Thursday, May 10, 2007

Zuni Law and Religion

Andres Quandelacy, Bisbee Cobolt Azurite Buffalo

Native American arts daily news, presented by
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Headlines for the past week

(access headline archives for 2004-2006 here)

Historic Indian drawings on display in Escondido

Literature course focuses on portrayal of Native Americans

2006 Native American Student Art Competition

American Indian Month events for Minneapolis

Indian Education Program student's cultural bridge

Dahl Arts Center will host a reception for three American Indian artists

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Opens "Origins in Tradition" Exhibit

Boston Indian center begins fund-raising campaign

Redbird Powwow celebrates Native American culture

Annual Spring Indian Market - Native American Artists

Norman, OK, Art Walk begins Friday

The story of Jamestown through the eyes of a Native American

The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT, features two exhibitions from its own collection. "Weaving a Collection: Native American Baskets from Bruce Museum," through June 10, explores five geographic regions of major Native American basket makers. "New Acquisitions Photography from the Bruce Museum Collection" is on view through August 19.

SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK SALE OF AMERICAN INDIAN ART ON MAY 18, 2007 TO FEATURE THE LEEDE FAMILY COLLECTION OF IMPORTANT PUEBLO POTTERY

"Native American, An Exhibit of Past, Present and Preservation"
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; through May 21
Where: Robert Wright Fine Art Gallery, 140 E. Grand Ave., Escondido
Admission: Free
Info: (760) 432-6700

Redbird's 2007 Children of Many Colors Native American Intertribal Powwow will be Fri. to Sun., July 20 to 22 at Moorpark College athletic field, 7075 Campus Road, Moorpark, CA.
The schedule is as follows:
Fri., July 20: 6 to 10 p.m., Open Native American flute circle.
Sat., July 21: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Gourd dancing, grand entry, intertribal and exhibition dancing.
Sun., July 22: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Gourd dancing, grand entry, intertribal and exhibition dancing.
The event also features Native American art, crafts, food and fine jewelry vendors, and displays by informational and nonprofit organizations.
Tepees, drums and dancers are welcome.
The host is Northern Drum Wild Horse Singers. The master of ceremonies is Michael A. Reifel, San Carlos Apache, and head gourd dancer is David Patterson, Sac and Fox Nation.
Entry is a $2 suggested donation

Museum of New Mexico/Museum of Indian Arts & Culture-Current and Online Exhibitions

Spokane artist George Flett, well kown for his depictions of ledger art, announcing forthcoming book "The Ledger Art of George Flett"

Po'pay, Leader of the First American Revolution, Clear Light Publishing, 2006, new book by Herman Agoyo (Ohkay Owingeh)

Native American Artists

Zuni Worldview, Part vII, Zuni law and religion

In Zuni Law, Smith and Roberts state, “In manifest cultural content, Zuni law appears less highly elaborated than Zuni religion. It is also true that Zuni law is less important in Zuni values than Zuni religion…In the institutional field of religion, direct association between high cultural elaboration and high evaluation is present” and while there is a an obvious disparity in elaboration of the religious and legal fields “the differential between religion and law in cultural evaluation appears to be less striking”, with the Zuni community possessing a high evaluation of law and the Tribal Council as a legal body .

In reports of litigation in both religious and legal trials “there is little expression …of an awareness of values pertaining to beauty” and upon examination the most notable instance of any reference remotely related to aesthetic expression was case 62 where it was stated “Although in a dance it was desirable that one of the dancers wore jewelry, it should not have been stolen jewelry” . In fact, most references were in regard to attanni, such as, “the woman should not have become a coyote at night” , or “the woman should not have brought a plague of grasshoppers into the valley”, or “it was undesirable that a man could send a centipede into the side of a woman”. All of these references are related to violations of observances and are considered as acts of witchcraft.

The duties of the Bow Society, and latter the Tribal Council, was enforcement as a secular institution despite religious evaluations. It would not do to punish or fend witchcraft through religious rite and ceremony, for to do so the canonical rite would paradoxically expose itself to the dangerous simply by reference to it, and would be akin to ‘fighting fire with fire’, a very undesirable prospect to the Zuni. Thus, attanni is negated by observance (teshkwi) and violations are reflections upon the individual, and dealt with by secular enforcement, which collectively, may include gossip, criticism, and public ridicule .

