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North American Indian religions


Religious beliefs and practices of the indigenous peoples of North America. They are characterized by a conviction that spirit moves through all things, animate and inanimate, and that the living are intimately connected with the souls of the dead. They discover recognizable beings in the natural world of animals, plants, and trees, as well as in natural features such as mountains, lakes, and clouds. Because North American religions were so highly localized, it is impossible to determine how many have existed, and their beliefs have varied widely. Whereas Iroquois elders speak of a perfectly wise and good Creator who planned the universe, the Koyukon envision the creator as Raven, a trickster god who is only one of many powerful spirits. Whereas nearly all Navajo ceremonies are performed on behalf of individuals in response to specific needs, most Pueblo ceremonies are performed communally and scheduled according to the cycles of nature. However, all native North American religions share certain features: ancestral lands and locally sacred spots are important; access to some knowledge is restricted, and initiation is required to acquire it; kinship obligations are central; the oral tradition includes narratives that record human interaction with nonhuman powers; and generosity is a religious act. Contact with Europeans led to development of new religious movements, including the Ghost Dance tradition and the Native American Church. See also Mesoamerican religions.

For more information on North American Indian religions, visit Britannica.com.

 
 
Wikipedia: Indian American
For American Indians, see Native Americans in the United States or Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Indian American
Total population

2,319,222[1]
0.8% of the U.S. population
Regions with significant populations
Northeast, California, Illinois, Texas
Language(s)
American English, Indian languages
Religion(s)
Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism

Indian Americans are citizens of the United States who claim ancestry originating in India. The U.S. Census Bureau popularized the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with "American Indian".

In North America the term Indian has an ambiguous meaning. Historically, Indian was commonly used to indicate Native American. If a more specific term was needed to differentiate; American Indian and East Indian were commonly used. American Indian has fallen out of favor and Native American is more commonly used to refer to the Indigenous peoples of North America. East Indian is still in common use. Currently South Asian is often used instead of East Indian. While some consider it derogatory, South Asians, pre-dominantly South Asian Americans, use the term Desi to refer to the diasporic subculture of overseas South Asians.

A number of Indian Americans, also known as Indo-Americans, came to the U.S. via Indian communities in other countries such as Fiji, Kenya, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, Trinidad & Tobago, South Africa, Canada, Guyana and Mauritius. Indian Americans are mostly Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and Christian and are among the most highly educated American demographics.[2] Unlike other Americans from Asia, they live spread out in the United States.

Population

Numbers

According to the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau, the Asian Indian population in the United States grew from almost 1,678,000 in 2000 to 2,319,000 in 2005: a growth rate of 38%, the highest for any Asian American community, and among the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States after Hispanic Americans. Indian Americans are the third largest Asian American ethnic group, after Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans. [3] [4] [5]

Settlement

The U.S. states with the largest Indian American populations, in order, are California, New York, New Jersey, Texas, and Illinois.[6] There are also large Indian American populations in Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan, Georgia and Virginia as well. The metropolitan areas with the largest Indian American populations are New York City, San Francisco/San Jose/Oakland, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington/Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, Houston,Atlanta, and Dallas. .[7]. The town of Edison, New Jersey (total population 100,499) is 17.5% Indian American -- the highest percentage of any municipality in the United States. [8] In contrast with East Asian Americans, who tend to be concentrated in California and other areas near the Pacific coast, Indian Americans are more evenly distributed throughout the United States.[9]

Socioeconomic

Education

Indian Americans have the highest educational qualifications of all national origin groups in the United States. According to the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, there are close to 41,000 Indian American doctors. According to the 2000 census, about 64% of Indian Americans have attained a Bachelor's degree or more.[2](compared to 28% nationally). Almost 40% of all Indians have a master’s, doctorate or other professional degree, which is five times the national average. (Source: The Indian American Centre for Political Awareness.) These high levels of education have enabled Indian Americans to become a productive segment of the American population, with 72.3% participating in the U.S. work force, of which 57.7% are employed in managerial and professional specialties.[10]

Economics

According to the 2000 U.S. Census Indian Americans have the highest median income of any national origin group in the United States and Merrill Lynch recently revealed that there are nearly 200,000 Indian American millionaires.This phenomenon has been linked to the "brain drain" of the Indian intelligentsia from India (source: Journal of Political Economy - University of Chicago Press).Recently, however, there has been a drop in immigration of Indians from India to the United States. This is generally attributed to the improving economy of the country. A large group of Indian Americans are presently second or third generation.

