Zuni World View, on the Beautiful and the Dangerous, Part I

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Zuni World View, on the Beautiful and the Dangerous, Part I

In Signs from the Ancestors, a study of Zuni cultural symbolism and perceptions in rock art, M. Jane Young cites the “dialectics of the beautiful and the dangerous” noted by Barbara Tedlock[1] and states that “Tedlock posits an underlying aesthetic framework that informs cosmology, whereas I posit an underlying cosmological principle that informs aesthetics”[2]. From the perspective of this paper and its conclusions it would appear that Young is perhaps partially correct in her ascertainment although the confluence of the two principles makes it difficult to discern logical priority in either the beautiful (tso’ya) or the dangerous (attanni), for the multireferential finds manifestation of beauty in the “aesthetic of accumulation, an elaborate redundancy of symbolism in Zuni sacred and secular environments”[3] and informs cosmological principles of the preconditions of the rational, while aesthetic license premises pragmatics where proper interpretation of context ensures that rational thought of the “perspective-taker” attains objectivity as a “personal accomplishment” in the success of “reciprocal public intentions”.[4] This is because the principle of the “base metaphor” cited by Young is inclusive of a body of conceptual presuppositions which include the notion of an interrelatedness of all things, which is seen here as a cosmological precept akin to notions of identity and individuation, and the notion of a predetermined harmony as indicative of the aesthetic. Young notes that the “very generality of the metaphor lends its ambiguity--an ambiguity quite characteristic of the Zuni view of the world. Zuni ritual symbols, whether expressed verbally or visually, are frequently multivalent or multireferential, standing for both themselves and something else at the same time; yet all of the meanings are bound together, so that the Zunis say, as do the Mescalero Apache: ‘They’re all the same thing’ ”[5].

The implications and ambiguity of the base metaphor are immediately evident. If all things are the same then what constitutes an identity and how are names used to refer to specific things or images? Ambiguity is a consequence of the very tentativeness of life itself as perceived by an agriculturally based community situated in a desert environment; as ambiguous as the timing of the next planting season, crop yield, and rainfall. While it may be seen as a method of increasing well-being[6] most ritual is directed toward a perpetuation of the status quo, i.e. the rising of the morning sun or the repetition of the turn of the sun at the winter’s solstice. Sameness as things standing for themselves is a prerequisite to success in ritual logic and there can be no tolerance for deviance, especially in utterance. As Redfield noted, “memorizers and depositors” of tradition may fulfill the role of preserving tradition, but this is not the concept of a thinker in the sense of building upon basic principles leading to variant conclusions[7]. Anthropologists have noted the mechanistic tendency of most aspects of Zuni ceremonialism and that prayer must be “repeated verbatim to be effectual”[8]. “The efficacy of prayer depends in no small measure on its correct rendition” and “is more nearly a repetition of magical formulae”[9].

In this it appears that an effective rendering of a prayer in ritual would be dependent upon a specificity between words and images where a name must adequately show the identity of that which it is naming, that is, the same name usage is imperative as a reliable identifier and if the name is to refer to something else at the same time then that image must, a propos, display the same relation with a reliable identifier (name). Thus, it would seem that the individuating function is objectively well defined. As Bunzel also notes elaboration is allowed in individual prayer, but in regard to the common good the “ceremonious collectivism that characterizes social activities is the essence of religious participation” and the “supernatural conceived always as a collectivity” is “approved by the collective force of the people”[10].

Young notes interpretations that reflect individual interests related to “diverse artistic pursuits” and a “strong thread of individualism” as “idiosyncratic interpretation” in the categorization of visual images[11]. The results of a card sorting experiment showed “that certain visual images evoked similar and sometimes formulaic responses”[12] while some were categorized as “images that go on pottery” or as images “that seem to go together”[13] and concluded that while the “Zunis may recognize designs on pottery, religious paraphernalia, or rock art, they have no culturally consistent terminology to apply to such designs-there may be no tradition of naming these designs”[14].

