Re: Norse Paganism in america By: Lark Moderator / Adept
Post # 2 Mar 01, 2013
No, I don't believe they did. The First Nations people had many different religions with totally differing pantheons. But none of those Deities seem to be the same as the Norse Deities.
The only place I might have expected a possible cross-over would have been around the short-lived Viking settlements in Vinland. But since the Vikings and the First Nations peoples there were very much at odds with each other I doubt that the First Nations people would have wanted to assimilate foreign Gods into their belief structure.
But perhaps Personified can give you a more definitive answer.
The settlers of Vinland did indeed believe in the gods of the North. And it is true that they traded and lived among Native Americans. But the people of North America did not adopt many of the beliefs of the Norse settlers. Their gods and practices are very different. But the Natives did adopt and adapt the idea of landvaettir. Native Americans always honored the spirits of nature, but their practices and honorings started to become very similar to Northern European practices, though they never adopted new gods.
I don't believe they did, if you look at it from a historical point of view and consider how old Norse Paganism is and when the "New World" was first discovered. During that time, there were trading ports, but in that time, a mass genocide of Native American occurred due to chicken pox, since they were never exposed to the virus. Only a short percentage of the race survived. There were racial hostilities, so people preferred to stick to their own beliefs, even if they showed a curious nature. It took centuries for America to become a sovereign nation. Even if they did, it would be a certainly be a rarity in the truest sense of the word. Though in modern times, people are more open and willing to adopt various practices, such as myself. Some the Native Americans of today, or what's left of them through their descendants may worship Norse gods and gods of other traditions, paths, or religions.
The major small pox break outs were later on with the English settlers. The Vinland colony was much more peaceful with the Native Americans of the North. Also the practice of honoring the land spirits is closely related with that of landvaettir. But we can't really know for sure or not if that practice was altered by the presense of Vinlanders.
