Kachinas Research Paper

Different aspects of dances all represent something special and meaningful to each specific tribe. Firstly, the purposes of the Native American’s dances are for entertainment, religious rituals, successful hunts, harvests, to give thanks, prayer, victory, mythology, along with many more. (Weiser- Alexander and Alexander) In the video Native American Indian

Many dances and ceremonies were performed in order to honor harvests (Keyworth 37). Along with honoring harvests, environmental concerns were the basis for the majority of ritualistic practices and dances (Hill 37). As for religious ceremonies, they were held in “circular…semi-underground buildings” (Burke 8). One tribe specific to California, the Chumas, praised wooden posts that represented a certain power or entity as mentioned in Through Indian Eyes (Walker 272).“[T]he Deer Dance” was another spiritual dance performed to emphasize power, birth, and the deer as an animal itself (Hill 38). “[T]he Brush Dance,” “the Jump Dance,” and “the Feather Dance” were also performed according to The Encyclopedia of North American Indians (Birchfield

These Grandfathers presented Black Elk with gifts to help him on his journey. A wooden cup, a bow and arrows, a white wing of cleansing, an herb to heal, a sacred pipe a flowering stick and the power to make live and to destroy were the tools that were given to him. Then, the Grandfathers showed Black Elk what was to become of his people. He was shown a holy tree which once had been flowering and was now gone. The people he was supposed to lead were thin and starving, and Black Elk cried as he saw the fate of his people.

The fork of the lodge represents the eagle's nest. The eagle plays a large part in the Sun Dance for it is one of the Plains Indians' most sacred animal. The eagle flies high, being the closest creature to the Sun. Therefore it is the link between man and spirit, being the messenger that delivers prayers to the Wakan-Tanka (god). (Atwood) In addition to being a messenger, the eagle also represents many human traits. We can see what values and traits these cultures saw as being important in a person by those traits imposed upon such a sacred animal. The eagle is seen as courageous, swift, and strong. He has great foresight and knows everything. "In an eagle there is all the wisdom of the world." (Atwood) During the Sun Dance the eagle is the facilitator of communication between man and spirit. The Crow may be accompanied by a dancing eagle in his visions, the eagle "instructing him about the medicine acquired through the vision." (Atwood) The eagle's feathers can cure illnesses. During the Sun Dance a medicine man may use his eagle feather for healing, first touching the feather to the sun-pole then to the patient, transferring the energy from the pole to the ill. It is the buffalo, however, that makes up the main theme of the Sun Dance. In various stories it was the buffalo that began the ritual. The Shoshone believe that the buffalo taught someone the proper way to carry out the dance and the benefits in doing it. Buffalo songs, dances, and feast

After the Osage people were sent to Earth to live, many animals came with them, however, the story said, “of all these the elk was the finest”. The elk was the animal that sent the winds to make the earth habitable by sending the winds, making the soil soft, and growing plants. Unlike the Osage Account, in the Navajo Myth Begochiddy sends a badger up to see the new world. Then the story goes on to talk about how Begochiddy sent up seven different types of storms to mold and shape the earth, and the story finally ends talking about the Lukatso

Sun Dance is a highly sacred ceremony for many sects of Indigenous peoples in North America. The Sun Dance ceremony is practiced mainly within Plains tribes and has survived as a tradition for hundreds of years. The nations amongst which it was created include the seven tribes of the Lakota nation, the Blackfoot, the Cheyenne, and the Arapaho. Over time the ceremony spread to the southern Plains tribes, the Kiowa and Comanche, as well as the northern Plains peoples, such as the Crees of Saskatchewan and Sarcees of Alberta. Many others across the Plains region now practice Sun Dance, including the Ponca, Hidatsa, Ute, Ojibwa, Pawnee, and more. The original name derives from the Lakota term Wi wanyang wacipi, meaning “sun gazing dance.”

