Identity, Tradition and Revitalisation of American Indian Culture [1 ed.] 9788024635859, 9788024635620

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Identity, Tradition, and Revitalization of American Indian Cultures Barbora Půtová (ed.)

Reviewed by: Mgr. Martin Heřmansky, Ph.D., Charles University Danica Miller, Ph.D., University of Washington Tacoma Published by Charles University, Karolinum Press Edited by Alena Jirsová Layout by Jan Šerých Cover illustration Head-and-shoulders-portrait of Nez Perc, man in a full feather headdress by Edward S. Curtis, Photo, ca 1910 Language supervision by Joseph Nevadomsky and Tereza Kuldová Typeset by Karolinum Press First English edition © Charles University, 2017 © Barbora Půtová (ed.), 2017 ISBN 978-80-246-3562-0 ISBN 978-80-246-3585-9 (pdf)

Univerzita Karlova v Praze Nakladatelství Karolinum 2017 www.karolinum.cz [email protected]



CONTENTS

Introduction Barbora Půtová 7 REVITALIZATION AND IDENTITY 11 The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization Olga Vilímková 12 Being Indian in Mexico: Problems of Identity in Nahua Villages of Hueyapan and Santa Clara Huitziltepec Radoslav Hlúšek 30 Seeking Identity Through Original Traditions: The Aztec Dance Michelle Leisky 46 HISTORY AND ITS LEGACY 59 Paraguayan Indians Chamacoco Yvonna Fričová 60 When the Creator’s “Game” Spreads to the World Lívia Šavelková 74 Sunrise Ceremony: Revising Addiction and Discussing Culturally Relevant Sources of Healing Daniela Pěničková 108 Corn, Gourd, Indian Breadroot, and Chokecherry in the Hunting Culture of the Cheyenne Roman Tadič 126 ART AND IDENTITY 143 Tourism, Marginalization and Commercialization of Art in a Small Indigenous Village in the Peruvian Andes Marek Halbich 144 The Salish Peoples: Cultural Codes in Pacific Northwest Coast Native Art Barbora Půtová 160 Coast Salish Art: Emerging from a Shadow Kristýna Řeháčková 172

View from a Real Indian Shaun Peterson 184 MYTHOLOGY AND HISTORY 191 Historical Changes of the Raven: An Anthropological Reflection on the Trickster Václav Soukup 192 Historical Changes of the Coyote: An Anthropological Reflection on the Trickster Barbora Půtová 203 Quetzalcoatl and Human Sacrifice Zuzana Marie Kostićová 215 Appendix List of Figures and Illustrations 229 List of Authors 232

INTRODUCTION BARBORA PŮTOVÁ

The collective monograph Identity, Tradition and Revitalization of American Indian Cultures focuses on revitalization of traditional culture and contemporary approach to native identity, culture and art of American Indians. It strives to describe various aspects of native identity from the anthropologic perspective and answer the question how the indigenous inhabitants of America can freely develop their traditional culture within the modern society that is becoming increasingly more globalized. The studies in the book, characterized by a variety of topics and plurality of research approaches, contribute to a wider discussion on topical issues such as cultural tradition, modernity and ethnic identity. The book consists of four relatively independent parts – Revitalization and Identity, History and Its Legacy, Art and Identity and Mythology and History. The first part of the book Revitalization and Identity is introduced by a study by Olga Vilímková The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization in which the author investigates ethnic and cultural identity of the Mayas, the current situation of the Mayan languages as well as work and free-time activities of the Mayas or Mayan spiritual traditions and calendars. The issue of native Indian identity is further elaborated by Radoslav Hlúšek in his study Being Indian in Mexico: Problems of Identity in Nahua Villages of Hueyapan and Santa Clara Huitziltepec in which the author describes and interprets two different villages inhabited by Nahua people in Central Mexico – Santa Clara Huitziltepec in Puebla and Hueyapan in Morelos that serve for demonstrating and discussing the problems of identity and self-identification of Mexican Indians. This part of the book is concluded by Michelle Leisky who analyses the Aztec Dance in her study Seeking Identity Through Original Traditions: The Aztec Dance. Special attention is dedicated to a role in the formation of personal as well as collective identity and the movement valorising the native origins and culture. The second part of the book, History and Its Legacy, is opened by a study by Yvonna Fričová Paraguayan Indians Chamacoco which presents Paraguayan Indians Chamacoco, their history, way of life, habits and also the cultural change they are going through. The topic of Indian traditions is further elaborated by Lívia Šavelková in her study When the Creator’s “Game” Spreads to the World in which she describes the meanings and origins of lacrosse for

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Introduction

different groups of contemporary players and also its role in the so-called revitalization of Native cultures. In the following study Sunrise Ceremony: Revising Addiction and Discussing Culturally Relevant Sources of Healing Daniela Pěničková focuses on the only Western Apache communal ritual. The second part of the book is capped by Roman Tadič and his study Corn, Gourd, Indian Breadroot, and Chokecherry in the Hunting Culture of the Cheyenne where the ­author describes plants in the Cheyenne culture that were not only used as food sources, but they also became articles of intertribal trade, materials used for manufacturing and decorating objects, even religious symbols. The exposition of the third part of the book dedicated to Art and Identity consists of a study by Marek Halbich Tourism, Marginalization and Commercialization of Art in a Small Indigenous Village in the Peruvian Andes which deals with the implications of the commodification (commercialization) of certain manifestations of Native American art. Cultural heritage of Indian art is also discussed by Barbora Půtová in her study The Salish Peoples: Cultural Codes in Pacific Northwest Coast Native Art in which she presents basic characteristics and attributes of artworks by Northwest Coast peoples including revitalization of Salish art. This topic is further elaborated by Kristýna Řeháčková who lays more emphasis on decontextualisation of artifacts, revitalization and current development of Coast Salish culture art which they represent. This part of the book is concluded by Shaun Peterson and his study View from a Real Indian where this contemporary Salish artist describes the method of creating his artworks, experience and key events that shaped the way people perceive the art of the Native and non-Native. The final part of the book, Mythology and History, is dedicated to symbolic aspects of traditional Indian culture. This topic is introduced by Václav Soukup and his study Historical Changes of the Raven: An Anthropological Reflection on the Trickster in which he presents the raven as a cultural hero of Indian myths and puts it in the context of native cultures of the Northwest Coast. Heroes from American Indians’ myths are also discussed in a study by Barbora Půtová called Historical Changes of the Coyote: An Anthropological Reflection on the Trickster. The author presents the phenomenon of the coyote as a mythological, art and literary motif from the North American Indians’ culture. It presents the coyote as a cultural hero of Indian myths as well as a symbol and a specific socio-cultural construct. Mythological aspects of Indian culture are also discussed by Zuzana Kostićová in her study Quetzalcoatl and Human Sacrifice where she describes one of the Aztec gods, mostly too dark and cruel for the contemporary mind, but also for all the inner paradoxes that fill the mythic narratives connected with Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, demiurge and god-king of paradisiacal Tollan. The origins of this collective monograph are linked to several events. The first of them was the scientific conference Revitalization, Preservation and

Introduction

Formation of Cultural Identity of Native Americans held in 2013 by the Institute of Ethnology of the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Prague (Public Affairs small-grants program). The conference was very authentic thanks to the presence of the Salish artist Shaun Peterson who continues the tradition of wood carving of Indians of the American Northwest. Another significant event that led to the creation of this book was the exhibition of Peterson’s works and photographs of his works in the University’s Galerie pod schody (Gallery Under the Stairs) and a reunion in the Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures in Prague where this Indian artist presented traditional Salish wood carving techniques and his artwork. The third important event that inspired the editor to compile this book was lectures given by Matika Wilbur, a photographer of the American Northwest from Swinomish and Tulalip tribes. Her lectures were held with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Prague in 2016 at the Institute of Ethnology of the Faculty of Arts, Charles University. Wilbur also presented in Prague her own works at the exhibition called Project 562 in the “Nativ Gallery.” While Peterson is at the beginning, Wilbur is at the end of one continuum that opened and concluded this book dedicated to various forms of revitalization of American Indian cultures.

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REVITALIZATION AND IDENTITY

THE MAYAS IN GUATEMALA: THE IDENTITY REVITALIZATION OLGA VILÍMKOVÁ

The beginning of the 21st century in Latin America is characterized by the multiethnic and pluricultural countries’ existence acknowledgement, and the Indian nations’ identity empowering. Guatemala, no doubt, is a multicultural country. The 2012 census showed the country population was 14,713,7631; the ethnical structure, though, was not included. In the democratic, multiethnic country, within the politics of assimilation, the homogenous Guatemalan citizen is being preferred, i.e. from the official perspective, the ethnical differentiation is not being taken into account. At the 2002 census, when the ethnic denomination was being determined, the population in Guatemala was 11,237,196, out of which 4,428,178 were Indians, which makes about 40% of the population. The Indian population in Guatemala is divided into two principal groups: the Maya and Xinka2. 14,794 citizens claimed themselves Xinkas in 2002. Major part of the Indian population consists of Mayas of various language groups. According to the Mayan organizations’ resources, the Mayan population rate is currently being assessed as 60%, most of which belongs to the ethnic groups Quiché, Mam, Kaqchikel and Kekchi and it is significant that the Mayan ethnic groups (pueblos or nations according to the Mayas) have, in spite of various peripeteias, preserved their collective identity up to the present.

THE ETHNIC AND CULTURE IDENTITY OF THE MAYAS To the external identity traits belong the name and last name, language, clothing style, typical architectural style, dances and celebrations, human behavioral patterns, e.g. when having a conversation, etc. For the Mayas themselves, the important features also include their permanent residence 1 2

The statistical data we are referring to regarding the population and language occurrence numbers are quoted in accordance with the Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Guatemala (www.ine. gob.gt). According to COPARE (Comisión Paritaria de Reforma Educativa), the Indian ethnic group Xinka originates in the nation Nahua, who speaks the language Nahuatl. The data from the document of a national institution is quoted by Paz 2007: 74.

The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

in the Mayan territory. To the Mayan identity internal traits belong: their sense of belonging to the Mayan nation, common shared history, living myths, faith, and rituals, religion that is, in case of traditional Guatemalan Mayas, represented, in the first place, by the relationship to the Ritual Calendar and respect to sacred beings, known e.g. from the book Popol Vuh. The external and internal factors coalesce – embroidered patterns on the dresses do not bear, for the Mayas, only a decorative significance, but they also contain spiritual, social and political overlap, folk dance can be a reflection of the relationship to the ritual, a deep expression of the ethnic identity, and a relationship to ancestors (e.g. a drum dance in the play Rabinal Achí). Currently the identity does not need to be concealed as in the times of the military conflict in Guatemala in the years 1960 to 1996 when, under the reign of military dictatorships and in the context of the cold war, a genocide of the Mayas took place. The OSN committee report states 200,000 victims of the conflicts, most of them of the Mayan origin (CEH 1999). In the context of the systematic killing off the Mayan population, which the country government felt as a collective enemy, many Mayas left their homes (more than a million refugees) and spent ten to sixteen years in exile (in Mexico, in the Guatemalan forests or cities, etc.). During the lengthy period of their removal from the natural conditions of life, the “traditional” Mayan life was disturbed and there was no generation to generation experience transmission. Therefore, due to this matter, the Mayan identity empowerment has recently been the priority of the Mayan organizations.

THE CURRENT SITUATION OF THE MAYAN LANGUAGES One of the most significant identity expressions is the language. In Guatemala, the national communication language is Spanish, which is spoken by 68.9% of the population.3 Major part of the population uses also or solely Mayan languages. The number of the languages is not determined exactly, it fluctuates within the range of nineteen to twenty-three. Among linguists, in some cases, there is no agreement on whether it to be an individual language, or a dialect. The National Statistical Institute of Guatemala files twenty-one Mayan languages; The Academy of the Mayan Languages of Guatemala states twenty-two Mayan languages (their names are written in capital letters): P’opoqomchi, A’chi, Q’eqchi, Ch’orti, Kaq’chikel, Poqomam, Sipacapense, Tz’utujil, Mam, Ixil, Sacapulteca, Itzá, Uspanteca, Awacateca, Chalchiteca, Akateka, Chuj, Jakalteka, K’anjobal, Tektiteka, K’iché, Mopan.4 The orthography is not uni3 4

According to the results of the census in 2002 (www.ine.gob.gt). Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala (http://www.almg.org.gt/).

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The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

fied, even the names of the individual languages differ: quiché, K’iche’, kiché, kiche’. In 1987, a unified Mayan alphabet was instituted that includes sounds and signs common to all Mayan languages. The guarantee of the Mayan languages’ orthography is the Academy of the Mayan Languages of Guatemala, established on the basis of the governmental decree in November 1987. The institution organizes, among other things, courses in Mayan languages, issues the supplementum Mayatzil in nine Mayan languages, and magazines, e.g. a popular Kukuy for children, or the weekly periodical El Regional in four languages – mam, popti, quiché and Spanish.5 However, in practice, the rules prescribed by the Academy and other institutions are not followed, thus, with the orthography still being disunited. In the second half of the 20th century, due to the armed conflict, the number of the Mayan languages significantly decreased. Currently, we are observing an increase in the interest in Mayan languages (primarily in the countryside), which is given, among others, by the possibility to pass the elementary school in bilingual schools with the classwork conducted by university-educated bilingual teachers, teaching materials, children’s magazines, and books in Mayan languages, (limited) offer of educational and cultural activities for both children and adults in Mayan languages, etc. For the communication at bilingual schools in the countryside, children use Spanish to speak among them and with their teachers, or a particular Mayan language; in families, young generations communicate in Spanish, and in Mayan languages with grand-parents. In some areas, the Mayan language of the local ethnic group is the only means of communication and some women would not even speak in a different language nor understand it.6 At present, Guatemala is – regarding to the linguistic policy of the government (or the language rights of the minority population groups) – ranked among the, so called, special law status policy countries. It originates in the principle that the majority population (the dominant group) owns all the (language) rights, whereas the minority rights (of the minorities) are limited, even though they are legally or officially approved. These rights are set in the constitution or in the legislative amendments. The existing political approach conveys the effort to harmonize the language co-habitation of heterogeneous population groups without having declared the lawful equality of all national languages. Thus, there are certain rights in certain state sectors secured for the minority groups, e.g. in the area of justice, education, or media.7 In Guatemala, there are several institutions that spread the Mayan languages and establish their position. Among the most significant workplaces, 5 6 7

Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala (www.almg.org.gt). The author’s personal experience made during her ten visits in Guatemala from 2004 till 2013. The same language politics is also exercised in Québec, Sweden, Slovakia, etc. (Leclerc 2012).

The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

there are, besides the aforementioned, the Rafael Landivar University (established in 1975), the linguistic project of Francisco Marroquín’s (since 1975), or the Marian Galvez University, which bring up linguists and publish books and grammar books of the Mayan languages. Among these linguists, there are many native Mayas. The language quiché is scientifically treated, in the western part of the country, by Academia de la Lengua Maya Kí-chè de Quetzaltenango and Comunidad Lingüística K’iche’. The Kaqchikel language community publishes the magazine Kaqchi Wuj. The Mayan association Uk’u’xBe’ with its center in Chimaltenangu (the Kaqchikels) publishes children’s magazines and book publications treating Mayan languages and traditions, the current situation of the Mayas in the multiethnic state, the analysis of the problem of racism and discrimination in the country, the publications introducing the law system in Guatemala and the traditional administrative and “legal” system of the Mayan communities. The Center organizes courses of Mayan philosophy, natural medicine, and ensures the running of the cultural center for children and youth. Another important Mayan center is Oxlajuuj Keej Maya Ajtziib (OKMA), which, since 1990, has devoted its activities to the study of languages: quiché, kaqchikel, poqomam, mam, qanjobal and tzutujil. OKMA publishes grammars, textbooks, and work books. It spreads its materials also via the radio station OKMA and the internet.8 There are other radio stations that broadcast in Mayan languages: Radio Swam Titamit Chichicastenango, Radio Quiché, Radio Nawal, Radio Chortí, Radio de Nahuá or Radio The Voice of Atitlán (Voz de Atitlán), broadcasting from Santiago de Atitlán. Both school teachers and students, whom we have talked to within the last years about the problem of education materials in Mayan languages and written by Mayan authors, assess positively the growing number of given publications and claim that there is also an increased interest in the textbooks and specialist and literary works in Mayan languages. The Mayan writers’ association has been established called Asociación de Escritores Mayances de Guatemala. Regarding expert publications and treatises by Mayan authors (including university professors), recently they have focused on, besides the language problems and the subjects to empower the ethnic identity, on socio-political, economical, and ecological themes, such as multiethnic state, democracy, autonomy, right to vote, international treatises concerning human rights, free market contracts, globalization, etc. Such issues are involved in many discussions not only in the academic field, but also in the meetings of Mayan organizations and in the adults’ education courses. Presently, there is the effort for the renaissance of the Mayan culture including the everyday-life experience and relationships according to the

8

OKMA, Oxlajuuj Keej Maya Ajtz’iib (www.okma.org).

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The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

Mayan traditions, with regard to the conditions of modern times. The Mayan organizations keep to spiritual masters’ teachings, the nation’s memory keepers (ajqij), the older generations’ memories that experienced the traditional community life in the countryside in the natural conditions before the armed conflict started. For the Mayas, the conflict marked a period of massive slaughter, all-permeating fear, and, for a majority of the society, it meant a forced escape to exile. Another source of the revival of the traditional life and family and community relationships are old Mayan texts. The Mayan community was, until the recent past, relatively uncommunicative and recluse. Among the cultural identity features belonged co-living within an ethnic group, e.g. it was not possible to get married to a partner from a different ethnic group, not even establish a family with a half-breed or a white-man. The expats we talked to feel as positive experiences those that the everyday life had brought, e.g. in the exile communities in woods or refugee camps in Mexico where Mayas of different ethnic groups met and lived together. Under those circumstances, events and occurrences, inconceivable or very unusual before that, were happening, e.g. there were mixed marriages between half-breeds and Indians, or even between the whites and Indians.9 These days, cross-ethnical and cross-racial relationships are a commonplace.

TRADITIONAL CLOTHES AND LIVING A significant indicator of a man’s identity is, in general, his dress. In the Mayan environment, the traditional dress conveys, besides belonging to a particular Mayan ethnic group, also a show of the handwork mastership. The wearers and carriers of the traditions in clothing are women. Mayan women like lively colors that sometimes bear a symbolic meaning for their wearer. The colors represent e.g. life and power (the red), sky and lake (the blue), light and purity (the white), the Sun/sun and corn (the yellow), the end and death (the black).10 Some women use colors for certain reasons (colors heal and provide power), but, mostly, they combine colors according to how they like them – according to their taste. Regarding the style of clothing, however, it is required to follow the style of the ethnic group or municipality. Previously, natural pigments were used to dye, presently, artificial colorants are used. As to material, mostly cotton and wool are used these days, even though also the Based on the oral communication that took place in 2007 and 2009 – conversations with the exexiles in the woods of Petén, Mexico, currently living in the villages along Usumacinta, and with the inhabitants of the Santa Rita CPR municipality. 10 The information provided by the bilingual elementary school in Patzún, January 2009. 9

The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

artificial fiber has shown up. The traditional clothes are richly embroidered. Formerly, the clothes were decorated even with bird feather or little shells, today, embroidery is frequently used. Among the patterns are flowers and birds, the figures are often stylized into geometrical shapes; the Ritual Calendar motives are very popular, in which case the dress, especially women’s blouse, huipily, has a spiritual dimension to it, which most of the wearers are aware of. Bird feather, these days, is used rarely, e.g. on the occasion of folklore celebrations. The women’s dress composes of the traditional wide blouse (huipil), longer or long, straight, wrap-up skirt and the traditional head cover, tzute. The blouses are a real work of art. Traditionally, they are made on weaver’s loom and their production lasts for three to four months. Some of the blouses are sewn from purchased cotton fabric and are richly embroidered around the neck. The real jewels among these types are the huipilas from the area of Cobán, Alta Verapaz. Skirts are simpler, but correspond to the area style/code as well. The fabric they are made of is bought by women. Skirts are not made-to-measure, lack zipping/buttoning, and wrap up and fix with a clasp-free belt. The belt is weaved (or loomed) and, all by itself, a noble handiwork. Women often use head covers, tzute, which is a kind of scarf or table cloth folded on top of the head. The scarf can also be used to carry a load. Closefitting T-shirts and mini-skirts are considered inappropriate, and pants, worn by some “modern” Mayan girls and women, are considered as clothes of “no fantasy.” Girls and women often decorate their hair. At times they use a long colored ribbon of blittering threads which they interlock into their long hair; or they use a craftily folded belt, which, folded on the head, builds into a shape similar to hat. Men have left the traditional way of dressing in the recent history for political-social reasons. The traditional dress meant, in the times of the armed conflict, the adherence to expressing belonging to the Indian ethnic group and as such, it was unfavorable and threatening his carrier’s life.11 The tradition of using the typical male dress has almost disappeared, only in scarce localities, we can rarely see the traditional male dress consisting of a shirt, vest, pants and a hat. A “clearly Mayan” part of the dress are mainly pants, with white at the background (red in less cases) and geometrical patterns that can indicate signs with a spiritual overlap. In some cases, pants have embroidery with decorations depicting little birds or other animals, or flowers. Mixing of traditions is noticeable on the typical male dresses: e.g. Mayan head covers, tzute, were replaced by commonly used “Spanish” hats. Most of men, however, are hatless. Mayan men, the spiritual guides in Chichicastenangu, use, to cover their heads, red tzute (in different areas ceremonial head 11

The author’s research, oral communication of men from different areas in Guatemala, 2009– 2012.

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The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

covers differ and they also have different names). Most of men both in towns and countryside wear the clothes of the “European style” that are, according to their own words, more practical and cheaper. Most of the time, the dress consists of a white shirt and black, dark-blue or white pants. Before, another feature of the Mayan identity was a construction, architectonic style. In many areas, the contemporary constructions resemble the houses from the past. In general, one can say that there is no apparent difference between the cottages/houses in the Mayan and “white” villages or between the houses of members of various races in a mixed municipality. The construction materials are natural and locally available (wood, bamboo, reed), or bricks and the roof is made of satchels or metal. In the census in 2012, it was shown that, on average, there live five persons per house.12 In the countryside, a dwelling usually consists of a closed room and some parts of the household that occur in the open air, e.g. the kitchen, dining room or living room. Cooking is often done on fire and wood. The houses of the better economically situated families usually possess more rooms, are furnished and equipped with modern devices, such as TV, stove, blenders, etc. The Mayas in the countryside live in the houses with yards and gardens. A part of the outdoor space serves for inhabitation. Most families have, in the open air, a traditional stove with an open fireplace for the preparation of corn pancakes, a dining table is usually found here, and, most importantly, hammocks for the moments of rest. For the family and friends’ gatherings, outdoor space is used that is pleasant to be in for all year long in the lower mountain altitudes and lowlands (Guatemala is situated in the tropics). Before, Mayas performed ceremonies during a house construction and on its completion; these days they are performed only in some areas (Rupflin Alvarado 1997: 202). However, in the case of a family discord, even today, ceremonies are organized, with a spiritual guide’s assistance, to purify the house. In this case, family members together carry out a ceremony to honor the nature’s spirits (that being creators and the energies of the day due to the Ritual Calendar). Then, the house is smoked with corn. Candles are burnt, too.

WORK AND FREE-TIME ACTIVITIES OF THE MAYAS The Mayas in the countryside are mainly employed in agriculture. In the garden or on the field near their house, they grow crops for their own use, some also sell a part of their produce. To make the processing and sale of the crops (e.g. coffee, cocoa, cardamom) easier, cooperatives are often formed.

12

Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Guatemala (www.ine.gob.gt).

The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

During the harvest times of coffee, sugar cane, cotton, and bananas, many men go for season work onto the plantations of the southern coast. Many Indian women attend to handicrafts and commerce. The Mayas living in the cities often work in commerce (the women on the markets sell agricultural foods and handicraft products), some of them are employed in offices and in the nonprofit sector. In their free time, Mayas are happy to meet up with their family. Nevertheless, the members of the elder generations criticize the youth for their poor interest in visiting grandparents. During family get-togethers and Sunday sittings with friends, they cook and debate, eat well and dance. Mayas enjoy village celebrations, e.g. to celebrate the patron. During the celebrations, they meet up with their friends, feast and dance. The traditional Mayans consider as the most significant cultural event of their region festive ceremonies when they collectively communicate with the Mother Earth, thank to the Earth for life, they ask her for strength, etc. This, among other things, expresses their very close relationship to their own territory and reinforces their ethnic identity. The nature of such events brings closer individuals and groups even before they actually happen as it is important to plan and organize everything well in advance. Also the local artists, especially music groups (marimba players), take part in the ceremonies. It is through these activities – ceremonies, musical and dance programs, theatrical performances, etc. – that the contemporary Mayans convey their adherence to their ancestors’ traditions. By expressing a cordial relationship to the Earth is also strengthen the solidarity in the fight of the Indian communities when defending their territory, or, better said, the territory of the Mother Earth (Vilímková 2014). The young also spend their leisure time exercising and practicing sports, especially football and baseball are popular. Reading is not included in frequent leisure activities, even though what has started spreading is getting to know famous places holding relation to the Mayan history. To the expressions of identity that are currently being accentuated belongs also people’s behavior. The expression of the ideal is embodied e.g. in the concept of the Mayan Miss Beauty vote (the princesses Rabín Ajaw) during the festival in Rabinal. The criteria are not the girls’ measures (the candidates never show up in swimming suits, which would be considered quite undignified, but they are dressed in the traditional dresses). The evaluated criteria are their demeanor, attitude to the fellow competitors and personnel (modesty, diligence, sympathy), the propriety of their language, and their identification with the Mayan traditions. The winner, bound with her roleduty of the princess Rabín Ajaw, commits herself to actively participate in the social, cultural and political events and activities in the country. Each girl awarded the title of the Mayan princess Rabín Ajaw becomes a model for the

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The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

young and it is her duty to actively support the transmission of the traditional wisdom and the Mayan nation’s ancestors’ experience in the contemporary society.13

MAYAN SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS, MAYAN CALENDARS One of the primary subjects (besides the human rights and ecology problems) in the contemporary Mayan society are spiritual traditions and looking at the worldly matters in a spirit of “cosmovision“. They are tackled on each social occasion, they make the referential frameworks to political, expert, and cultural debates, they are a part of the school curricula and the education in the schools managed by Mayans, as well as the adults’ education programs. The spiritual theme appears also during the conversations related to the common operational matters of everyday life. One of the keystones of the traditional Mayan religion, these days, is the worship of the sacred Calendar (tzolkin, cholgii). The days of the Ritual Calendar are obeyed by the human life in the traditional Mayan society, ceremonies get organized due to the Ritual Calendar as well as the significant events of individuals and communities. In the contemporary Guatemala, traditional Mayan rituals are held – both the everyday ones (based on the Ritual Calendar) and the anniversary ones. Among those are also regular pilgrimages to sacred places. The sacred places are located near ancient Mayan cities (a significant sanctuary is to be found near Iximché, the former city of the Kaqchiqels) or inside the historical Mayan cities (in the sacred region of Uaxactúm, in Yaxhá, in Quiriguá, etc.). There are localities where the ceremonial places are commonly inaccessible as they are situated within someone’s, private property. Here, only a Mayan priest can enter together with his assistant and the participants of the ritual. Ceremonies are also held in some mountains, at springs, rocks and boulders or at ancient trees. A ceremonial place can be found in inconspicuous little sanctuaries in villages in or near the village squares or even in front of a church. A well-known ceremonial place is e.g. a small hill Pascual Abaj, near Chichicastenanga, where a natural altar is situated and where frequent ceremonies take place in the spirit of Christian-Mayan syncretism. Among sacred places can be found also Catholic churches and chapels that were built in the colonial times, often in the areas of Indian sanctuaries or at so called power places, e.g. the Chichicastenang church. On the staircase in front of the church, there is a big boulder serving as an altar where oblations are 13

During the festival Rabín Ajaw, the winning girl dances the ritual dance with an older woman, the hostess, which is the expression of the Mayan traditions transmission and the continuation of the Mayan culture (Rabín Ajaw, Asociación Maya Uk’u’xB’ 2011: 19).

The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

burnt, e.g. candles but also freshly killed cocks’ blood. Prior to entering the church, people sacrifice also resin, copal. Mayas preserve their traditional philosophy that is transmitted from generation to generation. Among the fundamental axioms of the philosophy are: “All14 has a father and mother; all is alive; a spirit is included in each and every being; all has a heart, all feels, cries, sings, speaks, can get angry. The whole is a part of each existing being, all are, among them, in cousinly relationships. Some places are sacred either because it used to be inhabited by ancestors or it provides something that helps, feeds, or simply because it was created to exist.” (Uk’u’x Be’ 2008: 38) According to the Mayan philosophy, sacred places are closely related to the energies of the Ritual Calendar or, in other words, certain days (their energies) are, due to the Ritual Calendar, suitable for performing ceremonies at certain localities, e.g. the Ajqij day is suitable for carrying out a ceremony on the beach or in the forest, preferably at dawn or dusk; on the Ajmaq day, ceremonies in caves are performed or caves are worshipped as the Earth’s wombs, etc. (Barritos 2004: 116−254). In the Mayan world are present supernatural beings, not only in myths but also in the everyday life which they can interfere with. Among such supernatural beings can be found ghosts of the ancestors both the family ones and national ones, e.g. Tecún Umán. People meet their ancestors in their dreams and in reality and believe some of the ghosts protect them. There is an oral tradition that before (even fifty years ago) people met Characoteles, Q’isoma’, which were persons turned into animals. These days, people keep believing they still exist but don’t let others see them.15 Some are, until today, afraid of Wild Girls, Forest and Water Maidens who can harm to families. In the awareness of people also exists Talán who can incarnate into a chosen person or animal and causes harm to people as well. They believe a human can turn into an animal and the other way round (as described in myths). In the Mayan world, it is not possible to separate the material world from the spiritual. Nonetheless, not everyone is able to communicate in person with the supernatural world. To communicate with spiritual powers, people sometimes use the abilities of intermediaries who speak to gods (e.g. in the form of statues), with nature spirits or, less often, with ancestors’ ghosts. For the communication with the invisible powers, established rules are used, e.g. in rituals. Oblations are offered to the supernatural powers, they are honored by the expressions of respect, the participants thank for a favorable situation and good deeds (e.g. recovery from sickness, good harvest, obtaining a partner, impregnation, etc.), and ask for help in stressful situations. 14 15

All meaning people, animals, plants, rocks, etc. Written oral communication with Marcela Ajuchan, 69 years, of the Mayan ethnic group Tzutujil (Uk’u’x Be’ 2010: 53).

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The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

An interesting figure among the supernatural beings in the highlands of Guatemala is the local distinctive saint, Maximón. He puts on different appearances: one of his main representatives from Santiago de Atitlán has a face carved in wood, wears a hat and his dress is richly decorated with ties and scarves. He is a pagan saint who likes to smoke and drink, and the very alcohol and cigarettes are offered to him by priests for an oblation. Furthermore, Maximón is fond of women. In Santiago de Atitlán, due to the tradition, each year Maximón is taken care of by a family. His statues occur in various places around the Guatemalan highlands as well as on home altars where even several Maximóns can be found together. A girl asking Maximón for a specific man’s love sits naked into the statue’s lap, strokes and caresses it, and brings it alcohol and cigarettes for oblations. Also Christian saints in the form of statues are worshipped as supernatural beings. The statues of the saints are dressed up into becoming clothes and, during the festival of the saint patron of the village, they are carried in processions.16 Mayas carry out numbers of rituals, above all the everyday ones related to honoring the energies of the days due to the sacred calendar. Ceremonies are performed that are related to the agriculture year. E.g. in the times of sewing, the Mother Earth is asked for a blessing and harvest; in the times of harvesting, ceremonies are held to thank for the crops. The ceremonies are performed when building a house, starting a new job or studies, people ask for help when healing a sickness, resolving family problems, etc. Earlier, ceremonies took place also prior to hunting (the chased animal was contacted and asked to give away its stamina, life power, to the people), cutting down a tree, and wood stumping for setting a field, etc. These days, such ceremonies are held rather rarely. During Mayan rituals, there are candles of four colors used as oblation: red, white, yellow, and black. The colors are related to the kinds of corn, four cardinal directions, or compass points, and hold other symbolical meanings.17 In the ceremony, the candles are placed in four cardinal directions, often only candles of yellow and white are used or, the other way round, of many dif16

17

According to Rojas Lima, the saints’ cult introduced in colonies by the Spanish and adapted by the Indians was, later on, brought to absurd dimensions: in some villages, especially the saint patrons (the church is consecrated to them) of particular villages turn into mighty beings who request a special ostentatious cult, whereas Jesus Christ is degraded into the second place (Rojas Lima 1992: 265−266). The red signifies life, blood and strength, and it is related to the east (where, at dawn, red sky shows); the white signifies light, purity, and innocence, and is bound to the north (from where winds blow, and clouds and mists come); the yellow is the color of food, the elementary color of corn, and is related to the south (where, according to Mayas, corn was cultivated); the black embodies the Earth but also ruin and death, and is related to the west (after the sun sets, the night sets in). To choose among the four paths of the aforementioned colors was a task for the heroes on their way to the underworld in the book Popol Vuh (1976, 2005).

