American natives are essentially pagans. They are polytheistic, finding it more compatible with their beliefs and their ancestral way of life. Polytheism is the belief that multiple Gods have ruled the earth since the beginning. Some cultures, perhaps even the early Athabaskans, gave these Gods names and identities. They worshiped and prayed to them for their good fortunes and asked for help in times of desperation and drought. The early natives of North America, like the Pagans of ancient times, have maintained the strong belief in polytheism. In fact they each in some form believe that “no one Deity can express the totality of the Divine” (Peters, 1990, p. 77). They not only believe that there are multiple Gods, each perhaps ruling one aspect of the earth, they also believe in pantheism, or the belief that the Gods are everywhere in nature and within their bodies. Different tribes have valued different aspects of such a way of organized belief; however, most do believe in somewhat similar things. For instance, dancing and praying to the Sun God is common. Unique rituals that they practice to bring in the good spirits and fight off the bad ones is also pretty common among the different tribes (Stutley, 2002, p. 2).
Pagans and Shamans share many similarities and have been popular examples among the natives of the subarctic region throughout history. It can be argued that the Shamanic belief system was developed from their way of life. It may have been an essential belief system for the survival of their people. Regardless of such theories, it is obvious that the Shamanic Inuit have a deep admiration and respect for their environment. Many natives believe that at the beginning humans and animals were the same and could morph back and