Kuksu (religion)

Kuksu (religion)

Kuksu, also called the Kuksu Cult, was a shamanistic religion in Northern California practiced in different degrees by many Native American people before and during contact with the arriving European settlers. The religious belief system was held by several tribes in Central California and Northern California, from the Sacramento Valley west to the Pacific Ocean.

The practice of Kuksu included elaborate acting and dancing ceremonies in traditional costume. The men of the tribe practiced rituals to ensure good health, bountiful harvests, hunts and good weather. Ceremonies included an annual mourning ceremony, rites of passage, and shamanic intervention with the spirit world. A male secret society met in underground dance rooms and danced in disguises at the public dances.

Kuksu has been identified archaeologically by the discovery of underground dance rooms and wooden dance drums.