The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

ferent colors. Other oblations used during ceremonies are the earth’s gifts: crops, mainly corn, cocoa, petals, herbs and plants, animals or their blood, e.g. a hen or a cock (the animal is killed shortly before the ceremony starts). Frankincense is also used, often copal, resin are burnt. Among the objects used for the ceremony, the images of Holy Mary and Jesus Christ and other saints can be found, in which case it is a syncretic ceremony (e.g. often in the area of Chichicastenanga). During the ceremony, supernatural beings are invocated: always the spirits–energies of the days due to the Ritual Calendar, and Mayan ancestors, especially mythical heroes of the sacred book Popol Vuh, the Mayan hero Tecún Umán, etc. These beings can be invoked through words, singing, playing a musical instrument (e.g. small drums, shells, and, on the important occasions, marimba). During some ceremonies, e.g. in the Chichicastenanga region or elsewhere within the syncretic environment, prayers to honor the Virgin Mary are sung (in Latin America, she is commonly related to the Mother Earth). After some of the important ceremonies, a festival follows where they feast themselves, drink and dance accompanied by a marimba. For some Mayan ceremonies, the day when they take place is of great importance. The day is determined by a Mayan priest in line with the days of the Mayan Ritual Calendar. The importance is held not just by the day’s energy (nawal), but also its numerical coefficient. The date of an important ritual – including the whole village or ethnic group – is set well in advance. The ritual is usually performed by a Mayan priest and his assistant. The spiritual representative is named in Spanish: sacerdote maya – Mayan priest, guía espiritual – a spiritual guide, spiritual teacher, or it is identified in a Mayan language of the area, e.g. Ajq’ijab’, Chi-mam, in some cases H-men – a sacred calendar’s traditions keeper. The Mayan priests are not only the spiritual leaders of the society, but, also, often act as healers and, surely, are Ritual Calendar and the interpretation of the days’ energy experts. Their role is very important in ceremonies related to sowing and harvest, events such as a wedding, delivering baby, or leaving life (here, the case would be to reconcile the dying one and his family with the existing situation; the concept is to perceive the end of life as a transition from the material dimension to the spiritual one). Mayan priests are the middlemen between the human world and supernatural powers which people look for, often in the stressful times, i.e. when there are problems with supernatural beings and carnal neighbors, or in the times of social insecurity. Rojas Lima sees the traditional priests as “the pillars of the society who carry the collective mind of the nations” (Rojas Lima 1992: 266). On the occasion of the ritual, Mayan priests sometimes put on traditional clothes or, at least, the traditional head cover; however, usually, they perform the ceremony in their common, “civil” dress. The dress is critical neither for

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The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

the “power” of the ritual nor for the believers who have the faith in the Mayan priest’s abilities and his connection to the spiritual world even without ceremonial attributes. In some ceremonies, blood is shed, e.g. in the region Chichicastenanga, hen or cock blood is sacrificed and cast in the four cardinal directions. During the wedding ceremony in certain regions (Izabal), human blood is offered to supernatural beings. Eye witnesses of the Mayan procession claimed that, sometimes, the engaged couple thorned in each other’s finger with a needle or thorn and let a few drops drip on the ground or cotton which then got burnt as oblation. The wedding ritual, even in the traditional families, is often carried out in the Christian manner. Ceremonies take place in the Mayan languages of the particular region. On the occasions of significant spiritual leaders’ gatherings of various ethnic groups, the languages of particular priests are used which are then translated into Spanish. During the international gatherings, e.g. on the occasion of the Columbus’s discovery of America anniversary, or the meeting of the former American nations’ representatives, Abya Yala, the ceremonies are carried out in the languages of the present priests’ and are then translated into Spanish (for the U.S. guests of the Indian ethnic groups, there is also an English translation). In Mayas’ everyday life, symbolical objects have a great significance: amulets, objects in the form of seals, pebbles, seeds, the symbols of days of the sacred calendar of the nawals, etc. Spiritual leaders, too, have their sacred objects. Among them belong e.g. 260 (due to 260 days of the Ritual Calendar year) red seeds of the plant Erythrina corallodnedron, called, in the local name, tzité or palo de pito. These seeds, similar to beans, are used for foreseeing.18 Among sacred objects belong corn seeds, “special” pebbles, obsidian fractions, old coins, etc. The Mayan priesthood keeps the sacred objects in a small pouch or a vessel and uses them for foreseeing, too, in combination with the Ritual Calendar and other techniques. An important aspect of Mayan traditions is their relationship to their ancestors. For Mayas, it is of utmost importance to keep a close relationship to their ancestors, alive or dead, and to ancestors in general. Before, ancestors used to be buried in the vicinity of villages. Thus, they were all the time present near the family’s house and the people were in a permanent contact with them. People send messages to their ancestors on paper “kites” which they let to the wind. On the All saints day and death day (November 1st and 2nd), almost everybody goes to cemeteries in order to spend time with their ancestors and honor them. During our research, we did not encounter

18

The Mayan priesthood’s oral message, also in Popol Vuh (1976, 2005).

The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

trials to communicate with ancestors e.g. during séances to “invoke ghosts.” Mayas themselves claim that, in certain situations, they are aware of their dear departeds’ presence, e.g. they perceive their protection when their life is in danger. They also mention that, at times, some of their ancestors appear during a ritual. The traditional theater (ceremony) Rabinal Achí, taking place in Rabinal until these days, reckons with ancestors’ presence during the so called drum dance and Mayas even invite them for a performance – for such a purpose, they visit the cemeteries and sacred places in the town’s vicinity. The close relationship of the Mayas to their ancestors is also expressed in the way they pass on their names: children often get their grand-parents’ or relatives’ names. It is a common trait that, within just one municipality, several persons have the same names, both the first and last names. Besides their respect to the persons, Mayas respect also the objects their ancestors used to use in the past. In the oral folk tradition, e.g. in the myths and legends, people are punished for their disrespect with which they treat old decorated ceramic vessels and other objects found in fields, etc. (Uk’u’x Be’ 2012: 214). Children in both families and Mayan schools are led to paying respect to the ancestors and sacred objects. Among the significant material-spiritual aspects of the Mayan life also belongs the traditional medicine. Presently, it has been going through the process of renaissance, even though especially young people prefer the “modern” medicinal ways. The traditional way of healing consists in a different concept and perceiving of the problem: the illness is an expression of a balance disturbance within the sick person’s body (the nature of the imbalance can be physical or psycho-physical) or a balance disturbance between the human and his/her environment (regarding other people or supernatural beings). The sickness can be also caused by the act of black magic. When healing in the traditional way these days, a “triangular” communication (spiritual connection) scheme is used: the healer – the patient – the day’s energy due to the Ritual Calendar. Regarding the day’s energy, there is an influence on healing the sickness held by the patient’s ally (nawal) ascribed to him/her according to his/her birthday and the healing day’s energy. Based on the interpretation of the Ritual Calendar’s aspects, the Batz day (the energy is nawal) is suitable for the healing of circulatory disorders; Aj directly influences the spine; Tzikin is related to the eyes; Noj is related to the brain (on this day, it is convenient to work on improving the memory functioning); on the Tijax day, it pays off to fix teeth and take care of finger nails; Ajpu helps heal lung diseases, etc. (Barrios 2004: 116−254). The healing is implemented through a spiritual connection, or even alliance, with the days’ powers (therefore, it is necessary for the doctor–healer to know the Ritual Calendar), herbs and plants and herb-based healing preparatives. In almost all cases, part of the

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healing are alterations in eating habits. The healing is enhanced by a ritual held in a suitable place on a suitable day. The patients with complicated health problems are sent to medical facilities and recommended a treatment using the contemporary medicine resources. During consultations, the healer is helped also by, besides the Ritual Calendar day, other indicators: first of all, they are dreams or, at the moments of pondering, a certain animal would make a sound (the symbol of the day and the powers related to the day), wind would blow, when pondering the solution for a problem, the healer would notice a physical response, etc. People’s problems could be also caused by inappropriate behavior to ancestors, in which case, in dreams or in reality, a coyote would show up, the symbol of the ancestors (Rupflin Alvarado 1997: 79). Currently, as a part of healing and the ground for spiritual meetings, a type of sweat lodge (temascal) has come into use in the traditional manner, especially in the highlands of colder climate (the area of Chimaltenanga and Huehuetenanga). The traditional medicine, besides its purpose to treat sickness, constitutes a part of the Indian spiritual life as well as the traditional diet consisting of the original foods: ramón, zapote, jocote, etc. Within the traditional medicine field, a special space should be devoted to obstetrics. The themes of a new life being born, the role of the womanmother and the standing of the midwife (comadrona) within the society bear a great importance, even among the members of the current “modern” Mayan social stratum. The midwife (in the areas distant from medicinal facilities and a maternal hospital) enjoys the social authority to the similar extent the spiritual teacher does. She is an ancestors’ wisdom keeper and is related to the most sacred moment of the family’s and society’s life – the new being’s nascency.19 The beginning of a new life is covered with the aureole of sanctity and a mystery of its own, as even in the current Mayan society children are not explained that or how their sibling is going to be born (Uk’u’x Be’ 2012: 43−47). The midwives pass on their experience from generation to generation enriched by their own childbirth experiences, which helps them in their midwifery practice. Previously, some twenty-five to thirty years ago, women gave birth in the knee-bend position on a mat (pop, petate); these days, they give birth while lying in bed. After the baby has been born, the midwife introduces it to the family and creators. In the traditional Mayan society, besides her medicinal contribution, the midwife’s significant role is perceived also from the spiritual viewpoint: the transmission of wisdom and the ancestors’ traditions onto new generations. Regarding the baby’s sex, 19

The baby birth is considered a significant moment for the whole society. It is important to realize that, before, the significant events were perceived by Mayas from the perspective of the whole collective, and, these days, there is an effort to return major parts of the Mayan society to the traditions, including reinforcing collective apprehension.

The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

even among Mayas, the baby boy is still preferred (especially as the first born offspring). Currently, in the traditional Mayan society, it is possible to observe an intense effort to revive Mayan spiritual traditions: the perception of reality within the universal unity, worshipping energies due to the Ritual Calendar, performing ceremonies at the sacred sites following formed rules, etc. Nevertheless, it is important to realize that a major part of the Mayan society is influenced by the Christian concept of spiritual perceiving and being, and they practice their religion in accordance with the norms of their church. In the country, there are many churches and religious groups operating on the Christian basis. Among people, especially in the countryside, syncretism is very widespread. Its external manifestations are apparent e.g. about the church decorations (oblations such as corn and other crops on the altars) as well as Mayan nature shrines (ritual objects of the Christian world, e.g. images of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ and the saint patrons). Syncretism is also manifested in some Mayan ceremonies where Christian sacred beings get invoked through songs and prayers. The local Mayan gods were often replaced by the saint patrons of villages and then became part of the Mayan traditions. The celebrations of the village’s patron last for several days. The Easter time, also, is a time of grand celebrations, not just in the Christian regions. There are many customs related to the Holy Week. Whether the Mayas be Christians or profess and practice the traditional faith of their ancestors, it is necessary to say that, in general, they are big worshippers. Faith and religion constitute an important part of their being and are present both in everyday and momentous situations in the course of their whole life. In the Mayan cultures and religion, calendars have always been of primary significance. Despite past unfavorable conditions of suppressing the Mayan identity, the awareness of calendars has been preserved and some of them are still in use. Among the contemporary Mayan spiritual teachers, it is handed down that old sages managed to save and, for centuries, preserve in a secret place twenty-seven calendars. In the practical life, three calendars are currently in use: the Sun calendar, the Ritual one, and so called Long Count. The Sun calendar was integrated into the Gregorian calendar. For the spiritual life of Mayas, in all its length as well as in the everyday matters, the primary significance bears the second mentioned, the Ritual calendar – tzolkin, cholgij – obtaining 260 days conveyed in thirteen numerical coefficients and twenty names for the days. It is regularly published by Mayan organizations.20 Both the everyday and festive ceremonies, important decisions of the individuals’

20 E.g. Calendario Maya Guatemala 2012 (2011) or Cholq’ij, Calendario Sagrado Maya 2012 (2012).

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and communities’ follow this calendar, it stands as a moral code. The calendar Long Count, choltun, counts days, years, twenty-year and four-hundred-year long periods, etc. (based on the vigesimal, base-twenty, numeral system). In order to determine the day exactly, in the currently published, “complete” Mayan calendar, three sorts of specifying the day are included: the day due to the Gregorian calendar, the day due to the Long Count record, and the day determined by the Ritual calendar. The record looks, for instance, as follows: Fecha (Date) Choltun (Long Count) Día (Ritual Calendar date) April 7th 2013 13 0 0 5 7 7 Kej The Gregorian record: April 7th 2013. Long Count: 13 completed periods of 400 years, 0 periods of 20 years, 0 of years, 5 months, 7 days. The day due to the sacred, Ritual calendar: 7 Kej (Guoron Ajquijay 2011: 229). Due to the calendar Long Count, on December 21st 2012 a significant period of thirteen baktuns (13 baktuns = 13 × 400 = 5 200 years) was finished and another period started on December 22nd 2012 (12/22/2012). So called “end of the world phenomenon due to the Mayan calendar” did not frighten the Mayan region as they know their calendars. At present, the most commonly used published calendar, Long Count, includes the period of 1934–2034 (Guoron Ajquijay 2010). The Mayan spiritual teachers’ message for the new era is: try to establish a balance, Equilibrio, both in the personal life and society.

CONCLUSION The effort to revitalize the identity in the contemporary Mayan society is distinct also in the children’s and youth’s education, especially in the bilingual schools with the Mayan management. It is manifested not only in all taught subjects and by inclusion of everyday short ceremony to honor the power (energy) of the day due to the Ritual Calendar, but also by interconnecting generations, effort to directly transmit the experiences and traditions from the grandparents’ generations onto the young (e.g. grandmothers are actively included in the children’s homework). Major importance is also ascribed to the preparation of the Mayan society future leaders – to their highly professional preparedness and moral credit (it ranges from the elementary education to courses for the adults who had not had the access to education during the armed conflict). We can claim that in Guatemala, there is a wide Mayan movement which had been strengthened by the hostile army dictatorship governments’ politics during the 2nd half of the 20th century. In the country, there are many Mayan

The Mayas in Guatemala: The Identity Revitalization

organizations that focus, besides the human rights problems, on reinforcing the Mayan collective identity. Mayas get involved also in the activities of the former American continent inhabitants organizations, e.g. the meeting Abya Yala. (Translated by Martina Přibyláková)

BIBLIOGRAPHY Barrios, Carlos. 2004. Ch’umilal Wuj: El libro del destino. Guatemala: Cholsamaj. Calendario Maya Guatemala 2012. 2011. Guatemala, Chichicastenango, El Quiché: Funda­ción Centro Culural y Asistencia Maya − CCAM. CEH. 1999. Guatemala, memoria del silencio: Conclusiones y recomendaciones del Informe de la Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico (CEH). Guatemala: UNOPS. Cholq’ij: Calendario Sagrado Maya 2012. 2012. Guatemala: Kemsamaj, Nuk’samaj. Asociación Maya Uk’u’x Be’. 2010. Aportes a la reconstrución del liderazgo mayab’. Guatemala: Chimaltenango, B’ok’o. Cojtí Cuxil, Demetrio. 2005. Problemas actuales de la identidad nacional guatemalteca. Guatemala: Ponencia en Seminario Permanente de Estudios Mayas. Cuma Chavez, Baldomero. 2005. Pensamiento filosófico y espiritualidad maya. Guatemala: Editorial Junajpu. Guoron Ajquijay, Pedro. 2010. Kipusil nawali: Magia y leyendas de nawales. Guatemala: Editorial Popol Wuj. Guoron Ajquijay, Pedro. 2011. Choltun: La cuenta del Oxlajuj B’aqtun. Guatemala: Editorial Popol Wuj. Leclerc, Jacques. 2012. L’aménagement linguistique dans le monde. Québec: TLFQ, Université Laval. Paz, Marco Antonio. 2007. Guatemala: Pueblo maya y política. Diálogo político. Muticulturalismo e indigenismo 24, 2: 57–81. Popol Vuh a výbor z Letopisů Cakchiquelů a z knih Chilama Balama čili Proroka Jaguára na Yucatánu. 1976. Prague: Odeon. Popol Vuh: Las Antiguas Historias del Quiché. 2005. Guatemala: Piedra Santa. Rabín Ajaw − Asociación Maya Uk’u’xB’e. 2011. Por la defensa de la Madre Tierra. Guatemala: Asociación Maya Uk’u’xB’e . Rojas Lima, Flavio. 1992. Los indios de Guatemala: El lado oculto de la historia. Madrid: Editorial Mapfre. Rupflin Alvarado, Walburga. 1997. El Tzolkin es más que un calendario. Guatemala: Centro de Documentación e Investigación Maya. Uk’u’x Be’. 2008. Historia mayab’: Cosmocimientos y prácticas mayas antiguas. Guatemala: Asociación Maya UK’UX B’E. Uk’u’x Be’. 2010. Aportes de mujeres y hombres mayab’al tema de género. Guatemala: Chimaltenango, B’ok’o. Uk’u’x Be’. 2012. Del tiempo y los nawales… Guatemala: Asociación Maya Uk’u’x Be’a Ibis. Vilímková, Olga. 2009. Guatemala: Conflicto armado 1960−1996 y situación actual con especial referencia a los mayas. Ph.D. Thesis. Prague: Charles University. Vilímková, Olga. 2014. Mayové: Proměna indiánské společnosti v Guatemale od 60. let 20. století do současnosti. Prague: Smart Press.

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BEING INDIAN IN MEXICO: PROBLEMS OF IDENTITY IN NAHUA VILLAGES OF HUEYAPAN AND SANTA CLARA HUITZILTEPEC RADOSLAV HLÚŠEK

The identity of Mexican native peoples represents a complex and specific subject of anthropological research. Even though it is possible to make comparisons in this respect with different parts of the world, the example of the Indians in Mexico shows us that the approach and attitude to self-identification of native inhabitants of this country should be studied not only within the general anthropological framework and terminology, but also with respect to the particular cultural and social environment of native Mexican cultures. If we want to study the identity and the way of self-identification that are typical for contemporary Indians in Mexico, it is necessary to begin in the pre-Columbian era, where these issues have their roots. This period of Indian history is characterized by strong regional particularity and fragmentation that found its expression in the existence of numerous city-states, ruled by their own lineages and dynasties and very often inhabited by people belonging to the same ethnic group, speaking the same language and sharing the same culture and religion. However, in spite of these common features, inhabitants of each city-state mostly considered even their neighbour citystates to be alien, strange and even hostile. This situation, although marked by the colonial era and associated perceptions, has persisted until today. Since the regional particularity has been influencing the self-identification of the natives for centuries, the identity of contemporary Mexican Indians does not correspond to the commonly used categories like nation or ethnic or linguistic group, which can be considered as a product of academic research rather than a reflection of Mexican reality. Today’s Mexican native villages should be understood as inheritors of the ancient tradition of city-states. As such they must be viewed as culturally, socially and even politically separated and enclosed. This situation is often accentuated by geographical conditions of each region, especially by mountains, which contribute to the isolation of communities. Taking this fact as the starting point, it is apparent that the identity of Mexican Indians is based on a residential principle which determines the basic level of their self-identification. This principle will be discussed later on in this work, however, it is important now to point out that the residential principle, in spite of its importance, is not and cannot be the only principle

Being Indian in Mexico

because the range of Indian self-identification cannot be fully explained by applying this principle alone. Apart from this, it is necessary to look at the issue of native Mexican identity from a social point of view, one that reveals that being an Indian in Mexico is also related to the social and cultural situation in this country. On the other hand, ethnic or even racial perspectives that are not applicable to Mexican reality can almost entirely be excluded when we talk about selfidentification of Indians. In this work the principles of residential and social identification are used to demonstrate self-identification, one complemented by religious identity, based on Catholicism and belief in the Virgin of Guadalupe. Two case studies are used as examples: Nahua communities in Central Mexico – Santa Clara Huitziltepec in Puebla and Hueyapan in Morelos1. The intention of the research is not only to show common features based on these principles, but also to point out the differences which arose from the different geographical position of each community and which caused different degree of danger of traditional cultural values. The degree of isolation related to geographical position (mountains in the case of Hueyapan and an open valley on the Central Mexican altiplano in the case of Santa Clara Huitziltepec) is revealed by different relation and attitude of the inhabitants of both villages towards culture and traditions of their ancestors and also towards the Náhuatl language which has been spoken by the inhabitants of both communities since pre-Columbian times, but is endangered today. These two different villages inhabited by Nahua people will serve as illustrative examples through which we shall demonstrate and discuss the problems of identity and self-identification of Mexican Indians. The aim of this paper is to compare the situation in both communities and to focus on common marks as well as different features referring to what it means to be an Indian in Mexico. As mentioned earlier, categories like nation, ethnic or linguistic group do not correspond to the situation in native Mexican social and cultural environment. And that too, even though the official ideology and policy of the Mexican state use these terms so often that an illusion that these categories really exist is created. It is the consequence of the policy of independent Mexico since the 19th century, which has been strongly marked by Mexican Creole nationalism and by the idea of the creation of a unified Mexican nation led by Creole elites. This idea stems from European national revivals of that time that influenced also young Latin American republics, including 1

Most of the information comes from our fieldwork which we realized in both villages in 2004, 2007−2008, 2010 and 2011.

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Mexico. The effort of the governments of the republican Mexico to create a Mexican nation has, however, not been entirely successful. Existence of numerous native groups speaking their own languages and sharing their own culture represented an obstacle that has never been completely overcome. Self-identification of Mexican Indians within the modern Mexican nation is very weak and we can observe it only abroad2 and in the occasion of international sport, mostly football, events. Within the borders of their motherland, the self-identification of Mexican native inhabitants is tied to their residence and depends on where they are at the very moment. This fact is very important because it substantially determines their identity. Influenced by the residential principle coming out from pre-Columbian times, the identity of native Mexican depends on the distance from his/her natal village or at least from the village where he/she currently lives. Thus he/she can denominate himself/herself as poblano/poblana (coming from the state of Puebla) when he/she is found in another state within Mexican federation but Indian identity is mostly tied to the village of origin or residence and within the village with its particular barrio (village quarter). Terms like Nahuas, Mayas, Mixtecos, etc. are strange to Mexican Indians and as mentioned above, they are more the product of academics than of the Indians themselves. So in the case of the two villages discussed here, a native Indian would not identify himself/herself as being from Nahuas, but rather as santaclarenses or huitziltecos (those from Santa Clara Huitziltepec) or about hueyapanecos (those from Hueyapan)3, and if someone uses the term Na­hua/Nahuas, he/she is probably more educated and influenced by the outer world. Contrary to this, the term indígena (Indian) is used very often but in a different way than it would have been expected in a European/Western environment marked by thought in racial categories. The last term we want to mention in this introduction is indio, which can be literally translated by the same manner as indígena, but its meaning is different. Meanwhile the word indígena is neutral or positive, indio bears negative connotation of disdain or patronizing behaviour towards the natives. 2

3

Especially in the USA where lots of Mexican Indians work and where the citizens of Mexico in general identify themselves as Mexicans in order to separate themselves from Americans. But it is the matter of further discussion whether this kind of self-identification is related to Mexican nation or to Mexico as the country which would support the residential principle again. The only exception in all of Mexico is represented by Purépecha people in Michoacan who are undergoing real process of national revival brought about by their educated elites and connected to their efforts to obtain political autonomy. Tarascans, the ancient pre-Columbian ancestors of contemporary Purépechas, were also the exception because instead of various city-states they created one integrated and centralized state. For more about the formation of modern Purépecha nation see in Mácha 2004: 59−85 and Mácha 2009: 83−123.

Being Indian in Mexico

Several core questions arise from the issue outlined above: “What does being Indian in Mexico mean?” “What is the identity of Mexican Indians and how is it presented and displayed in everyday life of the native peoples of this country?” Some answers to these questions and insight will be given using Santa Clara Huitziltepec and Hueyapan as primary examples.

THE CASE STUDY OF SANTA CLARA HUITZILTEPEC AND HUEYAPAN These two Nahua villages located in the Central Mexico are only about 100 km distant from each other, but they are situated in significantly different geographical and natural environments. Santa Clara Huitziltepec is found in the very centre of the state of Puebla, about 50 km south-east from the capital of the state, Puebla de Zaragoza, and about 150 km south-east from Mexico City, on the northern border of the region called Mixteca poblana (Mixteca of Puebla). It is dry, semi-desert area where traditional agriculture and pasturage follow the regular rotation of dry and rainy4 season and is dependent on irrigation. Located in the small open valley very close to the main road connecting the capital of the state with southern Puebla and Oaxaca and a bit farther from the highway connecting Mexico City with Veracruz on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, this village is far from being isolated from the outer world. As such, a penetration of modern Mexican cultural and societal elements flows into the community and has influenced the community since the Mexican revolution (1910−1920), at least.5 “At least” is appropriate because one must keep in mind that the route that the modern highway follows has existed since the pre-Columbian times and during the Colonial era it connected Mexico City with the port of Veracruz – hence connecting with Spain and Europe − and its importance has remained until the present day. Thus, Santa Clara Huitziltepec has always had a close connection to the outer world and has been influenced by it. 4

5

The rainy season begins in June and ends in September, but is concentrated mostly in July and August. This area has serious water problem during the last 20 years related to the drying out of the wells and springs. This is significant for the agriculture because the area is completely dependent on irrigation. The Mexican revolution aroused far-reaching changes in all spheres of social, cultural, political and economic life in the country. These changes also had strong impact on indigenous communities because Mexican governments changed their policy towards native peoples. Construction of infrastructure to and in Indian villages, roads, electricity, etc. connected them with economic and political centers of the country and opened them to the outer world much more than ever before. And apart from it the school system based on bilingual education (Spanish – native language) allowed the penetration of Spanish language and official Mexican ideology into the Indian communities, which has caused a gradual and ongoing decline of using Indian languages.

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On the contrary, the location of Hueyapan in the north-east tip of the state of Morelos approximately 80 km south of Mexico City, but in reality much closer because of the sprawling extent of the capital, is completely different. Even though it is situated so close to the capital of the country, its position, right below the Popocatepetl volcano, in so called Los Altos de Morelos (Highlands of Morelos) created difficult access and a high degree of isolation until the roads connecting the village with the central parts of Morelos and with Puebla were built in the 1950’s and 1960’s (Friedlander 2006: 62−63). This situation resulted in a delay of the penetration of modernity as compared to Santa Clara Huitziltepec. On the other hand, because of its location below the active volcano, Hueyapan possesses a highly fertile land and temperate climate. As a result, there are a lot of forests and apart from a couple of months before the start of the rainy season there is no problem with access to water for crops. Both of the villages were founded during the pre-Columbian era according to historical sources or the rests of pre-Columbian settlements.6 As far as the Náhuatl language is concerned the position of the dialect of Náhuatl, which has been spoken in both villages for centuries, within Nahua world is central. This position means that it belongs to the central Náhuatl subgroup (Wright Carr 207: 23) and as such this dialect is very close to so called classical Náhuatl, a very noble variant of this language which was spoken by Nahua elites even 150 years after the conquest of the Aztec Tenochtitlan by the Spaniards (Garibay 2007: 15). As can been seen in the case of these two particular samples, geographical and natural conditions noticeably determine the degree of influence the outer world and modern Mexican society and culture have on traditional life and cultural values in rural villages. It is obvious that Hueyapan, in spite of the isolation, has not remained untouched or almost untouched until now. Its isolation is over and the influence of the outer world is visible today. The same is, of course, true for Santa Clara Huitziltepec. The difference is the duration of this influence, which is much shorter in the case of Hueyapan, as well as the degree of change. As a result of this different degree of exposure, some typical cultural features are still alive in Hueyapan, while in Santa Clara Huitziltepec they have already disappeared. However, it is very possible, and most likely probable, that the same will happen in Hueyapan in the near future as the disintegration of 6

Pre-Columbian origin of Hueyapan is testified in famous chronicle of Dominican friar Diego Durán finished in 1581 and named Historia de las Indias de Nueva España e Islas de la Tierra firme (History of the Indies of New Spain and Islands of the Mainland) (2006: 334). This or any other source cannot be used in the case of Santa Clara Huitziltepec, but the ruins of pre-Columbian temples and all settlements on the hill above the village are sufficient evidence of its ancient origin.

Being Indian in Mexico

typical cultural features seems to mirror that of Santa Clara Huitziltepec, only that it lags behind in the time-line. The best example of this process is the loss of their native language, Náhuatl. There are less than ten persons in Santa Clara Huitziltepec who speak Náhuatl and all of them belong to the oldest generation of the village (80 years of age and more). This language has practically disappeared here, and in a couple of years there will be no one in the village who will be able to speak it. To hear Náhuatl on the street is almost impossible, because all of its speakers do not leave their households very often due to their age and thus having no possibility to use it. Apart from this, they are bilingual, mostly speaking Spanish which has completely replaced Náhuatl. Now, the community is basically monolingual, just as it was about one hundred years ago, with Spanish replacing the once dominant Náhuatl language during this relatively short time period. This is the consequence of the school policy of post-revolutionary Mexico. In reality, bilingual education in Mexico means teaching and learning of Spanish by means of a native language, in this case Náhuatl. This causes a dramatic shift in language usage in native communities within three or four generations. The elders from Santa Clara Huitziltepec gave us a testimony which reveals that as children they were beaten by their teachers when they dared to speak Náhuatl in the school.7 The extinction of Náhuatl in this village, however, does not mean the extinction of Indian identity. The old people still remember the time when the language of their ancestors was spoken in the community. Náhuatl, even though almost completely lost, and the traditions inherited from their ancestors make the people aware not only of their native origin but also of their native present. The situation in Hueyapan seems to be different, although it is questionable if it only lags behind in the time-line. The traditional Indian character of this community is significantly supported by the presence of the Náhuatl language as even in the 1970’s all adult people spoke it (Uhnák 2012: 52). Bilingual education reached Hueyapan only in the late 1960’s which gradually caused the same changes as in Santa Clara Huitziltepec a couple of decades before. Therefore, the question, “How long will Náhuatl be spoken there?” is legitimate. The overwhelming majority of the younger generations (up to 40 years of age) do not use Náhuatl anymore and most young people do not even understand it. Their knowledge of the language of their parents and grandparents is limited to a few words and expressions like greetings, etc. 7 Or mexicano (Mexican language) as it is very often said in Mexico, especially in Indian villages where it is still spoken. This designation is based on the name of the town of Mexico (current Mexico City and former Tenochtitlan or Mexico-Tenochtitlan). Inhabitants of this town were called Mexicans and their language Mexican.

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Middle-aged and older residents are bilingual as they are able to still speak Náhuatl. However, the eldest people belonging to these generations talk to their younger relatives in Spanish and therefore are not passing on the Náhuatl language. Náhuatl has almost entirely left the public space and only remains within households. Despite this loss of language, the people of both communities are proud of their Indian origin. Since the 1990’s, there has been a gradual change in official policy towards native Mexicans, partially supported by the Federal government, in an effort to regain some of their native heritage.8 For instance, there is a Náhuatl kindergarten in the Hueyapan community. However, after kindergarten the children in Hueyapan cannot continue their education in Náhuatl because the primary and secondary school teach only in Spanish. The same is true for other surrounding villages and towns. A surprising fact, however, is that the teachers in this kindergarten very often speak Spanish among themselves, even the directress which came to Hueyapan from the region called La Huasteca, where Náhuatl still holds a stronger position than in Hueyapan.9 What is even more surprising, together with her husband who is originally from Hueyapan and speaks Náhuatl very well, they have never talked to their own children in Náhuatl and as a result the children have no understanding of it. The paradox continues further, because two of their sons studied pedagogy in order to become teachers in their community, specifically in their mother’s kindergarten. This means they had to learn to speak Náhuatl. Since they were not taught at home as children they had to attend classes at the university in Cuernavaca, the capital of Morelos. In the light of these facts the effort for revitalization10 of Náhuatl in Hueyapan seems to be paradoxical at least. Pride in being Indian is not enough to preserve a native language which can disappear in a couple of decades as has already happened in Santa Clara Huitziltepec, where it is not possible to find any attempts to revitalize it.11 It is considered to be useless as parents want 8 According to present constitution Mexican nation has multicultural composition sustained by its Indian nations. Constitution supports rights of native people to self-determination it declares their human rights, right to the land, to their own political organization, etc. (Secretaría de Gobernación 2014: 12−16). 9 La Huasteca is very traditional Indian region on the coast of Gulf of Mexico and in adjacent mountains. Inhabited mostly by Nahuas but also by Huastecs, Otomís, Totonacs, Pames and Tepehuas, this region is located partially in the states of Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Hidalgo and Querétaro. 10 It is true that several efforts to revitalize small languages were successful in other parts of the world (see Šatava 2009: 58−61) but this is not the case of the American native languages in general and the Mexican ones in particular. The cases of Hueyapan and Santa Clara Huitziltepec are not any exception. 11 The situation has been getting worse for the last 20 years because of the penetration of globalization which accelerates the process of the disappearance of native languages, although, on the other side, it also strengthens the pride on being native. It is another consequence of the

Being Indian in Mexico

their children to learn English instead of Náhuatl, because they will need it when they go, mostly illegally, to the USA to find a job, a journey that has come to be commonly expected.12 As we can see, speaking Náhuatl does not represent a common feature of being Indian in the villages studied and the language situation in both of them is different. Even though it is still a living language in Hueyapan and people are proud of it, its future is uncertain there, and it will probably follow the destiny of Náhuatl in Santa Clara Huitziltepec, where practically no one speaks it. It still remains important for self-identification of the inhabitants of Hueyapan but more as a part of tradition than as a part of their everyday life. It is obvious that language cannot serve as the only criterion for Indian identity. 13 If we exclude, though it is a bit bold to do so, language as the key criterion of Indian self-identification in both villages, then there must be other factors which can be taken into consideration. Therefore, the next that should be considered are regional particularity and fragmentation, which is present and well visible in both communities. Inhabitants of Santa Clara Huitziltepec and Hueyapan consider their village to be the centre of the universe. This is a common feature of Indian societies in Mexico carried over from the pre-Columbian era as a heritage of the city-state tradition. To analyse the religious and spiritual meaning of this feature is not the purpose of this essay, but it must be pointed out that from the time immemorial the native communities have seen themselves as keepers of the cosmic order and as such they consider themselves to be unique among the whole universe. From the point of view of this very local ethnocentrism it means that inhabitants of neighbouring villages, even though these villages think the same about themselves, are regarded as alien, despite the fact that they mostly share the same culture and speak the same language. It is normal if those of Santa Clara Huitziltepec label those of Santa Cruz Huitziltepec or those of Dolores Hidalgo as strange, unworthy of trust and even dangerous. The same can be observed in Hueyapan in relation with Tetela de Volcán. And if those villages belong to the same municipality, which is the case of Dolores

12 13

globalization process because increasing pressure for unification very often arouses reaction in the form of exaltation of one’s local culture, identity and ethnicity. Santa Clara Huitziltepec is typical case of indifference towards the language of the ancestors. The people are convinced about uselessness of Náhuatl and because of that they do not want their children to learn it. Such situation is not typical only for native Mexicans or Americans in general and native American’s environment does not represent any exception within the worldwide frame. E.g., the case of Irish or Scottish people, whose languages play rather symbolical role, is very similar to the case of American Indians.

