Journal Article

Indian Altars of the Spiritual Church: Kongo Echoes in New Orleans

Wehmeyer, Stephen C.

2000

Overview

\"The Spiritual Church of New Orleans is one of the most vibrant and complex religious communities in a city well known for its rich sacred heritage. The almost exclusively African American congregation and clergy combine Roman Catholic iconography and aesthetics with a fiery revivalist preaching style, and blend mediumistic practices derived from nineteenth-century American spiritualism with African cosmologies, ritual traditions, and folk medicine...One of the most celebrated aspects of the Churches is the veneration...of one or more 'Indian' spirits. Local history, popular opinion, and published biographies of Native American historical figures combine to create a rich narrative and ritual tradition surrounding Indian spirits like the redoubtable Black Hawk...Even a brief glance at the altars reveals that they are products of several diverse cultural streams...\" (AFRICAN ARTS). Spiritual Church of New Orleans Black Hawk altars and their associated rites are examined. West African Kongo influences on the spiritual tradition are identified.

• Publisher: University of California, Los Angeles,UCLA James S. Coleman,University of California,University of California Los Angeles, African Studies Center
• Subject: African American Spiritual churches / African art / Altars / Art museums / Black Hawk (1767-1838) / Buckets / Catholicism / Ethnology / Hawks / Indians of North America, Religion / Kongo (African people) / Native Americans / New Orleans (La.) / Religion, magic, witchcraft / Religions, beliefs, worships / Religious buildings / Religious change, syncretism / Religious rituals / Voodoo