appalled by their “savage” rituals. The quote mentions shamans, but never goes into detail about how truly important they were to the Native Americans’ culture. Shamans were the spiritual advisors for every tribe member. They worked next to the conjures who had a similar job, but were less respected in the Native American community. Shamans would help members of the tribe if they were extremely sick, predict the near future, and connect with hundreds of spirits. Shamans were respected in their communities, and had the power to hold tribe meetings and attend conferences with the the Werowance. When the shaman held tribe meetings, it was never for a somber occasion. The Native American tribes met with the intention of being festive and joyful. The tribe would all gather in a field and dance in a circle around a fire. When the colonists found out about this they were disgusted by the Native Americans’ savage rituals. One man, named Samuel Parris, even complained to the government that he was living too close to witches. He was referring to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe that he lived only a few miles from. This theory was supposedly shut down immediately after Samuel complained, but some still believe that colonial witches were specifically based off of the Native Americans. Shamans could tell the future and connect with ten-headed spirits, while witches were said to predict their enemies’ deaths and connect with the Devil at any given time. Native Americans would festively dance in fields together, while witches were said to have randomly danced in abandoned plantations. The connections go on, and associate almost every Native American tradition with a witch’s spell.  In a time where God was the most important figure to everyone, and the Devil was the pinnacle of evil, blaming a whole nation for that evil showed true hatred directed towards the Native Americans. The colonists hated the Native Americans so much that they were willing to blame the world’s mistakes off on them. Some even say that the Native Americans were less respected for their religion than the African enslaved people. Enslaved people were allowed to keep practicing their religion in The New World, while the Native Americans were shut out from their own homes, and ridiculed for their religion.

Acadia S.
2015

Witches and Witchcraft

Witches and witchcraft were a very serious problem back in the 1690’s. Women were scared to leave their house and become afflicted or worse, be accused. This meant that you would spend the rest of your life rotting in jail or, you would be burned at the stake. People feared for their families and friends during this witch phenomenon. Although we might look back at witchcraft today and think to ourselves how someone could possibly believe in such a thing. People prayed to God that they would not be the next victim of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. While some people believe that these horrible events happened because of hatred towards each other, land, or even rye fungus. Others think that it truly was the devil working his magic on Earth. Witch trials happened when restricting women from everyday rights became careless sexism. Sexism that separated women and men from each other. Sexism that blocked women from doing normal everyday activities. Did sexism start witchcraft, or was it truly a work with the devil.

Isabella:

2015

A long time ago, though not as long ago as one would think, Salem was going through a scare. It was a scare that would make people go insane, a scare that no one could handle. Starting in 1692, this was the scare that everyone was experiencing in Salem, Massachusetts. Witches were like a disease that everyone was afraid to catch. People were afraid of being cursed by a witch or being falsely accused for one. No one blamed them. Witches were tortured, fined, and sometimes killed. In Colonial times, many people believed in witches. There were many problems and difficulties in Colonial America. People blamed their problems on people they didn’t like, or considered different, accusing them of witchcraft. This scapegoating caused death, torture, and ruined lives.

Ruthanne:

Imagine being so afraid of something that you were willing to accuse and kill others to feel safe. Or killing other people just because you are mad at them. This is what it was like in the Colonial Era when people were afraid of witchcraft. People acted out of fear and anger not out of common sense. But witchcraft was also based on something else. During the Colonial Era sexism was a big problem. Men had all the power and women were mistreated. Women were also believed to be witches. As a result at the  bottom of witchcraft it was sexism.