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Hidalgo and Tetela de Volcán, distrust and antagonism can escalate into violence before municipal presidential elections. The village, or even on a lower level one of its quarters, represents the basic level of self-identification of the people in these communities. While they know the terms: Nahuas, Mayas or Náhuatl, Maya etc., they mostly learned them in school or they hear them very often on TV, however, they mostly self-identify themselves as santaclarenses (or huitziltecos) or hueya­panecos or basically as people from Santa Clara Huitziltepec and Hueyapan. Within the space of the villages themselves it is very widespread to hear that someone is from San Pedro quarter (in Santa Clara Huitziltepec) or San Andrés quarter (in Hueyapan) etc. Only when they are found further from their village they use the terms which identify them on a higher level, however, these terms are still related to the residence. Thus they can be from Mixteca poblana and Puebla (Santa Clara Huitziltepec) or from Los Altos de Morelos and Morelos (Hueyapan). In the broadest of terms, when they live and work in the USA for example, they are apt to identify simply as being from Mexico. As it can be seen the residential principle is one of the most important principles in determining self-identification of the people in both villages and we can generalize that this principle plays the same role among all the peoples of native Mexico. Being Catholic can also be considered as a factor of self-identification. Catholicism became an integral part of native Mexican cultures during colonial times, when missionary work of Spanish mendicant friars converted the country into Catholic land, and continues as the predominant religion in both villages. While the native peoples have always had a tradition of strong religious beliefs, upon the arrival of the missionaries they could not worship ancient gods and idols anymore. This strong tradition was hence turned towards the new religion with the same fervour as in the past when it found its most significant expression in the cult of santos (saints). This traditional Catholic cult helped the Indians not only to overcome cultural shock, but also to accept this new religion and integrate it into their own spirituality and world view in the process of syncretism. Devotion to the saints appeared to be very suitable for native spirituality because it was understood by Indians as continuation of ancient tradition of local divine patrons. In pre-Columbian times every community worshipped its own protective deity as a consequence of regional particularity and fragmentation and this deity was considered to be the patron or even the father of the people living in the village and owner of the land. The divine patron of the neighbouring village was, of course, known but his position was not supreme. This situation corresponds with the Catholic tradition where each village or town was given its saint patron. When Span-

Being Indian in Mexico

ish missionaries introduced the cult of saint concept in Mexico and each community received its own saint patron, the saints quiet naturally not only replaced former gods, but in the process of syncretism were incorporated into the native religious system and thus acquired attributes of ancient gods (Lockhart 1992: 235−237). Hence, contemporary Mexican Indians also identify themselves according to the patron saint of their village, which is related to the residential principle analysed above. However, the religious principle in native self-identification goes beyond the local saint. Catholicism as a whole can be considered a unique feature of identity as it can, in many cases, overcome regional particularity and fragmentation because it has a very strong position in Indian tradition and represents one of the pillars of Indian society.14 Ser católico (to be Catholic) signifies also the recognition of native traditions and culture, respect for the legacy of ancestors and it contributes to the social cohesion of each community. On the other hand this cohesion is proved mostly during the saint’s day when the whole community participates in the fiesta (feast day) and thus the local exceptionality represented by their particular saint and the universal belief in Catholicism represent two sides of the same coin. Santa Clara Huitziltepec celebrates their patron saint, Saint Clare of Assisi, which falls on the ­August 11th; Hueyapan celebrates Saint Dominic, which falls on the August 4th.15 The celebrations last much longer than one day and always begin a couple of days before the saint’s day and end a couple of days after. Apart from the fact that the patron saints of both villages reveal missionary domains of mendicant orders in the 16th century, the feast days in both communities are simultaneously symbolic celebrations of the integrity of each local community.16 This means the identity of the local people is based on residential and religious, in this particular case, the saint’s principles. Even though there are several saints who are worshipped not only locally but regionally, there is only one saint whose worship unites almost all Mexicans, whether they are Indians or not, and with whom they identify themselves. It is Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe). This saint serves as a national symbol and exceptionally strong unifying element of an otherwise very heterogeneous Mexican society. The collective consciousness of the Mexican people was based primarily on religion (Catholicism) and 14 Although a lot of protestants churches and sects have come to Mexico, including native communities, especially during the past 20 years, according to the last census from 2010, a majority (89.3%) of Mexicans are Catholics. Concerning Indians, Protestants have a strong position mostly in the Maya area but the majority of the native populations in Mexico still confess Catholic faith. 15 Saint’s day of Saint Dominic officially falls on August 8th now but in Hueyapan they celebrate it in accordance with former liturgical calendar. 16 Franciscans in Santa Clara Huitziltepec, Dominicans in Hueyapan.

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before they became Mexicans they had already been children of Virgin of Guadalupe (Nebel 2002: 161). Guadalupana, as she is commonly referred to, not only holds a very special and exceptional position in the identity of the modern Mexican nation in general, but in Indian identity in particular. As the successor of the ancient goddess Tonantzin, worshipped in the shrine on the hill of Tepeyac, northward of ancient Tenochtitlan (it means on the periphery, outside of human settlement)17 she inherited the attributes of this deity and thus she remained an Indian Virgin. Tonantzin has never been patroness of any pre-Columbian city-state nor particular colonial or modern native community and as such she has never belonged to any particular community. On the contrary, as maternal goddess she belonged to all the people, she attracted masses from far away and this key attribute of hers was also transferred to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Supported by the official church, the Virgin of Guadalupe “conquered” the souls and hearts of all the Indians because, as the maternal saint, she is understood and considered to be protector of the poor and oppressed. Moreover, due to the attributes she inherited from Tonantzin and because her depiction is that of an Indian woman on the famous image located now in the basilica bellow Tepeyac, she is strongly connected with the native inhabitants of the country. Ser guadalupano (to be a worshipper of the Virgin of Guadalupe) means more than being Indian or Mexican for natives and sometimes more than being from a particular village. Without any exaggeration it can be said that the figure of the Virgin of Guadalupe is the most unifying element in the world of native Mexicans and, in general, in all of Mexico as well (Hlúšek 2014: 61−63). The feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe falls on December 12th. In the two villages outlined here this manifests itself into about one week of constant celebration, more days than the feast days of the patron saint of each community. The feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe is more important than the feast day of any local saint as this feast day represents the most important event in the liturgical calendar in both villages, and in all of Mexico. Masses, processions and peregrinations to the basilica bellow Tepeyac are the vehicles of confirmation which demonstrate the firm bond between inhabitants of Santa Clara Huitziltepec and Hueyapan and their heavenly patroness. At the same time, the celebration expresses their Guadalupe identity which unites them with other indigenous peoples and with the non-Indian population as well. Guadalupe identity can be considered to be the supreme level of selfidentification which is not limited by residence, region, ethnicity, culture or social position. 17

Currently, the basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, below the hill of Tepeyac, and the hill itself, form part of growing Mexico City.

Being Indian in Mexico

Until now we have been analysing the identity of Mexican native peoples on the basis of language, residential and religious principles. The significance of local community has been pointed out as have the factors of the local patron saint and the supra-regional Virgin of Guadalupe and simultaneously the role of native language was discussed, which was found to be less important to the field of Indian identity than the former principles. But the term Indian has still not been discussed; therefore, the last part of this essay will be dedicated to discussing what it means to be Indian in both the villages studied and for Mexican indigenous peoples in general.

BEING INDIAN IN SANTA CLARA HUITZILTEPEC AND HUEYAPAN From the preceding parts of this text it is apparent that what it means to be Indian in both villages studied means more than what the categories of ethnic and language sphere can delineate. Even the issues of residence and religion which are so important to native Mexicans’ identity do not explain the category of Indian in its complexity. Unlike the Western view which understands this category as racial or ethnic at least, this attitude cannot be applied in Mexico because it does not give a true picture of the Mexican reality. Simply said, apart from Creoles, descendants of African slaves and immigrants from all parts of the world, who all together represent a numerically insignificant part of the population, all Mexicans look the same. The overwhelming majority of Mexican people are mestizos, but if a mestizo and an Indian stand side by side and wear the same clothes it is impossible to recognize who is an Indian and who is a mestizo. In spite of this, there are still about 11 million people in Mexico who consider themselves to be Indian.18 However, the majority, even though they look the same, do not consider themselves Indian. This is the reason why the category of the Indian, needs to be understood in also the social and culture sphere. Judith Friedlander, an American anthropologist who conducted her fieldwork in Hueyapan at the turn of the 1960’s and 1970’s, states that she found “a profound sense of Indian inferiority” (2006: 68). This means that to be Indian was mostly a social issue and Friedlander adds that, to “call somebody indio … was just as degrading as it was to call African American “nigger” and 18 According to last census (2010) only a  little bit less than 7 million Mexicans speak some native language but about 11 million consider themselves to be Indian (www.inegi.org.mx). The census finally took into consideration right to self-determination of the people (not only language perspective) and the voices of academics, who had declared higher number of Indians than number of speakers of some native language much before. This perspective, of course, has its dark side because not everyone who speaks some native language or not everyone whose parents consider themselves to be Indian identifies himself/herself as Indian as we will show later.

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“official euphemism indígena …, although more polite, was hardly more flattering” (Friedlander 2006: 68). Our first visit to Hueyapan to conduct fieldwork about the cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe in the native Nahua cultural environment took place in 2010. Prior to this, we had not read Friedlander’s book. Her work was reviewed only after our return home and we were surprised that after 40 years we had received the same answers to the questions concerning identity and self-identification from our respondents as was found in her book. When asked about their cultural identity, members of older generations frequently answered with some sort of emphasis concerning their low social status in the framework of Mexican society. When Friedlander conducted her research some 40 years ago, these now “older generations” were children then, youth or still young adults. As such they were educated and growing up in the atmosphere of their own inferiority − a product of the leftover colonial era stressed in Republic era of Mexican history. Younger generations, those born since the 1970’s, tend to be more educated and grew up in an era of positive changes to official policy towards native peoples, hence they, on a whole, feel less inferior towards their Indian-ness than their elders. Contrary to their elders, they are mostly very proud to be Indian, and they hold the traditions of their ancestors despite the fact that they do not speak Náhuatl. Marginalization of native Mexicans since the conquest, but mostly since the gaining of independence in the 19th century until almost now, caused a gradual shift in the categorization of what it is to be Indian from racial sphere to social sphere. Liberal policy of independent Mexico cancelled collective ownership of land which led to the pauperization of the lower classes, mostly Indians. Deprived of economic opportunity of their existence, the Indians were pushed to the very edge of society and to be Indian began to be perceived as belonging to a social category. On the other hand, it is true that because the government did not care about them native communities remained outside of modern development, more or less closed to the outer world, and thus their inhabitants could preserve their traditions and language. Hence, they were not incorporated into the new, modern, Mexican nation and did not become indoctrinated by its ideology. Their social isolation prevented them, in most cases, from being − Mexicanized. This situation changed following the Mexican revolution when agrarian reform renewed collective ownership of the land and returned large amounts of land to their former owners. However, after such a long time the marginal social position of the natives could not be reversed so quickly. What is more, bilingual education, as one of the main vehicles of incorporation of Indians into the Mexican nation, in fact strengthened their feeling of inferiority because teachers and government officers constantly pointed out that Indian

Being Indian in Mexico

culture, traditions and language were, in their view, obstacles to Indian integration and progress. To speak a native language, to live in the countryside in a native community, to live in accordance with the traditional cultural values of their ancestors, to work and live as peasants, to wear traditional clothes, to walk barefoot or in sandals, to organize grandiose feast days that cost almost all the money one has, to be uneducated (or ignorant as it is usually said) and poor, all of this features became the attributes of being indígena or indio in Mexico. Indeed, Indians use these very same features when talking about themselves. When researching their identity during our fieldwork, the people in Hueyapan told us the same as they did to Friedlander 40 years before. The case of Hueyapan has been discussed here first because of the possibility of comparison with the former findings of Friedlander. Since to date there has been no such research or anthropological study at all done in Santa Clara Huitziltepec, there is no material to compare with. However, the results of our fieldwork in this village were the same: “Yes, I am Indian because I cannot read and write …I am Indian because I live here in the village, I am a peasant and poor,” etc. These were very common answers to our questions. But there is more to be discerned from these answers. These answers imply the possibility of changing one’s social position if someday in the future conditions change, then and all that has been said here about one’s identity will be invalid. Therefore, Indian identity may transform into Mexican identity. Indian identity is social identity and as such it can be changed if the conditions are in place in order for such a change to take place. A new lifestyle, including factors like: work, education, living in town, new infrastructure in the village, etc., can lead to a rejection of Indian identity and to acceptance of the mestizo/Mexican one. In Dolores Hidalgo, a village that belongs to the same municipality as Santa Clara Huitziltepec, we were told, “we are not Indian village anymore because we have new tar road and new school.” These improvements in public facilities means a real shift in social status as with these new aforementioned amenities the village cannot be labelled as Indian anymore, at least for the lady who gave us this response. According to this opinion, progress is incompatible with Indian status. Of course, it would not be fair to assert that all the people in Dolores Hidalgo have the same opinion. However, this case demonstrates another dimension of what it is to be Indian in Mexico means. One young man from Santa Clara Huitziltepec, who lives and studied in Cuernavaca declared his identity in a similar way. Even though his grandfather was among the few people in the village who speak Náhuatl and his parents consider themselves to be Indians, this young man said he was a modern Mexican, not an Indian.

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On the contrary, most of the members of younger generations, and not only in Hueyapan, are proud to be Indians. The reason is simple: The change of official policy brought financial support to Indian villages, resulting in direct economic benefit for the people. Additionally, it is also cool among young modern Mexicans to identify as Indian. Hueyapan has every right to declare itself an Indian village; but the lure of government financial support also caused paradoxical cases when villages which have never been native or lost their native character long ago declared themselves to be Indian in order to receive financial benefits. The expediency of this practice and its political background is clear, but it also demonstrates the variability of being Indian in Mexico, which in general is based on social status.

CONCLUSION This analysis offered here represents what we, the authors, feel to be a very practical way to evaluate what it means to be identified as an Indian in Mexico. However, we have also pointed out that it is a complex situation and we do not dare to affirm that our point of view is the only one that can be applied. With that said, this essay is a comparative case study of two selected Nahua villages which provides very useful data with a certain degree of generalization, but it keeps in mind that the situation in other villages, or even in other regions of the country, does not have to be the same or completely the same. On the other hand, we do not assume that the degree of divergence will be large. From our fieldwork we found out that the identity and self-identification of Mexican Indians is mostly related to their residence (residential principle) together with the religious principle. These two aspects are more important than language which does not necessarily have to be spoken in the community anymore by its inhabitants in order for them to consider themselves Indians. Indians firstly identify themselves with their residential unit along with the patron saint of their community. The religious level extends in that Our Lady of Guadalupe overcomes regional particularity and fragmentation and social boarders, as well, in serving to self-identify as Indian. These serve as the starting point of the discussion of what it means to be Indian. To be Indian requires a much broader kind of self-identification than to simply be from some particular village, even though it is a narrower criterion than to be a worshiper of the Virgin of Guadalupe. It is necessary to look at the category of Indian from social point of view, which means that to be Indian reflects more social status than potential ethnic, linguistic or even racial affiliation. This status, however, is low. It is related to post-conquest history of Mexico, mainly to its independent and post-revolutionary era which caused the marginalization of the native inhabitants of the country. Despite this situation it

Being Indian in Mexico

is slowly getting better because of the change in official policy of the Mexican government; Indian identity remains inferior and connected to traditional peasant lifestyle and to an underdeveloped way of life. Last of all we afford an orthographic reflection. If we admit the social character of the term Indian it means that it must belong to the same class of words as all other social groups (noble, worker, slave, etc.). As such, the initial letter should be lower case and the word should be written “indian” as is the case of Spanish, indígena or indio.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Durán, Diego. 2006. Historia de las Indias de Nueva España e Islas de la Tierra firme II. México: Editorial Porrúa. Friedlander, Judith. 2006. Being Indian in Hueyapan. A Revised and Updated Edition. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. Garibay K., Ángel María. 2007. Llave del náhuatl: Collección de trozos clásicos, con gramática y vocabulario náhuatl-castellano, para utilidad de los principiantes. México: Editorial Porrúa. Hlúšek, Radoslav. 2014. Nican mopohua: Domorodý príbeh o zjavení Panny Márie Guadalupskej. Bratislava: Chronos. Lockhart, James. 1992. The Nahuas after the Conquest: A Social and Cultural History of the Indians of Central Mexico, Sixteenth Through Eighteenth Centuries. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Mácha, Přemysl. 2004. Indiáni a volební demokracie. Politické proměny indiánských obcí Mexika. Ostrava: Filozofická fakulta Ostravské univerzity v Ostravě. Mácha, Přemysl. 2009. From an Ethnie to a Nation: The Purhepechas on the Road to National Self-Determination. In Přemysl Mácha (Ed.). Lighting the Bonfire, Rebuilding the Pyramid. Case Studies in Identity, Ethnicity and Nationalism in Indigenous Communities in Mexico. Pp. 83−123. Ostrava: Ostravská univerzita v Ostravě. Nebel, Richard. 2002. Santa María Tonantzin Virgen de Guadalupe: Continuidad y transformación religiosa en México. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica. Secretaría de Gobernación. 2014. Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. México: Secretaría de Gobernación. Šatava, Leoš. 2009. Jazyk a identita etnických menšin: Možnosti zachování a revitalizace. Prague: Sociologické nakladatelství. Uhnák, Adam. 2012. Deň mŕtvych na príklade nahuaských dedín Santa Clara Huitziltepec a Hueyapan. Ethnologia Actualis Slovaca 12: 49−70. Wright Carr, David Charles. 2007. Lectura del náhuatl: Fundamentos para la traducción de los textos en náhuatl del periodo Novohispano Temprano. México: Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas.

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SEEKING IDENTITY THROUGH ORIGINAL TRADITIONS: THE AZTEC DANCE MICHELLE LEISKY

INTRODUCTION While the 19th century in Latin America can be characterized as a century of independence and modernization, efforts to mimic Europe, the 20th century would be a century of identity not only on a national, but also on a community and personal level. Latin American intellectuals started to reevaluate their ethnic heritage, which paved the way for a phenomenon of “Indigenous Renaissance” in several Latin American countries. In Mexico, the movement valorising the native origins and culture, known as a Mexicanidad or Mexicayotl1, spread in the post-revolutionary period and had a great impact on the Mexican society, its perception of the native tradition and customs. This “return” to tradition was expressed in art, politics, as well as in everyday life, with people being attracted by the splendour of the old Aztec empire and seduced by the drumbeats of huehuetl (a Nahuatl word for the drum used during the dance. Its literal meaning is “the old one” because it is made of a trunk of a tree – the bigger the trunk, the older the tree)2, which started to vibrate in the streets of modern cities. Aztec Dance is an important part of Mexicanidad. Nowadays, we cannot imagine the Zócalo in Mexico City without the sound of coyoleras (special “rattles” used on the ankles of dancers) and atecocolli (a conch played during the dance ceremony), which remind us of the old times of the Mexicas.3 The paper arose from my interest in the Aztec dance, which I discovered during my stay in Mexico in years 2009−2012. My fascination by the Aztec culture drove me to the calpulli4 Ueyzenyeliztli, where I started to dance and learn 1 2 3

4

Mexicanidad (in Spanish) and Mexicayotl (in Nahuatl) means Mexicanism or the essence of the Mexican. As the English translation does not express exactly the same thing, I will use the original Spanish word Mexicanidad. If not mentioned otherwise, all the translations from Nahuatl to English are made by the author. In this paper, I will use the word Aztec and Mexica as synonyms despite their difference in meaning, mainly due to the fact that in academic and also popular literature the term “Aztec” prevails. However, the dancers prefer to call themselves “Mexicas” (hispanicized plural of Nahuatl word “Mexica”) and it is how the dance tradition and ceremony are identified from within the dance circles. For the old Aztecs calpulli was a designation of the smallest organizational unit, which had originally corresponded to the family units. Nowadays, the term calpulli is used mainly as a synonym of a dance circle.

Seeking Identity Through Original Traditions: The Aztec Dance

about the Mexica past and present. Thanks to my active presence at many ceremonies, I had the opportunity to get to know the Mexica customs and to meet people from other calpulli, something that significantly simplified my future research. Consequently, the core of this paper stems from my personal experience, yet I have attempted to remain impartial and objective whilst doing my research. Although the Aztec Dance has become a part of Mexican everyday life over the past decades, far too little attention has been paid to what this Dance expresses, or why so many people join the Dance circles. This paper attempts to show that the Aztec Dance plays an important role in the formation of personal as well as collective identity. It has been organized in the following way. The first part gives a brief overview of the Mexicanidad, the second part examines the Aztec Dance, which will lead us to the organization of the Dance circles, calpulli, described in the third section. The fourth part discusses the creation of identity of the dancers through the ritual of “sowing the name” which opens the theme of adaptation of the old native traditions to the modern world and their reinterpretation discussed in the example of the Aztec hero Cuauhtemoc5, or, more precisely, in his cult created by the Mexicas in the last chapter.

MEXICANIDAD Mexicanidad is a movement embracing a wide range of activities, whose common denominator is the emphasis of the indigenous roots of the Mexican society and the legacy of their Indian ancestors, particularly that of the Aztecs. Even though the idea is not completely new, since Iturbide was crowned the Emperor of Anahuac and “he was thought to be reviving the Aztec Empire” (Lafaye 1987: 130), Mexicanidad appears in the second half of the 20th century as a movement restoring the indigenous culture and traditions of the ancient Mexico. The foundation of Movimiento Confederado Restaurador de la Cultura de Anáhuac (MCRCA)6 in 1959 is one of the most important events in the formalization of the movement. Yolotl González Torres characterizes MCRCA as an organization seeking the restoration of the idealized Mexican culture (González Torres 2005: 163), whereas the Mexicas perceived it as an organization uncovering the true history of the Aztec empire and culture. The MCRCA interpreted differently several problematic aspects of the Aztec culture such as human sacrifices, state organization, or religion. They also focused on restoring Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, 5 6

The spelling in Nahuatl does not have an accent above “e” as in Spanish. The Confederate Movement to Restore the Anahuac Culture.

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which in the 1950s almost disappeared from Mexico City and was used mainly in the countryside by elderly population. What is so specific about Mexicanidad is that despite being an indigenous movement, its followers are mostly from urban areas and they transfer the rituals to public places. They can usually be seen performing their rites in the centre of cities, e.g. Zócalo in Mexico City, or in the ceremonial zones such as Teotihuacan or Xochicalco, “where they give to mexicanidad a public face” (Rostas 1997: 1). Another curious point is that Mexicanidad comprises people of different social, cultural, and sometimes even political background; therefore, its members may have distinct expectations and ideas as for their involvement in the movement. In general, it could be said that the Mexicas study and glorify the Aztec past in order to understand their own existence. Talking about the Mexicanidad, it is interesting to look at the books of Antonio Velasco Piña, author of Tlacaelel (Velasco Piña 2002) or Regina (Velasco Piña 1988), because “his various books attempt to place Aztec/Mexica civilization in a better light by emphasizing the problem of identity and asserting the need for mexicanidad, a new kind of Mexican nationalism” (Rostas 1991: 14). Many Mexicas identify with the ideas expressed by Velasco Piña in his books, and even though it is a literal fiction, some people see it as a confirmation of their beliefs. It is beyond the scope of this study to describe all the activities inherent in the notion of Mexicanidad; nevertheless, the first thing which comes to mind to people talking about the Mexicanidad is the Dance – Danza Azteca-Mexica.

DANZA AZTECA-MEXICA The Aztec Dance is at the heart of the understanding of the phenomenon of revitalization of the Indian traditions and its adaptation to the modern life in Mexico. However, difficulties arise when searching for the origin of the Dance, which is based on oral tradition. Perhaps the most serious disadvantage of the oral tradition is the inability to decide whether it dates back to the pre-Columbian times or “only” to the 19th century, which makes one of the main discords between the academics and the Mexicas (and sometimes even among the Mexicas themselves). Anthropologists and historians assume that the Aztec Dance is a new tradition invented in the 19th (sometimes even the 20th) century, whereas the majority of the Mexicas claim that the Aztec Dance, as we know it today, survived the conquest, the colonization, and flourished in the 20th century, for there was no need to hide the ancient wisdom anymore. Concheros, the syncretic dancers, have played the key role in the preservation of the Dance. Their name is derived from the word “concha,” a man-

Seeking Identity Through Original Traditions: The Aztec Dance

dolin made of an armadillo shell, which is used during the dance ceremonies to set the pace instead of the drum. Its rituals are strongly influenced by the Catholic Church, which was the conditio sine qua non to keep the Dance alive. The organization of the Concheros is very strict, laying much more emphasis on the family, and the tradition is passed from father to son. The centre of the Concheros was (and still is) Querétaro, where the “dance families,” known as mesas7, with the longest tradition live. The original meaning of mesa was an oratory which unifies group of dancers and their leader under the image of a virgin or a saint. In the 1970s and 1980s, the movement of Mexicanidad strengthened and influenced also some conchero dancers, or, strictly speaking, it coincided with new trends inside of the conchero dance. Some Concheros felt the need to change the old forms – some mesas “only” modified their dance costumes in order to be more native, more Aztec, whereas others adopted more Aztec elements such as the drum huehuetl, conch shell atecocolli, or even Nahuatl instead of Spanish during the ceremonies. It is difficult to say whether it was the Concheros unsatisfied with the traditional forms who started the new mexica dance groups, or if they were created by new people. However, the main difference between the Mexicas and the Concheros is their attitude towards the Catholic Church. While the Concheros usually perform their ceremonies in atriums of churches and their rites are strongly bounded to Catholicism, the Mexicas completely reject any influence of the Catholic Church with the whole ceremony achieving a very distinct character. First, it is no longer dedicated to catholic saints but to Aztec deities, or, more precisely, to Aztec entities; second, their dance is much faster and more dynamic due to the different instruments used during the dance; and third, Nahuatl is adopted as the “ceremonial language.” At present, both dances exist simultaneously, and there are several ceremonies during which they are danced on the same occasions, albeit interpreted differently. The ceremony in La Villa on 12th December, dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe (for the Concheros) or to Tonantzin Tlalli, the Mother Earth (for the Mexicas), is a good illustration of this coexistence. However, even though the relationship between the Concheros and Mexicas is generally good and they respect each other, as I know from my personal experience, it can cause an annoyance if somebody confounds a Mexica with a Conchero and vice versa. As previously mentioned, the Mexicas want to “purify” the dance from the influence of the Catholic Church and restore “the original one.” As 7

The conchero groups used to put statuettes of saints and the patron of the group on a table, a sort of an altar, on the places where they dance so every conchero group has their own table (mesa in Spanish) and the dance group adopts the name of their patron, e.g. la Mesa de Santo Niño de Atocha.

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main sources they have oral tradition, pre-colonial and colonial codices, archaeological monuments as well as native tradition of other ethnics. Perhaps the most serious disadvantage of these sources lies in their interpretation, which may lead to different conclusions. This can be seen in the case of dating the origin of the Mexica New Year. While the majority of the dance circles celebrate it on March 12th, some groups commemorate it as much as a month earlier or later, referring to the oral tradition of their elders (as in the case of the calpulli Yaoxochitl from Mexico City, which celebrates it on February 16th).8 For this reason there are big differences among the Mexica dance groups in the way they celebrate the events, in their dance suits, the particular dances, or even in their internal organization. As explained earlier, the Concheros form mesas dedicated to their patrons, whose name is adopted for the whole group. Nonetheless, this concept cannot serve for the Mexica’s groups, so that they follow the “original” organization of the Aztec society, denominated calpulli.

CALPULLI Calpulli was a designation for the smallest organizational unit in the Aztec state and originally, it corresponded to the family unit. However, the meaning of the word calpulli has changed over time. Nowadays, it is a denomination of the Mexica dance circles, which, in general, are not based on family relationships inside the group. Compared to the mesas, calpulli does not have such a hierarchical structure corresponding to the military ranks. While every mesa has its own leader – captain, and several mesas are devoted to one chief – general, the calpulli is much more independent from this point of view. Every calpulli has its leader – el jefe, who does not answer to anyone else except his own group, but, as mentioned above, the internal organization of every calpulli differs from one dance circle to another, depending on their internal rules. There are several “functions” or “positions” needed to be covered for every dance ceremony or even a practice, such as copalera or sahumadora, person who has the element of fire, huehuetero, person who plays the drum, caracolero, person who blows the conch shell, and a person who has the element of water. These people are indispensable for a dance practice or a ceremony, so it is a basic rule for every calpulli to have enough people to carry these elements. The number of dancers is not limited; there are calpultin (plural of calpulli) with more than 50 members as well as smaller ones with fewer than 10. The calpulli is a group whose members have strong relationships based on the “spiritual brotherhood,” which is the reason why the dancers designate their

8

Martínez, Tecciztemoc. Personal interview. 5th September 2013.

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calpulli as their “dance family.” To become a member of a calpulli is in some cases easy, the only condition being regular attendance at dance practices and dancing with the group. However, it usually requires much stronger dedication than mere coming to a few practices. Every calpulli practices once or twice a week in public places, such as main squares (zócalo) of cities or parks. If there is more than one group practicing at the same square, as a rule, they pick different days for their practices in order not to disturb the other calpulli. The practice of the dance serves to learn the particular dances and harmonize the group as much as possible for the coming ceremonies. Turning now to the obligations or responsibilities of the dancers, it is worth mentioning that being a member of a calpulli requires much time. First, the dancers attend the dance practices once or twice a week; second, they assist in the ceremonies, which take place usually during the weekend (once a month); and third, they take part in “bigger” rituals requiring not only the dancers’ time, but also some financial means. Furthermore, there are other expenses which need to be covered by the whole calpulli, such as new leather for the huehuetl in case it gets torn; flowers, copal and other things necessary for the ceremonies; firewood for temazcal (Aztec sweat lodge), etc. Being a dancer, a member of a calpulli, is not a hobby, it is a way of life. Apart from the activities mentioned above, many calpultin “educate” their members in Aztec cosmology, Nahuatl, or even in practical things, such as making their own ceremonial suits, moccasins, etc. The way they present the history of their ancestors might be surprising for a newcomer, as it does not completely correspond to the version taught at schools or generally accepted. The contentious points are: Firstly, the Aztecs were not barbarians, but they had a highly developed civilization from the astronomical, mathematical or even philosophical point of view. Secondly, the religion was not a typical polytheistic religion due to the fact that there were no gods, but entities or energies. For example, Ehecatl is not a God of Wind, it is the wind itself; or Tlaloc means the liquor of the Earth in Nahuatl, which is a metaphor of the rain, not a God of Rain.9 However, this concept could hardly be transmitted to the Christian conquerors and as a consequence, it was easily distorted. And thirdly, the human sacrifices represent another important issue which goes hand in hand with the Aztec religion. As explained earlier, the Mexicas argue that since the Aztec civilization had good astronomical knowledge, it is hardly possible to think that they would sacrifice people for the fear that the Sun would not rise anymore. Besides, they have many more arguments10 that often lead to long discussions with those convinced about the existence of human sacrifices. Nevertheless, as 9 Meza Gutiérrez, Arturo. Personal interview. 2nd August 2013. 10 Ibid.

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pointed out earlier, both the dancers and the academics have their reason to believe their conclusions are correct. One of the pillars of understanding the Aztec culture is their language – Nahuatl.

THE ROLE OF NAHUATL As was stated by Arturo Mesa Gutiérrez, one of the respected researchers of considerable repute among the Mexicas, the language is a key aspect to comprehend the worldview and philosophy of the old Aztecs.11 Another commonly shared opinion is that if the intention is to build on the legacy of the ancestors, you need to speak their language so that the spirits can understand you.12 Therefore, it is preferable to use Nahuatl during the ceremonies instead of Spanish, although the majority of the Mexicas do not speak Nahuatl. Some of them try to learn it either during “their classes” or on their own, but most of them prefer only to memorize several phrases and words used during the rites. Consequently, Nahuatl may be distorted and hispanicized owing to the lack of knowledge and its misuse by the dancers. For example, the word calpullis, used as the plural of calpulli (instead of calpultin), or the use of the reverential ending – tzin without modifying the rest of the oration, etc. On the other hand, Nahuatl, along with the Aztec cosmology, plays an important role in the formation of the personal identity of the Mexicas due to the ritual of the adoption of a new name in Nahuatl. The selection of the name is based on the Aztec calendar, or, more precisely, on the sign corresponding to the date of birth of the person, it may also be based on the person’s personal qualities, or even on “merecimiento” (something that the person has gained by his or her actions). Accordingly, a person born on day 2-jaguar may adopt the name “Ocelotl,” or a happy child can obtain the name “Papaqui” (“he rejoices”), etc. The name is chosen in order to accentuate some good quality of the person or to strengthen some favourable aspect of his or her “Aztec horoscope,” but in no case could it be a name which would somehow ridicule the person. Usually, the one who chooses the name is not the dancer but the leader of the group or the elders of the calpulli. Sometimes the dancer may choose from several proposed names, but predominantly the new name is announced for the first time during the ceremony of “sowing the name” (siembra de nombre), although once the name is “sowed,” it is definitive and cannot be changed. However, I have never seen or heard of anyone not satisfied with the chosen name. Thereafter, every time there is a ceremonial event (dance, temazcal, etc.), the dancers introduce themselves either only by their Mexica name or 11 Ibid. 12 Chávez Durán, Victor. Telephone interview. 1st March 2014.

