Action and Performance

Native American SymbolsBeyond Aesthetics

http://wolfs_moon.tripod.com/NAsymbols1.jpeg

Symbols are pictorial and often take the place of words.

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://strictlyrockymountain.com/store/product_images/indian1.jpg

http://www.nativeartstrading.co.uk/MiscBeadwork.htm

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.lcsc.edu/ss150/images/unit3mask.jpghttp://www.imagesforcanada.com/EchoMask5.jpg

http://cas.umkc.edu/art/faculty/wahlman/quizzes/NWKwakiutlMask.b.jpg

Native American Symbols

Tribes