Native American Symbols

Beyond Aesthetics

Native American Symbols

Native American symbols are more than art.

Animals are also used.They encompass a cosmos and a

context.

Symbols - An Overview

Point to something beyond themselves.

More descriptive than words.Develop over time.Often only has meaning in a context.Some symbols are used in a number

of different contexts and cultures. For example

More On Symbols

The symbols have a history which includes the object itself, persons involved and the circumstances surrounding its development.

Native American Symbols

Symbolism in Native American is significant but only as it relates to a particular context which includes a number of factors.

Significance cannot be determined by isolating and decoding particular symbols.

They are inseparable from the performance of which they are a part.

Examples of Symbolism in Use

Sandpainting ritual is used as a cure ceremony.

They are constructed on the floor of a ceremonial hogan and depict mythic persons who have a connection with the cause of the illness being treated.

Context driven Sandpainting

One has to see how the sandpainting fits into a greater picture that is itself symbolic, created from the experience of hearing the stories, praying the payers, living the way of life, all of which constitute Navajo tradition.

Self-Directed Designs and Objects

Some Native American artifacts are self-directed in others words to be understood they have to be looked at from the point of view of the wearer.

An example are the effigy pipes of the Algonquin which are used to aid in concentration and thought. A person by smoking the pipe and concentrating on the effigy that one gains power from the guardian spirit.

Esoteric Objects

Many esoteric objects such as the medicine bundles are very symbolic. Their power lies in what they invoke through history of the user and use, stories of their origin, the occasions and manners of their use.

Masks

Masking or masquerade?

Seneca False Faces

Many masks are related to formal and public religious acts.

Masks are living things.For example the society of men of

the Seneca who perform the new year’s corn and green ceremonies to drive out evil.

These masks are called gagosa.

Use of the gagosa

These are carved out of living trees and removed (if possible) without killing the tree.

They are distinctly decorated with distortions and exaggeration.

Carved out by special people.The masks have a purpose. For example And another example

Care

The masks have distinctive features.They are molded according to a

dream revelation.The masks are treated as living

beings.When not in use they are hung

facing the wall or are wrapped and carefully placed in a box or drawer.

Treatment

They are fed periodically by putting something on their lips.

Their faces are sometimes treated to keep clean.

Each mask is named and has its own personality.

Consider This

They are very powerful for they manifest the power of the Bad twin who, when overcome by the Good Twin at the close of creation, was destined to aid in keeping the health and wellbeing of human beings.

The masks are not a covering or disguise but are a living manifestation of the type of spiritual being.

The Hopi

Looking Through the Mask

Meaning of the Mask

In the case of Hopi the masks represents a way of looking at the world--a perspective.

For example masks are used to frightened children into behaving properly--this is where the family has to provide a considerable sum for the life of the child.

The mask provided wearer with a perspective of reality shown on the face of the child.

Kwakiutl Masks and the Notion of Place

The Kwakiutl use the mask to designate hierarchical relationships.

For Kwakiutl reality is in grid relationships.

In it there are a fixed number of positions, to each of which belongs a name, referred to as seat or standing place. An example

Another example

Conclusion

Masks are symbolic because of what they make present: they spiritual reality. Masks cannot be translated or decoded because their meaning is inseparable from what they make present--which, apart from the masks, could not be observed or expressed.

An explanation of masks at this site.

Native American Symbols

Life’s choices exampleTribes