Seeking Identity Through Original Traditions: The Aztec Dance

by their civil name followed by the Mexica one. The ceremony of “sowing the name” is an important act saying that the person has decided to form a part of the Mexica community, and with the adoption of the name he or she creates a “new Mexica identity.” It does not necessarily mean that the dancer changes, for his or her companions it is not usually important what the dancer does in civil life; however, it matters what his or her ceremonial life as “Cuauhtli” is. Therefore, someone whose civil life is not very attractive for them can achieve an “important position” inside the calpulli or gain much respect by devotion to the ceremonial life. What also plays a significant role is the dance suit – atuendo. Some calpultin use the dance dress even for their practices; however, the majority of them use it only for ceremonies. The atuendo differs from one calpulli to another, and a big variety exists even within one calpulli. Men wear either only the bottom part – maztlatl, or also the upper part covering the thorax, called coxcapetlatl; women are dressed in chinkueiyitl (skirt) and kexkemitl (a kind of “blouse”), and both genders use ayoyotes or coyoleras (a set of hard shells from the ayoyote tree on the dancer’s ankles) and copilli. The copilli is a very discussed part of the atuendo since not all calpultin allow their members to use copilli, arguing that originally, the feathers represented different “social status” or were part of the personal “merecimiento.”13 Yet, for the majority of Mexicas, the copilli represents an essential part of the dance dress, which gives a monumental look to the whole atuendo. Paradoxically, some dancers have such a great copilli that it causes them big difficulties while dancing, and they prefer to leave their copilli in the centre of the dance circle, putting it on only for the beginning and the end of the ceremony. This raises the question about the “rules” for the dance dresses; these, however, do not exist at all. As explained earlier, some calpultin prefer to have similar atuendos for their dancers, but their appearance may have various sources of inspiration. First, it is based on pre-colonial and colonial codices; second, they draw inspiration from ceremonial dresses of other native cultures of the continent (especially from the United States); and third, they use their own imagination. Therefore, it is interesting to see the wide range of atuendos not only for their artistic value, but also to observe the distinct concepts of imagination of the original native culture. From the previous discussion it is evident that the actual Mexicanidad, although based on the native legacy of the ancestors, has a wide range of modern aspects. The hunger for the “disappeared heritage,” along with the pride of being a descendant of such a rich culture, leads to the creation of new cults. One of them is the cult to the last tlahtoani (Aztec leader) Cuauhtemoc.

13 Ibid.

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THE LEGACY OF CUAUHTEMOC When Mexico-Tenochtitlan was already endangered by the Spanish conquerors led by Hernán Cortés, Cuauhtemoc was elected to replace the tlahtoani Cuitlahuac, who had died of smallpox. Cuauhtemoc, despite his young age, demonstrated very soon his valour and ability in guiding the Aztecs in their resistance. However, Cuauhtemoc promptly realized that his people did not have big chances against the foreign invaders and, according to Spanish sources (Díaz del Castillo 2011: 91), he came to Cortés, offered him his knife and asked to be killed. Cortés did not accept his offer, though, and arrested him. Fearing the strong influence of Cuauhtemoc on his people, Cortés took him (and several other indigenous nobles) to his expedition to Honduras. After having been tortured in order to reveal where the Aztec treasure was, Cuauhtemoc was murdered (executed) with the pretext of conspiring against Cortés (Bolívar Aguilar 2001: 42). His body was dismembered and scattered around due to the fact that Cortés feared a possible creation of a cult of Cuauhtemoc. The execution took place in an area called Acalán (place of canoes in Nahuatl) where the actual states Campeche and Tabasco come together (Bolívar Aguilar 2001: 42). Thanks to his heroic life and death, Cuauhtemoc is the ideal person to be chosen as a personification of human (Mexica) virtues, an example inspiring many people; therefore, the creation of the Cuauhtemoc’s cult is not surprising. What is much more interesting from the anthropological point of view are the circumstances leading to the actual celebration of Cuauhtemoc anniversary in Ixcateopan in February. Why in Ixcateopan if Cuauhtemoc is supposed to have been killed in Acalán? According to the oral tradition, Cuauhtemoc’s remains were collected by people and transferred to Ixcateopan, where he was buried beneath the altar of a parish church. In February 1949, the priest Salgado announced that he had documents proving that the oral tradition was correct. The first document was a book describing the burial of Cuauhtemoc, signed by the Franciscan Motolinía; and the second document was a journal written by Florentino Juárez, grandfather of the owner of the documents, Rodríguez Juárez (Olivera de Bonfil 1980: 95). Shortly after that, a commission directed by Eulalia Guzmán was named to verify the authenticity of the documents and to coordinate the excavations which led to the findings of bones in the supposed Cuauhtemoc’s tomb. There were many emotions following the discovery and overnight, Eulalia Guzmán became a national hero. Unfortunately for the Cuauhtemoc’s sympathizers, another commission was formed to verify the findings. This time, the commission sent by Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) completely dismissed the previous conclusions. The INAH’s verdict raised suspicious reactions throughout the political and social area. Since that time, more commissions were coming

Seeking Identity Through Original Traditions: The Aztec Dance

to Ixcateopan to investigate, but the reaction of the residents was becoming more incredulous and hostile towards the researches. In 1976, the commission of Alicia Olivera de Bonfil investigated not only the rests of Cuauhtemoc, but also the oral tradition in Guerrero and Tabasco and found out that the oral tradition of “Cuauhtemoc’s Ixcateopan” is closely linked to the family Rodríguez Juárez and was originally promoted by them since the 19th century (Olivera de Bonfil 1980: 95). For the Mexicas, there is no doubt about Cuauhtemoc’s tomb and the never-ending discussions about the authenticity of the findings are seen as “a rejection of the importance of the indigenous legacy by the government”14, or there are even opinions that “the later commissions (after Eulalia Guzmán) were paid to disprove Guzmán’s conclusions in order to avoid the empowerment of the Movement of Mexicanidad.”15 Nevertheless, despite the contradictory conclusions on Cuauhtemoc’s case, his local cult has endured in Ixcateopan, and the month of February is dedicated to his veneration. The main celebration is on February 23rd, which according to the oral tradition corresponds to his birthday.16 A few days earlier, there are several runs starting either from Mexico City or closer to Ixcateopan and finishing in front of the church in Ixcateopan. Although every calpulli tries to organize its own run despite the high cost, some small calpultin need to join other bigger calpultin to enter their runs or to co-organize them. The participation in the run is seen as an ofrenda, which means an offering or some kind of “sacrifice” made by a dancer in honour of Cuauhtemoc. Once the calpulli arrives in Ixcateopan, they enter the church to leave some ofrenda (this time flowers, amaranth, copal, etc.) on Cuauhtemoc’s tomb, and afterwards they join the dance in the church or outside, provided that there is not enough space. As mentioned above, the main celebration takes place on February 23rd and the previous or following weekend for those who cannot leave their job during the week. Yet, it is a common practice among the Mexicas (for such an important event) to reorganize their work schedule in order to be in Ixcateopan on the exact day of the festivity. Therefore, there is no need to stress the importance of Cuauhtemoc for the Mexicanidad. Indeed, even the presence of the bones is not required. It is one of the symbols of the heroic past of the Aztec empire, thus, the interjection: “Cuauhtemotzin nican ca!”17 can often be heard during the Mexica ceremonies.

14 Chávez Durán, Victor. Telephone interview. 1st March 2014. 15 Ibid. 16 Ibid. 17 The venerable Cuauhtemoc is present! (The venerable Cuauhtemoc is here!)

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CONCLUSION This paper has examined the searching for the identity through the original tradition and art expressed in the Movement of Mexicanidad. As has been noted, the concept of the original tradition is not as clear as it may seem; therefore, this paper shows how the original tradition is seen today and how the Mexicas imagine it. It is interesting to see not only how the history/people/ customs are idealized, but also how they are inventing new ones in order to show the magnitude of the indigenous past. On the other hand, it is difficult to say whether the current tendencies for searching for the “true Aztec traditions and forms” are wrong or not. The oral tradition can be a valuable source of information, however, it can also be misleading and easily manipulated. For this reason, the Mexicas, whose interest in the Aztec history is deeper than a mere weekend pastime, highlighted different interpretations of the Aztec cosmology, rituals, or the history of conquest, which can neither be completely confirmed nor refuted. According to the dancers (either Mexica or Conchero), the Aztec dance is one of the symbols of the indigenous heritage that have survived since the old times of the Aztec Empire, and nowadays, it is important not only because of its artistic and historical value, but also as one of the elements uniting people from all socio-economical levels and enabling them to live the Aztec traditions today. Another important point is the creation of the dance families, calpulli, whose influence goes beyond the dance itself owing to the fact that it gives to many of the dancers their raison d’être, or at least a new way of life. The role of the calpulli varies considerably depending on the dancers, but also on the dance groups. One of the most important factors is the search for the personal and collective identity through discovering of the ancient heritage of the Aztecs. Knowing better one’s roots represents one piece of the puzzle of “personal identity,” where the history has the same value as the present or the future. Furthermore, the adoption of a new name in Nahuatl refers to the Aztec legacy, but it also gives the person the feeling of uniqueness or a mission, which is essential for many people nowadays. Moreover, the importance of the calpulli has to be viewed within the social context, where “the indigenous” becomes something that a person can be proud of. Unfortunately, some Mexicas have fallen into the opposite extreme, labelling any cultural or personality trait which they consider positive as “indigenous” and blaming the Spanish conquerors for all the negative traits of Mexican society. However, if I were to assess the impact of the calpulli, it can be judged positively in many respects, such as the educational function, the development of social skills (respect to the elders, authority, etc.), or the creation of a new form of fellowship founded on a spiritual basis. Besides, the interest in the native heritage claimed by the Mexicanidad al-

Seeking Identity Through Original Traditions: The Aztec Dance

lows people to “rediscover” the old culture, the original languages (mainly Nahuatl), or even the current Indian cultures (such as the wirrarika). The creation of new customs and cults is a logical consequence, or a “side effect,” of such a movement. The controversial finding of Cuauhtemoc’s tomb serves as a good illustration of the present situation, where the need for heroes and pre-Columbian legacy is much stronger than the reality itself. The Mexicas feel no need to prove that the bones are truly those of Cuauhtemoc, since, from their point of view, the oral tradition always prevails over any archaeological excavations. Moreover, Ixcateopan has already become a pilgrimage site for Mexicas, and the celebration of Cuauhtemoc’s anniversary in February has grown into one of the most important Mexica festivities of the year. Nonetheless, the findings in this paper are subject to some limitations. Firstly, as mentioned in the introduction, the study is based mainly on my personal experience and contacts with the Mexicas; secondly, the majority of the calpultin, with whom I am in contact, are from Central Mexico, although I have had the opportunity to encounter dancers from other parts of Mexico as well during some important ceremonies; and thirdly, the movement of Mexicanidad and the Aztec Dance are evolving, new calpultin are being created while others are disappearing, and so are sometimes their forms.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Anales de Antropología 16. 1979. México: Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Aquiles, Chihu Amparán. 2007. Marcos interpretativos: Identidad e imaginario en el mexica movement. Región y sociedad XIX, 38. Retrieved from http://www.redalyc.org/articulo. oa?id=10203803 Bolívar Aguilar, Juan José. 2001. Monografía del estado de Campeche. Campeche: Universidad Autónoma del Carmen. Branding, David A. 1998. Manuel Gamio and Oficial Indigenismo in Mexico. Bulletin of Latin American Research 7, 1: 75−89. Díaz del Castillo, Bernal. 2011. Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España. Barcelona: Red Ediciones S. L. González Torres, Yólotl. 2005. Danza tu palabra: La danza de los concheros. México: Plaza y Valdés. Johnson, Lyman L. 2004. Death, Dismemberment, and Memory: Body Politics in Latin America. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. Lafaye, Jacques. 1987. Quetzalcoatl and Guadalupe the Formation of Mexican National Consciousness, 1531−1813. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Olivera de Bonfil, Alicia. 1980. La tradición oral sobre Cuauhtémoc. México: UNAM. Peña, Guillermo de la − Vázquez León, Luis. 2002. La antropología sociocultural en el México del milenio: Búsquedas, encuentros y transiciones. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica. Ritchie, Donald A. 2011. The Oxford Handbook of Oral History. New York: Oxford University Press. Rostas, Susanna. 2009. Carrying the Word: The Concheros Dance in Mexico City. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.

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Rostas, Susanna. 1997. Mexicanidad: The Resurgence of the Indian in Popular Mexican Nationalism. Latin American Studies Association. Retrieved from http://lasa.international.pitt.edu/ LASA97/rostas.pdf Rostas, Susanna. 1991. The Concheros of Mexico: A Search for Ethnic Identity. Dance Research: The Journal of the Society for Dance Research 9, 2: 3−17. Velasco Piña, Antonio. 1998. Regina – dos de octubre no se olvida. México: Editorial Jus. Velasco Piña, Antonio. 2002. Tlacaélel: el azteca entre los aztecas. México: Porrúa.

HISTORY AND ITS LEGACY

PARAGUAYAN INDIANS CHAMACOCO YVONNA FRIČOVÁ

Paraguay, a landlocked country extending on 406,752 km2 lying at the heart of the South American Continent, has a population of more than 6.5 million that grows with annual rate of 1.67. With the exception of administrative region of Alto Paraguay, referred to as forsaken – meaning by everyone, even by God – end of the earth, isolated from the rest of the country and its social policy, health service, economy and prospects of development. Endless and immeasurable barren plateau of the Gran Chaco that forms the region geographically, slopes southward (region called Bajo Paraguay) and east, towards the Paraguay River. The altitude of small hills such as Tres Hermanos rising above the regional town of Fuerte Olimpo does not exceed 300 masl. In the north, near the borders with Bolivia, the landscape is rather undulating, whereas the north-east is represented by the typical parched town of the Chaco Boreal with tropical climate where long periods of drought are followed by heavy rains. Further to the east the region changes into the Brazilian Pantanal, a vast wetland area through which the Amazonian forests reach the water basin system alongside the Paraguay River that is of global importance as its humidity has impact on the biodiversity of a vast area. During the rainy season, the water surface of the Pantanal is approx. 133,465 km2 of which the area belonging to Paraguay is 660,000 ha. The natural environment has been systematically harmed by intense deforestation since the beginning of the 20th century.1 Inconsiderate wood extraction was performed especially by Brazilian farmers who needed pastures for their herds of beef cattle. Despite annual floods in the rainy season (due to the Paraguay River level surge and stagnant rain water in the inland) and semi-arid nature of the biotope, there are good conditions for cattle breeding, which ensures the main economic income (90%) of the population, for the rest of the year. Other working opportunities (with the exception of jobs in state administration and services that are provided rather on the basis of friendly exchange

1

Originally, only quebracho trees grew in Gran Chaco on a surface area of four million hectares, of which one million was extracted in 1956–1985 (Dahms 1956, 1996). Only 4% of the original forests have preserved in Chaco and logging continues at a rate of 100,000 hectares per year (Dos Dantos, Dos Dantos 2010).

Paraguayan Indians Chamacoco

Míllet from the Chamacoco tribe, Guido Boggiani, 1897.

and occasional fishing) are negligible; Alto Paraguay is the only region of the country where there is no industry. With its area of 82,349 km2, Alto Paraguay is the largest of the 18 regions in the country, but the total current estimate of its inhabitants (concentrated in several towns, cattle ranches and Indian villages) is around 11,000 (0.14 person/km²). Indigenous inhabitants form a fifth of the population:

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Indians of the Ayoreo, Maskói and Chamacoco tribes. In addition to Paraguayans, a lot of Brazilians who bred cattle have settled in their traditional territory since the end of the 19th century.2 There is not a single metre of an asphalt road (which means that in the rainy seasons the inhabitants are actually isolated from the rest of the world), and although the Ministry of Health offers generous salaries, it is a big problem to find a physician who would be willing to settle there; a similar situation concerns education. No wonder that the barren land results to depopulation (annual decrease in the population is –0.84). It also concerns Indians. Ten years ago, the Chamacoco were an exception in the capital city of Asunción; the reason for their sporadic visits (or longer stays) was when they needed health service or official documents. According to the latest census of population from 2012 (Anonymous 2012), 343 Chamacocos lived permanently in Asunción, which is almost one fifth of the total number of 1,824 members of the tribe3, one of the least numerous ethnic groups (1.6%) of the total number of 112,848 Paraguayan Indians of five language families4. The Chamacoco in the Chaco dwell alongside the Paraguay River on their own lands with a total surface area of 37,084 ha in the villages of Puerto Dia­na (originally Pacheco; approx. 115 families; 2,345 ha5), Puerto Esperanza (originally Inichta; approx. 100 families; 21,330 ha), Puerto 14 de Mayo (Karcha Bahlut; approx. 30 families; 9,500 ha) and Misión Santa Teresita near Fuerte Olimpo (Ilyrta; approx. 65 families; 1,800 ha). They refer to themselves as Ishir Ybytoso.6 They profess their ethnic identity also when living within the majority society. When communicating with their ethnic fellows they use their own language Ishir that is also the native language of children born in Asunción where their young parents permanently live.7 Two centres of Chama2 3 4

5 6 7

More than 600,000 ha of the land in Chaco is owned by followers of the Korean-Japanese sect of Reverend Moon (the Unification Church), of which 80,000 ha at the expense of the traditional Chamacoco territory in Puerto Leda. More precisely: members of the tribal clan of Ishir-Ybytoso; 183 members of the other (“wild”) clan Tomáraho reside in the traditional region in Alto Paraguay, mainly in the village of Puerto María Elena that extends on the area of 3,873 ha. For the purpose of Paraguayan statistics they are referred to as Guaraní, Lengua-Maskoy, Mataco-Mataguayo, Zamuco and Guaycuru. Ethnic names in this area have a great variety of orthographic versions, including autonyms and exonyms. The Chamacoco belong to the Zamuco language family. The community in Puerto Diana has legalized ownership of land, but the area is insufficient for the given number of inhabitants and the land has very low quality for agriculture. According to Artl. 18 of Act No. 904/81, 115 families should own at least 11,500 ha of land. Coastal people. Their name Xamacocos used by the “world outside” first appeared in writing in 1845 in a report by a commander of the Brazilian fortress of Coimbra in connection with ethnic scuffles – they were referred to by this name by hostile tribes and white people. Most adults and older people speak fluently Spanish and often also Guaraní, which is the other official language. School children have the right to study in their native language, but learning Spanish is compulsory from the first grade. 100% of speakers can use their native language. The

Paraguayan Indians Chamacoco

Nomads in the Chaco, Alberto Vojtěch Frič, beginning of the 20th century.

coco settlers have been spontaneously formed, in the API colony (Asociación de Parcialidades Indígenas) in the suburban district of Luque-Laurelty and in the coastal area of Viñas Cué. These people live in rented flats or in their own houses also in other parts of Asunción, extra-tribal marriages (partnerships) are very exceptional. Until the 20th century the Chamacoco were a typical nomadic tribe that was strongly feared. Similarly to other Indians from the northern Chaco (Lengua, Sanapaná, Sapuquí, Angaité, Moro etc.8) they pursued animals and searched for inland lagoons because of drinkable water and fishing, they moved to groves where fruit was ripening, they met at places intended for annual rituals, ran away from infections or sinister calling of birds prophesying war or another disaster. They also visited each other and exchanged women including those they captured in tribal wars. They liked talking (although very quietly due to safety reasons; loud laughter or crying of small babies were undesirable) and listened to stories. Cunningness, mischievous type of humour, sometimes rather black, or deceiving others in order to achieve advantage were highly regarded traits in the Chamacoco culture. They often fought for their space with neighbours and captured “slaves” (although their status was not unfavourable and was rather similar to adoption).

8

most extensive Chamacoco-Spanish dictionary was compiled by U.S. missionaries Matthew and Rosemary Ulrich (2000). The imaginary boundaries between various ethnicities were very flexible and anthropologists have repeatedly failed to evidence them.

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They used natural resources for their living, there were no ownership relations (Chase-Sardi 1987). They did not own even the slightest part of land. They formed various alliances, e.g. within families and they all together (and each of them individually) could profit from what the river, forest and savannah had to offer. The duration of a stay at a certain place was conditioned by the wealth of resources in terms of animals and fruit around. Once everything was consumed, they moved elsewhere. They returned to the same place after some time when the resources were naturally renewed. They were a society of hunters and gatherers and they were able to live even in the inhospitable conditions of the Gran Chaco in harmony with the nature. Their nutrition consisted of meat of wild boars, anteaters, deer, ostrich and fish and from wild berries such as watermelons,9 beans, tomatoes or opuntia; they were also able to collect forest honey. Their eating habits were restricted by strict rules, rituals10 and taboos that were dependent on their age and sex11; also harvesting plants and wild fruit, which was exclusively a women’s matter, was accompanied by symbolic rituals and popular habits. A plant from the Bromeliaceae family called caraguatá (Bromelia serra or Bromelia balansae) had a special position. It has long and rough leaves with thorns at their edges that form a spiral-like rosette, so-called cistern, with a deep red flower in the middle. Its fruit – wild pine-apples – was an important part of Indian food. Fibres removed from leaves were used for weaving and meshing of, for instance, fishing nets or special overalls which, when they were soaked with water, served warriors as armour against spears and axes. Meshed bags with geometric patterns made of strings tinted with natural colorants were used mostly for carrying things and small babies on long-distance marches12 and they were an important part of religious celebrations. Caraguatá was venerated not only for its fibres, fruit and healing effects, but especially for its ability to retain water. It was indispensable for surviving in the semi-arid climate of the Chaco. Whole families moved to its habitat in the drought season. A person who was able to find 9 10

11

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When the inside was eaten, they were used as containers for drinking and washing as they had a diameter of up to one meter. An example of such ritual concerns the anteater. First its paws were cut off as they were considered poisonous, then the shaman cut out its heart and while singing he offered it to the “Mother of anteaters” to reconcile her. Then he portioned the meat and divided it among all the present men and each clan also got its symbolic part – tail, neck, entrails. The anteater meat is considered typically a delicacy for men until present. For instance, consuming boar meat was restricted by sex, but also age, pubescent children were not allowed to eat it. Deer meat could only be eaten by men who were fathers and it was taboo for women. By contrast, ostrich meat was only eaten by women, since according to the mythology the ostrich was born as a man, but when he realized his difference, he ran to live with animals in the forest. Men would thus never eat meat of their feathered brother. Women carried voluminous and heavy mesh bags on their backs attached with a wide strap over their forehead.

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it was highly respected and the habit to welcome guests with a fresh drink was the top of hospitality. Caraguatá had its highly-respected position also in the Chamacoco mythology as a symbol of a “Spiderwoman” called Pauchata13, who is said to have taught people to spin fibres of caraguatá and make from them objects for everyday use as well as ritual clothes. She was the protector of the female cycle when women were taboo to men and she knew how to laugh at men and take cruel revenge on them. To be on the safe side, men avoided even the plant itself since its tall leaves sticking up around the red core could easily hurt their manliness. The Chamacoco have stopped migrating many decades ago. They were dispossessed from their age-old territories in the 20th century by farmers who gradually took over deforested areas for farming purposes, especially for cattle breeding. Today’s generation of the Chamacoco was forced to adjust to the life standard of Paraguayan villages. The new generation members (also with a share of mestizos) are being born in a totally new environment and they certainly want to be up to white people (Susnik 1995). One of the oldest Chamacocos, a gifted man of letters Rodolfo Ferreira Fric14, described the acculturation process of his tribe (Fric, Frič 2012). “First Dihipo-kinaho, meaning those from the other continent, meaning white people, conquered Osamshuro (which is what the Guaraní were called) as they were submissive. They killed the men and started living with their women and daughters with whom they had children. They changed absolutely the way they had lived, so the Guaraní lost the ability to live naturally in the countryside, forgot the habits and rituals of their ancestors and converted to the faith of white people, adopted their teachings, feasts, clothes and everything else that white people taught them, until the natives became mestizos – very beautiful people that are pleasant to look at.” (Fric, Frič 2012: 179)15 Unlike the Guaraní, an agricultural nation that lived in the eastern part of today’s Paraguay and in the borderland of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay when the first Europeans arrived, who were of trusting nature and were willing to meet the conquerors, accepted their habits and culture and they assimilated little by little, ethnically different tribes from the western part of today’s Paraguay (from the Gran Chaco) responded to white people’s attempts

13 14 15

Páucha means tarantula in Chamacoco. A spider with human face was also a part of religion of the Nazca culture in the south coast of today’s Peru. Born on 28 November 1942, the grandson of the Czech traveller Alberto Vojtěch Frič (1882–1944) and Indian woman Lorai from the Chamacoco tribe. Rodolfo describes briefly four centuries of the actual history of the Guaraní Indians. In 1607– 1767, Guaraní assimilation was accelerated by Jesuit missions that originated between the spheres of Spanish and Portuguese influence on the borderline of today’s Paraguay, Northeast Argentina, South Brazil and Uruguay and became renowned as a model of successful and nonviolent social, cultural and economic integration.

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to penetrate their territory with hostile defence: “In the course of time, foreigners conquered Indians […] and set their sights on those who inhabited the forests in the Chaco. However, these Indians did not let anyone enter their territories and reveal their habits. They protected their land and killed, tortured or burnt every intruder. They did so in order to be feared. White people called them wild Indians. They protected their land and their families, because they believed that white people would seize their land and exterminate them, so they protected themselves by attacking.” (Fric, Frič 2012: 179) Furthermore, external contacts of the Chamacoco were affected by their fear of the old curse of the mythical Nemur that the entire tribe would perish if their secret Law were revealed to strangers or women. Attractive central ceremony that always took place at the end of October and beginning of November could not get along without awakening attention of the newcomers, however secret it was. With so-called “dance of the spirits” dibilibit (Dibilibit is a variant of the name of the Chamacoco foremother – the Great teacher Eshtuwherta), men imitated with their masked faces and bodies embellished with paintings and covered with animal furs, feathers, string nets and fabrics, with shouting and gestures and special choreography the holy appearance and behaviour of mythical beings anapsyro. This way they confirmed every year their willingness to obey orders of Eshtuwherta, to learn new things and improve their abilities and use natural forces that enabled them to gain insight – learning about and understanding things. They systematically prepared for the ritual at a remote place in a secret “men’s club” called tobiť, the circle of knowledge. This is where they also educated young boys who, at the same time, underwent rigorous training before their manhood tests. The first mention in writing about a “demonic ritual” comes from the Spanish Jesuit Alonso de Barzana (1530–1598) in 1591. Other personal findings about the “dance of the spirits” were published much later by the Italian painter and ethnographer Guido Boggiani (1899), seven years later by the Czech traveller Alberto Vojtěch Frič (Frič, Radin 1906, Frič 1918). The rituals from 1923–1928 were described by the German anthropologist Herbert Baldus (1931), similar research carried out by the Slovenian anthropologist Branislava Susnik (1957, 1968, 1978–1985) followed in 1955 and 1968 and in 1951–1996 research was carried by the significant Paraguayan institution of the Museo Etnográfico Andrés Barbero. Younger researchers only found torsos of old legends and habits; folklore celebrations may be attended these days for an exorbitant fee. The Chamacoco started abandoning their traditional ritual and lifestyle in the 1950s as a result of the activity of Christian missions, especially the U.S. organization New Tribes Mission.16 Expert literature (Susnik 1995) informs 16 NTM, in Spanish Misión A las Nuevas Tribus. First evangelic missionaries from the USA settled in the upper stream of the Paraguay River in 1947 and have been very authoritative mainly in

Paraguayan Indians Chamacoco

about a situation that occurred fifty years ago (autumn 1957) when a small group of young Chamacoco from Puerto Diana who, under the influence of missionaries, defied the tradition and with fear of Nemur’s ominous prophecy about the extinction of the tribe, did not take part in the “dance of the spirits” that had been compulsory for everyone until then. Nothing happened and young men, shaken by the conclusion that their fathers and tribal elders had lied to them, refused the rite as a deception and converted to Christian belief. The aftermath of the situation was a serious generation conflict – almost immediate loss of respect to biological, but also cult ancestors and the entire way of the way of life of the tribe. As a consequence, the Chamacoco society was divided in two different groups by the end of the 1980s: “modern” = catechized followers of the New Tribes Mission (and other Pentecostalic movements coming mainly from Brazil) with unrepentant advocates of tribal traditions, supported and remunerated by anthropologists, who were reproached by many fellow tribesmen for misusing traditional knowledge (e.g. ethnobotany) and copyright for their own enrichment. Followers of the two groups did not refuse a single, often illegal, offer from which they could profit financially, for instance from traffickers dealing with furs of protected animals (Chase-Sardi 1987). For the new generations of the Chamacoco the once holy ceremony is now “folklore,” laughed at by some and respected or tolerated by others, but actively practised by only very few people; old tribal habits, knowledge (for instance gifts of nature or craftwork techniques), rules and taboos became a symbol of “backwardness” and unnecessary antique in our modern cyber times. “Will it help me get a better paid job if I follow old-fashioned bans on certain food as my mum insists?” asks Carlos Servian, a thirty-year-old Chamacoco who works in the capital city as a motorized messenger for a charity project of Nicole Huber, Miss Paraguay 2011. Rodolfo Ferreira Fric describes acculturation in his memoirs quite succinctly: “The contemporary generation does not take into account the old system of our ancestors – traditional punishments, mourning for the dead, ban on eating meat of certain animals and other habits. Young people don’t know the old traditions these days and they fancy all the new things brought about by the modern times instead. But I remember secret rituals from my childhood and adolescence, the tribal elders initiated me into legends and myths and taught me how to survive in the wilderness. I left my home one day when Puerto Diana until 2002. In the name of gospel they intensively focused on eliminating the local traditions and rituals that they referred to as invoking the devil. They were particularly intolerant to the Chamacoco “great ritual” for which they introduced the term payasería (clowning) used plentifully by contemporary Indians, (Escobar 1999). Such missionaries were banished from some South American countries, for instance from Venezuela (2005) due to the unacceptable acculturation pressure they exerted on the natives.

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A Chamacoco fighter in a ritual dress, Alberto Vojtěch Frič, 1905.

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I was a very young grown-up and met first missionaries from A las Nuevas Tribus in Bahía Negra. They gave me a job and taught me to know letters and speak Spanish. I studied everything with great zeal until I learnt to read and write, although I find Spanish very difficult as it has a lot of grammar. They also gave me many lessons on the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They gave me the Bible in which I read every day. Through reading the Bible I discovered the existence of the Creator who let his only son die on the cross for our sins. I accepted Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart, I know that God loves me and that he sent his son to take away my sins and free me from eternal suffering, moreover, to free us from all forms of the traditional culture of our ancestors. If we had maintained their old way of life, we could have never improved our position and achieve the living standard of civilized (white) people. The natives abandoned their old habits and cultural system for many reasons: First: native Chamacocos got closer to the civilization. Second: the natives learnt to speak Spanish and Guaraní. Third: they came to believe in the religious system of white people and they started to like their feasts. Fourth: they learnt to drink alcohol and came to like other vices of white people. Fifth: they started to have contacts, including intimacies, with white people. Sixth: young men started to do military service and other activities. Seventh: the less they observed their traditions and habits, the more the colonist seized the areas and places that provided their livelihood. Eighth: trafficking with natural resources led the conquerors to logging and burning forests which resulted in extinction of animals and insects that make honey and in disappearance of wild fruit, edible roots and herbs. Ninth: they started feeling discrimination and as they owned no land they didn’t know which way to turn.” (Fric, Frič 2012: 187–188) Integrating Indians in a “civilized society” was required by the Paraguayan Constitution of 1870 and supported all activities that were to lead in turning Indians from “savages” in Paraguayans: Christian missions, military seizure of strategic places and control over labyrinthine wilderness, allotting land to colonists – factory farmers or lumberjacks and tannin processors17 – and open policy towards immigrants. The currently valid Constitution of 1992 sees the natives as independent bearers of traditional culture who are Paraguayan citizens but also as people who are entitled to have their ethnic identity in their natural environment. They have the right to study in their native languages, but they also have the duty to complete compulsory educa-

17

Plant polyphenols (tannins) necessary for tanning leather to hide.

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tion. They can solve their internal problems in a traditional way while they are still subject to state laws. This double-edged approach is stipulated by a special act of 1981 that was approved under the dictatorship of the general Stroessner18 as a consequence of internationally criticized situation when human rights were breached and the situation wasn’t far from genocide in relation to some Indian tribes (particularly Aché and Mbayá). In 1976, a non-governmental association called Asociación de Parcialidades Indígenas was established and it started dealing with, within the framework of the political possibilities of that time, Indians’ land claims. Their access to land was supposed to be guaranteed by the above mentioned Act No. 904 (Anonymous 1981) that established the Instituto Paraguayo del Indígena (INDI), an authority supervising, among others, the possibility of self-determination by forming Indian “communities.” The act allowed for allotting land to registered communities depending on the number of families19 (on the condition of stating the names of all their members, their age and family status) at places of their traditional dwelling and have it registered for free with the land registry. Therefore, the act became a tool of simple control of the migrating and thus disorganized part of citizens. However, there was nobody who would explain to agelong hunters and gatherers who had moved freely around the country before, how to use the land they acquired and how to make a living when they had to put an end to their traditional way of earning their living and the environment was no longer an inexhaustible and sensibly exploited pantry and pharmacy. Since the 1990s, after the fall of the Stroessner’s rule, various governmental and non-governmental development projects and social advantages, administered mainly by the INDI, tried to remedy this debt. However, they became subject to criticism (due to the inefficiency of investments, loss of motivation on the part of the recipients of social or food allowances and various types of aid, missing inspection system, institutional and intertribal corruption, etc.). The issue has also been the questionable ethical credibility of the INDI as its presidents leave the office one after another after scandals due to their incompetence or embezzlement. For instance, under the presidency of Valentín Gamarra, the institution wasted more than 10 million dollars on fraudulent land transactions and on consultancy services of befriended solicitors in 1993–1996 (Anonymous 2008); Rubén Quesnel (president in 2012–2013) embezzled, according to the charges of 13 March 2014 about 145 million Czech crowns (Anonymous 2014).

18 Alfred Stroessner (1912–2006) was in his office for 35 years, in 1954–1989 he was elected president eight times. 19 The lowest number for a community to be registered is twenty families, one family in the western part of Paraguay is entitled to one hundred hectares of land, in the eastern part to twenty hectares.

Paraguayan Indians Chamacoco

A group of catechized Chamacoco people, the end of the 1950s.

Adaptation to new conditions is the crucial issue for Indians. They are currently going through a cultural change. Their original way of life cannot be conserved; such effort exerted by some anthropologists is mere utopia. True, Indians come from the country, but they cannot make their living like other countrymen: the transformation from hunters and gatherers into farmers was a way too fast and without their own effort. As the anthropologist José Zanardini (2010)20 argues, in order to survive, they had to make their journey from the prehistoric times in a couple of decades, while other civilizations went this way for thousands of years. Although Indians own enough land for farming business21, they cannot handle the land without help from the 20 An Italian Salesian priest and professor of cultural anthropology at the State as well as Catholic University in Asunción. He has lived in Paraguay and carried out research there since 1978, since 1994 he has been the head of the Centro de Estudios Antropológicos de la Universidad Católica de Asunción. 21 A total of 112,848 members of 19 Indian tribes in Paraguay (according to the census of native inhabitants of 2012) own in total about 2 million hectares of land.

