3 December 2020 Charles Eastman That is, we believed, the supreme duty of the parent, who only was permitted to claim in some degree the priestly office and function, since it is his creative and protecting power which alone approaches the solemn function of Deity.
3 December 2020 Charles Eastman There was no religious ceremony connected with marriage among us, while on the other hand the relation between man and woman was regarded as in itself mysterious and holy.
3 December 2020 Charles Eastman The American Indian was an individualist in religion as in war. He had neither a national army nor an organized church.
3 December 2020 Charles Eastman The clan is nothing more than a larger family, with its patriarchal chief as the natural head, and the union of several clans by intermarriage and voluntary connection constitutes the tribe.
3 December 2020 Charles Eastman In every religion there is an element of the supernatural, varying with the influence of pure reason over its devotees.
3 December 2020 Charles Eastman More than this, even in those white men who professed religion we found much inconsistency of conduct. They spoke much of spiritual things, while seeking only the material.
3 December 2020 Charles Eastman The religion of the Indian is the last thing about him that the man of another race will ever understand.
