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Social Science Native American Studies

Amerindian Rebirth

Reincarnation Belief Among North American Indians and Inuit

edited by Antonia Mills & Richard Slobodin

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Jul 1994
Category
Native American Studies, Reincarnation
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780802077035
    Publish Date
    Jul 1994
    List Price
    $41.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442670761
    Publish Date
    Jul 1994
    List Price
    $51.00

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Description

Until now few people have been aware of the prevalence of belief in some form of rebirth or reincarnation among North American native peoples. This collection of essays by anthropologists and one psychiatrist examines this concept among native American societies, from near the time of contact until the present day.

Amerindian Rebirth opens with a foreword by Gananath Obeyesekere that contrasts North American and Hindu/Buddhist/Jain beliefs. The introduction gives an overview, and the first chapter summarizes the context, distribution, and variety of recorded belief. All the papers chronicle some aspect of rebirth belief in a number of different cultures. Essays cover such topics as seventeenth-century Huron eschatology, Winnebago ideology, varying forms of Inuit belief, and concepts of rebirth found among subarctic natives and Northwest Coast peoples.

The closing chapters address the genesis and anthropological study of Amerindian reincarnation. In addition, the possibility of evidence for the actuality of rebirth is addressed. Amerindian Rebirth will further our understanding of concepts of self-identity, kinship, religion, cosmology, resiliency, and change among native North American peoples

About the authors

Antonia Mills is an associate professor in the First Nations Studies Program at the University of Northern British Columbia.

Antonia Mills' profile page

Richard Slobodin was Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, McMaster University.

Richard Slobodin's profile page