Native American Indians

1
Native American Indians

• The way it was influences us forever.
• Compiled by Margo Thornbury
• for educational use
• October 2005

2
Traditions and ways of life are passed down
through storytelling.

• Aadizookaan
• means (in Anishinaabemowin, or Ojibwe language)
• a traditional story that others call legends
  or myths.
• The Cherokee have two kinds of stories. The
  sacred stories tell about why the Cherokee came
  to have certain healings, songs. The small animal
  stories tell why a certain animal looks the way
  they do, or act they way they do.

3
Respect for the Land and Life

• Traditional Innu believe that both their
  spiritual and material well-being are dependent
  upon maintaining good relations with animal
  masters.
• A hunter does not kill an animal against its
  will, but with its consent.
• As long as they follow the customs handed down
  from their forefathers, and they do not offend
  the animals and their spiritual masters, they
  will continue to live in peace with each other
  and with nature.

4
To Please the Caribou Innu Caribou-skin Coat

• At the end of the 17th century and during much of
  the 18th, painted caribou-skin coats were made
  and worn in Northeastern Canada area.
• The men received instructions in their dreams
  about the motifs that would give them power when
  put on their hunting equipment, and the women
  then carried out the work.
• The style was influenced by Europeans garments.

5
Explorers meet the Cherokee
DeSoto

• Goods were traded
• like food, clothes,
• and guns.
• Wars were common.
• Treaties were signed.
• Skills were shared.

6
Animals and Men The Iroquois recognized the
importance of the animals with which they shared
the forest. They depended on animals for
survival. The European desire furs, especially
the beaver. In exchange for furs, Iroquois men
brought home useful trade goods, especially metal
items such as guns, axes, knives, hoes, cooking
pots, needles, scissors, and nails.
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TradeThe impact of trade was enormous. A steel
knife was much more efficient than a stone
(flint). A Hudson Bay blanket was much lighter
than a buffalo robe. The gun improved war and
hunting efforts.
Trade Beads used in the Fur Trade
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Records from early trading posts show a made
beaver was worth six Hudson's Bay beads three
light blue Padre (Crow) beads two larger
transparent blue beads.
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The Colonists, British, and Cherokees

• Local militia were raised to protect against
  Cherokee raids and the Cherokee were forced to
  cede the land in another treaty.
• The Cherokee chose to side with the British in
  the Revolutionary War.
• The British began to heavily supply arms and
  ammunition and even offered bounties for scalps
  of colonists as early as 1775.

10
The boundaries of the Cherokee Country prior to
the European invasion.

• 
  
  

The yellow represents Kentucky.
11
Trail of Tears

• The Indians were forced from their homes
  westward.
• Below is Mantle Rock, in Livingston County,
  Kentucky, where three thousand
• Cherokees sought shelter while the river was
  frozen and impassable in the
• winter of 1838. There were 260 that perished.

Mantle Rock, listed as a Native American
Historical landmark, is an enduring emblem of our
resistance, survival, spirituality and
regathering.
12
Mandy Falls A Reminder of Our Destiny to Return

• According to local folklore, Mandy Flanary, a
  Cherokee woman, maintained a nightly vigil
  beside a fire, meditating during rain, sleet, or
  snow.      
• Mandy's mother escaped the soldiers at the
  beginning of the Trail of Tears, married a man
  named Harper, and migrated to Louisville
  Kentucky. Mandy left Louisville at around age
  fifteen and married Harve Flanary. They settled
  close to Mantle Rock, where they raised a family.
  Their descendants still live in the area.

13
American Indian Dances
VICTORY DANCES Victory Dances celebrated
success in battle.
14
PRAYER STICK A Prayer Stick was used at
religious ceremonies by the Kickapoo Indians of
the Eastern Woodlands. Markings of the stick
reminded the Indians of the order of or past
events.

• RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES
• Religious Ceremonies played an
• important part in the life of most
• Indian tribes.
• Many of these ceremonies were to
• assure a plentiful supply of food,
• and some lasted several days.
• The Pine Tree Dance was a
• harvest celebration of the
• Southwest Pueblo Indians.

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WOODEN MASK A Wooden Mask, carved out of a
living tree, was worn by a shaman of the Iroquois
False Face Society during disease-curing
ceremonies. These masks were painted red or black
depending upon whether the carving was started
in the morning (red) or afternoon (black).
16
POMO BASKETRY Pomo Basketry was among the
finest in the New World. Feathers and bead work
were woven into this ceremonial basket.
17
Functional
Elements that appear to be ornamental are often
functionalthe tin cones attached to Apache
burden baskets that tinkle and ring as the wearer
walks, warning away snakes.
18

• Kiowa shield, ca. 1890.
• Rawhide, semi-tanned
• hide, wool, rabbit fur,
• horse hair, and sparrow-
• hawk feathers.     