The bears scare away Goldilocks. In Where the Lilies Bloom, the roof caves in opening their house up to any wild animal. At this time, they had a chicken and a pig inside so they wouldn’t freeze to death. A fox shows up at the hole in the roof and decides to pounce on the chicken and pig, which is the Luther’s way of surviving and eating. Mary Call’s surviving instincts kick in. “The piece of two-by-four caught the fox square across the forehead. His eyes rolled up in his head. He reeled backward in the snow. I walked over to him and kicked him hard in the gut. He quivered once and was still” (156). These two situations are similar in the way that they both have intruders that they scare away or

In terms of nomos, the Hopis’ religion served just as well as any could have. At birth babies are born onto sacred sand. When they need rain for crops, the Katcinas dance in the plaza. To live a healthy life and bear many children, Hopi’s have intercourse with the Salt Woman. These rituals and traditions make sense to the Hopi and provide mental security. It shields them from terror and imposes a meaningful order upon reality, as put in The Sacred Canopy. The Hopi can use their religion to eschew helplessness and a fear of being spiritually alone in the world. It provides them with answers and makes them calm and happy. These qualities make their religion successful as defined by The Sacred Canopy’s requirement of nomization for a meaningful life.

Throughout Black Elk’s life, their community was moved from one place to another, when they reached other destinations after awhile they had to fight whites and to live through loses and hard times. Black Elk always had the visions of the people dancing and the Grandfathers that were symbolizing villages in many dreams that he had to save. By telling the dreams to the village, they powered themselves and were going to fight in small groups relying on spirits to help them in, saying “today is a good day to live”.

The Hopi tribe is found in the Southwest region of the United States in Arizona, where they trace their ancestry back 2,000 years; however, tribal legends suggest that the Hopi tribe migrated to Arizona from the south, which is present day South America, Central America, and Mexico. The Hopi is considered one of the oldest living cultures by historical documentation (Hopi Tribe). The Hopi Butterfly Dance, or Bulitikibi as the Hopi call it, is a two-day ceremony usually performed in the late summer that falls into the social dance category. The dance is a celebration of the end of the harvest season and thankfulness for a good crop. The Butterfly Dance is sponsored by a family and held specifically for the young people of the tribe (Lomahaftewa). Important aspects of the dance include the public performance, with no sacred altars or secret rites associated, and the fact that the dance is social in nature and open to spectators (Fewkers).

Throughout history, dolls have been given to children to play with or to spark their young imaginations. However, in some cultures dolls have been handed down to kids to serve as tools of education and teach them about their heritage in a more entertaining and creative way. Native Americans across North America have used dolls to teach their young about their ancestors and the ancestral ways for centuries with these dolls called Katchinas. They originated from the Hopi Indian tribes. Since then they have created over two hundred dolls. The tribe was first discovered during the 1600’s living in the North West of Arizona. They have continued to live there for thousands of years now. Hopi Indians have sub tribes that consisted of 12 different

The clothing of the deer dancer is also ritually and symbolically significant. The rattles that the deer dancer wears around his ankles are made from the cocoons of butterflies. The rattles are used to represent the sounds of the insect world. The rattles that the deer dancer holds in his hands are made out of gourds and they represent the plant world. Deer hooves on the deer dancer’s

In this novel, animals are used as plot devices to save Bimaadiz and Eta from death and capture. The first experience with animal imagery and Eta in the novel is when her village has died of starvation and as the only survivor she meets a she-wolf who she suckles from to survive: “With the rough nipple in front of her face, she latched on and began sucking” (Treuer 19). If it wasn’t for Eta’s interaction with the wolf, she would have died. The she-wolf was able to save her life and because of that, her story and relationship with Bimaadiz was able to unfold later. The dead villagers have an extremely different interaction with wolves: “If there had been anyone to see it, what happened next would have looked like the most awful of massacres...All that remained were the half-eaten corpses of the villagers. The bodies were badly damaged along with all the tunics and moccasins and gloves they wore” (17-21). Eta’s deceased villagers have a more violent experience with the wolves when they are eaten by them. The word “massacre” and description of half-eaten corpses is an indication of the violent nature in which the villagers were eaten by the wolves. It was necessary for Eta survive for her storyline with Bimaadiz to continue, so she was saved by the she-wolf but the other villagers were not necessary to the story and suffered a violent end. Bimaadiz has a similar experience to

The Kachina dolls are used in rituals and ceremonies along with different dances to bring rain and grow crops. There are over three hundred different strong spirits that control nature. There are three key aspects of ceremonies. The kiva, the paho, and the corn mother. The kiva is an underground circular room where rituals are done in private and then ceremonial dances are performed for the public.

The tradition focuses on their music, dance, and