For several days after watching The Business of Fancydancing thoughts about burial rituals and customs plagued my brain. I have attended very few funerals in my lifetime, three to be exact. Two of those three funerals were military funerals for war veterans so it is fair to say that my experience with burial customs is limited. However, even in my limited experience, it is clear to me that any culture's burial customs can often reveal a great deal about their values and their beliefs concerning the after-life.
In the photos above, tree burial or scaffold burial is depicted. If you are anything like me, you are wondering why the hell anyone would be buried so high above the ground. Well, this practice was adopted to protect the bodies from wild animals. The scaffolds average about 7 to 8 feet high and about 10 feet long. Before placing it on the scaffolding, the body is wrapped so tightly that it is nearly waterproof. Apparently, in many tribes, it is customary to wrap the body in some way (as we saw in the film). Oftentimes (as you can see above) worldly goods such as food, water, and religious symbols are hung from the poles for the benefit of the dead.
For more information concerning tree/scaffold burial and many more photos see the following sites:
When considering what to discuss in my blog this week, one theme continued to come to mind: weather. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven begins with a story that relies heavily on weather metaphors (appropriate considering that the entire book is basically about weathering storms). On my usual weekly Google search for this course I came across quite a bit of material concerning American Indians and myths and legends concerning the weather.
One such myth is that of the spirit Pomola (also known as Pamola and Bemola) that is associated with the Penobscot and Abenaki tribes. Pomola is associated with cold weather and was often credited with night, wind, snow, and storms. He is also considered by some to be the god of thunder and protector of Mt. Katahdin (the tallest mountain in Maine). Pomola, though respected by the tribes, is also greatly feared. Legend has it that Pomola lived at the top of the mountain which was off limits to those who lived below. Though it is not certain, it is speculated that Pomola looked something like the following picture:
True and random fact: The image of Pomola is used frequently by the Boy Scouts of America!
Though there are no videos about Pomola directly, there are several about Mt. Katahdin that offer insight into the Penebscot Indians who once dwelled there.
If there is one thing we have consistently heard about as a class, its Fry Bread! I was intrigued by the character's use of fry bread as an emotional marker. Both good and bad things are associated with the staple food of the reservation in "Smoke Signals." Fry bread is present when Victor is reliving his mistreatment of Thomas and it is present in Thomas' retelling of the feeding of the five thousand (American Indian style of course). I chose this topic because it reminded me of my great-grandmothers "ho-cake" (Yes, "ho-cake"). It was basically bleached white flour, water, and lard. Grandma Sadie would knead the dough with her beautiful Southern-Irish hands and then fry it in bubbling vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet that was almost too heavy for me to carry. It is arguably one of the most unhealthy things one can possibly consume, but it is oh-so-tasty.
Even with the recent inflation of wheat and dairy products, fry bread is incredibly inexpensive to make and probably very filling. While it can be a bit bland if made improperly, its simple nature makes it easy to "spice up." For example, adding powdered sugar and dark, melted chocolate makes one very tempting dessert!
Ingredients: 1 cup unbleached flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon powdered milk 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup water Vegetable oil for frying
Extra flour to flour your hands
Preparation:
Sift together the flour, salt, powdered milk, and baking powder into a large bowl. Pour the water over the flour mixture all at once and stir the dough with a fork until it starts to form one big clump. Flour your hands well. Using your hands, begin to mix the dough, trying to get all the flour into the mixture to form a ball. You want to mix this well, but you do NOT want to knead it. Kneading it will make for a heavy Fry Bread when cooked. The inside of the dough ball should still be sticky after it is formed, while the outside will be well floured.