The underlying dialectic of the beautiful and the dangerous is evident in distinct dialogues, even in the absence of aesthetic expression, for attanni is proper to secular dialogue and is pertinent to religious dialogue only in the sense of observance where ‘if you have been living rightly, then attanni is not an issue’ (Ko’na to’ tewanan ateyaye). Non-verbal expression is not meaningless nor is a deviant utterance meaningless where the objective is the immersion of the subject into the social structure in order to eliminate causes of behavior conducive to the anti-structure of a social hierarchy where the collective consciousness of the people is to “pray to become one” .

Glooscap – Micmac

(MICMAC: Rand, Legends of the Micmacs, p. 232, No. 35)

The tradition respecting Glooscap is that he came to this country from the east,--far across the great sea; that he was a divine being, though in the form of a man. He was not far from any of the Indians (this is the identical rendering of the Indian words used by my friend Stephen in relating the sketches of his history here given). When Glooscap went away, he went toward the west. There he is still tented; and two important personages are near him, who are called Kuhkw and Coolpujot,--of whom more anon.

Glooscap was the friend and teacher of the Indians; all they knew of the arts he taught them. He taught them the names of the constellations and stars; he taught them how to hunt and fish, and cure what they took; how to cultivate the ground, as far as they were trained in husbandry. When he first came, he brought a woman with him, whom he ever addressed as Grandmother,--a very general epithet for an old woman. She was not his wife, nor did he ever have a wife. He was always sober, grave, and good; all that the Indians knew of what was wise and good he taught them.

His canoe was a granite rock. On one occasion he put to sea in this craft, and took a young woman with him as a passenger. She proved to be a bad girl; and this was manifested by the troubles that ensued. A storm arose, and the waves dashed wildly over the canoe; he accused her of being the cause, through her evil deeds, and so he determined to rid himself of her. For this purpose he stood in for the land, leaped ashore, but would not allow her to follow; putting his foot against the heavy craft, he pushed it off to sea again with the girl on it, telling her to become whatever she desired to be. She was transformed into a large, ferocious fish, called by the Indians keeganibe, said to have a huge dorsal fin,--like the sail of a boat, it is so large and high out of the water.

The Indians sometimes visit Glooscap at his present residence, so says tradition; this is in a beautiful land in the west. He taught them when he was with them that there was such a place, and led them to look forward to a residence there, and to call it their beautiful home in the far west,--where, if good, they would go at death.

The journey to that fair region far away is long, difficult, and dangerous; the way back is short and easy. Some years ago, seven stout-hearted young men attempted the journey, and succeeded. Before reaching the place, they had to pass over a mountain, the ascent of which was up a perpendicular bluff, and the descent on the other side was still more difficult, for the top hung far over the base. The fearful and unbelieving could not pass at all; but the good and confident could travel it with ease and safety, as though it were a level path.

Having crossed the mountain, the road ran between the heads of two huge serpents, which lay just opposite each other; and they darted out their tongues, so as to destroy whomsoever they hit. But the good and the firm of heart could dart past between the strokes of their tongues, so as to evade them. One more difficulty remained; it was a wall, as of a thick, heavy cloud, that separated the present world from that beautiful region beyond. This cloudy wall rose and fell at intervals, and struck the ground with such force that whatever was caught under it would be crushed to atoms; but the good could dart under when it rose, and come out on the other side unscathed.

This our seven young heroes succeeded in doing. There they found three wigwams,--one for Glooscap, one for Coolpujot, and one for Kuhkw. These are all mighty personages, but Glooscap is supreme; the other two are subordinates. Coolpujot has no bones. He cannot move himself, but is rolled over each spring and fall by Glooscap's order, being turned with handspikes; hence the name Coolpujot (rolled over by handspikes). In the autumn he is turned towards the west, in the spring towards the east; and this is a figure of speech, denoting the revolving seasons of the year,--his mighty breath and looks, by which he can sweep down whole armies and work wonders on a grand scale, indicating the weather: frost, snow, ice, and sunshine. (Such was Stephen's very satisfactory explanation.)

Kuhkw means Earthquake; this mighty personage can pass along under the surface of the ground, making all things shake and tremble by his power.