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outside. Individual ownership has been, with respect to tribal cohabitation, unacceptable egoism for them until recently. In reality, this leads to many problems, misunderstandings and conflicts. Indians accept very naturally and smoothly “our” way of live including everything that goes with it: radio, television, mobile phones, internet, motorbikes, sports, fashion, partner relations, etc. They want to have access to education, health system and job opportunities, but only few of them know the way. Indians who were assisted when adapting to the new lifestyle, e.g. in the form of instructions how to work the land, breed cattle and so on, learn very quickly to be self-sufficient (e.g. some communities in the Chaco in cooperation with the Catholic charity). Those who were left to their fate in the newly acquired land soon ended up living in poverty, left the land or sold it and went to seek help to the capital city. For instance, the existence of once proud Mbayá and Ava-Guaraní is now almost exclusively based on begging in the streets, parks and alongside main roads. There is also a category of “professional” Indians who misuse the miserable position of their illiterate and apathetic fellow tribesmen for a peculiar business based on pressurizing authorities and compassionate public. The government, lacking any social policy concept, “makes them quiet” in the most simple way: with financial and food allowances (biscuits, oil, beans), (Anonymous 2008). Voices calling for terminating this distorted protective policy called asistencialismo can be heard more and more often, while other proposals how the future of Paraguayan Indians could be solved still remain at a very theoretic level. (Translated by Vít Prošek)

BIBLIOGRAPHY III Census of Indigenous People. 2012. Retrieved from http://www.dgeec.gov.py/Publicaciones/ Biblioteca/censo%20indigena%202012/Presentacion%20resultados%2019%2007%2013.pdf. Baldus, Herbert. 1931. Indianerstudien im nordöstlichen Chaco. Leipzig: Hirschfeld. Boggiani, Guido. 1899. Compendio de Etnografía Paraguaya Moderna. III. Los Chamacocos. Revista del Istituto Paraguayo 2, 16: 115–116. Chase-Sardi, Miguel. 1987. Derecho consuetudinario chamacoco. Asunción: Asociación Indigenista del Paraguay. Dahms, Klaus-Günther. 1956. Forst und Holz in Mittel- und Südamerika. Stuttgart: Holz-Zentralblatt Verlags. Dahms, Klaus-Günther. 1996. Kleines Holzlexikon. Stuttgart: Wegra. Dos Dantos, Gilda Noemí − Dos Dantos, Giménez. 2010. Desforestacion en el Paraguay. Asunción: Universidad Tecnológica Intercontinental – Facultad de Derecho. Escobar, Ticio. 1999. La maldición de Nemur. Acerca del arte: El mito y el ritual de los indígenas Ishir del Gran Chaco Paraguayo. Asunción: Centro de Artes Visuales, Museo del Barro. Falta de política indígena obliga a los nativos vivir en la miseria. 2008. ABC color. http://www. abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/locales/falta-de-politica-indigena-obliga-a-los-nativos-a-vivir-en-la-miseria-1043690.html.

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Frič, Alberto Vojtĕch – Radin, Paul. 1906. Notes on the Mask-Dances of the Chamacoco. Man 6: 116–119. Frič, Alberto Vojtĕch. 1918. A. V. Frič: Mezi indiány. Prague: Alois Koníček. Fric, Rodolfo Ferreira – Frič, Alberto Vojtěch. 2012. Indiánská knížka. Prague: Nakladatelství Titanic. Ley Nº 904/81 – Estatuto de las Comunidades Indígenas. 1981. Retrieved from http://www.tierraviva.org.py/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/PDF.pdf. Preliminar de extitular de Indi. 2014. ABC color. http://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/economia/preliminar-de-extitular-de-indi-1256992.html. Sequera, Guillermo. 2002. A la búsqueda de una cultura desconocida: Los Tomárâho del Alto Paraguay. Suplemento antropológico 37, 2: 577–751. Susnik, Branislava. 1957. Estudios chamacoco. Asunción: Museo Etnográfico Andrés Barbero. Susnik, Branislava. 1968. Chiriguanos I: Dimensiones etnosociales. Asunción: Museo Etnográfico Andrés Barbero. Susnik, Branislava. 1978–1985. Los aborígenes del Paraguay I−VII. Asunción: Museo Etnográfico Andrés Barbero. Susnik, Branislava. 1995. Chamacocos: Cambio cultural. Asunción: Museo Etnográfico Andrés Barbero. Ulrich, Matthew – Ulrich, Rosemary. 2000. Diccionario Ishiro-Español (Chamacoco) – Español-Ishiro (Chamacoco). Asunción: Misión a Nuevas Tribus Paraguay. Zanardini, José. 2010. Los pueblos indígenas del Paraguay. Asunción: El Lector.

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WHEN THE CREATOR’S “GAME” SPREADS TO THE WORLD LÍVIA ŠAVELKOVÁ

Lacrosse, known generally as a stickball “game” with its origin in the North America, has been an important component of life for a lot of Native Americans. Since the second half of the 19th century, this originally Native American game has spread among different groups of people and has developed various forms and meanings to them. In the second half of the 19th century, Canada and the United States adopted the game and it has spread to Great Britain and other countries of the former British Empire, such as Australia. During the second half of the 20th century, the game has spread to other countries in Europe and Asia (mainly Japan and South Korea) as well. Lacrosse is not only one of the currently fastest growing sports in an America1, but it continues to grow all around the world. The different and various cosmologies and epistemologies may lead to different interpretations about its proper performance, contexts, rules, gender-lines, representation, and properties. One of the countries where lacrosse has specific meaning is the Czech Republic (or former Czechoslovakia).2 1

2



In 2013, there were 427,900 members of the U.S. Lacrosse (The U.S. national governing body of lacrosse). Between 1998 when the organization emerged and 2013, membership has grown from 20,000 to over 400,000; staff has expanded from a dozen to just over 70; and, the organization’s annual operating budget has increased from $1.2 million to over $17 million. Over the last decade, lacrosse has become one of the fastest growing sports in the country. US Lacrosse, Annual Report. 2013 (http:// www.uslacrosse.org/Portals/1/documents/pdf/about-us-lacrosse/2013-annual-report.pdf ). The idea to write this article came from my final work on a film about lacrosse and its meanings for the Haudenosaunee and the Czech. Having in mind issues related to (self ) representation, different epistemologies and experiences related to the history of the Native Americans and of the Czech, there were difficult moments to deal with. Various perspectives on the importances and epistemologies based on various forms of “colonialism” and “self-colonialism” pushed me further to obtain more information that stimulated my thoughts. To choose the form of the text and a way it should be written was another complicated issue with an emphasis to the potential readers. Because this article will be published in the Czech Republic, and probably read by local people interested in Native American issues, but not neccesarily familiar with lacrosse, I have added basic information I would not have for American academic readers. At the same time, because the text is in English and refers also to the Czech and the Slovak, I have incorporated some information about Czechoslovakia, its people and history, which would not be necessary for Czech readers. I have been working on the film with my colleagues and friends Tomáš Petráň and Milan Durňak to whom belongs my deep thanks. My deep thanks belongs to all the people who were willing to share their ideas and experiences with me. Also to all of those with whom I have talked before having any idea that this paper would sometimes come to its existence. My special thanks be-

When the Creator’s “Game” Spreads to the World

In this paper, I would like to focus on a sketch of the meanings and origins of lacrosse for different groups of contemporary players and also on its role in the so-called revitalization of Native cultures.3

THE LACROSSE ON ITS WAY TO THE NON-NATIVES In a popular sense lacrosse is known to “general public” as “the National Canadian game”4, “the Little Brother of War”5, “Creator’s game”6, and “the



3

4

5 6

longs to the Czech players of lacrosse − Ondřej Mika and the Czech Lacrosse Union in general, Ivan Makásek, Richard Kliment, Roman Pokorný, Jiří Slepička, and to lacrosse players and sup­ porters from all around the world − Jusi Kokkola, Milan Zifčák, Scott Prestridge, Philipp Brož, Scott Neiss, Nathan Wilson, Frank Lawrence. Special thanks belongs to the Haudenosaunee, namely Alfred Jacques, Toby Williams, Sterling Deer, the Iroquois Nationals representatives in 2011 − Ansley Jemison, Gewas Schindler, Ronald D. Henry, Denise Waterman, Frank David, Chester Goodleaf and other members of the team and to Kahnawake Rapids. And to all members of our diverse lacrosse “community” in the Czech Republic and to my small sons with whom I can play lacrosse for enjoyment. Because even today it is still problematic in post-socialist countries to have an access to all the journals commonly available to scholars and students in the United States or Canada, my special thanks belongs to colleagues and friends who helped me to obtained the sources − to Lucie Kýrová and Martin Heřmanský. To Lucie Kýrová and Tereza Hyánková belong my special thanks for important comments and proofreading that shaped the final form of this paper. Lucie Kýrová and Klára Perlíková helped me with the English correction. I would like to thank also to the staff of the UNOG Library and Archives. This paper is supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR), project: 410/11/P107. The study of revitalization movements appeared at the end of the 19th century with focus on “religious movements,” such as the Ghost Dance described by Mooney (1965). It has been developed since the 1930’s with studies of acculturation conducted for example by Redfield, Herskowitz, and further developped with an emphasis of the study of social change during the 1940’s. The studies focused on mechanisms of cultural change, religion issues, and immigration. Following Linton’s paper on Nativistic Movements (1943), Wallace famous study Revitalization Movements (1956) brought deeper interest in this subject and raised an attention to it also by representatives of “the psychological anthropology.” Different approach relativizing the concept of tradition was presented by Hobsbawm and Ranger (1983). Recent studies, such as Harkin’s (2004), has brought new ideas and comments to this “outdated” concept. Another approach has been developed by indigenous scholars, for example by Mohawk (Barreiro 2010) and Smith (2004). The notion of the status of lacrosse as Canada’s national sport has been generally accepted since the second half of the 19th century. The big surprise came in 1964, when a former president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, Jack Roxburg found out there was no Parliamentary record about any legislation establishing lacrosse as the national game. Consequently, a contest has raised among the supporters of hockey and the supporters of lacrosse to gain the official status of the Canadian National game. Finally, in 1994, with the Bill C-212 and with further negotiations, hockey became declared the National Canadian Winter Game and lacrosse the National Canadian Summer Sport (Calder, Fletcher 2011: 53). Hótti icósi, the term “younger brother of war” was used by the Creek. Similarly, Cherokee name for game is a a ne tsó, but another version also da-na-wah’uwsdi, meaning “little war” (Vennum 1994: 214). This concept is stressed by the Haudenosaunee and also by some non-Native American contemporary players.

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Fastest game on two feet”7. The addition of the Iroquois Nationals representation of Native Americans among national teams competing in world’s championships of lacrosse in 1988, shifted the public perception of the game to the view of lacrosse as the “game of the Iroquois.” A generally prevailing knowledge about the origin of the internationally recognized term is tied with the Jesuits missionaries in 17th century Canada (New France as it was then known in Europe). Jean Brébeuf named it because of the stick resemblance to the bishop’s crozier – la crosse d’éveque. As Vennum points out, “this erroneous assertion finds its way repeatedly into writings on the origin of lacrosse” (Vennum 1994: 71). According to him, the French used the name “crosses” for curved game racquets used for a game with a ball in France long before the initial contact between Europeans and Native Americans.8 Lacrosse was played by a lot of different groups in the following areas: in the Northeast9 by the Iroquoian speaking Hurons and Haudenosaunee/ Iroquois/Six Nations10, in the region of the Great Lakes and upper Mississippi River valley by Algonquian and Siouian speaking peoples, and in the Southeast by the Iroquoian speaking Cherokees and by Muskogean speaking groups, such as the Muskogee/Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw (Fisher 2002: 13). Every group of Native Americans playing this stickball game has its own name (or more names) for it, very often meaning – but not always, “they hit something”: Baga’atowe (Anishinaabe), baggattaway (Algonkin), Pe ki’twe win (Pottawatomie), Pa: ka ha towe: wa (Mesquakie/Fox), Pa ka ha to wan (Plains Cree), Pa ka to win (Nippising), Pa ki ta (Kaskasia Illinois), (Vennum 2007), Kabocha toli (Choctaw), Da na wah’uwsdi (Eastern Cherokee), Dehuntshigwa’es (Onondaga), (Calder, Fletcher 2011: 24) and Tewaarathon (Mohawk), (North American Indian Travelling College 1978). This “game” has been played by various Native American groups for a lot of reasons, such as the spiritual and healing purposes, honouring dead, settlement of disputes between villages, tribes or nations, and resolving a conflict. And it has always fascinated non-Native “observers.”11 Today, people 7

See for example cover of the book with following characteristics: Lacrosse: The story of the sport known as the Fastest game on two feet. Told for the first time by the people from whom the game originated… The North American Indian People! (North American Indian Travelling College 1978). 8 Vennum (1994: 70−71) suggests that French expression jouer à la crosse was common description of playing any game with a curved stick and ball in France. He further analysis that lacrosse was very often resembled with games such as bandy (field hockey), shinny, and tennis (invented by French clergy in the 13th century and played by French aristocracy), or predecessor of bad­ minton. 9 Although rightly critized by Native scholars, such as McNickle and Beatrice Medicine, the concept of culture areas is still used as an organizing principle for ethnological discourse on native culture, as a “practical” tool (McNickle 1970). 10 The Haudenosaunee, “The People of the Longhouse,” also known as the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations, are consisting of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora. 11 For example, one of the “famous” description of the lacrosse “game” comes from colonel Willi-

When the Creator’s “Game” Spreads to the World

who know that this game exists are often very well informed about its Native Americans origins. “It is their game and that’s really who introduced this wonderful sport to everybody worldwide. For me, personally, some of my favorite lacrosse memories are getting to go up and play on the reservations tournaments. It was really special to go and face that level of competition. They truly know how to play the box game. And it’s a Creator’s game, like they say, they place lot of value on it. So it means a lot to them. It means a lot, I think the most of us like to face teams like that.”12 It is similar in European countries. “It’s a noble and graceful game, such as fencing that I also practise. It’s much better game than for example basketball. And it is also the Little Brother of War that keeps me in a good condition…”13 The games’ performative level created a lot of misunderstandings about the full meaning of lacrosse among non-Natives and perpetuated the pervasive idea about the importance of practising warrior’s skills overshadowing all other meanings of the game.14 The notion of the connection of lacrosse with war activities is still strongly present in Europe. “The first thing I have got to know about lacrosse was that it was a Native American game. So in Germany, the origin of the game is generally known. And everybody knows that it was nearly the war.”15 Historically, non-Native Americans have shaped their notions about the game in colonial era based on reports of missionaries, army officers, traders, soldiers, newspapers, or famous paintings from 19th century artists, such as George Catlin16, Charles Deas17 and Seth Eastman18, often exhibited in big Eastern U.S. cities and in Europe.19 am Stone, who described a lacrosse match between the Mohawk and the Seneca played at the Grand River reserve (nowadays Six Nations Reserve) in Ontario in 1797. 12 Scott Prestridge, Megamen, USA, interview, 2014. 13 Jiří Slepička, Czech lacrosse game player, amateur, and a performer of historical swordfighting, interview, 2013. 14 By this statement I do not want to completely deny the importance and connection between lacrosse and war activities. 15 Philipp Broz, Bundeswehr lacrosse, Germany, interview, 2014. 16 George Catlin (1796−1872) has painted hundreds of drawings of Native Americans during his travels around Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi Rivers, Great Lakes area, Florida. He named his collection Indian Gallery. In his collection, there were eight paintings of lacrosse, the most famous are: Ball Play, Ball Play Dance, Ball Play of the Choctaw-Ball Up, He Who Stands on Both Sides, a Distinguished Ball Player. 17 Charles Deas (1818−1867) was a painter who pictured the Native Americans in Wisconsin and Missouri in 1840s. He famous lacrosse painting of the Dakota is Sioux Playing Ball. 18 Seth Eastman (1808−1875) was an army mapmaker and illustrator. Living in Minnesota he painted the Upper Missouri life, mainly Sioux and Ojibwe/Anishinaabe. His famous lacrosse paintings are Ball Play on the Prairie, Ballplay of the Dakota on the St. Peters River in Winter (1848). 19 George Catlin’s Indian Gallery was exhibited in the 1830s in New York, Cincinatti, Pittsburg, and also in London, Brusselles and Paris.

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Lacrosse was also practised as exhibition game, with Native American participation. The most important centre was Montreal, where the competitive “standardized” game has its origins. In 1834, a group of Montreal businessman invited lacrosse players from Mohawk settlements in Caughnawaga (Kahnawake) and Akwesasne to play exhibition games (Calder, Fletcher 2011: 52). The first written description of the game between Mohawks and nonNative team appeared in Montreal in 1844 (Burr 1986). The Native American teams were participating in exhibition games not only against the non-Native teams, but also among ourselves. For example, in 1868 an exhibition of the two-stick southeastern game was held in Kentucky played by Comanches, Osages, Choctaws, and Creeks (Burr 1986: 23). These performances were not limited to the U.S. and Canadian territory, but they also included exhibition matches in Europe. In 1876 and 1883 lacrosse was performed in Great Britain including a private game for Queen Victoria among Canadians and Native American team from Caughnawaga (Burr 1986: 30). The Mohawk from Saint Regis (Akwesasne) and Caughnawaga and also other members of the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Confederacy often demonstrated their skills in lacrosse in big cities of the Northeastern U.S., such as New York City, Boston, Baltimore, and Buffallo, since the 1860s, usually in front of several hundred people and with the interest of city mayors (Burr 1986: 59). Since the 1890s the interest of the American public in exhibiton lacrosse games was overriden by the Buffalo West Wild Show that fitted better with the expectations about Native Americans of the American society of that time.20

ON ITS WAY TO COMPETITIVE SPORT The specifics of the different conditions in which lacrosse has formed in Canada and the U.S., led to the development of two different forms of the game at the end of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century: field lacrosse strongly tied with Eastern United States universities (Fisher

20 Fisher (2002: 62−63) points out that travelling Native American lacrosse teams were having important commercial success at the second half of the 19th century. Although the lacrosse contests between Cayuga and Tuscarora were part of other entertainment program such the Sidney Barnett’s Grand Buffalo Hunt, the Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show gained a market domination for non-Native audiences. By the early 1890s, northeastern interest in the distant mythical frontier came at the expense of the cultural ventures of Mohawk lacrosse clubs. Banned by Canadian athletic organizations and undercut by Buffalo Bill Cody, Iroquois athletes retreated to their reservations.

When the Creator’s “Game” Spreads to the World

2002) and colleges and favouring amateurism, and box lacrosse21, tied in its beginnings with ice hockey (promoted mainly since the 1930s) and dominant in southern Ontario and southwestern British Columbia22. The contemporary lacrosse game played for competition came from only one of the many forms of the Native American stickball “games.” According to Fisher: “It was middle-class Anglo-Canadians from Montreal and Mohawk Indians from the nearby Caughnawaga reserve whose cultural exchange let to the birth of the modern lacrosse.” (2002: 18) William George Beers, a dentist from Montreal is generally considered by lacrosse players as “the founder of lacrosse” (1896).23 In 1867, he created set of rules including the size of field, number of players and set up the basic rules for the “standardized” game. He saw lacrosse as a tool of a “nation building,” with emphases on amateurism and team cooperation that should make players and nation strong, self-sufficient and moraly pure (Fisher 2002: 36). During Beers’ time, lacrosse developed mainly in southern Quebec and Ontario. At the turn of the century it also spread to British Columbia. However, due to disputes among its protagonists and players over proffesionalism, amateurism, commercialization of the game, and increasing growth in popularity of other games, such as baseball, the game declined in the 1920s (Fisher 2002: 50−51). The situation was different in the U.S. Canadian immigration to the United States in 1860s and 1870s, mainly to New York City, Boston and Baltimore, helped to establish the game in the U.S. Compare to Canada, where lacrosse was played by people of different social classes, in the U.S. it was embraced by the “upper class” only (Fisher 2002: 52). Due to this historical development, the U.S. has dominated field lacrosse, winning nearly in all World Field lacrosse Championships held every four years since 1967, with the exception in 1978, 2006, and in 2014 when the gold went to Canada. While Canada has dominated box lacrosse, winning all three World Box lacrosse Championships24, organized every four years since 2003.

21 Box lacrosse is also known as indoor lacrosse, “boxla”, “or just as “box.” 22 There are also other forms of lacrosse, such as intercrosse, women’s lacrosse, or polocrosse (played on horses). 23 In the United States, John R. Flannery, the Irish-Canadian, is recognized as a father of the United States’ lacrosse (Calder, Fletcher 2011). 24 Official term is the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. The first two championships were held in Canada in 2003 and 2007, the third one was hosted by the Czech Republic in 2011. The next will be organized at the Haudenosaunee Territory in 2015.

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Native American players and teams have been participating in both forms of the game tournaments. The Iroquois Nationals team competes in both World Lacrosse Championships: “We are better at box lacrosse, because we start younger and that’s something little more natural to our players, playing in a hockey ring... The most of our men play both sports... It’s hockey in a winter and box lacrosse in a summer.”25 The excellent game skills of the Haudenosaunee players who start playing the game in their early childhood, are most notably seen at the international competitions, where the Haudenosaunee representation has been among the three top medal winners in the last few years side by side with Canada and the United States. They have won silver from all Worlds’ Indoor Lacrosse Championships. For the Haudenosaunee, lacrosse is a substantial component of their lives. “I guess I’ve got stick in my hand since may be three or four... For the Natives, it’s a way of life, for the Haudenosaunee people... They live for it. When you are back at home in our reservations or territories, you know, you will see little kids, one year old, two years old, carrying the stick, walking around with their stick in hand. It is a part of them, especially the wood stick.”26 Aside of spiritual “games” where winning is not an important issue, the competitive form of lacrosse and its professionalization has been gaining its place among Native Americans as well. “I think every lacrosse player has his own quality. For me, nobody is the best, we are all equal. Nobody wants to be a looser, right? So, let’s all be winners and be happy. But unfortunately we have a score-board, yeah. So that will dictate the winner and the looser. But in my mind and in my eyes, when we used to play when we were kids, we did not have any score-board. We just played and we had fun. And again, everybody was a winner. That’s why they looked forward to be playing again the next weekend… You know, we are not gonna loose, everybody is gonna win.”27 In the U.S., lacrosse has always been a game that had to compete with other sports (mainly with baseball, football, or basketball) for attention of the American public. “I was bored with playing baseball... I was an outfielder in baseball and that might have contributed to why I was so bored standing out as a young kid, picking the daisies when there is nothing to do out there. So lacrosse really appealed to me, because you’ve got to run around and hit somebody, much better… I always wanted to play hockey, and my parents did not want 25 Gewas Schindler, Iroquois Nationals, interview, 2011. 26 Ronald D. Henry, Iroquois Nationals, interview, 2011. 27 Sterling Deer, Kahnawake Rapids, interview, 2014.

When the Creator’s “Game” Spreads to the World

to deal with the expense and early morning practice times… So I thought lacrosse would be a good substitute for hockey. And I signed up and I’ve been playing since… I was 10 years old. I have been playing over 30 years now…”28 During the last few years, its position has rapidly changed. “A story I tell people a lot in Israel is: Every Fathers’s Day since I was a kid [living in the U.S.], I’d go home and I bring the baseball mitts and play a catch with my dad. And I remember looking across street and there is a younger dad and younger kid and they were playing catch… And dad is got a baseball mitt and a kid is got a lacrosse stick… And twenty years from now when the kid grows up and he is playing the catch with his son, so it will be lacrosse stick to lacrosse stick. Our sport’s gonna take over, our sport’s gonna be huge…”29 One of the founders of lacrosse in Israel, Scott Neiss, stresses also the performative level of the game. “It’s funny story. I have never played the sport. I grew up in hard land of the Long Island, I grew up watching the New York Saints of the major indoor lacrosse league which later become the NLL…The first time I saw lacrosse I must have been five or six years old. I have always felt unique attraction to the sport… I think it is the best kept secret in sports. The reason it is the fastest growing sport in America and I think soon to be the fastest growing sport in a world, is because it is a great game…It’s fun to watch, it’s fun to play... The kids do not want to play the baseball more in the U.S. It isn’t fast enough.”30

STORIES, MEMORIES AND DEVELOPMENT OF LACROSSE OUTSIDE OF AMERICA Lacrosse has been spreading fast around the world. In the 2014 Field lacrosse World’s Championships held in Denver, there were numerous international teams competing, including teams from Latin America and one from Africa.31

28 Scott Prestridge, Megamen, USA, interview, 2014. 29 Scott Neiss, volunteer for National Lacrosse League (NLL) and United States representation, founder of the Israel Lacrosse Association, interview, 2014. 30 Scott Neiss, Goldstar Tel Aviv, Israel, interview, 2014. 31 In the 2014 world field lacrosse championship held in Denver, following countries were competing: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Iroquois, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United States, Wales. FIL Worlds Lacrosse Championships. 2014 (http://www.worldlacrosse2014.com/nations/ index).

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The knowledge of the game and its origins vary in different areas of the world. However, it is not only matter of countries outside the North American continent. An awareness about lacrosse varies also in the “cradleboard” of the contemporary competitive sport, such as Canada. “It’s very much like lacrosse in Europe. It is the best kept secret around. We want everybody to know about it. And not a lot of people know about lacrosse in the Western Canada.”32 As in the case of the U.S. and Canada, other countries, where lacrosse has been played, have their “histories” and stories of the formation of the game and relations to other sports, including personal stories about encoutering lacrosse for the first time. These stories often reflect roles of lacrosse in specific political conditions and developments of these countries. The commencement of lacrosse in Israel has been a recent issue and has been based on American and American Jewish support (Kuttler 2014). “It started 3 years ago. Actually, I was here in the Czech Republic for the World Indoor Championships. I was with the U.S. team. And I decided right from Prague I would move to Israel… I started planning a little bit. I remember, at the end of the tournament, we just won the bronze medal with the U.S., and I asked, I totally wanna go to Israel, and this is my last thing with the U.S. and if anyone has any equipment to donate… And all of guys threw in all their gears. It was nice moment. I flew right from here to Tel Aviv, for the second time in my life and started working. The first step was finding people that shared my passion for what I wanted to do. We moved quickly from there. When you get a lot of good people behind something that really wanna see something happen…”33 According to Turku Titans player Jussi Kokkola, the Finish impuls to start playing the game came out of the movie American Pie.34 “I do not know if it is familiar from other countries. The former chief of the Finish Lacrosse Association saw the movie. They were playing lacrosse in there. He thought it looks funny. And they decided to order the stuff and start playing. It was in 2001… The Turku Titans started playing in 2005. It was the first time we played against Helsinki Chiefs, it was the first time we played in Finish Championship against other two teams. At first, it was field lacrosse for many years.”35 The first form of the competitive game played in Slovakia was also field lacrosse. The first lacrosse club in Slovakia, was founded 11 years ago in Brati­ 32

Nathan Wilson, Pioneers, Canada, interview, 2014, characterizing lacrosse in the Western Canada, British Columbia (B.C.). 33 Scott Neiss, Goldstar Tel Aviv, Israel, interview, 2014. 34 American Pie (1999), director: Paul Weitz, Chris Weitz. The film is translated to the Czech language as: Prci, prci, prcičky. 35 Jussi Kokkola, Turku Titans, Finland, interview, 2014.

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slava.36 Similary, field lacrosse was the first form of the game in Germany. It is still dominating there, although box lacrosse is growing. In Germany, it was developped by students who had studied in the U.S.37 Fans of the game in Israel, also started playing field lacrosse first. “We play mostly the field lacrosse. It’s really a facility issue. I think in the United States you see the field lacrosse is big, because you don’t have facilities like the hockey countries, like in Canada... We do not have really facility, we have couple boxes. We have a kind of start in Jerusalem… We play box. We are really in an infancy... We are strong believers that box and field together make complete the lacrosse player… You see the best field lacrosse players also play the box lacrosse.”38 The Czech Republic has organized the largest European box lacrosse tournament, Aleš Hřebeský Memorial39, held every spring in Radotín since 1994. In 2014, the 21st Aleš Hřebeský Memorial tournament hosted 20 teams from countries such as Canada (three teams), Germany (two), United States, Israel, Slovakia, Austria, Finland, France, Ireland, England, Scotland, Poland. The Kahnawake Rapids represented the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois. The Czech Republic had four teams participating in the tournament.40 “In the Czech Republic, box lacrosse is the main type of lacrosse, at least when it comes to the big international lacrosse scene. The field lacrosse is less common and that is the exact opposite to the situation in Europe and the world.”41 Interest in box lacrosse has been growing in Finland as well. “The last year it was the first time we were playing the box Finish league. I think the box lacrosse will be growing in Finland. There are a lot of icehockey players. We have eight men’s teams, six−seven women’s teams and four junior’s teams.”42 The history of lacrosse in the Czech Republic, and former Czechoslovakia, is deeply tied with woodcraft and boy scouts movements.43 The Czech 36 Milan Zifčák, Bratislava Bats, Slovakia, interview, 2014. According to him, there are now four teams in Slovakia: two in Bratislava (Tricsters and Bats), one in Zvolen, one in Prievidza. 37 Philipp Broz, Bundeswehr lacrosse, Germany, interview, 2014. 38 Scott Neiss, Goldstar Tel Aviv, Israel, interview, 2014. 39 The Memorial is held by Lacrosse Club Custodes Sokol Radotín to honor its former player Aleš Hřebeský who tragically died in the autumn of 1993 of the injuries caused by a drunk driver who hit him while he waited at a bus stop. Ondřej Mika, interview, 2013, see also Memoriál Aleše Hřebeského (http://www.ahmemorial.cz). 40 LCC Radotín, LCC Wolves, TJ Malešice, LC Jižní Město. 41 Ondřej Mika, Czech Lacrosse Union, interview, 2013. 42 Jussi Kokkola, Turku Titans, Finland, interview, 2014. 43 Scouting and woodcrafting movements have emerged at the beginning of the 20th century. Both movements focus on education of children through emphasising outdoor activities, knowledge of nature, survival skills, positive experiences for self-education, responsibility, and creativity. In the former Czechoslovakia, both movements were illegal duing the communist times with a very short

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Woodcrafters have learned about lacrosse for the first time in 1920s.44 The first lacrosse game was played in 1936 at the central camp of the former League of the Czechoslovak Woodcrafters in Nízké Tatry (the Lower Tatra Mountains).45 Their knowlege of lacrosse came from limited number of books and articles available at the time. “The first time I saw the lacrosse stick it reminded me a kind of a tennis raquette. But the differences were obvious at the first look: the shape of drop, strings. It was wrapped by leather strap and at the end of the handle, there were birds’ feathers and small birch badges. The black horse hair around looked like small scalps. My friend Vašek told me it was a lacrosse stick. I commented that it looked like an American Indian item.‘Yes, it is, it is an Indian game’, he said. ‘How did you learn to play it?’ I asked. ‘I do not know, simply we play it here. Every boy knows this game here, in Padolí. It’s common.’ ‘How do you make it?‘ I asked further. ‘From a thumb sized ash twig. I put it into hot water in the evening and it is soft as a cheese in the morning... ’ He showed me more of sticks.” “One of them had painted a red sun, similar to the sun on the Japanese flag, and on its edge, there was burnt inscription: Slavnosti zimního slunovratu [The Winter Solstice Celebration]. On the other side there were crossed lacrosse sticks with the inscription Jasná říčka, lakrosový turnaj Šavanů [Sunbright Creek, the lacrosse tournament of the Shawnee]. My friend told me: ‘Have a look on the date – I have begged it from my uncle.’ I was surprised, the date was similar to the year I was born... [in 1944]” “And as if apropos, he put one stick into my hands. ‘It’s yours. And you can decorate it if you want.’” (Makásek et al. 1999: 3−4) In fact, in the 1960s the scouts “reinvented” “the Czech lacrosse.” It is a game with a tennis ball and a small stick played with one hand. This specific form of the game is still played today and has more players than the main types of competitive forms, such as field lacrosse and box lacrosse. “As far as lacrosse in Radotín goes, we have been playing lacrosse here since the 1980s. I wasn’t there at the beginnings. When I was a kid we would play soccer on this field and one day a bunch of guys with weird looking sticks came and they chased us away so that they could throw ball with those sticks. So that was really my first encounter with lacrosse.”46 In the 1980s, lacrosse was also played under the hiking or touristic clubs that were often hiding illegal scout activities.

break in the 1960s. Both organisations were reinstituted in the 1990s after the fall of communism. 44 Ivan Makásek, Czech founder of lacrosse, interview, 2013. 45 Ivan Makásek (1999) referring to his personal communication with the former Chief of the League of the Woodcraft, Milouš Stárek – Mahykan on 7th July 1998. 46 Ondřej Mika, Czech Lacrosse Union, LCC, Radotín, interview, 2013.

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“When I came back from the military service, my friends told me about an interesting Native American game. So I started to play.”47 In the 1980s, the Czech players found out that there was an “official” version of lacrosse and they started to play it.48 Since then, two basic forms of the game – box lacrosse and field lacrosse, gradually developed in the former Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic. The “soft” form of lacrosse – game without any contact – intercrosse – has spread there as well, especially as a form of sport for youth and children. It also serves as a transition to play the box, field and women’s lacrosse.

DECLINE, SILENCE AND RENEWED GROWTH Native Americans have participated in the formation of the contemporary competitive lacrosse. At the same time they have maintained the specific original forms of the “game” in their communities. Each Native community, in which “lacrosse” has been played, has their own meanings and “histories” of the “game.” These are usually unknown (for understandable reasons), to outsiders. But all of them were heavily influenced by the dominant society. The dominant society did “interfere” with the game through government policies, namely the Removal and Assimilation policies. The federal Removal policy of the 1830s and 1840s significantly changed the lives of Native Americans in the East. Many of the nations were removed to Indian Territory in today Oklahoma, for example the so-called Five Civilized Tribes: the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and the Seminole. These forced removals greatly impacted and changed these communities, including the game of lacrosse, which was a crucial component of Native lives. This forced division of former neighbors and competitors, and extended families had an impact on the lacrosse within these groups, because the lacrosse has always been a part of community life. Some Cherokees stayed in North Carolina and became known as the Eastern Band of Cherokees, others were forcibly moved to the West. One of the most important characteristics of this stick ball “game” was a confirmation of family and kinship ties, and politicial alliances. An exchange of gifts and commodities, including betting during these “games” also led to a circulation of goods among the people. The Removals of the 1830s and 1840s disrupted theses ties and social practices. 47 Richard Kliment, personal communication, 2014. Richard Kliment started to play in the former Czechoslovakia under the club Albatros in the 1980s. In the former Czechoslovakia, there was two years obligatory military service for all men age 18 or older. They left the service at the age of 20. Since 1990 the leght of the obligatory service was shortened and eventually replaced by a fully professional army in 2005. 48 Ivan Makásek, Ondřej Mika, interview, 2013.