Bunzel in contrast noted, “At Zuni, where the style is generally uniform, individual differences are shown mainly in the mastery of technique”[15] in the more professional artisans but was “unable to find any noticeable difference in style”[16]. While Bunzel did find design names that evoked an image such as the “deer”, most design names could not evoke an image. From this she concluded that there is no design terminology at Zuni. Bunzel also pursued this to the point of stating that the lack of linguistic designation would indicate that the image was experienced as sensual rather than intellectually and that an experience for which there is no linguistic expression cannot be the object of rational thought[17]. Bunzel states that the importance the Zuni attach to the purely aesthetic aspects of pottery design is greater than assumed[18]. Principles of design are clearly recognized, for religious ideas are clearly associated with designs, but this does not strengthen the intellectual aspect at the “expense of the more purely aesthetic”[19]. In this remark in is evident that aesthetics informs Zuni cosmology but it also displays tentativeness on Bunzel’s behalf to relegate the phenomenon to the rational.

Young reiterates religious associations in regard to the analysis of “clusters” (image groupings by individuals) which displayed an “inclination to relate rock art to …the important concerns of daily life”[20] and to the “various facets of their religious practice and/or to the myths describing the emergence of the Zuni people into this world”[21], but Young also indicated the rational aspect of a polemic relation between the “strictly memorized texts of ritual prayers” and the identification of rock art images characterized by “the organization of diversity”[22]. An example of organization is where human figures were grouped according to form (round, stick, etc.), but were included in the unknown groupings, while known images were grouped by their content[23]. Here Young is positing a formal, conceptual basis of presuppositions that appears to inform individual interpretation where referential distinction is made in relation to function yet inhibited in regard to specific terms.

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Call for Submissions

First Nations Film and Video Festival, Chicago

The purpose of the First Nations Film and Video Festival is to advocate for and celebrate the works of Indigenous American film and video that break racial stereotypes and promote awareness of Indigenous American issues. Film and video entries will be accepted form Indigenous American individuals who have written, produced, or directed the film or video, which is being submitted. Preference will be given to independent projects for which the applicant has primary creative control. Public service announcements, training material or promotional work will not be considered.

The deadline for submissions is August 31, 2005.

For more information and an application visit: http://www.fnfvf.com/ .

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Adobe Gallery: Acoma and Laguna pottery from the 1930s and Õ40s, through Sa;Aug. 27; older original paintings by Tony Abeyta, Emil Bistram, E.A. Burbank, Fremont Ellis, R.C. Gorman, Patrick Swazo Hines, and Fritz Scholder,cq all through Sept. 3; acrylic paintings and aquatint etchings by Helen Hardin, through Oct. 16. 221 Canyon Road, Santa Fe. (505) 955-0550.

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7th Annual West Valley City Native American Festival and Powwow

l Thursday: 7 p.m. Humanities discussions
Indian Walk-In Center, 120 W. 1300 South
Speakers: Loya Arrum, Northern Ute; Vida Khow, Navajo; and Priscilla Piestewa, Mexican-American and mother of Lori Piestewa, the first American Indian to be killed in the Iraq War

l Friday: 5 p.m. Festival starts.
Granger Park, 3500 S. 3600 West, West Valley City
7 p.m.-11 p.m. Dance competition at the park

l Saturday: 10 a.m. Festival starts
Granger Park
11 a.m.-3 p.m. Dance competition
6 p.m.-11 p.m. Dance and drum competitions

l Sunday: 10 a.m. Festival starts
Granger Park
11 a.m.-4 p.m. Dance competition

l What to expect: Food booths, including blue-cornmeal mush, mutton stew and mutton roast ribs - traditional Navajo dishes.
Arts and crafts vendors. Organizers say if you negotiate a price, please be ready to pay it.
Free lessons in hoop dancing and American Indian flute and sign language.
Bring your own lawn chairs.
Cost: $4, youth and adults. Free for ages 6 and younger and 65 and older.
For event information, contact Harry James Sr., at 801-955-1089 or harryjamessr@hotmail.com.

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USAO to host young writers workshop Aspiring young writers and filmmakers from across Oklahoma are invited to participate in a workshop Sept. 15-16 at the University of Science and Arts in Chickasha. The workshop is hosted by the Woodcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers, with support from USAO.

The free, two-day workshop is geared toward Native American students but participants do not need to be Native American or become members of Woodcraft Circle.

Participants are also awarded with membership in the Woodcraft Circle, a national organization of Native American writers and storytellers.

The writing and filmmaking workshops are scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday in the USAO Student Union Ballroom. Featured events include student workshops in poetry, short story, slam poetry, storytelling, play writing and scripts, and in addition to other activities.

