Ancestor Worship

Synonyms

Animism; Indigenous religion; Shamanism; Totemism; Tribal religion

Definition

The communicated acceptance of the supernatural claim that dead ancestors influence, and/or are influenced by, their living descendants and, more loosely, the rituals associated with such claims.

Introduction

Anthropologists studying traditional kinship-based cultures have frequently, and perhaps universally (Steadman et al. 1996), encountered the claim that dead ancestors (i.e., deceased progenitors) can still influence, and/or be influenced by, their living descendants. In such cultures, generation after generation of descendants not only communicates their acceptance of such claims, but they participate in traditional forms of sacrifice and other rituals to demonstrate their veneration of their dead ancestors and their willingness to accept the influence of those ancestors by following the traditional patterns of behavior they proscribed. This activity is typically labeled ancestor worship, and it...