Yowa was omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. Unlike several tribes, the Cherokee didn't consider there to be a "Sky-Father" and "Earth-Mother," but rather considered Yowa the Great Spirit to be the single Supreme Being and the earth to be the place that he had created for them. The Cherokee believed that all spirits and the forces of nature came out of Yowa and were subjected to him, and that people were the center of Yowa's creation. It was believed that when a certain plant or animal went extinct or died out, it was because the Power from Yowa that had given it substance and life had been taken back for a time. Thus, Life was sacred, especially human life, and the spirits had to be asked for the animal that was about to be killed in a hunt before it could be killed. In Cherokee belief, the Physical Universe was an expression of the Spiritual, and Life was the connection between the physical and spiritual universes. The theology of Yowa was slightly panentheistic in nature. The Cherokee revered the Great Spirit, said by some sources to be called the Yowa (a name so sacred that only a priest could say it) but in the ancient legends simply referred to as "the Apportioner," who presided over all things and created the Earth.
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