19
European Influence Iroquois and other Woodlands
artists adapted their basket-making, beadwork,
embroidery, and quillwork, to develop art styles
that appealed to the Victorian tastes of American
tourists such as glass beads in raised floral
patterns, usually on dark velvet or red wool.
20
Exchange of crafts Eastern Canada's Micmac
people rechanneled their traditional quillworking
skills into producing quilled patterns on birch
bark for Victorian customers. Huron women,
adept at working in moose hair and birch bark,
taught the Ursuline nuns how to work in these
materials. The nuns trained the Native women to
do fine embroidery in European floral designs.
21
Northwest
Tlingit society is divided into two halves, the
Ravens and the Eagles. Every Tlingit person
belongs to one side or the other. Some of the
clans of the Raven group include the Frog, Goose,
Owl, Raven, Salmon, and Sea Lion. Clans of the
Eagle group include the Auk, Bear, Eagle, Shark,
Whale, and Wolf.
22
wolf
Eagle
Totem poles of the Northwest were carved out of
large cedar trees. They marked the household
protective spirits and geneaology. They also dug
out canoes that could hold 20 men and 10,000
pounds of fish.
23
Today, as in olden times, each person invited to
a potlatch receives a present. This present could
be as simple as a pencil or as complicated as a
carving. At any particular potlatch, everyone
receives the same present.
A Potlatch is a wonderful festival with weddings
and stories and feasting and dancing and trading.
"Interior of Habitation at Nootka Sound"John
Webber (British), April 1778PMAE 41-72-10/499
24
Headdress Haida?, collected 1904 This carving
of an orca, or killer whale, was worn on the head
by a dancer, who could roll its eyes or move its
lower jaw during a theatrical performance.
25
NW frog mask
26
Halibut Hook Tlingit, pre-1898 The Pacific
halibut looks like a fish swimming on its side
along the bottom of the sea, except both eyes are
on the upper side. It belongs to the flounder
family and is by far the largest of all flatfish.

27
Southeast
Lightning Dance Wand Hopi, ca. 1904 Lightning
bolts, or tawepiki, arecarried by male dancers
in the Buffalo Dance.
28
Tableta Hopi, ca. 1904 Hopi teenage girls wear
these headdresses in the autumn Butterfly Dance.
Their young uncles and nephews make the
tabletas, which the girls keep as mementos of
their youth. On the top of this headdress are
birds and sunflowers with a terraced cloud in the
center. Two sun katsinas flank towering clouds
and falling rain. On the reverse side are sun and
sunflower designs.
Symmetrically balanced
29
Katsinas/Kachinas At the winter solstice (the
Powamuya Ceremony) the katsinas (benevolent
spirits) come to live with the Hopi on their mesa
tops to help them prepare for the next growing
season. Beans are sprouted for planting n the
kiva. They also initiate children (6 to 10
years old) into the Katsina Society to also
prepare them for growth through discipline. The
children are then allowed to participate in
katsina performances. The katsina ceremonial
season ends at the summer solstice (the Niman
Ceremony).
Only men perform in the Kachina Ceremonies.
Each katsina can be identified by its own
individual character, costume, song, or dance
style.
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The Mud Head Kachina... The first Kachina to come
to this world.He was formed from red mud.
Anasazi Mother Earth symbol from book of the
Hopi by Frank Waters
 The center of the Mother Earth symbol symbolizes
the Sipupu - the place where the Kachinas emerge
to this world. The small hole in the floor of
the kiva is also the Sipapu. The vertical line of
the Mother Earth symbol brings the Kachinas out
of the Sipapu.
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KACHINA DANCERS Kachina Dancers perform at
Pueblo ceremonies to ensure a good crop. The
masked men chant and dance to the rhythm of
their rattles. The dancers that wear stripes
are clowns. The Kachina dancers visited
children to learn if the youngsters had been
good.
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There are more than 250 different kachinas, each
with its own separate attributes, representing
everything from animals to abstract concepts.
The Hopi were the original Kachina doll carvers,
using a single piece of cottonwood root. The
Navajo began carving in their own creative way,
adding leather,feather, beads and turquoise.
Kachinas represent the spirits of created beings
like the soaring eagle and the cunning wolf.
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Katsina Mother Hahay'iwuuti Putsqatihu Manuel
Chavarria, Hopi, 1996 The flat tihu is the type
given to infants. With its red stripes, it is a
prayer for growth and full development of the
child.
34
West Plains Indian Parfleche
Parfleche Arapaho, collected 1903 Plains women
were often inspired by the environment around
them when creating their geometric paintings.
Only each individual artist knew the meaning of
her design.
35
Saddle Blanket Lakota, collected 1890 Although
this appears to be a typical beaded saddle
blanket, the central panel is a flour
sack. Plains women integrated newly available
products from the European settlers into their
works. Sometimes the flour sack was considered
more valuable than the flour, which the Plains
people had no use for in their traditional diet.
36
The Lakota (Western Sioux) acquired horses from
the Europeans and guns in quantity. They left
their woodland homes and gardens in pursuit of
the vast herds of bison and other game animals,
including elk and deer. According to the winter
count kept by American Horse, the first group of
Oglala Lakota arrived at the Black Hills in 1775.

