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!
Fasting. A rite widely observed among the Indians and
practised both in private and in connection with public ceremonies. The first
fast took place at puberty, when the youth was sometimes sent to sequestered
place and remained alone, fasting and praying from 1 to 4 days, or even longer
(see Child life). At this time or during similar fasts which followed, he was
supposed to see in a dream the object which was to be his special medium of
communication with the supernatural. Simple garments or none were worn when
fasting. Among some tribes clay was put upon the head, and tears were shed as
the appeals were made to the unseen powers. At the conclusion of a long fast the
quantity of food taken was regulated for several days. It was not uncommon 4 or
an adult to fast, as as a prayer for success, when about to enter upon an
important enterprise, as war or hunting. Fasting was also a means by which
occult power was believed to be acquired; a shaman had to fast frequently in
order to be able to fulfill the duties of his office.
Initiation into religious societies was accompanied by fasting and in some the
great ceremonies all the principal actors were obliged to fast prior to taking
part. The length of these fasts varied with the ceremony and the tribe, and
ranged from midnight to sunset, or continued 4 days and nights. Fasting
generally included abstinence from water as well as food. The reason for fasting
has been explained by a Cherokee priest as "a means to spiritualize the human
nature and quicken the spiritual vision by abstinence from earthly food. Other
tribes have regarded it as a method by which to remove "the smell" of the common
world. Occasionally chiefs or leaders have appointed a tribal fast in order to
avert threatening disaster. See Feasts.
Feasts. Among all tribes there were feasts, ranging in
importance from that of the little child to its playmate up to those which were
a part of the great sacred ceremonies. These so-called feasts were never
elaborate and were simply served, each portion being ladled from the kettle by
the hostess, or by one appointed for the task.
Feasts were held at stated times. On the N. Pacific coast the coming of the
salmon was celebrated in a feast of thanks giving by all the tribes able to
secure the fish from inlets or rivers. Farther's the ripening of acorns and
other fruits was similarly observed. The maturing of the maize was the occasion
for tribal festivities; at that time the Creeks held their 8-days ceremony know
as the
Busk (q. v.), when the new corn was eaten, the new fire kindled, new
garments worn, and all past enmities forgiven. In November, when the Eskimo had
gathered their winter store, they held a feast, at which time gifts were
exchanged; by this a temporary relationship was formed between the giver and
taker, which tended to good feeling and fellow ship. During the full moon of
December the Eskimo held a feast to which the bladders of animals killed during
the year were brought. These were "susposed to contain the inuas, or
shades of the animals." On the sixth and last day the bladders were taken out to
a hole made in the ice, and thrust into the water under the ice. They "were
supposed to swim far out to sea and then enter the bodies of unborn animals of
their kind, thus becoming reincarnated and rendering game more plentiful (
Nelson ) . Among the Iroquois a feast was held to keep the medicine alive.
Religious ceremonies to insure fruitfulness took place at the planting of the
maize, at which time a feast was held.
Feasts were given on the completion of a house, at a marriage, and when a child
was named. Feasts in honor of the dead were widely observed. The time which must
elapse after a death before the feast could be given varied among the tribes.
Among some of the Plains Indians it occurred after 4 days, with the Iroquois
after 10 days, and with other tribes after nearly a year. The Eskimo held their
memorial feast late in November. The near relatives were the hosts, and the dead
were supposed to be present beneath the floor of the dwelling where they enjoyed
the festivities in their honor, partaking of the food and water cast there for
them, and receiving the clothing put as a gift upon their namesakes. At the
feast for the dead held by the tribes on the N. Pacific coast, the spirits of
the departed were also supposed to be present, but the portions of food intended
for them were passed through the fire and reached them in this manner. The Huron
held their ceremonial feast in the fall, when all who had died during the year
were disinterred by their kindred, the flesh stripped from the bones, and these
wrapped in new robes and laid in the clan burial pit. The feast was one of
tribal importance and w r as accompanied with religious rites.
It was incumbent on an aspirant to tribal honor to give feasts to the chiefs,
and one who desired initiation into a society must provide feasts for the
society. Respect to chiefs and leading men was expressed by a feast. On such an
occasion the host and his family did not eat with their guests; they provided
the food and the dishes, but the head chief appointed one of the guests to act
as server. At all feasts the host was careful not to include in the food or the
dishes used anything that would be tabu to any of his guests; a failure to
observe this important point would be considered an insult.
The meetings of secular societies among the Plains tribes, whether the
membership was of one or both sexes, were always accompanied with a feast. There
was no public invitation, but the herald of the society went to each lodge and
gave notice of the meeting. The food was provided by the family at whose lodge
the society met, or by certain other duly appointed persons. The preparation for
the feast varied in different societies within the same tribe. In some instances
the food was brought ready cooked to the lodge, in others it was prepared in the
presence of the assembly. The people brought their own eating vessels, for at
these feasts one had to eat all that was served to him or take what was left to
his home.
In most tribal ceremonies sacred feasts occurred, for which certain prescribed
food was prepared and partaken of with special ceremony. Feasts of this kind
often took place at the close of a ceremony, rarely at the beginning, although
sometimes they marked a particular stage in the proceedings. Among the Iroquois,
and perhaps other tribes, the owner feasted his fetish (q. v.), and the ceremony
of the calumet (q. v. ), according to early writers, was always concluded with a
feast, and was usually accompanied by an exchange of presents.
Among the Omaha and cognates there was a gathering called "the fire-place
feast." A company of young men or of young women, never of both sexes, met
together by invitation of one of their number. When the company took their
places around the fire, a space at the w. was left, where a bowl and spoon were
placed to represent the presence of Wakanda, the giver of food.
At every feast of any kind, on any occasion where food was to be eaten, a bit or
small portion was first lifted to the zenith, sometimes presented to the four
cardinal points, and then dropped upon the earth at the edge of the fire or into
the fire. During this act, which was an offering of thanks for the gift of food,
every one present remained silent and motionless. See Etiquette, Fasting, Food,
Potlatch.
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includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
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implied .
Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906
