Transcript Native American Symbols - University of Mount Union

Action and Performance
Native American Symbols
Beyond Aesthetics
Symbols are pictorial
and often take the
place of words.
http://wolfs_moon.tripod.com/NAsymbols1.jpeg
Native American Symbols
Native American
symbols are more
than art.
Animals are also
used.
They encompass a
cosmos and a
context.
http://www.aiaphila.org/aie/new-stuff/gallery-section/native-american/harrlesson4.gif
http://www.runningdeerslonghouse.com/webdoc126.htm
Symbols - An Overview
 Point to something beyond
themselves.
 More descriptive than words.
 Develop over time.
 Often only has meaning in a
context.
 Some symbols are used in a
number of different contexts
and cultures. For example
 At right Trey Oxendine of the
Lumbee Tribe from Pembrook,
NC at Cleveland Powwow,
June 17-19, 2005
http://www.clevelandseniors.com/family/powwow.htm
More On Symbols
 The symbols have a history
which includes the object
itself, persons involved and the
circumstances surrounding its
development.
 Symbolism in Native American
is significant but only as it
relates to a particular context
which includes a number of
factors.
 At right a Cleveland Powwow
June 17-19, 2005
http://www.clevelandseniors.com/family/powwow.htm
Native American Symbols
Significance cannot
be determined by
isolating and
decoding particular
symbols.
They are inseparable
from the performance
of which they are a
part.
http://www.msh-ta.org/images/turtle_1b.jpg
Symbolism in Use
Sandpainting ritual is
used as a cure
ceremony.
They are constructed
on the floor of a
ceremonial hogan and
depict mythic persons
who have a
connection with the
cause of the illness
being treated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Navajo_sandpainting2.jpg
Context driven
Sandpainting
One has to see how
the sandpainting fits
into a greater picture
that is itself symbolic,
created from the
experience of hearing
the stories, praying
the payers, living the
way of life, all of
which constitute
Navajo tradition.
http://www.cowboyandlady.com/sandpaintings/images/8533.jpg
Self-Directed Designs and
Objects
Some Native
American artifacts are
self-directed in others
words to be
understood they have
to be looked at from
the point of view of
the wearer.
http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/archeo/oracles/draper/drap3.jpg
 Here is an example of an
effigy pipe in which the
smoker, when using the
pipe, is facing he animal.
 The effigy pipes of the
Algonquin are used to aid
in concentration and
thought. A person by
smoking the pipe and
concentrating on the
effigy and one gains
power from the guardian
spirit.
http://www.ohioarch.org/ASOImages/PA8.jpg
The Power of the Bear
The Sioux used the Bear as a symbol.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/lewisandclark/images/ree0072s.jpg
Esoteric Objects
Many esoteric objects
such as the medicine
bundles are very
symbolic. Their
power lies in what
they invoke through
history of the user
and use, stories of
their origin, the
occasions and
manners of their use.
http://www.nativeartstrading.co.uk/MiscBeadwork.htm
http://strictlyrockymountain.com/store/product_images/indian1.jpg
Masks
Masking or masquerade?
Seneca False Faces
 Many masks are related
to formal and public
religious acts.
 Masks are living things.
 For example the society
of men of the Seneca
who perform the new
year’s corn and green
ceremonies to drive out
evil.
http://www.usao.edu/~usao-indianart/course/pics/doctor_m.jpg
Use of the Masks
These are carved out
of living trees and
removed (if possible)
without killing the
tree.
They are distinctly
decorated with
distortions and
exaggeration.
Carved out by special
people.
http://www.usao.edu/~usao-indianart/course/pics/scalp_m.jpg
Care
 The masks have
distinctive features.
 They are molded
according to a dream
revelation.
 The masks are treated as
living beings.
 When not in use they are
hung facing the wall or
are wrapped and
carefully placed in a box
or drawer.
http://www.p4a.com/item_images/medium/14/97/96-01.jpg
Treatment
They are fed
periodically by putting
something on their
lips.
Their faces are
sometimes treated to
keep clean.
Each mask is named
and has its own
personality.
http://www.usao.edu/~usao-indianart/course/pics/corn_m.jpg
Consider This
They are very powerful for they manifest
the power of the Bad twin who, when
overcome by the Good Twin at the close
of creation, was destined to aid in keeping
the health and wellbeing of human
beings.
The masks are not a covering or disguise
but are a living manifestation of the type
of spiritual being.
The Hopi
Looking Through the Mask
Meaning of the Mask
In the case of Hopi
the masks represents
a way of looking at
the world--a
perspective.
At right is an artist’s
rendition of a snake
dancer mask.
http://www.taosblue.com/1southwestart/masks/hopi/thumbnails/ChuSangSnakeDancerTH.jpg
 For example masks are
used to frightened
children into behaving
properly--this is where
the family has to provide
a considerable sum for
the life of the child.
 The mask provided
wearer with a perspective
of reality shown on the
face of the child.
http://images.art.com/images/products/large/10327000/10327379.jpg
Kwakiutl Masks and the
Notion of Place
The Kwakiutl use the
mask to designate
hierarchical
relationships.
For Kwakiutl reality is
in grid relationships.
http://geoscape.nrcan.gc.ca/victoria/index_e.php
 In it there are a
fixed number of
positions, to each
of which belongs
a name, referred
to as seat or
standing place.
 At right is a
transformation
mask.
http://www.butte.cc.ca.us/~dcooper/Lit_up_website/NatAmer/images/DSCN1397.jpg
Conclusion
 Masks are symbolic
because of what they
make present: they
are spiritual reality.
Masks cannot be
translated or decoded
because their meaning
is inseparable from
what they make
present--which, apart
from the masks, could
not be observed or
expressed.
http://www.imagesforcanada.com/EchoMask5.jpg
http://www.lcsc.edu/ss150/images/unit3mask.jpg
http://cas.umkc.edu/art/faculty/wahlman/quizzes/NWKwakiutlMask.b.jpg
Native American Symbols
Tribes