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PaleHawkWoman -> RE: Can Drums Be a worship instrument (2/16/2008 9:11:32 PM)
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Native American believers have been told not to bring our drums into churches, that our music is pagan, etc... by the same people who think bagpipes(which DO have pagan origins) are just peachy-keen when played in church. Our people have drummed on the floor of the Israeli Knesset and for the Chief Rabbi, the Israeli President and Prime Minister, and we were honored to do so, and the Israelis honored us for doing so. Native believers have drummed and witnessed for Christ powerfully in Great Britian, Sweden, Germany, Pakistan(yes, Pakistan!), Ireland, Peru and Brazil, Mexico, Norway, China, Mongolia, and Tibet, all places which are traditionally hard ground for the Gospel. If God honored us in these places, why then aren't our drums allowed to come into churches here?
Nearly all Native American tribes are and always have been monotheistic. 2000 yrs ago when my father's Scottish, Irish, and Welsh ancestors were out-right pagans who worshipped many gods and engaged in human sacrifice and ritualistic cannibalism, and sexual perversion in the guise of fertility rites, my Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, and Meherrin ancestors all worshipped 1 God- the Creator, the Maker of Life, The Provider, The Almighty, The Heaven Chief, The Sacred Fire... many names but still 1 God.
Some people think pow-wows are just social or exhibition, but our dances are all prayers. To us the drum represents the heartbeat of the Creator, and when we dance, every step and move is both prayer and praise. The Oglala chief Red Cloud once told someone, "When we dance we pray. If you remember that every step is a prayer, you will always walk in a sacred manner." That pretty much sums it up.
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