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The Removals, combined with other factors, such as the influence of churches in Native communities and the increased interest in the game of non-Natives, led to different “destinies” and developments of lacrosse in the Southeast and the West. According to Vennum, the U.S. Removal policy as well as the entrance of members of the local non-Native elites into the game had an enormous impact on the form of the game. The focus of lacrosse matches became gambling, as it was the case of cockfights, among whites (Vennum 1994: 115−116). Gambling and alcohol consumption increased violence associated with the game and lead to the decline of Native American lacrosse in the second half of the 19th century (Vennum 1994: 115). State and church officials were very critical of the gambling, violence, heavy drinking, and even bloodshed associated with lacrosse matches and other games. They saw it as a barrier to their efforts to “civilize” Native Americans in order to assimilate them into the main society. The state of Mississippi officially outlawed gambling during all Native American, and mainly Choctaw, lacrosse games in the 1880s due to the increased violence and brutality. The state also outlawed cockfights and duelling at the same time (Vennum 1994: 116−117). Subsequently, the popularity of the game rapidly declined and the church gained a dominant position in tribal social life. Further, other American sports, such as baseball, replaced lacrosse as a favourite pass-time activity during the 1930s (Fogelson 1962, Blanchard 1981). It was not until the late 1960s that lacrosse was revived again by the Mississippi Choctaw (Vennum 1994: 104). The Eastern Cherokee, who stayed in North Carolina and opposed Removal, actively continued to play their stickball “game” (Vennum 1994: 117). Another area, where lacrosse has been an important part of life, the Great Lakes Region, also experienced the attempts to forbid the game by government officials during the 19th century (Vennum 1994: 116). According to Vennnum (1994: 124), the game was superseded by baseball during the first half of the 20th century and was abandoned in its second half. Although the Wisconsin Winnebago attempted to recover the game, increasing poverty on reservations at the turn of the century was also another factor that contributed to the disappearance of lacrosse among many Native Americans (Vennum 1994: 117). The decline and disappearance of lacrosse was not a case of the Northeast. The Haudenosaunee actively maintained the original ceremonial “game,” but also participated in competitive games. According to Fisher, ironically, another impulse for the game came from the establishment of a modern lacrosse program at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (Fisher 2002: 103). This

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“symbol” of the American policy of assimilation49 towards Native Americans50, run the lacrosse program between 1910−1918, further stimulated lacrosse among the Haudenosaunee. Many skilled Haudenosaunee lacrosse players were drafted into the army during World War I, which led to temporary decline of the competitive form of field lacrosse. But a new form of the game – box lacrosse, soon gained in popularity among the Haudenosaunee, who quickly became very skilled players (North American Indian Travelling College 1978: 55). Box lacrosse has been played in southern Ontario and southwestern British Columbia since the 1930s. According to Fisher, even though the game had a new form, it was still close to the original “game” of the Haudenosaunee. “Ironically, Indians found the new version of lacrosse that had been invented by professional hockey promoters a more culturally satisfying game.” (Fisher 2002: 121)51 The Haudenosaunee teams from the upper New York State also participated in matches with private clubs, university and college teams. They established strong and very important relations with one of the “lacrosse powerhouses,” the Syracuse University (Fisher 2002: 170). Ironworking, a dominant occupation of many Haudenosaunee men, also played an important role in the acceptance and expansion of box lacrosse. With their migration from reservations to cities in search of jobs, namely in construction of bridges and high buildings, these men played lacrosse in ice-hockey arenas and over time became one of the best box lacrosse players (Fisher 2002: 208). With the invention of box lacrosse and its spread over Canada in the 1930s, the game had been accepted by groups of Native Americans far away from the “lacrosse cradleboard.”52 The most notable were the Squamish in British Columbia (B.C.). In the 1930s, the Squamish team, called the North Shore Indians and led by Andy Paull53, competed not only with other clubs in B.C., but also passed to the Canadian national level and fought in the fi ­ nals of 49 The policy of assimilation and boarding and residential schools are discussed in detail in: Prucha (1979, 1986, 200), Milloy (2001), Adams (1995), Trevithick (1998). 50 For role of boarding schools in creation of “pan-Indian” identity see for example: Littlefield (2008). 51 I do not not see it as an irony. It is more a testimony of the creativity of Native American societies which are not (statically) “imprisoned” in the unchangeable past but instead are actively adapting to changes. 52 Fisher (2002: 12) mentiones the variety of games and their forms in general played in North America and Mesoamerica. 53 Andy Paull had a dream to put together the greatest all-native box lacrosse team in Canada. Since 1921 he started to couch the team. In 1944, Andy Paull was elected president of the pan-Indian North American Indian Brotherhood. British Columbia Lacrosse Association, Down Memory Lane − North Shore Indians 1936, by Stan Shillington (http://bclaregistration.com/general/ memory-lane/indians-north-shore-1936.cfm).

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the prestigious Mann Cup in 1936. The team was also composed of Haudenosaunee players. With the great support of fans, the team hugely influenced the development of the lacrosse in British Columbia. Most of the Squamish players were fishermen and seasonal labourers, working in Vancouver docks. During the World War II, the team was disbanded. But after the war there were efforts for its revival with recruitment of Non-Native players. Since 1969, the “Indians” name has been used by various teams in the Senior B league and many of their members were the grandsons, nephews, or cousins of the players from the original 1936 team. It was definitely revived in the 1990s.54 The connection with the Haudenosaunee through lacrosse, is an interesting aspect of the British Columbia protagonists and the development of lacrosse there. “In B.C., there is the people from the North Shore from the Squamish Nation that are really big into lacrosse. There is also people from Nanaimo that are also big to lacrosse too. They grow up as the Six Nations. They grow up playing lacrosse…”55 In 2014, Haudenosaunee Chad General from the Six Nations was appointed as the general manager of the British Columbia team.56

“UNSECULARIZED” AND “SECULARIZED” Contemporary players are aware that lacrosse originated from Native Americans. For the most competitive players it is just a secularized game, but the attitudes vary, of course. The sport players have often a very little knowledge about the spiritual aspects of the “game” and its original diversity among Native American groups. There are many reasons for it. One of them was the racism toward Native Americans and the ideology of class division tied with the imagination of lacrosse as the “game of the American elite” at the end of the 19th and during the 20th century. As Fisher points out: “Recasting Canada’s national game in terms acceptable to affluent Americans, lacrosse partisans created a self-contained athletic environment that was untained by contact with working-class sportsmen. Flesh-and-blood Iroquois Indians had played an important role in the early years of organized play in Canada, but American organizers reserved a very marginal place for native peoples…” (Fisher 2002: 70) 54 BC Sports Hall of Fame, 1936 North Shore Indians (M), (http://www.bcsportshalloffame.com/ inductees/inductees/bio?id=16&type=team). 55 Nathan Wilson, Pioneers, Canada, interview, 2014. 56 West Coast Senior Lacrosse Association (http://www.wcsla.ca/northshore/index.html).

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Besides the different meanings for different groups and individuals among all lacrosse players and communities, there is another reason. Although lacrosse had been played by non-Natives since the 1850s, by the 1970s very little had been written on the history of lacrosse and the Native perspectives of the game were nearly missing altogether. What did exist had been produced mostly by non-Native coaches, sportwriters, and anthropologists with only few exceptions of Native American writters works.57 The first comprehensive work on lacrosse written from Native perspective was the 1978 book Tewaarathon, published by the American Indian Travelling College at Akwesasne (North American Indian Travelling College 1978). It brought to the attention of public the complexity of lacrosse and its meanings for the Mohawk communities in particular, and for the Haudenosaunee in general. The special importance of lacrosse to the Haudenosaunee is that it is the Creator’s game. “The game of the lacrosse was given to us by the Creator for his enjoyment. And we play the game for his benefit. It’s a medicine game. We use it for our spiritual being. And as it grew, it has been adopted by Canada and the United States.”58 Although lacrosse game is played by many Native Americans on a competitive level, its spiritual function continues to be the most important issue for many Native players and communities. “I hope, while I am here59, I could pass on the message to some of the people who really don’t know, especially the young ones, they really don’t know about the origins of the lacrosse and why we play it. And we have to make that connection when we play with the Creator in the spirit world. Once you have that inside you, and you know that part of the game, the medicine game, and the connection with the Creator and his game, I think it makes you better player. When you are on that floor, you are running on the Mother Earth and She is giving you the energy and He is up there cheering you on.”60 “When I was small, I was given a stick. My father said: ‘When I give you the stick, when you are done with that stick, you have to give it to somebody else, so the game will continue.’ He says: ‘If you don’give that stick, the game will not continue.’ He says: ‘When you were given the game of lacrosse, you have to give the game back.’ So a lot of guys have to be supportive after 57

See for example John Napoleon Brinton Hewitt (1850−1937), son of Tuscarora mother and Scot­ tish father. He worked as photographer and linguist for the Department of Indian Affairs. This fluent speaker in Tuscarora, Mohawk, and Onondaga also described the lacrosse “game” stories (Curtin, Hewitt 1911). 58 Chester Goodleaf, Iroquois Nationals, interview, 2011. 59 At the International European Box Lacrosse Tournament – Aleš Hřebeský Memorial, Czech Republic, 2014. 60 Sterling Deer, Kahnawake Rapids, interview, 2014.

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finish playing lacrosse, with helping the kids, couching the kids. Just doing whatever a little bit they can for the game after they can’t play no more. And that’s why they call: ‘Give it back to the game.’ Because the Creator gave us the game. In our culture, when we take from the Earth, our medicine, we always have to leave something there. So the lacrosse is the medicine, so when we take it, and we use it, we have to give back. And, you know, it is important that it continues like that for the tradition of lacrosse and moreover the medicine of that. And generations after generations will understand about the game and why it is played and what is played for and I guess the meaning of it too over all for our people…”61 The importance of the medicine function of lacrosse and its form has been varying among the different groups. According to Vennum, the Huron used lacrosse to cure sickness, whereas the Potawatomi engaged in the sport to prevent it (1994: 33). For a proper course of the “game,” there was an important role of the “medicine men” (Ibid.). For many acteurs of lacrosse, its medicine function is not anything “buried” in the past and memories. “Lacrosse is such a big thing in my life. When I was a young man, I ended up getting really bad case of arthrosis. I could not run. I couldn’t do much of anything. And my only elect that I could have at that time was goalie in lacrosse… And after making some safes, after having good games, and it just made me want to try harder, make me want to get more shots and tell everybody about this great game that we have and we can play. It’s a medicine for sure. It makes me feel good after having every game…”62 The stories tied with the origins of lacrosse (Vennum 1994, 2007)63 are considered by many groups as sacred and for this reason should be also approprietaly communicated.64 Until recently, people who were responsible for dealing with spiritual issues within Native communities made access to lacrosse origin stories only partially possible to non-Natives. The origin stories are often deeply tied with Spiritual Beings, very often with Thunderers (Calder, Fletcher 2011: 17−40). The stories about the origin of the “game” tell about the four legged animals and birds playing lacrosse.65

61 62 63 64

Sterling Deer, Kahnawake Rapids, interview, 2014. Nathan Wilson, Pioneers, Canada, interview, 2014. The most often published version is the Cherokee. Listen to for example: Iroquois Spiritual Advisor Tracy Shenandoah (http://vimeo.com/ 17038432). 65 I would like to respect the importance of context in which these stories should be told, so for this reason I do not include an explanation to this paper. For various forms of stories see also for example: Vennum (2007); North American Indian Travelling College (1978), and The Story of Lacrosse (http://iroquoisnationals.org/the-iroquois/the-story-of-lacrosse).

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Increased access to information and the origin stories of lacrosse resulted in a further shift in various forms of the game and its meanings for domestic and international players, who desire a deeper understanding of lacrosse. The specific situation concerning an access to information existed in the so called socialist countries of the Central and Eastern Europe. Access to information from the so called West, including information about sports, was very limited in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc. The flow of information was kept under state control and shaped by censorship and political propaganda. Partly due to these limitations the stereotype of the Noble Savage is still prevailent in the post-communist countries. “You know, it is easy today to find out information on the Internet. But at those days, there was no such a thing. Nowadays, there is too much of information available. And sometimes, it is difficult to orientate in it. At that time, it was possible to find out just something in books and magazines. So we found the basics about lacrosse and we created other rules by our imagination. At the beginnings one of the rules was that every player had to make his own lacrosse stick.”66 The collapse of the Socialist Block in 1989, opened new opportunities for direct contact and exchange of information between European lacrosse enthusiasts, Americans, Canadians, as well as Native Americans.67 “One of our ‘founders’ in Slovakia, who has studied the environmental studies, has met during his studies in the U.S. with some Native Americans. From them he has heard a story about the animals playing lacrosse. And as a bat was significant to the story, we thought a lot about it, and accepted it for the logo of our team… The pink colour of our dress we use only for the tournament. Our official colour is black and white and red. The pink colour we use here for the tournament is cool and brings attention of spectators. It is worldly known as a colour against the breast cancer, so we wanted to express our support of the raise of public awareness about this illness… So far, everybody likes it…”68

ON THE TRAIL OF SACREDNEES, COMMODITY AND CULTURAL SYMBOL For Native American communities the “game of lacrosse” has been a part of their cosmologies. The lacrosse stick, same as the ball, is a spiritually important “item.” They both hold deep spiritual meanings. 66 Ivan Makásek, interview, 2013, 2014. 67 For example, among others, Jim Veltman has been a great supporter of the Czech box lacrosse. 68 Milan Zifčák, Bratislava Bats, Slovakia, interview, 2014.

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“The First Nations people believe that everything has a spirit. And we take care of that spirit. And it is also lacrosse stick. And we never get mad at the lacrosse stick when we drop a ball. We never get mad at the lacrosse stick when we have a bad pass. It’s just us doing that, not the lacrosse stick. It is just disrespecting that sport, disrespecting that medicine as if you act behaving like this. I teach my kids not to act like that.”69 The wooden hickory stick that is used in both community ceremonial “games” and competitive form of the lacrosse, is very important to the Haudenosaunee (Calder, Fletcher 2011: 17−40). “The lacrosse stick is one of our four sacred items in our culture.”70 The players are spiritually linked with their wooden lacrosse sticks. “Everybody who plays lacrosse should know where the game came from. This game was given to our people by the Creator. That’s part of who we are as the people. In this stick is an energy from the life tree. That energy is transferred from the person and a stick to this game of the lacrosse. One living thing to another.”71 Need for the reversal of secularization of the “game” has been important for the Haudenosaunee representation. “The spirit is embodied in the wooden stick. The wood represents trees and the natural world that supports all life. The leather, gut and sinew come from the deer the leader of all animals and their world that supports us. The ball is the medicine and it will go where it will. We the players provide the spirit, strength and integrity of the game as one with the universe. That is why we insist the wooden stick continues in the international contest. This is to ensure that the original spirit of the game is maintained.”72 Besides the very personal meaning of the wooden stick to its keeper, it also played an important role in the formation of the competitive form of the lacrosse game. The production of the wooden stick, handcrafted by the Mohawk and other Haudenosaunee makers, affected the amount of available sticks until the 1970s, when the plastic sticks were introduced (Fisher 2002: 256). Prior to the 1970s, the market wholly depended on the stick makers. Since the end of the 1920s, the lacrosse sticks have been commercionally manufactured in Saint Regis/Akwesasne.73 The most notable master craftsmen were Frank and Alex Roundpoint from Saint Regis/Akwesasne, who 69 Nathan Wilson, Pioneers, Canada, interview, 2014. 70 Denise Waterman, Iroquois Nationals, interview, 2011. 71 Alfred Jacques, Onondaga stick maker. The Stickmaker − Alf Jaques „Unstrung“ Handmakes Wood Lacrosse Sticks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSoR9oGGpOc). Stickmaker. Directors: Curtis Albucher & Kevin Lee, Assistant Producers: Dustin Dohm & Justin Skaggs. 72 Lyons, O. Thank you world for giving back to the Iroquois (http://iroquoisnationals.org/thank-youworld-for-giving-back-to-the-iroquois/#more-135). 73 Mohawk International Lacrosse – History (http://www.mohawkintlacrosse.com/history.htm).

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founded the Chisholm Lacrosse Factory in 1931. By the mid-1960s, the factory was producing between 95 and 97% of all lacrosse sticks (Fisher 2002: 258). This monopoly in production resulted in a “disaster” for “competitive lacrosse world” in 1968, when the Chisholm factory, making over 50 000 lacrosse sticks a year burnt down. Although most of the sticks were saved, the fire affected Canadian as well as American, English, and Australian players (North American Indian Travelling College 1978: 121). There were also smaller Haudenosaunee lacrosse stick producers, on other reservation and territories, attempting to keep up with the growing demand. Enos Williams was one of them. “In 1950, I started it as a hobby… In 1965,74 I did get quite busy for a while. In St. Regis there was a lacrosse factory that burnt. I was called from all over asking if I was going to be busy. They called me about 3 o’clock in the morning and told me St. Regis factory was burning. They wanted to know if I was going to be any busier. I couldn’t have been any busier than the way I was at that time. I was younger and could stand much work. I’ve seen times when I started working at day-light and worked until midnight working on lacrosse sticks. That’s a lot of work. After that I leaned you can only do so much. Before that I never thought I’d be making lacrosse sticks.”75 The mass spread of the plastic sticks allowed greater amount of athletes to participate in the game, but at the same time it has pushed the handcrafters and their families to the margin of the market (Fisher 2002: 256, 264). The knowledge and the pride in the craft is still kept by contemporary stickmakers, such as Alfred Jacques at Onondaga and Mark Mitchell in Akwesasne. The importance of the wooden stick for the Haudenosaunee is manifested by the fact that all male babies are given a small wooden stick into their cradels. The wooden stick accompanies them during their whole life and also into the afterlife. “Our men are burried with the sticks. They are not burried with the plastic stick…”76 With the contemporary interest in lacrosse and growing pride of Native American players, the wooden stick is again in demand and is very often used as an expression of appreciation of outstanding players. Today, the plastic sticks with handles from different sort of materials77, are the most popular for competitive games, but the wooden sticks are still 74 The date would probably be 1968. 75 Enos Williams, Six Nations of the Grand River. Quoted in: Garlow (1982). 76 Alfred Jacques, Onondaga stick maker. The Stickmaker − Alf Jaques “Unstrung” Handmakes Wood Lacrosse Sticks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSoR9oGGpOc). Stickmaker. Directors: Curtis Albucher & Kevin Lee, Assistant Producers: Dustin Dohm & Justin Skaggs. 77 The contemporary not-wooden handles are made of different materials, such as plastic, aluminum, titanium, scandium, and fiberglass.

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used by a lot of box lacrosse players. Wooden sticks are legal under Canadian Lacrosse Association78, but have to keep the size of the plastic lacrosse sticks.79 The wooden lacrosse sticks are commonly used by box lacrosse goaltenders.

WHEN GENDER IS AN ISSUE The lacrosse game has been a suject of gender division. Among Native Americans, it has been played mainly by men. Native American women’s involvement in playing of the game is different among various groups. Women playing lacrosse were noted among the Dakota, Ho-Cunk/Winnebago, Shawnee, Anishinaabeg/Ojibweg, Huron, Choctaw, Cherokee, Oklahoma Creek.80 Mixed teams were observed among Dakotas, Ojibweg and Hurons.81 For the Haudenosaunee, lacrosse was men’s game in regard to who can play it. Since lacrosse is considered to be sacred and solely for males to be played for all creation82, women’s social roles, but also powers associated with their monthly biological cycles, are considered as potentially interfering with the game. According to traditional believes, the wooden stick might loose its power if touched by a woman. Nevertheless, Haudenosaunee women have had an important role in the game as supporters, organisers and fans (Downey 2012). Haudenosaunee women have also participated in contemporary competitive games of women’s lacrosse, although their involvement in such activities has been problematic for some traditionalists, who emphasise the gender lines concerning proper ceremonial rules (Downey 2012). The use of wooden stick that has been common in a competitive women’s play established since 1890 in Scotland, and women’s active playing role remains a source of discussion within the Haudenosaunee territories. The most visible disagreement about women players came in the 1980s attempt to establish the national female lacrosse team representation next to the male international team. As Downey has stated: “With a power to heal and by extention, the stick, the participation of Haudenosaunee females and the Iroquois Nationals 78 Canadian Lacrosse Association (http://www.lacrosse.ca). 79 The only exception to this is the Western Lacrosse Association, which prohibited the use of wooden sticks by non-goaltenders some years ago. The Official Website of the Western Lacrosse Association (http://www.theboxrocks.com/leagues/front_pageWLA.cfm?clientid=5357&leagueid=20555). 80 Vennum (2007: 105−106) assumes that the reason why there is very little documentation of Native American women’s lacrosse, may mean that playing lacrosse was exclusively male activity, along with their other traditonal roles, such as hunting and war. 81 Ibid. 82 Onondaga Nation, People of the Hills – Lacrosse (http://www.onondaganation.org/culture/ sports/lacrosse).

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women’s team found themselves caught between modernity – the expansion of equal opportunity – and traditionalism.” (2012: 339) The national women’s team has finally appeared under the name Haudenosaunee. They competed for the first time at the international level in 2009 in the Czech Republic. They also competed at 2011 Women’s Under-19 World’s Championship in Germany and at the 2013 World Cup in Canada. According to Zogry (2010: 182−183), in 2001 and 2004 there were controversies among Cherokees over women playing anetso in the annual Cherokee Fall Festival where this “stickball game” has been played regularly. Back to women’s competitive lacrosse83, in general, it has been something specific since its beginnings. Compared to men’s competitive game the women’s lacrosse etnhusiasts denied roughness and stressed collaboration (Fisher 2002: 201). The rules differ from that of men’s game and are strict to physical contact between players, mainly to avoid injuries.84 Fisher’s characteristic of the game stresses different levels of the women’s game development. “Originated by Iroquois Indians, modernized by Canadian gentlemen, adopted by English sportsmen, and feminized for British schoolgirls, women’s lacrosse in Britain and then America was as much a product of Victorian sporting culture as it was of Native Americans.” (Fisher 2002: 150) The international Women’s Lacrosse World Cup, first held in 1982, started with teams from Australia, United States, Canada, Wales, Scotland, and En­ gland. The three top scoring countries have been the United States, Australia, and England. Canada joined the high ranks in 2013. Since 1993, other countries, such as the Czech Republic and Japan have joined the competition and even more countries, such as Germany, Netherlands, and South Korea have developed the women’s game. In 2012, the first Israel team competed in the European Championships in Amsterdam.85 “We actually have almost as many girls playing as boys on youth levels… In Israel, girls don’t really play sport. They dance, they do gymnastics, and there is a big cultural gap that we want to change… We have women’s lacrosse players, they play college lacrosse, they moved their lifes to Israel, they came home to Israel. You have role models… And when they come in

83 Women’s lacrosse is also referred to as wlax, or just lax. 84 Compared to men’s game, all agressive body checking and body contact are illegal. As a result of the lack of contact, the only protective equipment required is a mouth guard and eye googles or face guard. See: U.S. Lacrosse: The National Governing Body of Lacrosse – Women’s Rules (http:// www.uslacrosse.org/rules/womens-rules.aspx), and NCAA – The National Collegiate Athletic Association (http://www.ncaa.org). 85 The Women’s Lacrosse World Cup is held every four years. Internationally, the game is widely played in the Great Britain, and in the United States. While a minor sport in Australia, it is played to a very high standard at the elite level.

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and we introduced them as the Israeli National Team Player, you see the girls are raised light up… You have someone. ‘Hey, there is a feature in the sport, I can represent Israel in the sport, I can get a scholarship in the United States and play the sport.’ And I think that changes a perception where. ’Hey, you know what: I’am gonna play the sport, I am not gonna do gymnastics, I am not gonna dance.’ So we see some upside with the girls sport and we are definitively commited to the women’s game... We are hopeful that women’s and men’s lacrosse can thrive together.”86 According to Philipp Broz, the gender division in lacrosse in Germany is half and half, 50% of the players are women and 50% are men.87 Recently Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Nova Scotia and Minneapolis have established women’s box lacrosse leagues and teams.88 Women’s box lacrosse is specific and there are various attitudes towards it around the world. In Czech Republic, the “heart of European box lacrosse,” no women’s box lacrosse league is being planned. The Czech players of “women’s lacrosse” prefer the field version. “It’s really, really specific... Women’s box lacrosse isn’t very common, because it’s played in Canada only. It’s played there, because there are arenas. As for me, I wouldn’t be happy about it. As far as I’m concerned, I associate the game with the large field, the open space, the mini-skirts, protective glasses and masks, and playing with grace, in pretty jerseys. Box lacrosse is a more forceful and action play… So I think that this is a male-only sport. And that women shouldn’t play it. Though, sure there are some things you can learn from it. When there are a few girls playing this, such as our representational goalie, who played it as a girl with the boys... As they were growing up, the boys were like ‘we’ve got to be careful, she’s a girl’... and that’s not good. When I’m on the field, I put everything in the game, and I don’t care whether it’s a girl or a boy, if she’s playing hard. So I don’t approve it very much. I think that our game is attractive enough, it’s tough enough, there’s more running in the game. Well, I think we should do with the women’s lacrosse. Yes, we sometimes borrow the boy’s geers, and we play it for fun with the girls when training. But I’m definitely not going to promote women’s box lacrosse.”89 Gender playes a role in international recognition of lacrosse as an Olympic sport. Next to other requirements, the sport has to have both gendered

86 Scott Neiss, Israel Lacrosse Association, interview, 2014. 87 Philipp Broz, Bundeswehr lacrosse, Germany, interview, 2014. 88 Ontario Women’s Box Lacrosse League (https://www.facebook.com/SrWomensBoxLacrosseLeague), Ontario Women’s Box Lacrosse League (http://site1516.goalline.ca), BC Senior Women’s Box Lacrosse League (http://bcswbll.teamopolis.com). 89 Simona Baráková, Czech Lacrosse Union, interview 2015.

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variants played in many countries of the world. It is planned that field lacrosse could become an Olympic sport in the 2020s.90

“REVITALIZATION” AND THE IROQUOIS NATIONALS “One of our Native Prophecies is that for Native People to be as one, is the Creator is gonna swipe his hand over all First Nations. And once he does that, then we all will be one strong power. And that goes with a lot of things within the First Nations cultures, including lacrosse as a gift. We, as the West Coast First Nations, or the Coast Salish peoples, we do respect it that way as well too.”91 When anthropologist Anthony Wallace wrote his study Death and Rebirth of the Seneca Nation92, he probably had no idea that lacrosse would become one of the tools for “cultural revitalization” not only of the Haudenosaunee but also for other Native American nations. Although Haudenosaunee players were participating in a field lacrosse matches with American universities, colleges and private clubs since the first half of the 20th century, during the 1950s and 1960s, with the growth of the American intercollegiate matches, the interest of the universities in contests with the reservation teams declined. The Haudenosaunee focus shifted further to box lacrosse that had been gaining interest in upstate New York and in Southern Ontario since the 1930s. It was played by both “reservation” teams and urban Native Americans working in cities, often as ironworkers. The such created network of competing teams led to the creation of the allNative North American Lacrosse Association in the 1970s (Fisher 2002: 281). The league among different reservations and territories led to the foundation of the Native American representation − the team Iroquois Nationals.93 The Iroquois Nationals were created in 1983 by former Syracuse lacrosse player Oren Lyons from Onondaga, Rick Hill, Tuscarora, and by Wes Patterson, a Tuscarora stick maker, with a support of other Haudenosaunee people.94 These protagonists believed that this team created from Haudenosaunee 90 Frank Lawrence, Ontario Lacrosse Association, interview 2015. 91 Nathan Wilson, Pioneers, Canada, interview, 2014. 92 Wallace (1972) made the Haudenosuanee/Iroquois case (focusing on the Seneca) the well-known study describing and analysing “the cultural change” of the society at the end of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century. He mentioned the prophet’s Handome’s Lake visions and his wish to have lacrosse game performed for him before his death (1972: 319), but lacrosse stayed aside of his focus. 93 According to Tuscarora Rick Hill, the Iroquois Nationals were named after the Cuban Nationals Olympic team. The main aim of this name was to stress the importance of the team representing their nation (Downey 2012: 350). 94 The Iroquois Nationals is a national sport organisation sanctioned by the Haudenosaunee Grand Council of Chiefs, traditionalist political representation.

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territories could mean a chance for lacrosse skilled high school graduates to obtain athletic scholarship at universities (Vennum 1994: 296). It was also a political assertion of Haudenosaunee sovereignty (Downey 2012: 322). According to Downey: “While the establishment of the Iroquois Nationals was a newly adapted political strategy for the Haudenosaunee to declare their sovereignty, it was equally a new instrument for ‘traditionalists’ to create a renewed strenght in traditional culture unification between Haudenosaunee communities. The team was a modern manifestation of Haudenosaunee cultural revitalization and survival; it was an example of the use of traditionalism as an organizing tool for community survival.” (2012: 327) During the 1980s the Iroquois Nationals attempted to become a member of the International Lacrosse Federation (ILF)95. Finally, they were accepted as the organization’s fifth member in 1987. It was decided that the ILF would accept only one Native American team as a member of the organization.96 By this decission the ILF has become the only international sport organization that recognizes a Native American representation. The most important step happened in 1990 when the Iroquois Nationals were competing in the International Lacrosse Championship in Australia, after nearly a century when their teams were excluded from participation.97 The international lacrosse competition has become a form of an expression of the Haudenosaunee sovereignty. The possibility to compete on the international level in a game that has been a substantial part of the Haudenosaunee identity stimulated young Haudenosaunee players to improve their skills to represent their nation and 95 The International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) was founded in 1974 to promote and develop the game of men’s lacrosse throughout the world. The four “founding” members were United States, Canada, England and Australia. In 2008, the International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) and the the International Federation of Women’s Lacrosse Associations (IFWLA) joined together as the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL). The International Federation of Women’s Lacrosse Associations (IFWLA) was formed in 1972 to promote and develop the game of women’s lacrosse over the world. Inaugural members were Australia, England, Scotland, Wales and the United States. FIL Guide to International Lacrosse (http://www.uslacrosse.org/Portals/1/documents/ pdf/team-usa/fil-guide.pdf), Federation of International Lacrosse (http://filacrosse.com). 96 The Iroquois Nationals make possible to accept to the team also skilled lacrosse players who are members of other Native American groups. During the last years, the Iroquois Nationals represented also members of the Anishinaabeg and the Cherokee. 97 Already in 1868 it was decided that no white club could feature an Indian unless the opposition agreed. The Native Americans were recognized as the best players, and as “professionals.” Their skills were presented at Olympics held in St. Louis in 1904, where the Mohawk from the Six Nations Reserve won the bronze medal as a team representing Canada. During the second half of the 19th century with disputes over professionalism and amateurism, the Native American players were further pushed aside. Although competing with U.S. teams, the most American society was regarding Native Americans as savages. With the prevailing belief of the affluent lacrosse enthusiasts in superiority of their race and class, the Native players were excluded from participation in national championships in the United States as well. At the beginning of the 1930s, it was decided by the Olympic games organizers that the Haudenosaunee representation would not be allowed to compete internationally (Fisher 2002).

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to have better chance to break through in professional sport. Being pushed aside and stigmatized by the dominant society, deeply influenced by racism and racial stereotypes, this step meant a chance for “cultural revival” by gaining pride from their own specific Native American heritage. “There is no higher honour then to be picked up to represent your nation.”98 At the same time, it has meant a chance for young generation to enhance its social mobility by gaining access to the scholarships and job opportunities not only in professional lacrosse leagues, such as National Lacrosse League (NLL), but also in different areas outside their communities. The potential of the lacrosse game for empowering Native American youth has been recently recognized by Canadian politicians as well. The project PLAY (Promoting Life-skills in Aboriginal Youth) started in 2010 and was supported by the Ontario Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and by the non-profit global organisation Right To Play.99 The Lacrosse for Development program has become a part of this project since 2012. The National Lacrosse League (NLL), Professional Lacrosse Players Association (PLPA) in conjunction with Ontario’s provincial institutions organise camps, meetings and trainings to inspire and motivate First Nation100 children and youth to participate in lacrosse game.101 The skills of the Iroquois Nationals players are also honoured by their contestants, who recognize their importance and game skilles. “The first world cup of box lacrosse was in Toronto in 2003 and six teams attended. The Czech Republic was a total newbie. We ended up on the sixth position. Our match against Australia was kind of ok, but our score against the Iroquois was 3:24. But in any case, playing against the Iroquois is the climax for any lacrosse player. Because it is the kind of match you don’t give up even if you have a really bad score.”102 “Everybody knows what this sport comes from. And it is an honour to play against them.”103

98 Holden Vyse, Iroquois Nationals, interview, 2011. 99 Right To Play focuses its’ activities on work in humanitarian and development context. Its’ aim is to build local capacity by training community leaders as coaches to deliver its programs in countries affected by war, poverty, and disease in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America. Lately also in the North America. See RightToPlay (www.righttoplay.com); RightToPlay − Promoting Life-skills in Aboriginal Youth (PLAY) Program (http://www.righttoplay.ca). 100 First Nations is Canadian term equivalent to Native Americans or American Indians used in the United States. 101 Vancouver Stealth, McElroy, Right to Play Visit Thunder Bay, By Craig Rybczynski, 17th September 2012 (http://www.stealthlax.com/news_article/show/178539?referrer_id=430082). 102 Ondřej Mika, Czech Lacrosse Union, interview, 2013. 103 Scott Prestridge, Megamen, USA, interview, 2014.

