Chapter 2: Indigenous Sacred Ways

In this test bank for Living Religions, Ninth Edition, there is a new system for identifying the difficulty of the questions. Questions are now tagged according to the four levels of learning that help organize the text. Think of these four levels as moving from lower-level to higher-level cognitive reasoning. The four levels are:

REMEMBER: a question involving recall of key terms or factual material

UNDERSTAND: a question testing comprehension of more complex ideas

APPLY: a question applying anthropological knowledge to some new situation

ANALYZE: a question requiring identifying elements of an argument and their interrelationship

Types of Questions

Easy to Difficult Level of Difficulty

Multiple Choice / Fill in the Blank/Short Answer / True/False / Essay / Total Questions
Remember / 3 / 6 / 5 / 14
Understand / 5 / 5 / 10
Apply / 1 / 2 / 3
Analyze / 2 / 2 / 4
8 / 7 / 12 / 4 / 31

Fill in the Blank/ Short Answer

1. Descendants of original inhabitants of lands now controlled by larger political systems are called ______.

(REMEMBER; answer: indigenous peoples; page 33)

2. The religious term that means a model of the origins of the universe is ______.

(REMEMBER; answer: cosmogonies; page 37)

3. Approximately how old are shamanic methods estimated to be?

(REMEMBER; answer: 20,000-30,000 years old; page 51)

4. Shamans should not be confused with people who use black magic to hurt others, which are known as ______.

(REMEMBER; answer: sorcerers; page 51)

5. The Indigenous American practice of cleansing sites and “possessions” with smoke from special herbs is called ______.

(REMEMBER; answer: smudging; page 58)

6. When after a ritual purification, an individual is sent alone to a sacred spot in order to experience a personal connection with the spirits, they are said to undergo a ______.

(REMEMBER; answer: vision quest; page 59)

7. ______for all life is the attitude held by Indigenous elders.

(APPLY; answer: respect; page 68)

Multiple Choice

8. When indigenous ways were threatened with repression, many of the traditions were practiced ______.

a. in temples

b. throughout the agricultural year

c. in secret

d. by colonists

(UNDERSTAND; answer: c; page 34)

9. Indigenous spirituality may be described as ______.

a. essentially closed

b. sharply distinguishing between the sacred and the secular

c. indescribable

d. a lifeway that ideally pervades all moments

(REMEMBER; answer: d; page 35)

10. The Dahomey tradition from West Africa was carried to Haiti by African slaves and called ______.

a. Diaspora

b. Vodou

c. Tsalagi

d. Ainu

(REMEMBER; answer: b; page 38)

11. A symbol for the unity of all things that many indigenous cultures use is that of the ______.

a) Arrow

b) Dove

c) Dream

d) Circle

(REMEMBER; answer: d; page 39)

12. Dreamtime refers to the Australian aboriginal understanding of the ______.

a) time before time began

b) sleep practices of indigenous people

c) ordinary dreams people have

d) life after death

(UNDERSTAND; answer: a; page 39)

13. The Yup’ik of southwestern Alaska know animals as ______.

a) an excellent source of protein

b) more in touch with nature

c) incarnations of the gods

d) thinking, feeling fellow beings

(UNDERSTAND; answer: d; page 45)

14. Drumming is spiritually important to the Yoruba because it ______.

a) makes great music

b) draws people close to unseen powers

c) interrupts the tedium of daily chores

d) keeps animals away from people as they pray

(UNDERSTAND; answer: b; page 48)

15. Among shamans, medicine power is considered spiritually ______.

a) neutral

b) evil

c) good

d) ineffectual

(UNDERSTAND; answer: a; page 51)

True/False

16. Despite their geographical diversity, indigenous religions all operate within the same social context.

(ANALYZE; answer: false; page 33)

17. Indigenous peoples comprise at least 17% of the world’s population.

(REMEMBER; answer: false; page 33)

18. In most native cultures, spiritual lifeways are shared through written documents.

(REMEMBER; answer: false; page 36)

19. Among many indigenous religious, the cosmos is thought to contain and be affected by numerous divinities, spirits, and also ancestors.

(REMEMBER; answer: true; page 40)

20. Among peoples who perceive kinship with all creation, a striking feature of the natural environment – such as a great mountain – may be perceived as the center from which the whole world was created.

(UNDERSTAND; answer: true; page 43)

21. Native peoples consider themselves caretakers of their mother, the earth.

(REMEMBER; answer: true; page 44)

22. A common theme in indigenous lifeways is developing an appropriate relationship with spiritual energy.

(REMEMBER; answer: true; page 46)

23. Shamans focus only on healing physical illness.

(UNDERSTAND; answer: false; page 51)

24. Globalization has helped indigenous sacred ways to grow and thrive.

(UNDERSTAND; answer: false; page 60)

25. Indigenous religious practices are often interwoven with the practices of a global religion.

(UNDERSTAND; answer: true; page 61)

26. Indigenous sensitivities are playing an important role in environmental preservation.

(UNDERSTAND; answer: true; page 64)

27. Indigenous sacred ways are not static but change with time.

(ANALYZE; answer: true; page 67)

Essay

28. In many indigenous cultures, women are treated differently during their menstrual periods. Why is this the case? Please give examples of how women’s menstrual blood is variously regarded and what this indicates about the cultures’ perceptions of women’s spiritual power or lack thereof.

(ANALYZE; answer: the answer should include discussion of menstrual rituals, women’s seclusion during menstruation, and even celebration of menstrual blood. Students should write creatively about what the varying practices signify concerning indigenous attitudes toward women; page 47)

29. Compare any two indigenous cultures discussed in this chapter. What do they share in common? How are they different? Is it possible, based on these two examples, to develop a general description of indigenous lifeways?

(ANALYZE; answer: students may draw examples from throughout the chapter, illustrating all salient points of similarity and difference. Students may also be invited to do additional research on their case studies; pages 33-68)

30. Illustrate the effects of globalization on indigenous people, citing concrete examples drawn from the chapter. How might these effects be mitigated today by more sensitive and self-critical approaches of western scholars, business people, etc. on native populations?

(APPLY; answer: student should include discussion of effects such as population depletion of indigenous peoples; environmental effects; suppression and loss of native stories; usurpation of natural resources; etc. Students should further demonstrate creative correctives to the problems they surface; page 60-68)

31. As indigenous peoples mingle with industrialized nations in an increasingly globalized world, indigenous elders seek to convert others to a respect for life rather than to convert to their religious traditions. What strategies might they use to maintain and share their values with people from very different contexts?

(APPLY; answer: students should express creative and constructive thinking as they imagine strategies for preserving and sharing the values of indigenous peoples; page 68)

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