What god or goddesses do the Cherokee worship?

Answer 1

Supernatural and natural forces both played central roles in the original Tsalagi (Cherokee) belief system. The earth was suspended between an Upper World and a Lower World. maintaining a balance between these spheres was central to Cherokee religion. There was a belief in superior beings or spirits, many of whom were believed to resemble familiar animals, but others were human like. These were remembered in an elaborate system of spoken tribal mythology. Central to religious practices was an annual cycle of festivals linked to the seasons, harvest, hunting, and all facets of life. including interpreting dreams, foretelling the future, and attempting to ferret out evil spirits, curing the sick, finding lost objects, and averting or lessening natural disasters. Despite Euro American religious ministrations Traditional Cherokee religious beliefs are still alive among many Cherokee, including some of those who have converted to Christianity.

James Adair, who lived among the Cherokees during the 1700's was taught that the Cherokees worshiped Loak Ishto Hollo Aba. Loak is translated into exalted, holy, sacred, etc. Ishto Hollo means fire. And Aba meant father (this word was not applicable to one's own father, only to the Great Spirit). This being was said to live above the clouds, therefore being the Great Holy Father who lives in the Heavens.

Answer 2

The American Cherokee Indians worship the Supreme Being,Ye ho waah or Yo ho wah, which is very similar to the Hebrew name of God (Yahweh or Yahoveh).

The Cherokee Indians believe in one Supreme Being--the Creator-- and have surprising connections to Christianity.Ancient Cherokee Indians believed before 1750 that God was going to appear on Earth as a man and they called this person by five different Old Testament (Hebrew) names for Jesus.The Cherokees have three actual cities of refuge, they have the stories of the great flood, and many other Old Testament stories.They also adhere to the prohibitions found within the Ten Commandments.Cherokees keep one day without work for prayer.http://www.cherokeediscovery.com/religion.html

The answer to this question is not so simple. You must first ask which Cherokee and when. You must also ask when receiving an answer, who exactly is giving you the answer. Many Cherokee of today perceive the old teachings from a Christian perspective because they come from a line of Cherokee who were assimilated and influenced by Christian teachings. There are also many Cherokee who keep closer with the perceptions of the old path which came before Christian influence. From this line, you will find little to no resemblance with Christianity. From this tradition you will find that the Cherokee word for "god" is a verb and not a noun (hence the relation with the term "spirit" which is genderless and non-humanized), which would resemble more the Asian concept of the Tao rather than the Christian concept of a male, human-centric deity. You will also find many stories of deity-like beings such as Selu and Kanati, which resemble more of a Wiccan Goddess & God concept (poetic representation of masculine and feminine traits in nature). Just as there is no one religion for European-Americans of today and yesterday, there is no one religion for the Cherokee of now and before. So all writings on this subject should be taken in the role of pieces to a larger picture rather than as absolutes. Every "story" or "fact" or "history" needs to be taken with an eye to the fact that it is nearly impossible for people to write or recite or interpret information without bringing their own preconceived notions and beliefs to the telling. True objectivity is a very difficult thing to achieve. For anyone seeking answers to this question of what deities the Cherokee worship, I would say read many things, ask many questions of many Cherokee, and remember that when it comes to spirituality and religion, there is no one truth.

Answer 3

No, not really. The Cherokee belief system held that everything is a "spirit" or holds spiritual powers; there were lesser spirits and greater spirits but all were (for a lack of space for the concepts involved) equal.

Wizgirl Added: No the Cherokee are the only Indian in Oklahoma that did not worship spirits. Their legends and myths took the place of these acts.

Answer 4

Cherokee's did not believe in "God" (meaning the "God" of the bible) some converted after exposure to the religion. However many did not convert, or converted back, once they saw the hipocracy of the religion and its teaching; even today not many Cherokee are "Christians." Generally, within the Cherokee Religion, there was no single "God" or god type being. There are an aray of spirits, some greater than others, but all more or less on the same footing. Just like in life some people are stronger than others, the same holds true in the spirit world.

Answer 5

To the Cherokee (Ani-Ketuwah-Gi) people, there is but One God. Yes, the Cherokee religion is monotheistic and has been so long before Caucasians (yonegs) set foot on this continent

The Name is most often pronounced YO-HE-WE-AH. In sacred prayer it is spoke as "YO Hayyyyyyy (pause) WAY Ahhhhhhh."

And yes, there is an uncanny resemblence to the Hebrew proper name for God given to Moses at the burning bush, that being YHVH (with no vowels). To the Hebrew people, the Name (ha Shem) has become ineffable but Christians, being a little more irreverant, often take a crack it. Here are some of the variations: YAH-VEH, YAH-WEH, YE-HO-VAH, JE-HOV-AH.

Many Cherokee words closely resemble Hebrew and have similar definitions, such as Ketuwah or Ketoowah. Today, this is a separate sect within the Cherokee Nation but the word originated back east in the Qualla Boundary region of North Carolina. An ancient sacred mound existed there, and in the center of the mound burned an eternal flame. This place... this mound was and is called Ketuwah Mound.

The similar word in Hebrew is Ki-tu-vah. (Ashkenazi Jews pronounce it as Ki-tu-bah.) Ki-tu-vah denotes a writing of some sort, most often the writing of a legal contract or in a religious sense a covenant with God (Yoheweah) or another person. A Jewish marriage contract is called a Kitubah.

More than a few scholar historians and theologians have speculated over the past two centuries that because of their similarities to the Hebrews, the Cherokee may well be one of the lost tribes of Israel. There is no way to actually validate such a claim, short of a miraculous archeological discovery.

Long before the European invasion, the Cherokee people enjoyed a level of civilization more advanced than most other American tribes... except perhaps for the Azteca and Mayan. At the time of their forced expulsion from their farms and plantations of the southeastern U.S. states, many were wealthier than their white neighbors. That's why Andrew Jackson and other greedy, racist politicians felt the imperative to send those 'Injuns' packing west thereby creating what came to be known as The Trail of Tears.

The Cherokee, poor and heartbroken, settled in their new home: The Cherokee Nation of Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and were promised to never be disturbed again. As with all treaties between the U.S. government and Native Americans, the contract... the covenant was broken time and again.

Today in Cherokee Nation, there resides more whites than Indians. Their civilization never rebounded to the level it knew in the original Cherokee lands of Georgia, the Carolinas, Alabama and Tennessee.

What a sorrowful indictment this is of us whites... and our forefathers who declared it was our Manifest Destiny to rule all of North America, by persuasion, deceit or murder. Whatever worked.

Answer 6

Cherokee believed in the ancient beliefs of all the Indians. such as nature being a circle, infanticide and geronticide and many other Indian traditions.

Answer 7

Many people say they were and still are christian.

Answer 8

They believe in spirits.