For more information, contact Dr. Lee Hester, director of American Indian Studies, at 405-574-1289 or fachesterl@usao.edu, or Jay Goombi, Woodcraft regional director, at 405-574-1264or jgoombi@usao.edu.

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Northeastern Native American Fine Arts Show. A new exhibit at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum features an array of art, which runs through Sept. 5 at the museum's gallery, shows off the artistic skills of American Indians from the Northeast. Thirty-four artists with connections to tribes of the Northeast were chosen for the show, which includes sculpture, carvings, oils, acrylic and mixed media.

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Sept. 4-Nov. 13: "By Native Hands: Native American Basketry," Forsyth Center Galleries, Memorial Student Center, Texas A&M. 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

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October 30. Native American Fall Festival-Lenape Village. Churchville Nature Center. Churchville, PA. 215-357-4005. www.churchvillenaturecenter.org.

The Jewelry of Joe Quintana, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture: works by the Cochiti silversmith, through Sept. 1; "Beauty Within," historical objects from the collection, through Oct. 23; "IconoClash," symbols of American Indian culture, through Jan. 15; "The Pottery of Santa Ana Pueblo," through Feb. 19. 708 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe. Admission and hours: (505) 476-1250.

Plains Art Museum: "Between Two Cultures: The Art of Star Wallowing Bull," opens Sept. 24; "Contemporary Native American Artists - Reflections After Lewis and Clark," opens July 21, (701) 232-3821.

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AEQ Book Review of Making Dictionaries: Preserving Indigenous Languages of the Americas .
Frawley, William, Kenneth C. Hill, and Pamela Munro, eds. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. 450 pp. ISBN 0520229967, $34.95.
© 2004 American Anthropological Association Book Review of Making Dictionaries: Preserving Indigenous Languages of the Americas .
Reviewed for the Anthropology & Education Quarterly by Catherine S. Fowler
University of Nevada
csfowler@unr.nevada.edu
To Order this book

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W. Tussinger has written his first novel which was released in December, 2004. The title of the book is THE FOURTH WORLD.
W. Tussinger is a member of the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma and has lived on several reservations including the Yuroks of Northern California and the Yakamas of Washington State where he attended college.
THE FOURTH WORLD

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Deadman's Island - Chinook

It is dusk on the Lost Lagoon, And we two dreaming the dusk away, Beneath the drift of a twilight gray-Beneath the drowse of an ending day And the curve of a golden moon. It is dark in the Lost Lagoon, And gone are the depths of haunting blue, The grouping gulls, and the old canoe, The singing firs, and the dusk and -- you, And gone is the golden moon.

O! lure of the Lost Lagoon-I dream tonight that my paddle blurs The purple shade where the seaweed stirs-I hear the call of the singing firs In the hush of the golden moon.

FOR many minutes we stood silently, leaning on the western rail of the bridge as we watched the sun set across that beautiful little basin of water known as Coal Harbor. I have always resented that jarring, unattractive name, for years ago, when I first plied paddle across the gunwale of a light little canoe that idled above its margin, I named the sheltered little cove the Lost Lagoon. This was just to please my own fancy, for as that perfect summer month drifted on, the ever-restless tides left the harbor devoid of water at my favorite canoeing hour, and my pet idling place was lost for many days-hence my fancy to call it the Lost Lagoon. But the chief, Indian-like, immediately adopted the name, at least when he spoke of the place to me, and as we watched the sun slip behind the rim of firs, he expressed the wish that his dugout were here instead of lying beached at the farther side of the park.

"If canoe was here, you and I we paddle close to shores all 'round your Lost Lagoon: we make track just like half moon. Then we paddle under this bridge, and go channel between Deadman's Island and park. Then 'round where cannon speak time at nine o'clock. Then 'cross Inlet to Indian side of Narrows."

I turned to look eastward, following in fancy the course he had sketched; the waters were still as the footstep of the oncoming twilight, and, floating in a pool of soft purple, Deadman's Island rested like a large circle of candle moss. "Have you ever been on it?" he asked as he caught my gaze centering on the irregular outline of the island pines.

