Spirit Guides and the Spirit Ceremony - Plateau Native Americans in Olden Times for Kids

For Kids

A very important ceremony was the spirit ceremony. The people of the Plateau believed everyone had a spirit guide. Your spirit guide was your special guide to health, safety, success, and happiness. But spirit guides did not simply show up one day. Kids had to find them, in a sense. They had to have a vision, where they actually saw their spirit guide. Guides usually appeared in the form of an animal, or the ghost of an animal.

Around age 9, kids began the process of finding their individual spirit guide. Kids seeking a vision would talk to the tribal medicine man, the Shaman. Some tribes had the Shaman give them something special to drink. Some tribes dunked the kids in icy cold water. Some believed a steam bath would help them have a vision. Some kids were sent into the mountains to spend a day or two without food or water in the hopes that a vision would come to them. The technique varied, but the goal was the same for most of the tribes on the Plateau � to find your spirit guide.

The belief in spirit guides was very strong. Sooner or later, everyone saw their spirit guide. It gave the people of the Plateau great comfort and courage to know a magical being was on their side, looking out for them personally.

In the culture of the people of the Plateau, everyone had a job � spirit guides were no exception. Their job was to care for and caution when needed their person to keep them safe from harm. Spirit guides were not with you every moment of every day. They were guides. You could ignore their advice and direction, just as you could ignore the direction of a hunt leader � but it might get you killed if you did.

Religion and the Shaman

More Plateau People Ceremonies

Return to the People of the Plateau for Kids (main index)

Native American Games & Activities

Native American Stories, Myths and Legends

Native Americans for Kids

Native Americans in US, Canada, and the Far North

Early people of North America (during the ice age 40,000 years ago)

Northeast Woodland Tribes and Nations - The Northeast Woodlands include all five great lakes as well as the Finger Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River. Come explore the 3 sisters, longhouses, village life, the League of Nations, sacred trees, snowsnake games, wampum, the arrowmaker, dream catchers, night messages, the game of sep and more. Special Sections: Iroquois Nation, Ojibwa/Chippewa, The Lenape Indians. Read two myths: Wise Owl and The Invisible Warrior.

Southeast Woodland Tribes and Nations - The Indians of the Southeast were considered members of the Woodland Indians. The people believed in many deities, and prayed in song and dance for guidance. Explore the darkening land, battle techniques, clans and marriage, law and order, and more. Travel the Trail of Tears. Meet the Muscogee (Creek), Chickasaw, Choctaw, Mississippians, Seminole Indians and Cherokee Indians.

Plains Indians - What was life like in what is now the Great Plains region of the United States? Some tribes wandered the plains in search of foods. Others settled down and grew crops. They spoke different languages. Why was the buffalo so important? What different did horses make? What was coup counting? Who was Clever Coyote? Meet the Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Comanche, Pawnee, and Sioux Nation.

Southwest Indians - Pueblo is not the name of a tribe. It is a Spanish word for village. The Pueblo People are the decedents of the Anasazi People. The Navajo and the Apache arrived in the southwest in the 1300s. They both raided the peaceful Pueblo tribes for food and other goods. Who were the Devil Dancers? Why are blue stones important? What is a wickiup? Who was Child of Water?

Pacific Coastal Northwest Indians - What made some of the Pacific Northwest Indian tribes "rich" in ancient times? Why were woven mats so important? How did totem poles get started? What was life like in the longhouse? What were money blankets and coppers? How did the fur trade work? How did Raven Steal Crow's Potlatch?

Inland Plateau People - About 10,000 years ago, different tribes of Indians settled in the Northwest Inland Plateau region of the United States and Canada, located between two huge mountain ranges - the Rockies and the Cascades. The Plateau stretches from BC British Columbia all the way down to nearly Texas. Each village was independent, and each had a democratic system of government. They were deeply religious and believed spirits could be found everything - in both living and non-living things. Meet the Nez Perce

California Indians - The Far West was a land of great diversity. Death Valley and Mount Whitney are the highest and lowest points in the United States. They are within sight of each other. Tribes living in what would become California were as different as their landscape.

Native Americans of the Far North: What trick did the Kutchin people use to catch their enemies? How did these early people stop ghosts from entering their homes? Why was the shaman so powerful? What is a finger mask? Play games! See and hear an old Inuit myth! Enter the mystical world of the people who lived in the far north in olden times. Algonquian/Cree, Athapascan/Kutchin, Central Canada, Inuit, The Shaman

Myths & Symbol Stories

The Importance of Baskets

Many Types of Homes

Canoes & Horses

Pow-wow & Potlatch

Medicine Man & Religion

Dream Catchers

Totem Poles

Native Americans Art

Native American Holidays

Some Principal Tribes

Comparison Chart (Europeans & Indians)