Shoshone & the Boha

Every known society is known to practice one faith at one point in their history, for the Romans it was Paganism and later Christianity, for the British it is Protestantism, and so on. In the case of the Shoshone, there is a bit of a distinction, as they practiced a religion that would be different than the one that they would be forced to adopt in the late 19th century by the United States of America. This religion was known as Boha or Spiritual Power, and was practiced by the Shoshone prior to other religions taking its place. The idea behind Boha is that an individual would achieve a supernatural power through vision quests and dreams. The Shaman would serve as the supernatural leader and would utilize it to cure others and also lead ceremonies.

Eventually, the Shoshone would begin to practice two pan-Indian religions that existed in the Sun Dance and the Native American Church. The Sun Dance was a religion that was practiced with the emphasis on sacrifice for the community. This sacrifice was usually related to the physical and spiritual test that the dancers had to endure, and other displays of personal sacrifice for one's family and community. This religion is closely relate to the practice of passing down traditions from one generation to the next, be it smoking the sacred pipe or the retelling of ancient stories. However, during the 19th century, the United States had embarked on several crusades to "civilize" the natives and suppress their traditions.

The Native American Church serves as a hybrid of Native American religion and Christianity. Expanding on the continued push by Christian missionaries to convert the Native Americans to Christianity, the natives decided that they would practice both. The Christian Creed is reflected in the Native American Church, and at the same time the usage of peyote is also displayed. The religion is monotheistic with the chief deity being called the Great Spirit. The purpose of peyote is utilized in an effort to communicate with the Great Spirit and is seen as a sacred and holy sacrament. Interestingly, the religion also has a series of branches that differ a bit depending on the tribe that this church belongs to, but the usage of peyote and the understanding that there is a Great Spirit are universal.

Civilization V introduces religions into the game, but however it is missing a lot. This is a flaw that cannot be helped, as there are so many religions in the world that are known and unknown. However, it does do a splendid job in displaying that the religion does guide a people. This can be seen with the developments of a civilizations religion. In the real world, that is best observed in the Shoshone's adoption of the pan-Indian religions. Both of these religion expressed two sides of a coin; the Sun Dance represented the sacrifice that the tribesmen had to endure for their people and the Native American Church represented the attempted hybrid of traditional Native American beliefs and those of Christianity,

Despite these efforts however, they were repelled by the United States. The Sun Dance was banned during a period when the United States sought to "civilize" the natives. They achieved this by placing young members of a Native American tribe in boarding schools. There they would not be allowed to speak their native language, wear their traditional garb and essentially be stripped of their tribal identity. They were to become "Americanized" in that they would adopt white names and converse in English and refrain from their old traditions. In the case of the Native American Church, that's a bit of a different story, sort of. Since the usage of peyote is banned by both state or federal laws. However, there is a bypass because it is protected by the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, and thus the religious usage of peyote is allowed.