To them, death is never natural or without cause. Whether a death is caused by a snakebite, illness or an accidental canoe flip in the river, there is always a spiritual rationale behind it. They believe that any kinds of misfortune, accident or death are the result of the interconnectedness of spirits (causer) and their related phenomenon. The religion of Animism puts much stress in the practice of symbolic customs. In situations where the same ceremony or rite is continually repeated many times, they discordantly consider everything purposeful no matter how cliche it is. Such practices act as sacred representations and symbols, which to the Indian community, carries deep meaning even in society. Such ceremonies and rites redounded into life-changing or otherwise problematic follow-ups. The religious tradition of the Indians plays a massive role in the lives of these brothers. It impacts the society, economy, aesthetics and virtually any and all system of beliefs they hold, including subtle activities and conceptions like soil tillage, hunting, fishing, treatment methods and preventive methods against diseases. Furthermore, they believe that the imperceptible outcome of their afterlife is primarily determined by the tangible "doings" of the everyday life of "today". A real image of the moral, political, technical and social outline of the Indian tribes can be expertly ascertained just by taking a glimpse at some of their disease diagnosis. Animism, for the most part, values and emphasizes the tangible world over the intangible and supernatural. The best phrase in defining the faith of Animism would be "living the abundant life"; some constituents include good health, treatment and protection from diseases, good future prospects, efficient hunting and fishing, good luck and safety. Animism even attempts to answer the uncertain, almost unanswerable questions of the universe, the collision between human beings and life-and-death. The supernatural, unseen world acts as a source of providence in empowering and providing human beings in what it needs to survive. For the most part, Indian tribes don't esteem ethics, in itself, to be of any value. However, ignoring sacred taboos and insulting or disrespecting the spirits, which may lead into problems, is considered to be of immense importance. The culture of the Indian tribes is substantially replete with Animistic influence. It is believed that everyone is impacted, whether positively or negatively, through religious taboos. Spirits, as they call it, are also believed to affect the whole life of the Indian brothers. Contrarily, it is assumed that the active working of the spirits of nature of the dead and invisible supernatural powers is impervious to the events of the natural world. The spirits are responsible for bringing in all the good fortunes to a village, as there is a unique working of a spirit in each and every affair. Any kind of religious ceremonies in pleasing the spirits is highly regarded. Such ceremonies, celebrations, commemorations or otherwise life's daily habits gear into religious faith, which they believe is divinely necessary. When referring back to the unseen spiritual realm of the Indians, there seems to be very peculiar notions of what the spirits present to the natural world. As a result of this spiritual disposition, when an Animist is converted into Christianity, they often times feel freer to express their own unique spirituality than we, who naturally believe in the absolute authority of the Bible. The Tiquie River, which is a basin of the Rio Negro River, inhabits the Indian tribe of Tuyuka. In recent years, a united Indian organization called FOIRN set up a school in the village of the Tuyuka Indians by presenting many traditional word-of-mouth stories. Within the book of 43 fables, 7 of the stories are about the divine spirits of the Amazon rainforest. It acquaints us in how the worshiping of deceased souls was integrated into the life of the Indians. As these Animistic Indian brothers accept the Gospel and confess their faith as Christians, they strive to participate in as many church events as possible, in pursuit of salvation. However, there are many cases in which they would return to their old ways of dealing with problems when faced with life-threatening diseases or snakebites, such as seeing a shaman for help. Consequently, such jumbled religious straits between Christianity and their traditional Animistic beliefs of spirits help explain why it is so critical that there be a re-indoctrination of the Gospel to 5 of the nominal "Christian" Indian Tribes of the Rio Negro River-Valleys. For instance, natural conventions like beseeching dead ancestors for help are one of the many inveterate exercises still being practiced by some of the Indian brothers in these tribes. Such practices derive from beliefs that their ancestral spirits are still in their midst, always accessible for help. It is empirical that the church amends such human establishments through re-teaching Biblical truths. If the Gospel isn't convincingly conveyed to the Indians and upholding relevance to the concerns of their daily lives properly in a way where topics like salvation and sin aren't conveyed explicitly, it will transpire into a rather more advantageous religion of its own-the continuation of mystical precepts. The final result will be a total shattering of the essence of the Gospel. In order for the delusion of the Gospel to cease by their misconception of Biblical truths, the Gospel must be re-told to the Indians, upholding its relevance to their daily life and sharpening their knowledge of crucial Biblical topics like salvation and sin. When we fail to do this, then Christianity to the Indian tribes will transpire into a rather more advantageous and desirable man-made religion of its own, encouraging further dependence and the continuation of mystical/magical precepts. |