Cut the dough into four (4) pieces. Using your floured hands, shape, stretch, pat, and form a disk of about 5 to 7 inches in diameter. Don’t worry about it being round. As Grandma Felipa would say “it doesn’t roll into your mouth.” In a deep heavy pot, heat the vegetable oil to about 350 degrees F. You can check if you oil is hot enough by either dropping a small piece of dough in the hot oil and seeing if it begins to fry, or by dipping the end of a wooden spoon in and seeing if that bubbles. Your oil should be about 1-inch deep in a largecast-iron skillet or other large heavy pot.
Take the formed dough and gently place it into the oil, being careful not to splatter the hot oil. Press down on the dough as it fries so the top is submersed into the hot oil. Fry until brown, and then flip to fry the other side. Each side will take approximately 3 to 4 minutes to cook. Place the cooked Fry Bread on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Indian Fry Bread can be kept warm in a 200 degree F. oven for up to 1 hour. They refrigerate well and can be reheated in a 350 degree F. oven for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
While many animals were presented in the trickster tales I've read over the past week or two, I was particularly struck by Rabbit. Not just because I once had a pet rabbit (though I must admit there is probably a bit of bias because of that), but because he seemed so very devious and almost evil. How can anyone think of a cute, little, innocent, fluffy bunny as evil? I do not know.
My original intent was to discuss Rabbit and his wily ways, but instead I came upon the American Indian Rabbit Dance.
I am not sure why, but the dance spoke to me somehow and I knew I had to do more research. This led me on a lovely journey on which I discovered the following link that leads to the Mohawk legend of the Rabbit Dance: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues00/Co04222000/CO_04222000_Rabbitdance.htm
This story reveals that the Rabbit Dance is a dance of gratefulness to rabbits and all of the good things they offer to humans. I was admittedly disturbed by the Rabbit I read about in the textbook for class. He was violent, selfish, and hungry for power. In this story, though, the rabbits are understanding, gentle, and generous to the point of offering their lives for the general good of the natural world. The mutual respect for life seen in the interaction of the humans with the rabbits is quite overwhelming. In the middle of a hunt, the minds of the men are swept away by the beauty of a dance performed by creatures that are stereo-typically considered prey.
I also found this link that will take you to a short clip of the Sioux Rabbit Dance music. It is pretty neat!
Though we have not discussed astrology in class, I could not resist the urge to explore American Indian Astrology in my blog. I am well aware of all the arguments that disprove the validity of astrology, but it is still a fascinating cultural aspect to study.
In American Indian astrology (just as in the traditional astrology one can find in the newspaper), there are twelve signs of the Zodiac. The signs are represented by realistic animals such as the otter, wolf, falcon, beaver, deer, woodpecker, salmon, bear, crow, snake, owl, and goose. This is slightly different than the Zodiac most are familiar with in that each sign is based on an animal instead of an object (such as Libra's scales). An individual's sign is based on his or her date of birth and represents a set of personality characteristics or tendencies. In American Indian astrology, the animal associated with your birth date also corresponds with the natural spirit guide that is with the individual throughout his or her life. The animal assigned as one's spirit guide is intended to impart the wisdom and experience they have acquired over many years to the individual based upon the positive and negative characteristics of their zodiac. For example, my sign is the goose. As a goose, I am hardworking, motivated, and goal oriented. However, I also tend to be unsatisfied, unsociable, and negative. The "job" of my spirit guide is to help me navigate the positive and negative characteristics of my personality to maintain a healthy, stable, communal lifestyle.
Since I chose to write about the Miwok creation myth this week, I thought it would be beneficial to post articles, pictures, and videos about the Miwok people. I am particularly fond of the first image.
http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/CreationofMan-Miwok.html - I loved this story! In this version, Coyote (though he sort of cheats) is the only animal who does not create something in his own image. Also, I can't help but believe that it also points out that sometimes tricksters bring about good things. Nothing is ever entirely evil or malicious.
http://www.sfsu.edu/~geog/bholzman/ptreyes/introclt.htm -This site has some interesting info about the location and history of the Miwok people. It must be very difficult to catch a bird with a basket trap (if you read the section about foods you will know what I mean).