37
Winter Count With no written language, history
is passed down orally or by recording them
pictorially. The Lakota recorded their history
by creating winter counts, which are drawings of
historical events on animal hides or muslin.
38
Drum Arapaho, collected 1903 Two elk,
identifiable by their bicolored bodies, are
painted on this hand drum.
Symmetrically balanced
39
Pueblo IV and V... 1300 A.D. to the Present
The black area represents the Pueblo IV era. The
white dots represent the Pueblo villages at the
time of the arrival of the Spaniards. This began
the Pueblo V, or the Historic Period.
Grouped in this period are the modern Pueblo
Indians who's villages can be seen today in New
Mexico and the Hopi Mesas of Arizona
40
Navajo
When the Spanish settled in the southwest in the
1600's they brought horses and sheep with them
from Europe. The Navajo, influenced by the
Pueblo, are well known for their weaving even
today-they use the wool from these sheep for
their clothing, blankets, and rugs.
41
Many Navajo families still live in hogans which,
because of their design, are cool in the summer
and warm in the winter.
Pueblo
42
(No Transcript)
43
The Plains Teepee or tipi could survive the
strong storms and tornadoes.
44
Longhouse
Wigwam
45
Navajo artists are known for their silver work,
which they learned from the Mexican people. It is
often decorated with a blue stone called
turquoise to make bracelets, rings, earrings,
belts and necklaces.
There are many legends about Turquoise The Pima
consider it to bring good fortune and strength
and that it helped overcome illness. Pueblo
Indians thought that its color was stolen from
the sky. In Hopi legend the lizard who travels
between the above and the below, excretes
turquoise and that the stone can hold back
floods. The Apache felt that turquoise on a gun
or bow made it shoot straight. The Navajo
consider it as good fortune to wear and believe
it could appease the Wind Spirit.
46
The Plains Indian mans' life revolved around the
bison. His main food source was the meat of the
bison. He prayed to the sun, the giver of life,
the giver of bison to man. He believed that a
stone found that resembled the head or body of
the bison held great power.
When scouts spotted bison, they would return to
the camp and dancing would begin in order to draw
the bison. Dancing might last for weeks until the
bison were close. Dancing always brought the
bison.All tribes honored the bison during the
Sun Dance. Tongue and backfat was gathered as
well as the meat from a ritually killed bison.
Painted bison skulls made altars.
47
Seed Beads
Sioux beaded buckskin gloves (notice European
influenced floral design) and medicine pouch.
Each color represents one of the four
directions--north being white, black representing
west, red symbolizing south, and yellow depicting
east
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The EAGLE symbolized not only ferocity but also
purity, for it flew high where the air was
clearest - and where the Great Spirit resided.
Those who wished to ask something of the Great
Spirit sometimes sent their message by way of the
eagle spirit. Prayers are sent skyward in the
smoke of burning tobacco. Feathers are often
considered the most potent part of the bird.
The term Peace Pipe is a white man's term, and
were called Calumets by the Native Americans,
named after Calamus...the "stalk" or "reed." It
is properly referred to as the Sacred Pipe.
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Pottery
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Navajo storm pattern rug
Symmetrically balanced
51
The first wooden cigar store Indians date back to
1617 in England. Similar carved figureheads were
placed on the front bows of the sailing ships
that belonged to the tobacco companies so as to
further their advertisements. In the
mid-eighteenth century the early American
colonialists remembered the Virginie Men at the
tobacco shops in the old country. Then, out of
the woodwork, artists like the Skillin Family,
John Cromwell, and Thomas Brooks started carving
life-sized wooden Indians. The cigar store
Indians provided an important function in a time
when most Americans were illiterate they served
as store signs allowing the people to know that
they had arrived at the tobacco shop.
52
Turtle rattles
The number of  lunar months are embodied in the
number of plates of a turtle shell "13 moons on
Turtle's back." The smaller segments around the
lower edge of the shell represent the 28 days
between new moons.  
Turtle Island is the name given to North
America by many of Native American Indians.
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Resources

• http//www.mintmuseum.org/penland/other/ceramics_k
  -2.pdf
• http//www.hanksville.org/storytellers/tocT1.html
• http//www.gatheringofnations.com/educate/articles
  /turtle.htm
• http//www.ibiblio.org/storytelling/cherokee.html
• http//www.innu.ca/culture.html
• http//cherokeehistory.com/index.html
• http//mantlerock.org/mrc-land-dedication.htm
• www.carnegiemuseums.org
• http//education.nebrwesleyan.edu/eisenhower/parts
  ites/northeastpage/safarik.html
• http//www.plentycoups.org/educate/home.html
• http//www.tipis-tepees-teepees.com/historic_photo
  s_of_tipis.htm
• http//www.thefurtrapper.com/trade_beads.htm
• http//www.spiritoftrees.org/folktales/sort_tree/f
  olktales_trees.html
• http//www.lotusarts.com/Event_DAHMay2005.htm
• http//mysite.verizon.net/vze2rw83/id17.html
• http//www.nmai.si.edu
• http//www.peabody.harvard.edu/katsina/ceremonies.
  html
• http//www.alaskanativeartists.com
• http//www.cdli.ca