Figure 1.--Virtually noting is known about the pre-Colombian relogions in the Amazonian Basin. With the arrival of the Spanish and Portuguese, the population retreated in to the interior and adopted hunter-gather life styles and animistic religion. These religioius beliefs contuinue to this day. Missionary groups are active. Here French missionary nuns work with indigenous people in Mato Grosso, Brazil during 1955.

Of course the three great empires were only part of American-Indian population. There were other civilizations as well as many people of varying levels of cultural development, other agricultural, semi-agricultural, and hunter-gather civilizations. We know most about North American tribes, many of which are well-studied. This included a range of tribes, some of which were agricultural, but none of which reached the level of civilization of the three great empires. The advent of the Europeans drove the North American Native Americans West and began a shift from agriculture to hunter gathering. A major factor here was the acquisition of horses which allowed them to hunt buffalo on the Great Planes. As far as we can tell they retained their religious beliefs. There was a substantial degree of cultural diffusion. The major crops were the three sisters (corn, beans, and squash). These are all crops developed in Meso-America and spread throughout the Americas, both North and South America. (This was not the case for the potato developed in the South American Andes.) These less civilized tribes varied tremendously. There were war-like and more peaceable tribes. These less civilized tribes, however, do not seem to have adopted the deities of the Meso-Americans and Andeans. Rather these less civilized tribes appeared to have adopted the basis animism prevalent among primitive people around the globe. And interestingly the more primitive tribes had less violent religious orientations.

Created: 2:58 PM 5/18/2021
Last updated: 2:58 PM 5/18/2021