Primitivism - A Tribal Religion"We regard them as sons and daughters of earth and sky, brothers and sisters of animals and plants, who live according to the ways of nature and do not upset the delicate balances of their ecological zones; kind hunters who are always in touch with the magic and myth that we ourselves so desperately need” (Smith, 381). summarizes the essence of primitivism Primitivism is an ancient religion, sometimes called tribal religion because the groups of its inhabitants were few in number. This religion continues today in certain regions of Africa, Australia, and Asia. Southeast, Pacific Islands, Siberia and Indians of North and South America Primitivism is an oral religion, very little was written down Most of the writings were in the form of drawings and. art. Being an exclusively oral society, orality protected the memory of its practitioners allowing them to remember countless tales and stories to pass on to the next generation. Orality also made it possible to experience the sacred through non-verbal channels. Tribal religions are deeply rooted in place rather than space. Space is abstract, but place is concrete. For example, one square foot in Florida is equivalent to one square foot in China; However, Florida and China are two very different places. The idea being: you are the rock, you are the tree, you are the river, you are the grass, etc. The analogy in "The Religions of the World" of the first Onondagan to enter college is a wonderful example. Oren Lyons returned to his reservation during his first college break and went fishing with his uncle. His uncle started asking him, “Who are you?” Oren responded in several ways: "I am your nephew", "I am an Onondagen", "I am a human" and no answer satisfied his uncle. His uncle replied: “You see that bluff over there? Oren, you are this bluff. And that giant pine on the other bank? Oren, you are that pine tree. And this water that supports our boat? You are this water. (Smith, 371). Another essential part of Primitivism is the presence of eternal time. Tribal people look to the future rather than the past. Primordial time is difficult for most people to understand, because it is not linear, but temporal, an eternal now. Its focus is more of an informal sequence rather than a chronological sequence..