The theme of spirituality is present in many novels we have read this semester. Native people used spiritual guidance as a means to connect with their past and honor their ancestors. For Native people, spirits have always played an important role in their culture and daily life. When the natives were forced to convert to Christianity and over time their beliefs were sucked out of them, the spiritual connection broke down as the generations passed. A novel that particularly struck me on this topic was Monkey Beach, by Eden Robinson. The protagonist, Lisa, is struggling to get her fin after being blessed with the gift of being a shaman. In this novel, the author exploits how “white” European or Western culture has destroyed native culture so immensely, that younger generations cannot identify a spiritual connection without society labeling them as mentally unstable. Lisa suffers in accepting the gift she has been given, and instead fights it by anesthetizing herself with drugs and alcohol, which also falls into another major theme of alcoholism in Native culture, due to the repression of the Native American race. The idea of ​​spirituality is realistically a difficult word to define, everyone perceives spirituality in their own way and uses it in different ways. Reading the Christian Bible, John the Baptist discusses the idea of ​​spirituality and defines it as: "Spirituality consists in becoming more like God, who is spirit, and in conforming our character to his image." (John 4:24) (Romans 12) : 1-2). When the natives were forced to convert to Christianity, this is what they were told to believe, that spirituality means you have to conform your character to be more like God. This really shows how much Europe......half of paper......a gift is given to her that in the past would have been considered an extraordinary call from the spirits. Due to the suppression of her culture and the “white” ideas imposed on her race, she is unable to have a full understanding of what is happening to her. In the end, Eden Robinson kills Lisa, to show the devastating effects that “white” culture has had on Native American customs and beliefs. Their culture has been robbed; their beliefs were crushed to such an extent that even their own people were convinced they were wrong. Native American spirituality. Tahtonka, February 28, 1998. Web. April 27, 2014. Robinson, Eden. Monkey Beach. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Print. The Holy Bible containing the Old Testament and the New. Cambridge: Printed by John Field ..., 1668. Print.