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Not only the Haudenosaunee national anthem sounds in arenas and fields and the Hiawatha wampum belt flag waves side by side with other national flags. The most obvious expression of the Haudenosaunee sovereignty are their passports, which the Iroquois Nationals use for international travel. Their use is not a new affair. Already in 1920s, the Haudenosaunee representative, Cayuga Deskaheh from the Six Nations Reserve of the Grand River in Ontario traveled on it to Geneva to appeal at the League of Nations (Akwesasne Notes 1993). Another important event happened in 1977 when Switzerland accepted Haudenosaunee representatives with their passports to the United Nations Conference on Indians in the Americas – International NGO Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas.104 It is not surprising that one of the Haudenosaunee leaders and the conference participant, famous lacrosse player and contemporary honorary chairman of the Iroquois Nationals, Oren Lyons has been active participant at the United Nations meetings dealing with indigenous rights since the 1970s.105 The Iroquois Nationals have been travelling on their Haudenosaunee passports for the last 40 years. England’s refusal to accept the Haudenosaunee passports as valid travel documents in 2010 brougth worldwide attention to the issue of Haudenosaunee sovereignty. Although they had been in England twice before on their passports, this time they could not enter and participate in the World Field Lacrosse Championship. In the following year, the Czech Republic, hosting the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, accepted the Haudenosaunee travel documents, and the same happened in 2012 when Finland organized the Under-19 World Men’s Championship. Some national women’s team members competing in 2009 in the Czech Republic also travelled on their Haudenosaunee passports. Travelling on the Haudenosaunee passports is not only an act of performing sovereignty, it is also a testimony of the struggle experienced by indigenous transnational communities divided by nation states.

WHEN NATIONS ARE BUILT... AND POLITICS ARE INVOLVED... Scholars have recognized that sports often serve as tools to create shared or collective identities and as instruments of nation building. Lacrosse, together with other sports, such as baseball, football, or basketball, have played similar role on the American continent. Lacrosse’s function of nation building can be seen in the case of Canada as well, though in a slightly different form than in the United States. 104 Ibid. 105 Ibid.

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“Regardless of the success or failure of Canada’s national game abroad, however, this modernized element of Iroquois culture helped define the postconfederation Canadian national identity.”106 American protagonists of lacrosse believed that lacrosse was “their” game. Maryland − especially its cities Baltimore and Annapolis − was regarded as the cultural center of North American lacrosse. Maryland built its recognition as “center of the lacrosse” during the first half of the 20th century after its succesful international competitions in 1920s and with its Johns Hopkins University team representing the United States with a demonstration status at Olympic Games in 1932. During the 1930s many Baltimore enthusiasts were not open to the idea of the Iroqois team competing at Olympics and in other international games.107 The Lacrosse Hall of Fame was built at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1966 (Fisher 2002: 209) The notion of the lacrosse as a part of the Haudenosaunee national identity was already present in studies about Native Americans by scholars and government officials from the 19th century. Lewis Henry Morgan characterized the lacrosse game as one of the national games of the Iroquois (Morgan 1995). Authors of the 1892 United States census Bulletin focusing on “the Six Nations of New York” described it in a similar way.108 The notion of the “property” of the game can be very emotional issue among all players in the North America. It has a lot of levels and is deeply related to different epistemologies. “I would never say we are inventors of the game. We are originators, because it was a gift of the Creator.”109 Lacrosse has not been only a way of empowerment of Native American communities. I believe it will continue to empower other indigenous peoples in the future.110 It continues to have specific roles in “nation building” among people from different areas of world as well. 106 Fisher (2002: 30) further states: “Beer’s ‘national game’ provided these middle-class men with the means to create an Anglo-Saxon civilization distinct from that of mother England, their unruly American cousins to the south, and the Native Americans perceived to be Canada’s civilizational forbears.” 107 Fisher (2002: 89, 154) mentiones following reasons: Although official argument was a critique of the athletic quality of the Haudenosaunee by Johns Hopkins couch Ray Van Orman, the main reason lied in Johns Hopkins’ self-perception about its leading role of the noble game of the gentlemen and wealthy white Americans. Another reason for the hesitation on the part of American and Canadian officials and their final refusal to include the Native American team representation at the Olympic Games was a fear about questioning national sovereignty and organizational jurisdiction. 108 The favorite “national game” is “ball” (o-ta-da-jish-qua-age), of great antiquity, and the origin of the modern game of “lacrosse” (Venables 1995: 53). 109 Ansley Jemison, Iroquois Nationals, interview, 2011. 110 In 2014 World Field lacrosse Championship held in Denver, the New Zealand representation performed originaly Maori haka for the Iroquois Nationals team. During it’s performance, the

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“Our people lived in scattered population, special after the World War II. And I think for the first generation of Israel was kind of founding of the state and fighting for the state. And our generation, we really want to shape the country and we want to define the culture. And we want the lacrosse would be a part of that culture... That’s something we are very passionate about it…”111 The sport activities based on the idea of “healthy spirit in a healthy body” was part of the nationalistic movement in various times and places around the world. For example, in the second half of the 19th century, sport was part of the “revival movement” of the Czech living under the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The Sokol [Falcon]112, established in 1862 and lead by active men and women, was an important part of the “Czech National Revival.” It did not focus on physical activity only, it also stressed the importance of social activities and Czech culture (Waic 2013). Many of its members had supported the creation of the independent state, finally established after the First World War in 1918 as the Czechoslovak Republic.113 Many of Sokol’s members actively fought in both World Wars. Outlawed and barely surviving during the Nazi and communist regimes, the Sokol organization endured and still exists today. It has about 180 000 members.114 The best box lacrosse and women’s teams of the Czech Republic are also a part of the Sokol organization.115 During the communist times in Czechoslovakia, lacrosse helped to cover illegal scouting and woodcraft activities as well. “When scouting ‘went to the dogs’ in 1970, when they [the Communist regime] made it illegal again, we became a part of underground as well. But then we were looking for means of being in touch with other units and being inconspicuous at the same time. Then I came up with the idea of teaching others the play [lacrosse] too so we could meet at tournaments. And then it 111 112

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lacrosse sticks were used. New Zealand Performs the Haka for the Iroquois Nationals (https:// www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152315603883031"). Scott Neiss, Israel Lacrosse Association, interview, 2014. Falconiformes were also symbols for other Czech sport and cultural organizations and movements since the second half of the 19th century. Orel [meaning Eagle] was a similar organisation to the Sokol. Compared to the Sokol, its’ members were mostly tied with the catholic church. The same as for Sokol, it was outlawed. Members of both organizations were actively participating in the illegal resistance against the Nazis who took over the Czech countries in 1939. Two members of the Orel – parashutists Josef Bublík and Jan Kubiš, were the “Czech and Slovak war heroes,,” who killed the high Nazi’s officer and the closest collaborator of Adolf Hitler, Reinhard Heyndrich in 1942. In revenge at the same year, the Nazis destroyed two Czech villages – Lidice and Ležáky. All men and boys over the age of 16 were murdered and most of women and children were sent to concentration camps. It was composed of Bohemia, Moravia, Czech Silesia, Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia and had lasted until 1938. In 1939 it was annexed by the Nazi. It came back to the existence in 1945. Since 1948 the communist regime was established. Česká obec sokolská (http://www.sokol.eu and http://www.sokol-cos.cz). Lacrosse Club Custodes Sokol Radotín (http://lcc-radotin.cz).

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spreaded like wildfire. We would meet at ‘Shawnee Meadows’ in the heart of deep forests, really beautiful, I told them to come there, everyone was excited, no one knew we were there, we felt safe there. We would meet there every year sometime in May. And as the tournament progressed we would meet with other leaders to talk and keep in touch with other scouts, ’cause somehow we felt that the Communist regime would collapse and we would have a lot of work to do.”116

PRODUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE Lacrosse is certainly a source of empowerment to Native American communities that were heavily influenced through colonization by the dominant societies that engulf them. Part of this empowerement is the production of knowledge about the “game” by Native authors as well. According to Mohawk Ernest Benedict in his introduction to the book Tewaarathon: “Much has been written in the record books about the accomplishment of our White brothers who admired, learned and helped develop the game into its present forms, field and box lacrosse. We appreciate their contributions, but feel that we have been pushed out of the way of recognition. We will be pushed no longer. Other Indian communities have their great players and outstanding teams and we have yet to hear from them. Let this book serve as a trail blazer and indicator of a possible route for our Native writers to record the achievements of their own national heros.” (North American Indian Travelling College 1978) As Zogry argues, referring to the example of the Cherokee (2010: 67−74, see also Martin 1991), the “disappearance” and decline of “lacrosse” in some areas and periods may be very relative and misunderstood issues. It can be only a form of the shift during the period of the colonialism from “being seen” to “be unseen” by “outsiders” and in some cases by “Native elites” as well. Relying only on missionary notes and historian works analyzing these missionary sources may form very limited interpretations about “lacrosse” and its “condition” within particular Native societies. The shift from the “public” to the “private” sphere does not mean its disappearance. If the “voices of silence” become loud voices it could change the dominant perspective. In the last few years, the Haudenosaunee became more open to sharing their views and understanding of lacrosse with the larger public.117 Other written and multimedia productions came from the expanding Native Amer-

116 Ivan Makásek, interview, 2013. 117 See also Iroquois Nationals (http://iroquoisnationals.org).

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icans studies programs, lacrosse players, and Native sports enthusiasts.118 Increasing interest in lacrosse and its importance for Native Americans engendered the growth of literature and available information related to this subject. In the last few years, lacrosse also has caught the interest of filmmakers. In the U.S. movies such as Crooked Arrows119 or Warrior’s Heart,120 became popular among lacrosse enthusiastic audience. There are also documentary films, such as the America’s First Sport121 or the Sacred stick.122 Some of these documentaries were created in collaboration with Native American students. In the Czech Republic, a bilingual Czech/English film Lacrosse – It’s a Way of Life/Lakros – To je způsob života was produced in 2014.123 There are also many “homevideos” available on youtube and social networks, posted by members of different Native communities. New media create new networks and sources of information about lacrosse and shift “the local” to “the global.”

COMMUNITY? As demonstrated in this article, lacrosse has been permanent part of life for a lot of Native American communities and, since the second half of the 19th century, also for people all around the world. The different and various cosmologies and epistemologies may lead to different interpretations about its proper performance, contexts, rules, gender-lines, representation, and properties. If more stories about lacrosse could be made more broadly known, not just from the various Native American groups for whom lacrosse has been part of their life for a long time but also from other parts of the world, it may bring new views about its importance and particular meanings. The role of lacrosse in “revitalization” or “ethnic emancipation” process and empowerment it has given to the Haudenosaunee in particular, and the Native Americans in general, is obvious. In 2015, the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship will be hosted by the Haudenosaunee. The media will create new stories and histories. Already, the interest of media in the Iroquois Nationals at 2014 World Field lacrosse Championship in Denver was huge. 118 119 120 121 122

See for example: Downey (2008, 2012, 2014). Crooked Arrows (2012), director: Steve Rush, 105min. Warrior’s Heart (2011), director: Mike Sears, 86 min. America’s First Sport (2013), director: Dennis Deninger, 57 min, Syracuse University. Sacred stick (2013), director: Michelle Danforth with co-producer Patty Loew, and co-production of Wisconsin Public Television & Vision Maker Media, 57 min. 123 Lacrosse – It’s a Way of Life/Lakros – To je způsob života (2014), steered by: Lívia Šavelková, Tomáš Petráň, Milan Durňak, production: Cinepoint, 63 min.

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Lacrosse can have a lot of meanings. It can be an instrument for “nation building,” tied with a notion of “having culture”124 and with possible impact on internal differentiation of power within various communities.125 These processes have been heavily influenced by the prevailing identity politics, embedded in contemporary North America. At the same time, lacrosse can be a changing element playing an important role in overcoming of internal disputes caused mainly by colonialism. Likewise, the potential and growth of this “game” can support the most important characteristic of the Native Americans’ original stickball “games” – that it has been always a community affair. Lacrosse can mean the chance for “bridging” and joining of people all around the world, living in a “globalized” and “glocalized” society. “You go from one game to another. You see your budies that you played against and you played with. It’s like a family in reuniting and spending that time... It’s just good. And lacrosse has brought me all over the world now. It sure it helpes me become a man who I am. Just playing that sport, showing that respect and the Creator’s game.”126

BIBLIOGRAPHY Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1991. Writing Against Culture. In Richard G. Fox (Ed.). Recapturing Anthropology: Working in the Present. Pp. 137−162. Santa Fe: School of American Research Press. Adams, David Wallace. 1995. Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875–1928. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. Akwesasne Notes. 1993. Basic Call to Consciousness. Summertown: Book Publishing Company. Barreiro, José. 2010. Thinking in Indian: A John Mohawk Reader. Golden: Fulcrum Publishing. Beers, George. 1896. Lacrosse: The National Game of Canada. Montreal: Dawson Brothers. Blanchard, Kendall. 1981. The Mississippi Choctaws at Play: The Serious Side of Leisure. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Burr, Christina. A. 1986. The Process of Evolution of Competitive Sport: A Study of Senior Lacrosse in Canada, 1844 to 1914. M.A. Thesis. London: University of Western Ontario. Calder, Jim − Fletcher, Ron. 2011. Lacrosse: The Ancient Game. Toronto: Ancient Game Press. Culin, Stewart. 1992. Games of the North American Indians 2: Games of Skill. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Curtin, Jeremiah − Hewitt, John Napoleon Brinton. 1911. Seneca Fiction, Legends, and Myths. Washington: Government Printing Office. Dombrowski, Kirk. 2008. The Politics of Native Culture. In Thomas Biolsi (Ed.). A Companion to the Anthropology of American Indians. Pp. 360–382. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Downey, Allan. 2008. The Creator’s Game: A History of Six Nations Lacrosse, 1840s−1990s. M.A. Thesis. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University. Downey, Allan. 2012. Endendering Nationality: Haudenosaunee Tradition, Sport, and the Lines of Gender. Journal of the Canadian Historical Association/Revue de la Société historique du Canada 23, 1: 319–354. 124 See for example: Abu-Lughod (1991). 125 See for example: Dombrowski (2008). 126 Nathan Wilson, Pioneers, Canada, interview, 2014.

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Downey, Allan. 2014. The Creator’s Game: A History of Lacrosse Among First Nations. Ph.D. Thesis. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University. Fisher, Donald M. 2002. Lacrosse: A History of the Game. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Fletcher, Alice C. 1994. Indian Games and Dances with Native Songs: Arrranged from American Indian Ceremonials and Sports. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Fogelson, Raymond David. 1962. The Cherokee Ball Game: A Study in Southeastern Ethnology. Ph.D. Thesis. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. Garlow, Dennis. 1982. Enos Williams: Portrait of a Craftsman. Ontario Indian 5: 24−29. Harkin, Michael E. (Ed.). 2004. Reassessing Revitalization Movements: Perspectives from North America and the Pacific Islands. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Hobsbawm, Eric − Ranger, Terence (Eds.). 1983. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Jorgensen, Miriam (Ed.). 2007. Rebuilding Native Nations: Strategies for Governance and Development. Tuscon: The University of Arizona Press. Kuttler, Hillel. 2014. For Trailblazing Israeli Lacrosse Squad, a Pioneer in the Nets. Retrieved from http://www.jewishexponent.com/lifestyle/2014/07/for-trailblazing-israeli-lacrosse-squad-a-pioneer-in-the-nets Lewis, Wendy A. 2008. Lacrosse Warrior: The Life of Mohawk Lacrosse Champion Gaylord Powless. Toronto: Lorimer Recordbooks. Linton, Ralph. 1943. Nativistic Movements. American Anthropologist 45, 2: 230−240. Littlefield, Alice. 2008. Education. In Thomas Biolsi (Ed). A Companion to the Anthropology of American Indians. Pp. 321−337. Malden: Blackewell Publishing. Makásek, Ivan et al. 1999. Lakros: sport českých skautů a trampů. Prague: UPO. Mander, Jerry − Tauli-Corpuz, Victoria (Eds.). 2006. Paradigm Wars: Indigenous Peoples’ Resistance to Globalization. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. Martin, Joel W. 1991. Before and Beyond the Sioux Ghost Dance. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 59: 677−701. Middleton, Richard. 2006. Pontiac: Local Warrior or Pan-Indian Leader? Michigan Historical Review 32, 2: 1−32. McNickle, D’Arcy. 1970. American Indians Who Never Were. Indian Historian 3, 3: 4−7. Milloy, John S. 2001. A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System, 1879 to 1986. Winnipeg: The University of Manitoba Press. Mooney, James. 1965. The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890. In Anthony F. C. Wallace (Ed.). Pp. 847−883. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Morgan, Lewis Henry. 1995. The League of the Iroquois. USA: JG Press. North American Indian Travelling College. 1978. Tewaarathon (Lacrosse). Akwesasne Reservation. Prucha, Francis P. 1979. The Churches and the Indian Schools 1888−1912. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Prucha, Francis P. 1986. The Great Father: The United States and the American Indians. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Prucha, Francis P. 2000. Documents of United States Indian Policy. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. 2004. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. New York: Zed Books Ltd. Trevithick, Scott. 1998. Native residential Schooling in Canada: A Review of Literature. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies 18, 1: 49−86. Venables, Robert W. 1995. The Six Nations of New York: The 1892 United States Extra Census Bulletin. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Vennum, Jr., Thomas. 1994. American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.

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Vennum, Thomas. 2007. Lacrosse Legends of the First Americans. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Waic, Marek. 2013. Tělovýchova a sport ve službách české národní emancipace. Prague: Univerzita Karlova. Wallace, Anthony F. C. 1956. Revitalization Movements: Some Theoretical Considerations for Their Comparative Study. American Anthropologist 58, 2: 264−281. Wallace, Anthony F. C. 1972. The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca. New York: Vintage Books. Zogry, Michael T. 2010. Anetso, the Cherokee Ball Game: At the Center of Ceremony and Identity. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.

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SUNRISE CEREMONY: REVISING ADDICTION AND DISCUSSING CULTURALLY RELEVANT SOURCES OF HEALING DANIELA PĚNIČKOVÁ

“There is a void somewhere. Something is missing. Something that our young people are not, or they have a wish or desire to be. [There is] depression, low self-esteem, … and illusions of power by violence or quick gain. A lot of parents are single parents, no role-models. Our spirits are not of our ancestors. Pride is not a good pride anymore...” (Apache nurse)

INTRODUCTION A large body of literature has been published on the high prevalence of alcohol and substance abuse, and more lately gambling abuse, in Native American indigenous communities (e.g. Kunitz 1994, La Fromboise, Low 1998, Beauvais 2000). Whether or not the claims of a significantly larger occurrence of addiction among Natives in comparison to the general public are substantiated, however, is not the focus of this paper. Rather we are interested in the local Apache conceptualization and construction of addiction related behaviors. Do lay tribal members define substance abuse and its etiology in biomedical terms as does the staff of the federally funded clinic on the reservation (the Wellness Center), or do their idioms of pathology reflect larger sociohistorical underpinnings? Do they associate the course of addictive behavior with a genetic predisposition interacting with immediate social environment of an individual, or is the explanation of such behavior embedded in the discourse of social responsibility and interdependence? Does the tribal notion of effective treatment and prevention of addiction resonate with the Wellness Center’s treatment recommendations determined by the universal authority for psychiatric diagnosis – DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5? If it does not, where are the primary sources of therapeutic remedy and mental health restoration to be found? Ultimately, the responses to these practical questions fall onto the complex analytical ground of contemporary Indian identity that is often marked by competing social and medical authorities with whom the present day Apache come into daily confrontation both off and on the reservation. Based on ethnographic research carried out on one of the South-East Arizona Apache reservations between 2003−2007, with revisions made in 2011 and 2014, this account offers a possible view of authentic construction of Apache wellness and prevention of pathological behaviors through the

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prism of traditional ceremonial revival and ritualized enactment of disciplined behaviors. The sets of performances enacted throughout the complex coming-of-age ceremony called the Sunrise Ceremony, which is the only Western Apache communal ritual that has survived the Anglo-American colonial pressures to abandon the tribal traditional life ways and disperse Apache communities, go beyond the Van Gennep’s universal interpretations of symbolic transitions between age stages indicating the landmarks of human life (1961). The Apache narratives reveal that the main sources of substance and gambling abuse are locally interpreted as a disruption of social ties and an erosion of cultural practices. In response to reservation life as a direct consequence of European colonization, the contemporary Apache tie their own lives to the ancestral narratives of one hundred and thirty years of domination, which are characterized by a loss of physical and spiritual freedom, the right for self-determination and governance, and traditional tribal gender roles and family functioning. All of these losses indisputedly altered the Apache image of self, yielding a frequently reported lack of self-confidence and low self-esteem. Values and qualities that for centuries provided the Apaches with their moral code have been taken away, disrupted, replaced by foreign values or, worse so, not replaced by anything, leaving an “empty center,” the void introduced in the opening quote. In order to get a more complete understanding of the prominence of the largely adversarial effects of the Euro-American dominance, it is necessary to be familiar with the charged history of systematic extermination policies made by the U.S., federal government, ironically titled Indian Policies.

WESTERN APACHES AND THE DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF U.S. INDIAN POLICIES From the very beginning, the Euro-American relationships with the Southwestern indigenous populations were characterized by plans for final and complete subjugation of the tribal peoples, a process that had been unsuccessfully attempted by the Spanish and Mexicans. Part of the subjugation process was the implementation of a “civilizing program” that was to transform the indigenous “savages” into “civilized European people.” At first, the Euro-Americans took an exclusionary approach to carrying out the program by removing and isolating the Native American groups on reservations. Reservations thus served as European training and learning camps that secluded the indigenous populations until they were “more civilized” and ready for “full citizenship.” The federal plan to civilize the Midwest and Western tribes was to follow a “successful attempt” at “civilization” of the five Eastern tribes (Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles). Natha­niel

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G. Taylor, an ardent promoter of civilian control of Indian affairs and of programs for the civilization of the Indians, wrote in his 1868 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs: “If the [five Eastern tribes] are civilized and advancing in development, so will be the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Apaches, Kiowas, Comanches, Sioux, and all our other tribes, if we will only see the means in their cases that have been so wonderfully successful in the first named tribes.” (Prucha 2000: 124) Taylor divided the “means of success” into six stages: “This historical sketch demonstrated beyond question that the mainsprings of Cherokee civilization were, first, the circumscribing of their territorial domain; this results in, second, the localization of the members of the tribe, and consequently in, third, the necessity of agriculture and pastoral pursuits instead of the chase as a means of existence; and as a logical sequence, fourth, the introduction of ideas of property in things, of sale and barter, etc.; and hence, fifth, of course, a corresponding change from the ideas, habits, and customs of savages to those of civilized life; and sixth, the great coadjutor in the whole work in all its progress, the Christian teacher and missionary, moving pari passu with every other cause.” (Prucha 2000: 124) The next section provides an overview of major federal policies and practices implemented in the second half of the 19th and 20th centuries as part of the “civilizing program” for the Apache. These policies have been greatly adverse to the Western Apache culture and society, leaving the people in a state of chronic poverty and dependency on the federal provision of economic, social and health services – a legacy which markedly burdens the contemporary Apaches’ life. Following the above stages of the federal plan, once located on a reservation, the intention was to gradually break up the Apache peoples’ social system and subsistence practices. This was to be accomplished by introducing them to Anglo-American economic and educational systems, making English the primary way of communicating, and converting them to Christianity. Following Taylor’s suggestions, the Apache began to be familiarized with agricultural methods, concepts of individual ownership, technological advancements, and professional specialization: “It was thought that private property had inherent and peculiar civilizing qualities and that individual ownership of land would provide the incentive for the Indians to adopt the ways of white farmers…” (Ellis 1972: 118). Furthermore, schools and missions were to be established to teach Apaches the core rudiments of European civilization and, at the same time, to disconnect them from their native language and their way of perceiving the world. Embarking upon a “removal program,” by 1877 the Department of Interior managed to gather more than 5,000 Apaches and other Southwestern indigenous groups at San Carlos, where they were forced to settle and remain until 1900. Concentrating all the Apache, and some non-Apache, groups into

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one place was a particularly harmful practice for the Apache society. In the pre-reservation period, each of the five major Western Apache groups recognized their own territorial boundaries. Violation of one group’s territory by another rarely occurred. Occasionally hunting and wild food gathering was extended over one group’s boundaries, but it usually happened with the approval of the local group and families residing in the trespassed territory. Sufficient feelings of distinction between the five groups kept the social units separated, even though they often lived in close proximity (Goodwin 1937). Distinctions between them were based on dialect, and very slight, but existing, differences in material culture and social institutions. Although relationships among the five groups were, for the most part, friendly, there was an element of distrust and suspicion when faced with various inter-group matters. Although it is believed that no organized warfare between the groups ever took place, inter-group troubles, such as theft of livestock, and hostile feelings existed. In addition to placing all these culturally distinct groups in one localized area, the government arbitrarily divided the people into “tag-bands” and appointed a chief to each of them. Each tag-band was labeled by a combination of two letters (such as CG, CJ, or SB). A vast majority of the tag-bands did not correspond with any of the traditional group or band organizations, and the arbitrary separation of the basic socio-political units or, in contrast, concentrating people from different groups and bands into one group, resulted in profound problems and animosities within, as well as between, the tagbands. Consequently, in the years that followed, the overpopulated reservation community, completely dependent on (insufficient) federal funds, suffered from starvation, disease, and poor social and sanitary conditions. Many found the environment at San Carlos, which literally became ’a concentration camp,’ unbearable and actively resisted by fleeing the reservation. The most profound movements were lead by Chief Victorio and Geronimo (Victorio’s Resistance 1877−1880 and Geronimos’ Resistance of 1881−1886) and involved hundreds of Apaches refusing to be confined to an allotted piece of land to endure inhumane conditions. Although finally suppressed, these movements have held great significance in Anglo-Native American history, representing the last sustained resistance of indigenous people against the reservation system in the United States. Although most of the Western Apache groups escaped the devastating federal policy of allotment (the Dawes Act of 1887), in violation of previously signed treaties, the Apache reservation lands were subjected to multiple reductions and authorized for sale and lease. By 1902 the U.S. government had reduced the established reservation area on five occasions as various natural resources were discovered within the reservation territory and its vicinity

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(Tiller 1996: 221).1 Unable to continue their traditional lifestyle of hunting and gathering, in the first few decades of the 20th century, the Apache became increasingly involved in wage labor. Many Western Apache people spent extensive periods of their adult lives engaged in agricultural work planting corn and alfalfa, picking cotton, cutting hay for federally owned horses, working as cowboys for Anglo ranchers who leased reservation land for grazing their cattle, and working in copper mines and highway construction. In the 1920s the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) issued several hundred cattle to Apaches to start their own livestock enterprises (Tiller 1996: 202). This cattle-raising program was to encourage families to raise meat for market as well as for their own use. Part of the program’s intention was to disperse families throughout the reservation with their herds in the fashion of the Navahos and their sheep raising (Perry 1991: 186). Although this plan did not seem to succeed to any great extent, cattle raising did become a significant source of tribal income for several decades. In addition to cattle, one of the cattle associations that managed the reservation’s cattle industry raised working ranch horses for sale. Although the wage economy among the Apache flourished through the 1920s until the Great Depression, the information collected from this time period documents that the use of Apache laborers in Arizona was highly exploitative. The Apache typically worked for much less than labor unions demanded and often under conditions that would be intolerable to others. In the same decade, the federal government designed a plan for the construction of a large dam on one of the local rivers in order to create a lake. The project was perceived by the U.S. authorities as a means of enhancement of both commercial and tribal agriculture. While the dam construction was the last major source of employment on the reservation in the last century, it also brought the Apache attempts at large-scale farming to an end. While commercial farms in parts of Arizona did benefit significantly from the man-made lake, some of the most prosperous Apache farms were completely flooded. This event was especially adverse to one of the Western Apache groups, who were driven from their homeland in 1987 by the Anglos and who prior to that, in 1871, had been one of the main victims of the Camp Grant massacre. The loss of the Apache farms fell into the period of the Depression and was accompanied by a major decline in the wage economy. In his book, Perry states that, due to the loss of their jobs, “virtually every member of the Apache Tribe returned to the reservation” in the 1930s. Although attempts were made to convince the Apache to establish new farms, anger and disillusion had soured the tribal members’ receptivity to farming and made such an enterprise seem futile (Perry 1991: 187). 1

Some portions of the repossessed land were eventually given back to the tribe or purchased from the tribal government in the 1970s.

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Some scholars argue that in some ways a combination of the events in the first half of the 20th century contributed to a drawing-in of the community (Perry 1991: 187), which, to a great extent, exists to this very day. The cessation of traditional territories, early exploitation of Apache labor at belowstandard wages, the later exclusion of the Apache from the labor market, the flooding of the farmland, and other experiences of 20th century reservation life contributing to chronic poverty and a sense of hopelessness had created mistrust and resentment towards mainstream society and outsiders’ attempts to alter and enhance local economy and life. Throughout the end of the 19th century and the 20th century this resentment was further deepened by U.S. policies involving formal elementary education (boarding schools) and college, and vocational training in the cities (relocation). As part of the program to civilize and assimilate the Western Apache into the Euro-American society, numerous governments and mission schools were founded on the Apache reservations since 1895. At these schools Apache children were subjected to harsh discipline by which they were to be discouraged from their traditional beliefs and their minds were to be “open to new life ways” (Perry 1991: 182). School regimes involved the separation of sexes, the exclusive use of English, corporal punishment including whipping if children spoke Apache or spoke to another child of the opposite sex, being bound to a ball and chain, and solitary confinement with only bread and water to survive on. As late as the 1930s, Apache children were kept in barbed wire areas and small children were transported to school bound in chains to prevent their escape (Spicer 1997: 257). Besides reservation schools, the reformers of the late 19th century called for the establishment of institutions that would remove Native children from their tribal settings and way of life, thus accelerating their assimilation into Euro-American society. These ideas led to the foundation of boarding schools located great distances from the reservation and the children’s secure refuge of their families and clans. Fearing further oppression from the federal government, many Apache families reluctantly agreed to send their children to boarding school type of institutions, such as the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania (a large group of Apache was documented as having arrived in Carlisle in 1887) or the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas. The demoralizing conditions to which students were subjected at Carlisle are well described, for example, in Ostler’s book The Plain Sioux and U.S. Colonialism from Lewis and Clark to Wounded Knee (2004: 149−168). Another source published in 1928 by the Institute for Government Research titled The Problem of Indian Administration, widely known as the Meriam Report, documented the traumatic experiences of boarding schools, which frequently resulted in the deaths of the children. One of the testimonies in the Meriam Report quotes an Apache man expressing worries stemming from sending children to school off the

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reservation: “I know the results of the reservation school but when we send our children to non-reservation schools we do not see these children for a long time, and sometimes they die” (Institute for Government Research 1928: 574). In response to the findings and recommendations of the Meriam Report and several additional congressional investigations, in 1934, the federal government passed the Indian Reorganization Act (the Wheeler-Howard Act) in the hope of reversing the devastating trends started by the previous policies implemented in Indian Country. The Indian Reorganization Act was passed in order to promote the wellbeing of the Native American people by recognizing the value of their diverse life-ways, spiritual beliefs, languages, and economies. Although well intended, the Act’s focus remained primarily on economic improvement, leaving social enhancement in a secondary position (Tiller 2000: 161). Consequently, the Act brought only partially effective programs to the Western Apache communities. Perhaps the most successful area was the one concerning the preservation of remaining tribal resources and lands. Leasing and selling Apache agricultural and grazing land was discouraged and all tribal lands were to be used in accordance with principles of erosion control and soil conservation. In addition, credit funds and tribal funds were to be stimulated for productive purposes, such as cooperative (as opposed to individually owned) business enterprises. In order to ensure the political participation of the Apache in their own affairs, the establishment of tribal government, courts and judicial codes was encouraged. As a result all the Western Apache tribes came to have legally constituted bodies governed by an elected tribal council. However, many present-day tribal members find this practice problematic, because traditionally the Apache were not used to living in large groups of people governed by a single authority. Their socio-political organization was based on independent local groups led by chiefs, who were selected from the ranks of family cluster headmen according to their skills in hunting, raiding, and personal qualities that inspired confidence and respect (Basso 1978: 475). Thus, the Indian Reorganization Act’s efforts to consolidate scattered Apache populations into a larger community under one leadership conflicts with the traditional tribal way of life. Undisputedly, the third objective of the Indian Reorganization Act, including fostering Indian ethical, spiritual, and cultural values through improvement of Indian education (Tiller 2000: 160), has proven the main failure. Although educational facilities and teaching methods have improved since the peak of boarding school education, serious problems with elementary and high school education remain in Apache communities to date. There are very few Apache teachers in schools, and most Anglo teachers lack the special training to aid minority students in their advancement. Because of the long tradition and provision of free education, mission schools are going strong on

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Apache reservations. Despite the Indian Reorganization Act’s goal to promote Apache well-being by recognizing their cultural and spiritual uniqueness, many 21st century Protestant schools on the reservation teach against Apache tribal ceremonies and traditional practices. In addition, a large number of Apache high school children living near the reservation borders attend schools off the reservation, which does not always provide a racism-free environment. An Apache man in his early 30s shared that when he was attending one of the high schools near the reservation (in the 1980s), he would be shunned by a teacher for speaking the Apache language in the classroom, despite the fact that majority of the class consisted of Apache students. Despite the brutal methods and injustices perpetrated in educational institutions, many of the Apache have made a tremendous effort to attend school and participate in formal education as a means of acquiring the intellectual and instrumental skills they would need to survive and improve the socio-economic status of themselves as well as the tribe. This might also be a reason why the subsequent federal policy, following the Indian Reorganization Act, has been, to a large extent, successful (from the federal government’s point of view). In his book, Ostler notes that school institutions like Carlisle were a clear manifestation of a shift in colonizers’ thinking about the process of assimilation, when the policy of isolation and separation of the Native people moved towards policies pushing for “destruction of reservations and the exposure of detribalized Indians to American institutions” (2004: 150). The very same thought was behind the Voluntary Relocation Program implemented by the federal government in the 1950’s, which assisted Native Americans to move to urban areas. Promoters of the Relocation program hoped that, with free education, subsidized housing and guaranteed employment in cities, Natives would find new lives away from their homelands and/or reservations and become integrated and assimilated into the mainstream of U.S. society. In order to encourage as large a number of Native people, including Apaches, as possible to relocate, the BIA provided tribal members with costfree academic and vocational training programs and intensive assistance to find jobs relevant to their education in cities or in areas for from their own tribes. A substantial number of the Western Apache tribal members left their home communities and relocated to colleges in Santa Fe, New Mexico, or the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas. Although statistics state that at least one-third of all the people who relocated eventually returned to their reservations, the relocation program was successful in the sense of disconnecting tribal people from their language and traditional communities. An interview with an elderly Apache lady could serve as a great example. She received a college education in accounting at Haskell, was given a job in California, lived in a community consisting of people from different tribes, married a Pueblo man and, with her new family, settled in one of the cities in California. As

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English was her and her husband’s only way of communication, all of their children grew up in an English speaking, monolingual home environment and spoke neither their father’s nor mother’s native language. The lady later retired to her home reservation, but because of a lack of housing could not move near to her mother’s clan and resides at least forty miles away from her relatives. Although she is a community oriented person, several of her relatives continuously remind her of her past life in the city and occasionally accuse her of “thinking of herself as something more or other” than themselves, which makes her feel sad and unwelcome among her own family. Despite being ostracized, she has fully participated in the Apache network of reciprocal obligations and has provided major financial help often to those family members who criticize her. Nearly a century and half after the federal government turned its attention to the modification of Western Apache culture, it can be stated that none of the efforts carried out through a variety of governmental policies were entirely successful in the sense of dispersing the Apache people and bringing the tribal society to extinction. Although the contemporary Western Apache remain a distinct society the exploitation of Apache land, economic resources, and the culture itself has been massive. With the beginning of the 1960’s, when more considered policies concerning the U.S. indigenous populations emerged, the Apache started to explore new socio-economic opportunities to sustain themselves such as recreation and the tourist industry, and generating funds from their ancestral water rights, as well as the gaming industry. However promising, the most recent economic opportunities are often accompanied by multiple legislative obstructions that the Apache tribes have to overcome.2 In addition, the changes are marked by an uneven pace and are dependent on the geograph­ical position of the tribe. For tribal members living in remote rural areas (such as the people in this case) the positive changes are barely noticeable. More importantly, the consistency with which the American federal government targeted the tribal social organization and cultural institutions left too deep a scar to make it possible for the tribal communities to fully regroup and recuperate. Many tribal leaders, psychologists, and medical researchers speak about psychological internalization by individuals of the century and half of institutional violence. This is then paired with the process of seeking means of escaping the detrimental reality and finding quick but pathological remedies for the state of depression and anxiety, such as alcohol and drug abuse, or excessive casino gambling. 2

Although the federal law claims to protect indigenous peoples’ interests in promotion of economic development on reservations it at the same time serves as a supreme regulator of these interests, such as obliging gaming tribes (tribes operating casinos) to negotiate gaming compacts (agreements regulating the extent and types of games, etc.) with states.