All these seven visitors had requests to proffer, and each received what he asked for; though the gift did not always correspond with the spirit of the request, it oftentimes agreed with the letter. For instance, one of these seven visitors was wonderfully enamoured of a fine country, and expressed a desire to remain there, and to live long; whereupon, at Glooscap's direction, Earthquake took him and stood him up, and he became a cedar-tree. When the wind blew through its boughs, they were bent and broken with great fracas,--making a thunder-storm that rolled far and wide over the country, accompanied by strong winds, which scattered the cedar-boughs and seeds in all directions, producing all the cedar-groves that exist in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and elsewhere.

The other men started, and reached home in a short time.

One of them had asked for a medicine that would be effectual in curing disease. This he obtained; but, neglecting to follow implicitly the directions given, he lost it before he reached home. It was carefully wrapped up in a piece of paper, and he was charged not to undo the parcel until he reached home. His curiosity got the better of his judgment; he could not see what difference it could make if he just looked at his prize as he was going along. So he undid the parcel, and presto! the medicine slipped out on the ground, spread and slid in all directions, covering up the face of the earth, and vanishing from sight.

On another occasion several young men went to see Glooscap in his present abode. One of them went to obtain the power of winning the heart of some fair one, which all his unaided skill had failed hitherto to do; an hundred times he had tried to get a wife, but the girls all shunned him. Many of the party who started on this perilous expedition failed to overcome the difficulties that lay in their way, and turned back, baffled and defeated; but several of them succeeded. They were all hospitably entertained; all presented their requests, and were favorably heard. The man who sought power to captivate some female heart was the last to proffer his petition. Glooscap and his two subordinates conferred together in a whisper, and then Earthquake informed him that his ugly looks and still more ugly manners were the chief hindrances to his success; but they must try to help him. So he was handed a small parcel, and directed not to open it until he reached his own village; this he took, and they all set off for home together. The night before they arrived, he could restrain his curiosity no longer; he opened the parcel, the foolish fellow! Out flew young women by the scores and hundreds, covering the face of the earth, piling themselves in towering heaps, and burying the poor fellow, crushing him to the earth under the accumulating weight of their bodies. His comrades had cautioned him against disobeying the mandate, and had begged him not to undo the parcel; but he had not heeded the caution. They now heard him calling for help, but he called in vain, they could not help him; and his cries became fainter and fainter, and finally ceased altogether. Morning came at last. The young women had all vanished, and the fragments of their comrade were scattered over the ground; he had been killed and ground to atoms as the result of his unbridled curiosity and disobedience.

Tales of the North American Indians, by Stith Thompson [1929] and is now in the public domain’

Keeper of Stories
Reprinted by permission

Zuni fetish updates from Amerindian Arts

Books of Interest


Navajo Spaceships

Classic Hopi And Zuni Kachina Figures

MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK: THE FIRST 100 YEARS

Fine Indian Jewelry: The Millicent Rogers Museum Collection

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

THE FOURTH WORLD
W. Tussinger has written his first novel which was released in December, 2004.
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.
To Order this book

THE WOMEN/Edward S. Curtis
by Christopher Cardozo; foreword by Louise Erdrich (Bulfinch Press, $35) — Cardozo, who lives in Minneapolis, is the world's foremost expert on, and collector of, photos of American Indians taken by turn-of-the-century photographer Edward S. Curtis. Cardozo went through 1,000 photos to find the 100 sepia-toned images in this book, which show the daily lives of American Indian women at a time when most were already on reservations. Minneapolis novelist and poet Erdrich discusses women's work in her foreword: " … although Edward Curtis believed that he was documenting a vanishing culture, it is in these humble arts that the strength of Native culture lives on."
To Order this book

Literature on Native America


An Overview of Pacific Northwest Native Indian Art
Free downloadable e-book

American Indian Women's Activism in the 1960s and 1970s
by Donna Hightower Langston
Complete article

Linguists Find the Words, and Pocahontas Speaks Again
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand, The Book
Early tribal artifacts put in spotlight at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Click here, Stewart Quandelacy, Blue Peruvian Opal Medicine Bear

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

Literacy in Indigenous Communities by L. David van Broekhuizen, Ph.D. (2000)
HTML Format (70K)
PDF Format(117K)
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.

Web Sites:


Andres Quandelacy, Blue Peruvian Opal Bear with Fish

Native American Links Page
Indigenous Peoples Literature
Native Voice
Wisdom of the Old People
By David Whitney
National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation
Inuit film to tell story of last great shaman
My Two Beads Worth: Indigenous News Online
Northern California Indian Development Council
Native Village
Smudge Ceremony

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posted by Amerindian Arts at 1:32 PM 0 Comments