"I have prowled the length and depth of it," I told him. "Climbed over every rock on its shores, crept under every tangled growth of its interior, explored its overgrown trails, and more than once nearly got lost in its very heart." "Yes," he half laughed, "it pretty wild; not much good for anything." "People seem to think it valuable," I said. "There is a lot of litigation -- of fighting going on now about it."

"Oh! that the way always," he said as though speaking of a long accepted fact. "Always fight over that place. Hundreds of years ago they fight about it; Indian people; they say hundreds of years to come everybody will still fight -- never be settled what that place is, who it belong to, who has right to it. No, never settle. Deadman's Island always mean fight for someone."

"So the Indians fought amongst themselves about it?" I remarked, seemingly without guile, although my ears tingled for the legend I knew was coming. "Fought like lynx at close quarters," he answered. "Fought, killed each other, until the island ran with blood redder than that sunset, and the sea water about it was stained flame color -- it was then, my people say, that the scarlet fire-flower was first seen growing along this coast."

"It is a beautiful color -- the fire-flower," I said.

"It should be fine color, for it was born and grew from the hearts of fine tribes-people-very fine people," he emphasized.

We crossed to the eastern rail of the bridge, and stood watching the deep shadows that gathered slowly and silently about the island; I have seldom looked upon anything more peaceful.

The chief sighed. "We have no such men now, no fighters like those men, no hearts, no courage like theirs. But I tell you the story; you understand it then. Now all peace; tonight all good Tillicum's; even dead man's spirit does not fight now, but long time after it happen those spirits fought."

"And the legend?" I ventured.

"Oh! yes," he replied, as if suddenly returning to the present from out a far country in the realm of time. "Indian people, they call it the 'Legend of the Island of Dead Men.'

"There was war everywhere. Fierce tribes from the northern coast, savage tribes from the south all met here and battled and raided, burned and captured, tortured and killed their enemies. The forests smoked with camp fires, the Narrows were choked with war canoes, and the Sagalie Tyee -- He who is a man of peace -- turned His face away from His Indian children. About this island there was dispute and contention. The medicine men from the North claimed it as their chanting ground. The medicine men from the South laid equal claim to it. Each wanted it as the stronghold of their witchcraft, their magic. Great bands of these medicine men met on the small space, using every sorcery in their power to drive their opponents away. The witch doctors of the North made their camp on the northern rim of the island; those from the South settled along the southern edge, looking towards what is now the great city of Vancouver. Both factions danced, chanted, burned their magic powders, built their magic fires, beat their magic rattles, but neither would give way, yet neither conquered. About them, on the waters, on the mainland's, raged the warfare of their respective tribes -- the Sagalie Tyee had forgotten His Indian children.

"After many months, the warriors on both sides weakened. They said the incantations of the rival medicine men were bewitching them, were making their hearts like children's, and their arms nerveless as women's. So friend and foe arose as one man and drove the medicine men from the island, hounded them down the Inlet, herded them through the Narrows and banished them out to sea, where they took refuge on one of the outer islands of the gulf. Then the tribes once more fell upon each other in battle.

"The warrior blood of the North will always conquer. They are the stronger, bolder, more alert, more keen. The snows and the ice of their country make swifter pulse than the sleepy suns of the South can awake in a man; their muscles are of sterner stuff, their endurance greater. Yes, the northern tribes will always be victors.* But the craft and the strategy of the southern tribes are hard things to battle against. While those of the North followed the medicine men farther out to sea to make sure of their banishment, those from the South returned under cover of night and seized the women and children and the old, enfeebled men in their enemy's camp, transported them all to the Island of Dead Men, and there held them as captives. Their war canoes circled the island like a fortification, through which drifted the sobs of the imprisoned women, the mutterings of the aged men, the wail of little children.

"Again and again the men of the North assailed that circle of canoes, and again and again were repulsed. The air was thick with poisoned arrows, the water stained with blood. But day by day the circle of southern canoes grew thinner and thinner; the northern arrows were telling and truer of aim. Canoes drifted everywhere, empty, or worse still, manned only by dead men. The pick of the southern warriors had already fallen, when their greatest Tyee mounted a large rock on the eastern shore. Brave and unmindful of a thousand weapons aimed at his heart, he uplifted his hand, palm outward -- the signal for conference.

Instantly every northern arrow was lowered, and every northern ear listened for his words.