Indian Americans own 50% of all economy lodges and 35% of all hotels in the United States, which have a combined market value of almost $40 billion. (Source: Little India Magazine). A University of California, Berkeley, study reported that one-third of the engineers in Silicon Valley are of Indian descent, while 7% of valley high-tech firms are led by Indian CEOs. (Source: Silicon India Readership Survey) In 2002, there were over 223,000 Asian Indian-owned firms in the U.S., employing more than 610,000 workers, and generating more than $88 billion in revenue.[11]

Culture

Food

Indian Americans have brought Indian cuisine to the United States, and it has become established as a popular cuisine in the country, with hundreds of Indian restaurants and eateries nationwide. There are many Indian markets and stores in United States. Some of biggest Indian markets are in Silicon Valley, Chicago, New York City, the Philadelphia metropolitan area, and Edison, New Jersey. Areas with a significant Indian market presence also include Devon Avenue neighborhood/market in Chicago and Pioneer Blvd. in the Los Angeles region. Other predominantly Indian neighborhoods are Journal Square in Jersey City, New Jersey, Jackson Heights in Queens, New York, Hilcroft Avenue in Houston, Texas and the SE Maynard Road/Chatham Square area in Cary, North Carolina.

Entertainment

There are Hindi radio stations in areas with high Indian populations, including Radio Humsafar, Desi Junction in Chicago, Radio Salaam Namaste, FunAsia Radio. There are also Tamil radio stations in the United States.[12]

Several cable and satellite providers offer Indian channels: Asianet, Sun TV, Star TV, TV Asia, Zee TV, Sony TV, NDTV and Gemini. Others have offered Indian content for subscription, such as the Cricket World Cup.

Many metropolitan areas with high Indian-American populations now have movie theatres specialized for showing Indian movies (primarily Hindi/Bollywood and in the languages of Tamil and Telugu. Silicon Valley, for example has two such multiplexes: one in Fremont and one in San Jose).

The Dallas - Ft.Worth Metroplex has a "Desi" Multiplex called Amar Akbar Anthony in the Richardson township. The area also has a movie theatre that plays Indian movies, FunAsia. In 2006, the first 24 x 7 Desi F.M. station in North America was launched, Radio Salaam Namaste 104.9 FM, in the Dallas area. A similar multiplex, featuring Indian film exclusively on two screens (and other international films on four additional screens) opened in 2002 in Cary, N.C.. FunAsia owns all desi multiplexes in the state of Texas including two(six and five screens) in Houston. (www.funasia.net)

In July 2005, MTV premiered a spin-off network called MTV Desi which targets Indian Americans.[13]


Religions

Communities of Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Sikhs, Jains, Muslims, and Christians from India have established their religions in the country. As of 2000, the American Hindu population was around a million, and Hindus are the majority of Indian Americans[14][15] There are many Hindu temples across the United States. ISKCON, Swaminarayan Sampraday, BAPS Sanstha, Chinmaya Mission, and Swadhyay Pariwar are well-established in the U.S.

There are many Indian Christian churches across the US; Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Knanaya catholic, Indian Orthodox Church, Mar Thoma Church (reformed orthodox), Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church, Knanaya eastern orthodox, Church of South India, The Pentecostal Mission,India Pentecostal Church of God, and there are also a number of Indian Christians in mainstream American churches [3]. Among Indian Muslims the prominent organizations include the Indian Muslim Council - USA.[16] A large percentage of American Muslims are of Indian origin. Most Indian Muslims, however, are affiliated with larger mainstream Muslim population of the US[citation needed]. The large Parsi community is represented by the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America.[17]

Swami Vivekananda brought Hinduism to the West at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions.[18]. The Vedanta Society has been important in subsequent Parliaments. Today, Hinduism is among the fastest-growing religions in the United States [citation needed] and many Hindu temples, most of them built by Indian Americans have emerged in different cities and towns of America.[19][20] Hindu philosophy and spirituality has greatly influenced American life. [citation needed] More than 18 million Americans are now practicing some form of Yoga.[21] In particular, Kriya Yoga was introduced to America by Paramahansa Yogananda. In addition, A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada initiated a popular ISKCON also known as Hare Krishna movement while preaching Bhakti yoga. Rajan Zed, Hindu chaplain, delivered the first Hindu prayer in United States Senate in 2007.

Ethnicity

Like the terms "Asian American" or "South Asian American", the term "Indian American" is also an umbrella label applying to a variety of views, values, lifestyles, and appearances. Although Asian-Indian Americans retain a high ethnic identity, they are known to assimilate into American culture while at the same time keeping the culture of their ancestors. [22] They may assimilate more easily than many other immigrant groups because they have fewer language barriers (English is widely spoken in India among professional classes), more educational credentials (Indian immigrants are disproportionately well-educated), and come from a similarly diverse, tolerant, and democratic society.

