Religious Life at Greenville

I. Tenskwatawa and Religious Practice--At the time Tenskwatawa was developing his following, the United States in general was in the throes of a religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. This religious revival was particularly prevalent on the frontier, as we will see below

A. The Doctrine of the Great Spirit--Tenskwatawa commanded that Native Americans give up many of their spiritual practices and follow the doctrine that was given to him by the Great Spirit.

1. Call to give up sacred bundles--Most Shawnee men (and other Native American men, as well), made up bundles that were revealed to them by their guiding spirits, which acted to bring them good fortune while hunting or at war. These bundles, they believed, were also valuable sources for witchcraft.

a. Natives believed, it should be noted, that witchcraft could be used for both good and evil--most believed that the power itself was not evil, but could become so if the person using this power abused it. Tenskwatawa preached that witchcraft was itself evil, and had to be given up.

b. The controversy over the sacred bundles was probably the least successful aspect of Tenskwatawa's preaching. Warriors were reluctant to give up these bundles, because they believed these bundles protected them on the battlefield, and brought them good fortune on the hunt.

2. Call to worship only the Great Spirit--this was another break with Native American tradition--although by the time Tenskwatawa begins advocating this, most Native Americans would have been familiar with the doctrine to worship only one god through their exposure to Christianity. Tenskwatawa also preached that the Great Spirit created all of the people of the earth (that he knew of, anyway)--and that the black people, the red people, and the white people had all been given land upon which to subsist. The white people, who Tenskwatawa also preached were the spawn of the Great Serpent, were attempting to expropriate lands that belonged to both Africans and Native Americans.

a. This is yet another break with traditional religious practice. Before the rise of prophets like Tenskwatawa, Native Americans did not really worship their supreme being. They acknowledged the role such an entity played in creating life on earth, but after that happened stories about these beings largely disappeared. This seems to be another instance when Tenskwatawa is appropriating certain tenets of Christianity for his own purposes.

b. As opposed to the demand that warriors give up their magic bundles, this tenet of Tenskwatawa's religion was exceedingly popular. Like several of the prophets who came before him, explaining that the Great Spirit in fact created all the peoples of the earth, and chose to create the Shawnee first--in Tenskwatawa's perception of the world. Whites, as I mentioned above, were thought to be from the spawn of the serpent, and therefore evil.

3. Monogamous Marital Practices--in many Native American society, a man could have multiple wive at the same time. Dissolution of the marriage was also very simple and straight forward--to end their marriage, they simply stopped living together as husband and wife. Tenskwatawa preached that natives were suppose to give up this traditional practice, and take up the marital practices of the whites, instead.

B. Creating Sacred Space--Tenskwatawa's village near Greenville to on a new role--it was a sacred place for many Native peoples, much like Vatican City serves as the space that the Roman Catholic look on as the home of their religious leader on earth, the pope. In fact, Tenskwatawa's village consisted almost entirely of sacred ground; various native groups who migrated to Greenville to listen to Tenskwatawa speak actually lived in their own temporary village nearby, where they erected temporary shelters (much like Native groups did at places like the Glaize).

1. The Longhouse Church--the main area for worship was a large structure that witnesses said was at least 150 feet long. Each evening, the Prophet appeared in this structure, and preached to the gathered masses. Although not physically imposing, or attractive, when Tenskwatawa spoke on these occasions, witnesses found him mesmerizing.