The Second American Religion

Centeotl - Aztec Corn God

The first American religion was the shamanic hunting magic brought from the north by the ice age hunters. The second American religion came up from the valley of Mexico to the south. This younger spiritual tradition was an agricultural religion based on the cultivation of maize. Unlike the the hunting and gathering band's reliance on one or two shaman to interpret the spirit world the agriculturalists developed priesthoods and cults. Theirs was a ceremonial religion based on the fertility of the land. These two forms of religious expression intermingled for centuries among the tribes that populated the North American continent. Remnants of both survive in numerous variations throughout Native North American spiritual traditions.

reference: Atlas of the North American Indian by Carl Waldman

Blue Corn Maiden (Pueblo) by Gilbert Atencio