The United States is also home to associations of Indians united by ethno-linguistic affiliation. The big organizations include Cultural Association of Bengal and their annually sponsored event the North American Bengali Conference, Telugu Association of North America (TANA), American Telugu Association, the Orissa Society of the Americas, Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America, Gujarati Samaj, Brihan Maharashtra Mandal(BMM), which is holding its 13th biennial convention at Seattle, Washington this year; Kaveri Kannada Sangha and Kannada Koota, Prabashi, Federation of Kerala Associations of North America(FOKANA) and different local Malayalee samajams. These associations generally put on cultural programs, plays, and concerts during the major Hindu festivals (Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Pongal, Baisakh) and other religious (i.e. Christian) and cultural events(Christmas, Onam, Vishu, New Years).

History and immigration

For main article see Indian American history

Timeline

  • 1790 The first known Indian immigrant entered the United States as a maritime worker.
  • 1917 The Barred Zone Act passes in Congress through two-thirds majority, overriding President Woodrow Wilson's earlier veto. Asians, including Indians, are barred from immigrating to the U.S.
  • 1923 The US Supreme Court rules that people from India (at the time, British India, e.g. South Asians) are aliens ineligible for citizenship in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind. Bhagat Singh Thind becomes a citizen a few years later in New York--he had earlier applied and been rejected in Oregon.[23]
  • 1928 Dhan Gopal Mukerji wins the Newbery Medal, and thus becomes the first successful India-born man of letters in the United States.
  • 1943 Republican Clara Booth Luce and Democrat Emanuel Celler introduce a bill to open naturalization to Indian immigrants to the US. Prominent Americans Pearl Buck, Louis Fischer, Albert Einstein and Robert Millikan give their endorsement to the bill. President Franklin Roosevelt also endorses the bill, calling for an end to the "statutory discrimination against the Indians".
  • 1946 President Harry Truman signs into law the Luce-Celler Act of 1946, returning to Indian Americans the right to immigrate and naturalize.
  • 1956 Dalip Singh Saund elected to the US House of Representatives from California. He was re-elected to a 2nd and 3rd term, winning over 60% of the votes. He is also the first Asian immigrant to be elected to Congress.
  • 1965 President Lyndon Johnson signs the INS Act of 1965 into law, eliminating per-country immigration quotas and introducing immigration on the basis of professional experience and education.
  • 2005 US Congress passes House Resolution 227 honoring Indian Americans.
  • 2007 Rajan Zed, Hindu chaplain, recited the first Hindu opening prayer in United States Senate in Washington DC.

Classification

Main article: Racial classification of Indian Americans

According to the current parameters defining the official U.S. racial categories employed by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Management and Budget and other U.S. government agencies, American citizens or resident aliens with origins in any of the peoples of modern-day India are classified as Asian American. As with other modern official U.S. government racial categories, the term "Asian American" is in itself a broad and heterogenous classification, encompassesing all peoples with origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. For further discussion on the term Asian American, please see that article.

In previous decades, Indian Americans were also variously classified as White American, the "Hindu race", and Other.[24] Even today, where individual Indian Americans do not racially self-identify, and instead report Muslim (or a sect of Islam such as Shi'ite or Sunni), Jewish, and Zoroastrian as their "race" in the "Some other race" section without noting their country of origin, they are automatically tallied as white.[25] This may result in the counting of persons such as Indian Muslims, Indian Jews, and Indian Zoroastrians as white, if they solely report their religious heritage without their national origin.

Current social issues

Discrimination

Explicit discrimination is not unknown in the Indian American community. In the 1980s, a group known as the Dot Busters tried to intimidate Indian Americans in New Jersey, but the range and impact of the group's activities were limited. Since September 11, there have been scattered incidents of Indian Americans having been mistaken targets for hate crimes. In one example, a Sikh, Balbir Singh Sodhi, was murdered at a Phoenix gas station by a white supremacist. This happened after September 11, and the murderer claims that his his turban made him think he was an Middle Eastern American terrorist. In another example, a pizza delivery person was robbed and beaten in Massachusetts for "being Muslim" though he pleaded that he was in fact Hindu.[26]

On April 5, 2006, the Hindu Mandir of Minnesota was vandalised on the basis of religious discrimination[citation needed]. The vandalisers damaged much of the temple property, including many statues that were specially transported from India. This caused $200,000 worth of damage.[27][28][29][30]

Immigration

Indians are among the largest ethnic groups migrating to the USA legally. Immigration of Indian Americans has taken place in many waves since the first Indian American came to the United States in the 1700s. A major wave of immigration to California from the soon-to-be Indian state of Punjab and the surrounding region took place in the first decade of the 20th century. Another significant wave followed in the 1950s, mainly students and professionals, including engineers. With the elimination of immigration quotas in 1965, even more Indians came to the US, followed by another wave in the late 1970s and early 1980s. With the technology boom of the 1990s, the largest influx of Indians arrived between 1995 and 2000.

