Browse dictionary
Showing 1-20 of 21 results in 21 entries
1. guaca, n. View full entry 1604
...A general term for objects connected with the religious worship of the Incas, as idols, temples, grave-mounds, etc....
2. houngan, n. View full entry 1929
...A priest of the Voodoo cult....
3. kachina, n. View full entry 1888
...In North American Pueblo Indian mythology, one of the deified ancestral spirits which periodically visit the pueblos, to bring rain, etc....
4. ˈkantikoy | canticoy | kintecoy, n. View full entry 1670
...A dance practised by some of the American Indians on various occasions; a dancing-match. Also transf....
5. kiva, n. View full entry 1871
...A chamber, built wholly or partly underground, used by the male Pueblo Indians for religious rites, etc.; estufa Also attrib. and transf....
6. manitou, n. View full entry 1671
...Among some North American Indians: a deity or spirit (of good or evil) which is an object of religious awe or reverence. In extended use: anything regarded as having supernatural power, as...
7. orenda, n. View full entry 1902
...In Iroquois belief: a spirit or power thought to exist in all things....
8. paho, n. View full entry 1884
...A wooden prayer stick decorated with plumes of feathers and usually painted, used by members of the Hopi North American Indian people in their snake dance and other rituals; (also) a good-luck...
9. peyote, n. View full entry 1849
...A hallucinogenic drug made from the cactus Lophophora williamsii (see sense 2), containing mescaline and used esp. in some North American Indian rituals. Cf. mescal...
10. piai, n. View full entry 1613
...Among the indigenous peoples of Suriname and other parts of South America: a medicine man, a healer, a shaman. Cf. piaiman, piache...
11. pok-ta-pok, n. View full entry 1932
...A ball game formerly played by Central and South American Indian peoples; = tlachtli...
12. powwow, n. View full entry 1624
...Among North American Indians: a priest, shaman, or healer....
13. Quetzalcoatl, n. View full entry 1578
...The plumed serpent god of the Toltec and Aztec civilizations, traditionally known as the god of the morning star, as well as (at various times and among various peoples) the patron of...
14. sasquatch, n. View full entry 1929
...A name for a huge, hairy, man-like monster supposedly inhabiting the north-west of the U.S. and Canada. Also collect. and attrib....
15. Sipapu, n. View full entry 1891
...In the beliefs of Pueblo Indians, an opening in the earth, variously located by different tribes, through which their mythical ancestors emerged into the present world; a symbolic representation of this opening,...
16. teocalli, n. View full entry 1613
...A structure for purposes of worship among the ancient Mexicans and Central Americans, usually consisting of a four-sided truncated pyramid built terrace-wise, and surmounted by a temple....
17. ˈteopan, n. View full entry 1891
...A Mexican temple, a teocalli....
18. tlachtli, n. View full entry 1875
...The ceremonial ball-game of the Aztecs; = pok-ta-pok Also attrib., as tlachtli-court, tlachtli-field....
19. wakon, n. View full entry 1778
...Among some American Indians, a spiritual being that is the object of religious reverence; also, a fetish: = manitou...
20. Yeibichai, n. View full entry 1887
...A Navajo curative or initiation ceremony performed by masked dancers representing a deity; also, one of the dancers performing the ceremony and the deity so represented (see also quot. 1963)....
