Nightmares are something that nobody wants to experience, especially at a very young age. The authentic dreamcatcher is completely handmade, with materials that include: Red Willow branches, sinew string, feathers, beads, and leather. The structure is carefully put together, the Red Willow branch bent to make a hoop shape and sinews completely covering the hoop in intricate patterns resembling a spider web. Feathers and beads are hung from the sinews at the bottom of the hoop. The finishing touch, representing its authenticity, is the leather coating placed on the entire structure. Its function is to trap the nightmares in the hoop, and to let good dreams fall through the feathers and onto the child. The way the original cultural symbol looks is hard to picture in one’s head, as only …show more content…
The Dreamcatcher is a very important part of the Indigenous culture as a whole, as it is a symbol of unity between all tribes. The legend of this cultural piece dates back to stories of a supernatural “Spider Woman” who aided the Ojibwa people, and was a motherly figure to all the children. Eventually, this mysterious woman could no longer take care of the nomadic tribe due to their constant relocation, and therefore created the very first dreamcatcher for them. The origin story is not nearly as popular as the item, which has been constantly appropriated since. It is no question that the Indigenous culture as a whole is often appropriated and mistreated, with others offensively believing they can incorporate the object into their own lives. Dreamcatchers today are constantly used as only a decorative item or a beautiful tattoo by those who do not know the cultural significance and are a part of other ethnic groups. Learning about the significance of this item should be emphasized, as it will prevent others from trying to carelessly adapt it as their
The Kwakiutl Indian tribe existed before the discovery of North America by the European culture and inhabited the coast of the Pacific Northwest of the United States and British Columbia in Canada. The tribe is rich in tradition and culture and has remained steadfast in their beliefs, history, teachings and artisan skills which have been passed down generation to generation. The artisans in the Kwakiutl tribe mastered the art of creating special ceremonial masks that are not only beautiful and aesthetically interesting to the eye, but also mechanically intriguing in which the masks serve a specific purpose to a theme during different ceremonies that are conducted by tribal specialists during certain times throughout the year.
In the text “Seeing Red: American Indian Women Speaking about their Religious and Cultural Perspectives” by Inés Talamantez, the author discusses the role of ceremonies and ancestral spirituality in various Native American cultures, and elaborates on the injustices native women face because of their oppressors.
One such group, the Tlingit, used art to create and portray its rights, privileges, and talents inherited to them and became symbols of tribal importance. As they lived in extended family tribal canoe houses, they used art to decorate and empower their tribe in their social structures and often commissioned elaborate artwork in order to create jealousy within the groups. Because the Tlingit culture believed that they were all descendants of animals, the subject matter of most Tlingit art is a highly stylized representation of their ancestor animal. Though religious belief was integrated into Tlingit artwork, it remained an iconographic representation of a tribe’s lineage serving many roles such as power and protection.
Aboriginal spirituality originally derives from the stories of the dreaming. The dreaming is the knowledge and a sense of belonging that the Aboriginals had of the beginning of life and the relationship to the land and sea (Australian Museum, 2011). The dreaming stories are passed on from one generation to the next orally. These stories teach the following generations how to behave towards the land and other people. The dreaming stories give them a sense of duty to protect the land and appreciate it because the dreamtime stories indicate that the spirits have not died but are still alive in different forms as animals or humans, therefore the ancestor’s power is still felt through the landforms (Clark, 1963), (Australian Governement, 2008)
Northwest Indian artists are best known for their abilities in basketry, wood-carving, and weavings (Northwest 1). They like to decorate all of their belongings with intricate black and red paintings, including their canoes and the plank houses in which they lived. Today, you can find tribal artists still using the original techniques and also using more innovative ways with today’s technology. The beauty of northwest tribal art is you can’t have one thing without the other. “If you have blankets, there has to be dancing. If you have dancing, there has to be music; and so on. It all ties together” (Johnson). There is nothing on this Earth quite like the beauty of Northwest coast tribal
I went to a high school where the mascot was a Native American Warrior. I had come from a middle school where the mascot was a dog, so the transition to a human mascot seemed odd. I later learned in high school history classes that Native Americans were repressed peoples. When institutions and sport groups were being formed, powerful mascots would be adopted. The mascots were preferably fearless and dangerous creatures. Because of rising issues with Native Americans during the 1800s and reservation issues in the 1900s, attention would be drawn to Native Americans. This attention led to adoption, which then lead to a group of people representing another group of people. This degradation to symbolism is the opposite of personification for a suppressed people. Interpretations would then fly around as misunderstanding occurred, along with dishonor. Disregard of the effects in contrast towards insult has been evident in both non-Native Americans and Native Americans. For the groups of people that have taken action, there has been ongoing effort to remove Native American dishonor from being a mascot. Therefore, I would like to go into discussion of the causes and effects of the Native American mascot – with an emphasis on interpretation from both Native Americans and common folk – followed by past and ongoing solutions.