Media

Main article: List of Indian American media
Main article: List of Indian Americans


Politics

Several groups have tried to create a unified or dominant voice for the Indian American community in political affairs, including US India PAC.[31] Additionally, there are also industry-wide Indian American groupings including the Asian American Hotel Owners Association and the Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin. Despite being heavily religious and having the highest average household income among all ancestry groups in the United States, Indian Americans tend to be more liberal and tend to vote overwhelmingly for Democrats. Polls before the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election showed Indian Americans favoring Democratic candidate John Kerry favored over Republican George W. Bush by a 53% to 14% margin (nearly a 4 to 1 ratio), with 30% undecided at the time.[32] The Republican party has tried to target this community,[33] and several prominent conservative activists are of Indian origin.

Indian American voters have shown support for both the Democratic and Republican parties and have had political candidates of both parties. A list of notable Indian American politicians and commentators can be found here.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ ["http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IPTable?_bm=y&-reg=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201:013;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201PR:013;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201T:013;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201TPR:013&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201PR&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201T&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201TPR&-ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-TABLE_NAMEX=&-ci_type=A&-redoLog=false&-charIterations=047&-geo_id=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en" ?].
  2. ^ http://www.asian-nation.org/demographics.shtml
  3. ^ US demographic census. Retrieved on 2006-12-16.
  4. ^ US demographic census. Retrieved on 2006-11-19.
  5. ^ US demographic census. Retrieved on 2006-11-19.
  6. ^ http://www.indianembassy.org/ind_us/census_2000/ia_population_map_2001.pdf
  7. ^ http://www.indnet.org/census/metropop.htm
  8. ^ Asian Indian Communities, Epodunk. Accessed June 28, 2006.
  9. ^ http://www.iacfpa.org/press/iacpa_census.pdf
  10. ^ http://www.indianembassy.org/indusrel/clinton_india/india_americans.html
  11. ^ http://www.census.gov/csd/sbo/asianindiansummaryoffindings.htm
  12. ^ http://www.thendral.com/AboutThendral.shtml
  13. ^ http://www.mtvdesi.com/
  14. ^ http://www.adherents.com/adh_dem.html
  15. ^ http://www.teachingaboutreligion.org/Backdrop&Context/hinduism.htm
  16. ^ http://www.imc-usa.org/cgi-bin/cfm/index.cfm
  17. ^ [http://www.fezana.org/
  18. ^ http://www.tpub.com/content/religion/14229/css/14229_116.htm
  19. ^ http://www.councilofhindutemples.org/index.html
  20. ^ http://www.hindutemples.us/
  21. ^ http://www.sulekha.com/blogs/blogdisplay.aspx?cid=38445
  22. ^ Mogelonsky, "Asian-Indian Americans," pp. 32-38
  23. ^ http://www.pbs.org/rootsinthesand/i_bhagat1.html
  24. ^ Assissi, Frank. Desparades. Are Desis White? 2006. <http://www.despardes.com/articles/feb06/20060212-are-desis-white.asp>.
  25. ^ Surveilance Epidemology and End Results. Race and Nationality Descriptions from the 2000 US Census and Bureau of Vital Statistics. 2007. May 21, 2007. [1]
  26. ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/11/25/national/main530749.shtml
  27. ^ http://www.hindumandirmn.org/vandal/innews.html
  28. ^ http://wcco.com/local/local_story_103095026.html
  29. ^ http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=123097
  30. ^ http://www.indianexpress.com/iep/sunday/story/2081.html
  31. ^ http://www.usinpac.com
  32. ^ http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FI16Aa01.html
  33. ^ http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=express&s=kurlantzick052604

Further reading

1970s America - An Indian Student's Journey http://www.nariphaltan.org/usexp.pdf

External links

Associations

Articles

News

Asian Americans
East Asian Chinese · Japanese · Korean · Mongolian · Taiwanese Flag of the United States
South Asian Afghan  · Bangladeshi · Indian · Indo-Caribbean · Nepalese · Pakistani · Sri Lankan
Southeast Asian Burmese · Cambodian · Filipino · Hmong · Indonesian · Laotian · Mien · Thai · Vietnamese
Other Asian Latino · Tibetan · Eurasian · Amerasian
Non-resident Indians and People of Indian Origin
Africa Botswana · Mauritius · Réunion · South Africa · Seychelles
Asia Burma (Myanmar Indian Muslims) · Philippines · Hong Kong · Indonesia · Malaysia (Chitty) · Singapore
Americas Canada (Tamil Canadians) · Guyana · Suriname · Trinidad and Tobago · United States
Europe Germany · Netherlands · United Kingdom
Oceania New Zealand · Fiji
See also Anglo-Indian · Desi · Non-Resident Indian Award · Non-Resident Indian Day · Tamil diaspora

rmy:ABCD


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