Indigenous Religious Traditions in Five Minutes - Molly Bassett
5. Are Indigenous religions only those practiced by Indigenous people?
Indigenous Religious Traditions in Five Minutes - Molly Bassett
Angela Puca [+]
Leeds Trinity University
Dr. Angela Puca is currently lecturing at Leeds Trinity University and holds a PhD on Indigenous and Transcultural Shamanism in Italy, awarded by the University of Leeds. Her research interests include magic, shamanism and the concept of indigeneity, witchcraft, Paganism, and esotericism. In addition, she hosts a YouTube channel called ‘Angela’s Symposium’ to divulge the academic study of such topics to a wider audience.
Description
This essay will explore the matter of whether a religion, to be deemed indigenous, needs to necessarily be practised by indigenous people. I will argue that this is not necessarily the case as indigenous people is a political category while indigenous religion is a religious studies concept. By disentangling the two, we will acquire a more nuanced understanding of both.