"'Oh! men of the upper coast,' he said, 'you are more numerous than we are; your tribe is larger; your endurance greater. We are growing hungry, we are growing less in numbers. Our captives -- your women and children and old men -- have lessened, too, our stores of food. If you refuse our terms we will yet fight to the finish. Tomorrow we will kill all our captives before your eyes, for we can feed them no longer, or you can have your wives, your mothers, your fathers, your children, by giving us for each and every one of them one of your best and bravest young warriors, who will consent to suffer death in their stead. Speak! You have your choice.'

"In the northern canoes scores and scores of young warriors leapt to their feet. The air was filled with glad cries, with exultant shouts. The whole world seemed to ring with the voices of those young men who called loudly, with glorious courage:

"'Take me, but give me back my old father.'
"'Take me, but spare to my tribe my little sister.'
"'Take me, but release my wife and boy baby.'

"So the compact was made. Two hundred heroic, magnificent young men paddled up to the island, broke through the fortifying circle of canoes and stepped ashore. They flaunted their eagle plumes with the spirit and boldness of young gods. Their shoulders were erect, their step was firm, their hearts strong. Into their canoes they crowded the two hundred captives. Once more their women sobbed, their old men muttered, their children wailed, but those young copper-colored gods never flinched, never faltered. Their weak and their feeble were saved. What mattered to them such a little thing as death?

"The released captives were quickly surrounded by their own people, but the flower of their splendid nation was in the hands of their enemies, those valorous young men who thought so little of life that they willingly, gladly laid it down to serve and to save those they loved and cared for. Amongst them were war-tried warriors who had fought fifty battles, and boys not yet full grown, who were drawing a bow string for the first time, but their hearts, their courage, their self-sacrifice were as one.

"Out before a long file of southern warriors they stood. Their chins uplifted, their eyes defiant, their breasts bared. Each leaned forward and laid his weapons at his feet, then stood erect, with empty hands, and laughed forth their challenge to death. A thousand arrows ripped the air, two hundred gallant northern throats flung forth a death cry exultant, triumphant as conquering kings -- then two hundred fearless northern hearts ceased to beat.

"But in the morning the southern tribes found the spot where they fell peopled with flaming fire-flowers. Dread terror seized upon them. They abandoned the island, and when night again shrouded them they manned their canoes and noiselessly slipped through the Narrows, turned their bows southward and this coast line knew them no more."

"What glorious men," I half whispered as the chief concluded the strange legend.

"Yes, men!" he echoed. "The white people call it Deadman's Island. That is their way; but we of the Squamish call it The Island of Dead Men."

The clustering pines and the outlines of the island's margin were now dusky and indistinct. Peace, peace lay over the waters, and the purple of the summer twilight had turned to gray, but I knew that in the depths of the undergrowth on Deadman's Island there blossomed a flower of flaming beauty; its colors were veiled in the coming nightfall, but somewhere down in the sanctuary of its petals pulsed the heart's blood of many and valiant men.

Chinook Texts by Franz Boas. [1894] (U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin, no 20.)

From Blue Panther Keeper of Stories. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Native_Village
http://groups.msn.com/KeeperofStories

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"Communing with Bears"

By Sara Wright

Communing with Bears is the story of a joyful encounter between one woman and a black bear.

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Literacy in Indigenous Communities by L. David van Broekhuizen, Ph.D. (2000)
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Literacy in first languages in indigenous communities is a complex topic that generates lively discussion. This research synthesis explores the notions of national, mother-tongue, multiple, and biliteracies. It presents important information pertaining to threatened languages, language shift, and language loss. Examples of culturally relevant uses of literacy in indigenous communities and issues related to first-language literacy instruction are also provided.

Essay on the Zuni World View
Excerpt(Complete article is available in PDF)
Cushing also cited an incidence where he showed a pole that accompanies a theodolite to an old Zuni man and asked him what he thought the name of it was. In response the old man inquired as to the use of the item. After briefly describing the implementation of the device the old man provided a rather lengthy sentence-word that Cushing translated as "heights of the world progressively measuring stick". The next day Cushing took the pole to the extreme corner of the pueblo and began "to flourish it around" until a middle-aged man relented to curiosity and asked what it was. Cushing then provided the Zuni name he had learned the day before and the man promptly requested, "Can they actually tell how far up and down journeying the world is?" [105].