Doxtator, Deborah. Excerpts from Fluffs and Feathers: An Exhibit on the Symbols of Indianness, A Resource Guide. 1988. Revised edition. Brantford, Ontario: Woodland Cultural Centre, 1992. 12-14. Print.
For example, the Chi Wara is a ceremonial object. The Chi Wara is from the Bamana people, who used the visuals of dance as well in their art. The Chi Wara is a mystical, zoomorphic, animal headpiece that encompasses an antelope, anteater, and human. It is said to bring favors of fertility, agri...
“Cross” or “sacred fire”, “arrow”, “zigzag”, “bird”, “wave”, “mountains” and “diamondback rattlesnake” all have something in common. What do all of these names have in common? They are all names of Seminole patchwork designs. What exactly is patchworking? It can be defined as the process of sewing pieces of solid colored cloth together to make long rows of designs, which are then joined horizontally to other bands of cloth to form a garment (Downs, 1995, 88). This Native American artwork is closely associated with the Florida Seminoles. The history of this tribe and how they came to make patchwork garments is rather interesting. In making patchwork garments, things to be considered include how it is done (process), what elements of design are used, whom the garment is to be made for and who actually makes it. Presently, there are less artists in this craft and the future of patchwork may be at risk. Seminole patchwork has been done for over a century, and it’s beauty and uniqueness needs to be revealed and recognized by Americans.
The Hopi Indians use art in their everyday life from woven rugs to clay pots. Art is a very important aspect of the tribe’s life and each piece is said to have a story behind it. The Hopi tribe even has dances said to bring luck and prosper to the community. They also have a very unique piece of art that ties directly to their religion, kachinas mask and dolls.
“Native American Legends.” The Ghost Dance- A Promise of Fulfillment. 2003-Present. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Fisher, C.J., Byrne, A., Edwards, and Kahn, E. (1970) REM and NREM nightmares. In E. Hartman (ed), Sleep and Dreaming. Boston : Little Brown
If a constant re-evaluation of our childhood dreams is so inherent to their final realization, then why are some of them so difficult to interpret? The mysterious nature of some dreams, along with their connection to the collective unconscious, may hold the answer. Modern Dream Philosophers like Freud suggest that dreams are the window of the unconscious, revealing in symbols our repressed desire for wish fulfilment metaphorically. Jung enhanced this "inner space" theory by suggesting that dreams are the window to the collective unconscious as well, where the unconscious mind is shared with all humanity. That is, the flow of symbols, images and ideas of an ever changing childhood dream world landscape connect us to our real thoughts and feelings, and to the universality of all wish fulfillment. If we used imagery to express this process, then one is referred to Nelly Fertado's "Childhood Dreams" song lyrics: "I am sliding on the rainbow of my childhood dreams" .
Even though dream catchers are a common part of modern society and can be found almost anywhere, whether it is an actual dream catcher or just the image; however, it has not always been this way. Dream catchers are web-like objects developed by Native Americans that are believed to catch bad dreams in their web and allow only the good dreams to flow through making their way to the person sleeping below. But how did this object originally intended to prevent nightmares from occurring reach the state of popularity that it has achieved today? Not only do dream catchers provided a hopeful alternative to the fear suffered through during a nightmare, but each one is a beautiful work of art. The beautiful protectors install a feeling of safety that
The world is full of people, who aspire to do something great in their life, but then their hopes and dreams are taken away from them and they decide to give up on them which lead them to losing their will of living and pursuing goals. Augusto Cury demonstrates to us that one man can change the outcome of someone’s future life choices. One man can make dreams feel so attainable and achievable. One man can light the last matchstick left in a strangers hope. In “The Dreamseller by Augusto Cury, we are introduced to a man who us seen as a Sage, a man who likes to sell dreams to people and add a simple coma to those trying to put a period to their lives. He brings new hope to the helpless and lost, and proves this by saving a man from committing suicide, giving hope to a lost thief, and encouraging a woman who believes she will never find true love.