Teaching the Sacred: Interdisciplinary Lessons and Resources by Jeanne Paliatka
 

Sacred Geography: Introduction
Geography presents another vehicle for teaching about the sacred in world cultures.  Below you will find a research project that was published in Social Education magazine in September 1999. I have included the assignment and description of the mountain study teams and the individual roles contained within them.  Modifications can be made to expand the scope of the project by expanding the mountains examined, adding a technological element such as Power Point, adding a more developed arts component, more written components or reseach expectations. Due to space limitations, I did not include the mountain profiles provided in the magazine; students could instead create the profile themselves through research.

Another sacred geography lesson focusing on sacred rivers can be found at Geoff Wingard's site:
http://college.holycross.edu/orgs/himalayan_cultures/gwingard

Sacred Geography: Sacred Mountains Research Project
 
Introduction
In many cultures, mountains have special spiritual, cultural, and sacred significance. Inspiration to all, mountains are held sacred by more than one billion people worldwide. As the highest and most impressive features of the landscape, mountains tend to reflect the highest and most central values and beliefs of cultures throughout the world. Here in the United States, mountain environments like those found in the Rocky Mountain West or the Appalachians of the East enshrine cultural and spiritual values basic to American society, embodying what is interpreted as the original, unsullied spirit of the nation. In fact, as the writings of
John Muir and other authors demonstrate, views of mountains as places of renewal and inspiration helped give rise to the modern American environmental movement.

NCSS Standards
 CULTURE
TIME, CONTINUITY, AND CHANGE
PEOPLE, PLACES, AND ENVIRONMENTS
GLOBAL CONNECTIONS

Lesson Objectives
By examining a single sacred mountain in depth and sharing
information in jigsaw format, students will be able to:
*List several general characteristics of sacred mountains.
 *Identify the importance to world cultures of the four areas
studied.
*Recognize threats to these four mountain regions and their
cultures.
*Formulate policies to protect sacred mountains in concert
with needs and wishes of indigenous populations.

 Student Task
Four groups of students will research and report to the class on these mountain sites: Mount Sinai, Egypt; Mount Kailas, Tibet; Mount Fuji, Japan; San Francisco Peaks, United States. Students will assume roles as art specialists, environmentalists, faith keepers, geographers, historians, scientists, and policymakers. Each student is responsible for sharing the importance of the mountain studied in a format appropriate to the role chosen. The lesson length is two days in class plus homework.

Teacher Instructions
1. Divide students into four Mountain Study Teams. There are seven roles for each team, providing twenty-eight roles in all. Smaller classes can combine into one the roles of environ-
mentalist and scientist. Larger classes can expand the scientist role into botanist, geologist, and zoologist.
2. Give each group member a copy of the Profile sheet for his or her mountain, and the Roles and Tasks sheet at the end of this lesson plan. Allow students to choose their own roles as much as possible.
3. Review the roles and the products for which students are
responsible and set a date for group presentations. 

 

Mountain Study Teams: Roles and Tasks
Each group member should plan a two-minute presentation of his or her work on the Mountain Study Team.
 
Arts Specialist
(choose one)
1. Using the photograph provided or other resources, draw
a poster-sized picture of the mountain that expresses
what you consider most important about it.
2. Illustrate the quotation that begins the profile or anoth-
er relevant quote you find. (For example, there are many
haiku and tanka about Mt. Fuji.)		 Environmentalist
(choose one)
1. Document current environmental threats to the moun-
tains and their people that are cited in the Profile sheet.
(For example: coal and uranium mining at the Navajo
mountains)
2. Describe future threats to the mountain's environment
if present trends discussed in the Profile sheet contin-
ue. (For example: trekking at Mount Kailas)
Faith Keeper
Retell legends and religious beliefs about the mountain,
after researching more thoroughly its significance to
one or more faiths. (For example: after reading in the
Profile sheet about the circumambulation of Mount
Kailas, gather more information about the Hindu, Bud-
dhist, or Jain faiths).		 Geographer
Using an atlas, make a map of the mountain and its sur-
rounding region. When you present your map, show how
it addresses these four Themes of Geography:
Location: Absolute location (latitude and longitude). Rel-
ative location: What is near the mountain and what is
the relationship of these landscape features to it?
Place: Climate and vegetation zones. Describe the envi-
ronment on your mountain and how it differs from
mountains in other parts of the world.
Movement: What are some of the forms, routes, and prob-
lems related to transportation in this region?
Region: What is common to the people living in the area
of which the mountain is a part?
Historian
(choose one)
1. Research the political'history of this mountain region.
(For example: to what nations has the Sinai Peninsula
belonged? Have wars or conflicts taken place there, and
if so, why? )
2. Research some aspect of this region's social or eco-
nomic history. (For example: how have the people of
this mountain supported themselves at different times
in history?)
3. Contemporary history: Using periodical indexes or the
Internet, find newspaper articles that deal with con- -j
troversial events in this mountain area. (For example:
Research the current dispute over coal mining profits
on the Navajo Reservation)		 Policymaker
The Mountain Agenda of 1995 (see Lesson 4 in this pull-
out) makes recommendations on the Sacred, Spiritual,
and Symbolic Significance of Mountains. Included are:
consulting with indigenous peoples about conservation
and management of sacred sites; indigenous control of
pilgrimage issues; and crosscultural research and edu-
cation projects. How might you apply these issues to
"your" mountain?
Scientist
(choose one)
Botanist: What grows in the vegetation zones found on
this mountain? Have there been environmental changes
that impact these plant species? What are they and
what was the impact? How do these changes affect the
local people and how are these plants used by the local
people?
Geologist: When and how was this mountain formed?
Which continental plate is it part of? What kinds of rock
are found on the mountain? Is there mining activity in
this mountain range?
Biologist: What animal species inhabit the mountain? Have
there been environmental changes that affect these ani-
mal species? What are they and what was the impact?
How does this affect the indigenous population?

Sacred Geography: Resources
Print
Bembaum, Edwin. Sacred Mountains of the World. Berkeley: 
University of California Press, Berkeley, 1998.

Websites
Places of Peace and Power: The Sacred Site Pilgrimage of Martin Gray:
http://www.sacredsites.com

The Sacred Mountains Foundation: 
http://www.sacredmountains.com

Sacred Places; Mountains and the Sacred:
http://www.arthistorv.sbc.edu/sacredplaces/mountains.html
 
 
 
 

 
 
This site was created by Matthew Foglia and Jeanne Paliatka of Nazareth Academy at the NEH Summer Institute "Cultures and Religions of the Himalayan Region," held at the College of the Holy Cross.