While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Dramatic representation. Among many tribes ceremonies
were dramatic in character. Every religious rite had its dramatic phases or
episodes expressive of beliefs, emotions, or desires, but in certain in stances
the dramatic element dominated and became differentiated from the ceremony. In
such cases there were masked and costumed actors with stage setting, effigies,
and other properties, and events, historical or mythic, in the cultural history
or life of the tribe were represented. The most elaborate of these exhibitions
were those of the Pueblo peoples and the tribes of the N. W. coast. Among the
Hopi a dramatic representation occurs, yearly in March either in the open plaza
or in a kiva. The space between the fire and one end of the room is set apart as
the stage; at the rear a decorated screen is placed, behind which are men who
sound shell trumpets and manipulate the effigies of a plumed serpent, which, at
times, are projected through the screen and contend with the actors in front.
Marionettes of the Corn-maids are occasionally employed and are skilfully man
aged; birds walk about and whistle; imitation fields of corn are swept over by
serpent effigies, and men representing primal gods struggle with the effigies in
an effort to overcome them. The stage set ting and personnel are changed for
every act, and during the change blankets are held around the fire to darken the
kiva.
In the large wooden dwellings of the N. W. myths and legends were dramatized.
The performance took place at one end of the house, where concealed openings in
the painted wall admitted the actors who personated gods and heroes, and there
were devices to give realistic effect to strange and magical scenes. Songs and
dances accompanied the dramatic presentation.
Some of the great tribal ceremonies of the inland peoples, while religious in
initiative, were social in general character. They portrayed episodes in the
past history of the tribe for the instruction of the younger generation. There
were societies a part of whose function was to preserve the history of its
membership. This was done by means of song and the dramatic representation of
the acts the song commemorated.
The Pawnee were remarkable for their skill in sleight-of-hand performances.
Seeds were sown, plants grew, blossomed, and yielded fruit; spears were thrust
through the body and many other surprising feats performed in the open lodge
with no apparent means of concealment. During many dramatic representations,
particularly those which took place in the open air, episodes were introduced in
which a humorous turn was given to some current event in the tribe. Sometimes
clowns appeared and by their antics relieved the tensity of the dramatic
presentation. Among the Pueblo Indians these "delight-makers," as Bandelier
translates the name of the Koshare of the Queres villagers, constitute a
society which performs comedies in the intervals of the public dances. See
Ceremony, Dance.
Consult Bandelier, Delight Makers, 1900; Boas in Rep. Nat. Mus., 1895;
Dorsey and Voth in Field Columb. Mus. Publ., Anthrop. ser. ; Fewkes ( 1 )
in 15th and 19th Reps. B. A. E., 1897, 1900; (2) Proc. Wash. Acad.
Sci., i, 1900; (3) various articles in Am. Anthrop. and Jour. Am. Folk
lore; Fletcher in Proc. A. A. A. S., XLV, 1896; Matthews in Mem.
Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., vi, 1902; Powell in 19th Rep. B. A. E., 1900;
Stevenson in 23d Rep. B. A. E., 1905. (A. C. F.)
This site
includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be
interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes
implied .
Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906