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IDENTIFYING THE ROOTS OF ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS An excerpt from an interview with one of the tribal authorities illustrates the connection between addiction and socio-economic situation of the community. When responding to a question about etiology of prevalent mental illnesses occurring on the reservation, he said: “Our mental health problems are social problems that we have, because of lack of jobs, unemployment, lack of communication with each others within families – men, women, children. They are social ills: see what happens when a lady is working. It takes selfesteem away from the man; and while he is thinking why he is not working, he goes out into alcohol, drugs, gambling, … down the line he takes it out on his wife and children, and it probably goes on like that for generations passing down the social pathology.” While the Apache have a general notion of physiological dependence and organic effects that prolonged substance abuse have on human brain and body, the prevalent etiology of addiction and its treatment is embedded in the discourse of social suffering from which people seek “escape.” Among the most frequently listed emotions from which one is in need of escape, are feelings of loneliness, frustration, depression, and anger caused by the hostile or dysfunctional family environment and inability to work. The often mentioned loss in the family is also associated with anger. Anger stemming from losing relatives to premature death most commonly (due to diabetes, alcohol and drug induced liver disease, suicide, car accidents, etc.) and the anxiety of complete loneliness after the loss of a loved one that comes from the disruption of a larger social network that in the pre-colonial time served as a safety net for grieving persons. A young Apache female social worker shared about “escapes” to the local casino the following: “Everyone goes to the casino for a different reason: Some people go there just to socialize; but many come there feeling sad because they lost someone; or some say ’I don’t wanna stay home by myself, so I go there because it keeps me company,’ some people are angry and they go there to calm down, and it seems that many times they come out feeling good, or better, but for some of them it becomes addictive. It is a risky escape of loneliness.” Apache explanations of the roots of addictive behaviors are nested in the rich language of loneliness and the discontinuity of tribal traditional relations, which in turn are nested within an ideology and praxis of belonging. Belonging itself, through the valorized affects of communal interdependence, providing and care-taking is nested within a discourse commending the ways of the ancestors, the “real Apache,” the “old Indians.” In turn, the narratives of “old, real Apache” are connected to the rhetoric of the “empty center – the void” that tribal members “escape” by abusing substances or by excessive gambling. Thus the etiology, course, and progress of addictive be-

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haviors must be measured against the backdrop of authentic Indian identity and its understanding needs to be immersed in the morally imbued Apache response to a century and half of colonial practice. Therefore, the question arises as to whether the local clinic recommendations in the form of individual behavioral therapy and medication by anti-anxiety pharmaceuticals present a potent regimen with which the Apache clients resonate and comply. While there are no statistical data on the efficacy of the local clinical treatment, during the course of this study there were no self-referred patients enrolled in any of the clinic’s therapeutic programs. All the clientele were court-ordered. This does not necessarily tell us anything about the potential usefulness of the biomedicine and behavioral therapy-based programs of the clinic. It does, however, speak to two issues. For one, the institution is associated with colonial or perhaps post-colonial stigma embedded in the problematic Apache and non-Apache power relations and for two, it does not respect the traditional social gender and age hierarchy in which a younger person is not permitted to evaluate and label a behavior of an older or non-related person. The clinical diagnostic practice also breaches the cultural taboo of cross-gender examination and intervention. Several of these elements are captured in an interview with a middle-aged Apache woman: “You know, going to a psychiatrist is shameful for people. They feel shame to go to the local clinic. For us Apaches it is not respectful to say to other people what to do, and it is not respectful to say about others that they have a problem. They may be older than you. A lady cannot tell an elderly man he is ill and the other way round. It is not the right way.” When asked about the “right ways” of going about addiction treatment, the Apache narratives turn to what could be, in Western discourse, termed prevention. They talk about the original sources of strength and roots of Apache identity. The sources that “fill the void.” Or, at least, they give one directions to know how to fill them with meaningful life. A former tribal chairman, a man in his early 50s shared: “You are born with your identity. Going back to it is… For the Indian people, anyway, knowing that that’s not their customs, that’s not their beliefs, that’s not their way…you go back to that, then you are more or less telling yourself: God, I really got on the wrong track, I really did something that’s not me. And then you are back to your recovery, you know. But that goes back to the basis of who you are. And for those that were brought up by [Apache] parents, by grandparents who taught them that, they can go back and behave themselves… If I had the problem [with gambling], I would definitely go to a sweat lodge. I would actually go in as my Creator and myself…for help…that would be first I would do. I would go to sacred sites where gifts were given. Gifts of healing…and ask to be healed. And I would at that point probably get more of a grip on myself, and work towards healing.”

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A prominent example of such sacred sites are dancing grounds across the Apache reservation where Sunrise Ceremonies for coming-of-age girls take place. The following text focuses on the practices performed throughout the ceremony that reflect a positive reenactment of a person’s characteristics and behaviors forming the understood Apache authentic identity. The ideal self is well positioned within the larger Apache society within whose relations one reproduces wellbeing and healthy life ways. As the following narratives illustrate there are four dominant idioms of a “real Apache.” A true Apache is a warrior and has a brave heart. While this characteristic is bound primarily to men, general notion of warrior-hood, bravery, and independence extends also to women. A good warrior, a good person, identifies with physical and spiritual authorities (great chiefs, those who resisted colonization, the Changing Woman and Mountain Spirits) and takes on their characteristics such as endurance, perseverance, a certain amount of stubbornness and so on. The third prominent idiom of good life is personal freedom rested in tribal freedom and self-governance that goes hand in hand with political and cultural sovereignty. The last important social value is represented by a proper recognition of the matrilineal kinship and maintaining the ties and inter-relations it determines. The matrilineal family as the primary unit of political and social life has been traditionally organized around independent extended families – maternal clans. One of the tribal female elders taught me to comprehend the local community social system in the following words: “Moms’ side…that’s where you identify your clanship. Mom’s side is stronger. People would say ’Go talk to your grandmother, or your uncle (mother’s brother).’…[C]lan comes from your Mom’s side.” A middle-aged Apache woman made the following comment on the role and responsibilities of the oldest daughter in a traditional Apache family: “that’s how the Apache family is, the culture is maternal so the oldest daughter is one who handles everything if there’s no one closer, like an aunt…it’s just automatic, it is never said, it’s just: ’You are the oldest’ and that’s all there is to it.” Besides the maternal uncle, in traditional Western Apache society, it is the wife’s mother and grandmother who have a typically strong presence in the family life, although the mother’s role is (or was) traditionally passed on mainly through one's children due to the taboo against talking to in-laws.3 Generally, the significance of a woman’s role in the Western Apache society has been passed to younger generations through the teachings of the community, especially the elders. Sharing of such knowledge by elders is a crucial part of the Sunrise Ceremony, which the Apache hold for young 3

Although I have not seen this taboo acted out during my study, several elders, both men and women, told me about it, with one elderly lady making a comment about trying to avoid visiting her married daughters so she did not have to interact with her in-laws.

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women when they are entering adulthood, and at which the elders preach to the community about the importance of family, home, and peoples’ responsibilities as parents as well as community members. Additionally, the Sunrise ceremony reflects the three other tenets of cultural self-determination. It transforms the traditional warriorhood into present day terms and meanings. It connects young men and women to the spiritual authorities presented by the Changing Woman and Mountain Spirits and, last but not least, the ceremony is understood as a major proof of the ability to protect and maintain a degree of cultural self-determination and political sovereignty. As such, we argue, participation in the ceremony represents a culturally sensitive and effective form of building and rebuilding an authentic Apache identity and is a prominent protective factor in maintaining healthy life.

LET US DANCE WITH THE CHANGING WOMAN TO THE GOOD APACHE LIFE It is apparent that coming-of-age rituals are regarded as life-enhancing events for initiates as well as for others. While adolescent boys and girls are considered to be particularly impressionable in the transition between childhood and adulthood and a great deal of energy is centered around the acquisition of adult knowledge and skills by youth, the Apache Sunrise ceremony facilitates the shaping (and reshaping) of all participants into responsible members of society. Ultimately, the solidification of purpose and meaning in life and identity are derived from the reenactment of the cyclical nature of creation and patterns of life and longevity. Going back to the quoted narrative of the Apache former chairman, the Sunrise dancing grounds are the “sites where gifts of healing are given” and a person can “go back [there] to the bases of who they are.” This is because the ceremony is centered around the reenactment of the Apache creation story, in which the pubescent girl who the ceremony is held for is likened to the Changing Woman, the Apache spiritual authority considered the first Apache being, the first Apache woman, and the first Apache mother who gave birth to the first Apache children: “Long ago they say… [a] girl was wandering about by herself. She met nobody on her way. Then someone from above told her to go and lie under the water, where it was dripping. She did this and from the water she became pregnant. Then after this she had a baby and … [later] she made a little bow and arrow and gave it to the baby… They lived this way for a long time and then the woman got a word again from someone to go up on a little hill and there build a tipi with four poles, just where the first rays of the sun would strike in the morning. On each of the four poles was a long zigzag line, the same as they make in the girl’s puberty ceremony now. On the east pole black lightning struck

Sunrise Ceremony

down in zigzag line, on the south pole blue lightning struck down in zigzag line, on the west pole yellow lightning struck down in zigzag line, and on the north pole white lightning struck in zigzag line. Then where the poles met above was tied narrow lighting. Now the woman went inside and lay there. Then as Sun came up she pulled up her dress toward Sun and spread her legs apart, so that Sun shone between her legs. When Sun came up one of his beams went right into her, a red one… After that she became pregnant… The first child that the woman had was called t’uba’tc’istcine (born from water), and the younger one, son of the Sun – biłna’no·ļtł’i·je (with him marked down in zigzag line).” (Goodwin 1994: 16−17) The above excerpt from one of the versions of several complementary creation stories, told by Bane Tithla to the anthropologist Grenville Goodwin in the 1930’s, captures the basis for a ceremony that with every “coming of age” girl recreates the basic tenets of Western Apache life. The symbolic and actual acts that the ritual entails not only reinforce the significance of a woman as a life giver, care taker, and someone who ensures the continuation of the Apaches existence, but also underline the Apache connectedness to nature and the land they inhabit, reproducing the people’s sense of physical and social belonging. The scenario of the ceremony is complex. It involves a multiple year preparation period during which the coming-of-age girl’s biological parents and other women in the family have to find suitable godparents for their daughter who will serve as her guides and support her for the rest of their lives.4 They also hold several preparatory meetings in which respectable members of the community are selected as key note speakers and teachers, a medicine man who will lead the entire public part of the ceremony (the final 4 days) is contacted and his participation is negotiated. If the medicine man agrees to lead the dance, he selects his own singers and drummers who are central in the ceremony as they accompany the gathered community for the entire public part of the ritual with their music and social and sacred songs. Most importantly, the medicine man is responsible for securing the participation of the Gaan (the four sacred Mountains Spirits and a Trickster) who go through elaborate training and a psychological transformation in order to present the natural and spiritual powers essential to the ritual. The medicine man prepares and blesses all the required paraphernalia for the initiate and her family (such as the support cane with which the girl 4

The preparatory phase as well as the entire ceremony is predominantly orchestrated by the more experienced women both on the side of the biological parents and the godparents’ side. These two parties constitute two separate camps built prior to the public part of the ceremony and inhabited by each party’s extended family, friends, and guests for about a week. In the end of the ceremony the two families become one – a related social unit engaged in a close circle of economic and social reciprocity enacted in the ceremony by dramatized gift exchange.

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dances and a drinking tube made from a twig that is her only way to access water during the ceremony)5 and meets with the girl and her family prior to the public section of the ceremony to teach her about the meaning and purpose of the event and her role in it. During the last four days of the event, which are considered the peak of the girl’s transition to womanhood, she is expected to dance for extended periods of time from sunrise to late night. During the dance she is likened to the Changing Woman and acquires her healing and sacred powers. In between the dances she is required to engage in acts of compassion, which are part of the process of taking on behaviors of her spiritual role model, such as blessing others and using her healing powers to help sick tribal members. She serves as a mediator between the human and spiritual world, now representing both the mature woman her community wants her to become and the supernatural female authority – the Changing Woman. Her identification with the Changing Woman is completed on Sunday morning when the godfather and Mountain Spirits, who have blessed the ground for her and the community for the past couple of days, paint her body in white. This symbolizes both the loss of the child’s appearance and the old age and longevity she is expected to reach. Besides her identification with the culturally sanctioned spiritual beings, the initiate engages in symbolic acts of acquiring desired character traits (such as endurance in overcoming fatigue, responsibility for others, and honor displayed toward elders and tribal authorities – taught to her by the medicine man, Mountain Spirits, and godparents) as well as physical traits (for instance, by her godmother’s massage during which a tall and well-proportioned body is impressed upon her) (Markstrom 2008: 2). These components of identity ascription reflecting locally validated ideals are thus a product of mutually expressed responsibility among the tribal members. Through engagement in these meaningful activities, three important mechanisms of change emerge – social support, public cultural socialization, and a strong sense of direction in life. In turn, the displayed social support restores the notion of tribal economic and social independence, lost to a great extent by the cited “civilizing programs” by means of which Apache land and natural resources were confiscated by the federal government. It also provides a platform for modern male warriorhood. Men engage in strenuous physical work in building the ceremonial camps in the hot and dry environment of the Gila Desert, are in charge of hauling logs for fire and supplies for cooking and feeding sometimes over a hundred people. Similarly, the public display of cultural socialization, including the explicit display of traditional spiritual beliefs and practices,

5

This is to teach her self-discipline and restraint.

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ceremonial speeches held in Apache language and the overall rising popularity of the ritual, enhance cultural revival. It flies in the face of the ongoing attempts by local Christian churches to discourage tribal members from participating in them.6 All in all, these three operative mechanisms of transition and their impact on the girl’s and community’s life reproduce and strengthen ethnic group identification, advance pride in Apache culture, and foster feelings of belonging. These are then signs and symbols of regained cultural selfdetermination and inherent sovereignty.

CONCLUSION The presented research has revealed a schism between the explanatory models of substance and gambling abuse by the local behavioral clinic and by the lay tribal members. The clinical views of addictive behaviors, including views of formally trained Apache clinicians, are predominantly vested in the DSMIV-TR biomedical classification of mental illness. As such, substance abuse is defined as a universally diagnosable disease whose optimal treatment consists of combining one-to-one behavioral therapy sessions, AA’s Twelve Step program (even though organized and supervized by the tribal clinic), and psychopharmacological medicine compensating potential chemical imbalance in the structure of the brain. In contrast, the Apache tribal members talk about substance and gambling abuse in social and symbolic terms and pair its treatment to the restoration of authentic Apache identity. In a symbolic world that posits belonging as being essential for individual and group cultural survival, as well as being characteristic of valued but threatened traditional life ways, the revived Sunrise Ceremony is the psychological glue that binds selves to others by yielding bonds of responsibility, compassion, aid, exchange and viable patterns of social solidarity and interdependence. In the collected narratives, addiction related disorders and 6

The Lutherans on the reservation, for instance, publically claim that the Apache are one of the peoples who had lost the truth and “full story about God,” made up their own creation stories, and began to wrongly believe that the Sun, the Water, and the Changing Woman were gods, who they came to worship in their cultural practices, such as the Sunrise Ceremony. The German Lutheran leaders reason that “the ceremony gives honor to gods who are not gods,” and the fact that the people believe in them is the devil’s work. In their ongoing endeavor to “save the Apache from the devil,” the German Lutherans recently issued “a united statement” against cultural practices, such as the Sunrise Ceremony, which they call “Sunrise Dance.” Through the words of the Apostle Paul, who said “We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God…,” the German Lutherans encourage people to “be free of the superstitions and stories” that have been an integral part of their culture for thousands of years, and begin to “enjoy the freedom and peace” that “only Jesus Christ can give.” (cited from the Lutheran printed handout)

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their healing draws on the deeply historical meaning of disrupted individual and collective identities in the context of adversarial colonial practices of isolation, humiliation, and assimilation. Consequently, addiction and addictive behavior are an idiom of disordered identity and corrupted social relations. In other words, they are symptoms or signs of post-colonial traumatic stress disorder (syndrome). Many tribal members, healers, and culturally-vested medical researchers claim that recognizing such socio-historical contexts will redefine substance abuse as a biological disease in terms of socio-economical and cultural deprivation. Only then will clinical therapeutic programs accept the participation in, and further revival of, authentic social and spiritual rituals such as the Sunrise Ceremony as a serious and effective treatment (and prevention practice) alternative. This is despite the fact that authorities and organizations such as Indian and Northern Affairs Canada have long recognized that the failure to establish an authentic cultural identity, and the resulting psychological confusion, has been linked to various behavioral problems among Aboriginal youth (Tiller 1996). In a similar light, researchers and practitioners in the field of developmental psychology have shown serious interest in positive youth development, which focuses on identifying, understanding, and promoting factors that offer protection by providing social and cultural resources securing successful adolescent development, and buffer the risk factors that tend to compromise desirable outcomes in human adolescence formation (Jessor 1993: 121). In other words, protective factors in forms of the promotion of traditional culture, importance of social and economic exchange, and recognition of one’s worth and importance as an adult group member are likely to facilitate the potential for socially desirable impacts on the lives of young indigenous people and their community.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Basso, Keith H. 1978. Western Apache. In William C. Sturtevant (Ed.). Handbook of North America Indians. Pp. 462−488. Washington: Smithsonian Institute. Beauvais, Fred. 2000. Indian Adolescence: Opportunity and Challenge. In Raymond Montemayor, Gerald R. Adams, Thomas P. Gullotta (Eds.). Adolescent Diversity in Ethnic, Economic, and Cultural Contexts. Pp. 110−140. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage. Ellis, Richard N. 1972. The Western American Indian: Case Studies in Tribal History. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Goodwin, Grenville. 1937. Report on the San Carlos Indian Reservation. Tucson: Arizona State Museum Library. Goodwin, Grenville. 1994. Myths and Tales of the White Mountain Apache. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. 1996. Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Retrieved from http://www.ainc. Institute for Government Research. 1928. The Problem of Indian Administration. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

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Jessor, Richard. 1993. Successful Adolescent Development Among Youth in High-Risk Settings. American Psychologist 48: 117−126. Kunitz, Stephen  J. – Levy, Jerrold E. 1994. Drinking Careers: A Twenty-Five-Year Study of Three Navajo Populations. Yale University Press. LaFromboise, Teresa D. − Graff Low, Kathryn. 1998. American Indian Children and Adolescents. In Jewelle Taylor Gibb, Larke Nahme Huang (Eds.). Children of Color: Psychological Interventions with Minority Youth. Pp. 112−142. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Markstrom, Carol A. 2008. Empowerment of North American Indian Girls: Ritual Expression at Puberty. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Ostler, Jeffrey. 2004. The Plain Sioux and U.S. Colonialism from Lewis and Clark to Wounded Knee. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Perry, Richard J. 1991. Western Apache Heritage: People of the Mountain Corridor. Austin: University of Texas Press. Prucha, Francis Paul. 2000. Documents of United States Indian Policy. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Spicer, Edward H. 1998. Cycles of Conquest: The Impact of Spain, Mexico, and the United States on the Indians of the Southwest, 1533–1960. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Van Gennep, Arnold. 1961. The Rights of Passage. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Velarde Tiller, Veronica E. 1996. Tiller’s Guide to Indian Country: Economic Profiles of American Indian Reservations. Albuquerque: BowArrow Publishing Company.

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CORN, GOURD, INDIAN BREADROOT, AND CHOKECHERRY IN THE HUNTING CULTURE OF THE CHEYENNE ROMAN TADIČ

The classic image of the Cheyenne of the Great Plains, if it has ever existed in our country, represents this ethnic group as a nomadic society of buffalo hunters in whose diet animal resources played the principal role (Šolc 1977: 124, Wolf 1984, s. v. Čejeni). Thanks to the Cheyenne’s move to the Great Plains, their return to a nomadic and hunters’ way of life, as well as the adoption of horse raising, the productivity of hunt and protein-supply increased and caused a “population explosion” in the late 1700s and early 1800s (Moore 1996: 143) and consequently also increased the stature of the Cheyenne population at large. According to measurements accomplished around the 1900, it was 174.5 cm, thus the Cheyenne were the tallest inhabitants of the Great Plains and probably of all North America. A fifth of the Cheyennes reached 182 cm or more (Wissler 1920: 143 f.). Nevertheless, plant resources were also an important element of the Cheyenne subsistence strategy in the period of Cheyenne history regarded as “classic” by the general public, which can be demarked with the Cheyenne’s imbedding on the Great Plains in 1830s and their loss of political and economic independence in the 1870s. At least sixty, mostly wild growing, plant species are known to appear on the Cheyenne bill of fare (Tadičovi 2007: 29). The case of two cultural plants (corn and gourd) and two uncultured plants (large Indian breadroot and chokecherry) can demonstrate that the importance of plants was indeed indispensable even for a hunting society which the Cheyenne represented in 1800s. It can also illustrate the multilayeredness and complexity of the Cheyenne culture and the alignment of material aspects with spiritual ones, as well pragmatic attitudes with magical thinking. Plants were not only used as food sources − so significant that they influenced the yearly cycle and later the seasonal migration of the Cheyenne bands − or remedies, but they became also articles of intertribal trade, materials to manufacture and decorate objects, even religious symbols. From the perspective of animistic dialectics1, which permeated the Cheyenne way of life and thinking, the particular meanings cannot be separated. 1

We mean here an animistic philosophical and religious system, which sees all live and endowed with spirit. Single elements of the universe, though they stand in an apparent opposition, are tied to each other. Particular elements or beings can have negative or positive connotations, but

Corn, Gourd, Indian Breadroot, and Chokecherry in the Hunting Culture

Plants are regarded as sacred because they bring substantial behoof to a human community; respect towards plants as religious symbols deepens the spiritual experience of individuals; sharing of these symbols strengthens ethnic and social ties. The lot contributes to the welfare of a community from the material, social, and “spiritual”2 view. The usage of plants in the Cheyenne culture is strongly influenced by migrations. The ecosystems of particular regions that the Cheyenne went through from the end of the 1600s to the mid-1800s were markedly different. Each region − from the central Minnesota through the Black Hills territory to the western Oklahoma − represented a new impulse for the Cheyenne culture and enriched it with new plant species. The requirements and potencies of natural environment and the contact with other ethnic groups led to three radical shifts of the subsistence pattern and organization of the Cheyenne communities. Each of these changes led also to “ethnobotanical” con­sequences. After 1700, at least some Cheyenne groups left the nomadic life in woodland near the headwaters of Misssissippi − connected with hunting, fishing, and gathering of annual wildrice (Zizania aquatica) − and began to build palisaded villages along prairie rivers where they cultivated corn, gourd, and tobacco.3 The next essential change occured as early as the end of 1700s when all Cheyenne groups choose nomadic lifestyle in the environment of arid, low-grass plains and depended mainly on buffalo hunting and horse raising. Horticulture was replaced with gathering of tubers, berries, and drupes. The third change, not much enriching from the ethnobotanical view in this case, was forced onto the Cheyenne in the end of 1800s by a dramatical reduction of territory4 and a loss of food resources − the impacts of western expansion of the USA. The Cheyenne adopted the management methods of the majority

2 3

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are considered to be parts of a whole, essential for its balance. Accordingly, whole universe is perceived positively. Cheyenne priests state that there is no place for devils, demons, and witchcraft in the Cheyenne tradition (Moore 1996: 245). Shamans can communicate with spirits of animals, plants, and other beings and get information and new capabilities by what they subserve their community. The adjective “spiritual” refers to a traditional animistic concept of gaining, working, and transformation of éxȧhestȯtse, the cosmic energy, which is reflected in Cheyenne ceremonies and daily life to this day (Moore 1996). Althought this migration route can be applied to the major part of the Cheyenne (especially Tsétsėhéstȧhese and Ȯhmésėhese groups), the Cheyenne ethnogenesis is more complex. Some groups did not go through the horticultural phase at all. Besides, the origin and migrations of the Sutaio, a Cheyenne subgroup, were not yet explained (Moore 1987, 1996, Schlesier 1994). In 1869, the U.S. administration removed the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho into a reservation in the western Oklahoma with area over 17.000 km2. Only a fragment of it remained in the Cheyenne and Arapaho hands due to a legally doubtful allotment process. In 1884, a reservation in the southeast Montana was granted to the Northern Cheyenne. It occupies the area of 1840 km2 since the enlargement of 1900 (Berthrong 1963, Moore 1996, Leiker, Powers 2011).

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society − in the Great Plains region, chiefly cattle raising.5 The adaptation to the lifestyle of the majority resulted in plants (except for rarities) progressively losing their importance for the Cheyenne culture. The mentioned changes were always quick and relatively profound due to a flexibility of the small Cheyenne community fighting for survival among stronger neighbours. However, many traditions from the previous phases stayed alive in the Cheyenne culture. The significance of some decreased but others gained a new position and meaning. We can trace those particular historical stages in the Cheyenne cultural memory to this day. Cheyenne cultural elements persist for the longest in the traditional religion − the original world’s interpretation and the ceremonial system which stems from it. It represents the most stable component of the Cheyenne culture. The traditional religion undoubtedly changed in the course of millenia and occasionally absorbed completely new ceremonies (again coming from the spiritual and cosmological context familiar to the Cheyenne), but it has kept a continuity in spite of pressure of the Anglosaxon Christian culture and U.S. politics, both strongly being strong influences from the end of 1800s. Plants that lost their place in economics and healing long ago would still frequently retain the position of ritual objects and cosmological symbols. In this sense, a crucial Cheyenne institution is hestȯsanestȯtse6, the Sun Dance ceremony.7 About forty plant species are mentioned in connection with this ceremony. Most of them still play a more or less significant role in the ceremonies today − as a building material, refreshment for dancers, ceremonial food, incense, attribute of a spirit, cosmological symbol, or part of a prayer (Tadičovi 2007: 288).

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The adaptation was problematic and painful for most of the Cheyenne. The U.S. administration had pressed sometimes to introduce management forms that showed inapplicable in the climatic conditions of the Cheyenne reservation communities and it worsened the adaptation too (Berthrong 1976, Schweinfurth 2009). The Cheyenne orthography in this text is based on work of linguist Wayne Leman and his Cheyenne assistants (Glenmore, Leman 1986, Fisher, Leman, Pine et al. 2007). It seems the most suitable for Cheyenne and the Northern Cheyenne use it in their bilingual education system for many years (Tadič 2010: 19 f.). If the Cheyennes speak English, they call the ceremony Sun Dance, but they use the word hestȯsanestȯtse (“dragging, pulling”) or hoxéhevȯhomó’hestȯtse (“dance of those tied around” perhaps) in Cheyenne. The tradition was not breaked even by bans in about 1900 and the ceremony has kept form of annual communal feast and renewal. The most important events of this four-day ceremony are building of a ceremonial arena, work on a complex altar, and painting of dancers dancing thirsty and starving even a few consecutive days. The Sun Dance symbolism is rich and it contains all important elements of the Cheyenne cosmology. The phenomena representing the annual renewal of the earth and life are emphasized — whirlwinds, hailstones, thunder, rain, and rainbow (Liberty 1965, Moore 1974).

Corn, Gourd, Indian Breadroot, and Chokecherry in the Hunting Culture

CORN (ZEA MAYS) The Cheyenne call corn in general mȧhaemenȯtse (“corn berries”) and corn ear hoo’kȯhtse. This annual, robust grass, tall 150 to 250 cm, grows on sand and clay soils in warmer and more humid areas. The North American Native groups began to cultivate corn under the influence of sedentary cultures of the central Mexico.8 The Cheyenne dry and store corn by rolling the husks on ears down and braiding them together in long strings that are hung on the wall and under the ceiling. It was dried over an open fire sometimes. Cheyenne women often dry it in the oven today (Hooper 1975: 72). As most of the Native Americans, the Cheyenne consider corn to be an admirable food, especially multi-colored corn. Corn was prepared in many ways. Fresh corn with the husk on has been roasted on dry rotten cottonwood or buffalo chips that were the most appropriate for this purpose. The corn kernels boiled with cow hoof or deer claws were a favorite, too. According to a more recent recipe of the Northern Cheyenne, dried corn was soaked in water overnight and cooked until soft; then sweetened tea or Kool-Aid lemonade were added. All has been left to sit for several hours and the food has been served cool (Hooper 1975: 71–74). However, Cheyenne women have shelled the kernels from the cob and grounded them mostly. The kernels were still ground by hand in the beginning of 1900s. A smooth river stone with a depression and a stone pestle were employed. Some women still used the stone pounder in about 1975, but they appeal to a meat grinder or purchase corn meal at a store today (Hooper 1975: 72 f., 92). Corn meal has been used to thicken soups and gravies. The corn balls (hó’xėstóha) were very popular in the 1800s. They could contain pounded sunflower seeds and boiled beans besides pounded corn. The Cheyenne, to this day, enjoy the corn pemmican (hó’xėstóó’o)9. Lard, preferably kidney fat, is added to parched corn meal and the mixture is flavored with sugar and salt. Some women improve the pemmican with chokecherries. The stuff is formed into balls or is eaten by spoon or hand. The Cheyenne probably began to prepare frybreads only when they got meal of the Old World’s cereals. They might have been substituted by the corn pemmican before (Hooper 1975: 72 f., 85, Leman 1980a: 209). The Cheyenne use other parts of the plant too. Various 8

9

The varieties cultivated by the Native Americans in north of the present USA had kernels in 8 to 14 rows. They were derived from the Mexican maíz de ocho with 8 rows of kernels which was introduced onto the Great Plains after 500 and contributed here to rapid distribution of horticulture based on corn cultivation (Johnson 2001: 165, Wedel, Frison 2001: 57). Cheyenne words for both corn balls and pemmican are derived from the root hó’xėst- which implies the meaning “join.”

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fringes, thongs, tipi dangles, and other decorative items are wrapped with colored or plain stripes of corn husk to this day (Grinnell 1923a: 164, Holley 2001). Corn remained an important part of nourishment also in the period when the Cheyenne were depending on buffalo hunting. They obtained it from sedentary tribes mostly, but some did not set their horticultural customs aside even on the Great Plains. If there were desirable conditions and good chance of return and harvest late in summer, some Cheyenne women sowed corn. The Cheyenne cultivated it at the mouth of the White River in South Dakota in about 1800 and there are certain mentions that some Cheyennes still practiced horticulture along the Grand River, Little Missouri, and North Platte in the early 1800s. A number of Cheyenne elders born in the Black Hills region about 1800 remembered their people had cultivated corn routinely. It was also affirmed by the Lakotas who remembered many places where the Cheyenne sowed corn (Grinnell 1923a: 251 ff.). The Cheyenne never abandoned the corn cultivation entirely and continued to call May and beginning of June enano’éeše’he (“planting moon”) even as they became nomadic buffalo hunters. When the southern bands were moved into reservation in the Indian Territory, new Cheyenne crofts appeared on the North Canadian River immediately (Petter 1915: s. v. moon, Moore 1987: 147). Although the sedentary and horticultural episode of the Cheyenne history was relatively brief and ended as early as in the late 1700s, corn rooted deeply in the Cheyenne tradition. Some Cheyenne priests assert it is the only domesticated plant which has both physical and spiritual potential as well as wild growing species. According to the Cheyenne tradition it was not breeded but it was a gift of éštšemane (“our grandmother”),10 the earth spirit (Schlesier 1987: 11). A Cheyenne myth narrates she gave a buffalo meat and dish of corn to two young men clothed and painted in the same way11 (Grinnell 1923b: 339–344). One version of the myth says explicitly that corn should be planted and hoed by Cheyenne men so that it be larger and taller; dry, almost white leaves 10 Notice the use of inclusive (cf. exclusive néštšemane) and palatalized form − we find the form éškemane in the common speech (Leman 1980a: 16). The word éštšemane (Petter 1915, Schlesier 1987) is an example of the speech style which once was used by men. We do not run upon this special phenomen in Cheyenne anymore. A unification occured, non-palatalized forms prevailed mostly, but some words with the consonant k have kept palatalized variant with tš. The Cheyenne speakers feel it archaic (Goddard 1978). The palatalized forms are preserved in the ceremonial context chiefly − just in line with the statement of J. H. Moore (1974: 277 f.) on men’s domination in the Cheyenne religion. 11 According to some versions of this myth, the sacred gift included gourd, tobacco, and bean too (Grinnell 1907: 180 f., 184). It would mean corn is not the only cultivated plant to whom the Cheyenne assigned both physical and spiritual potential, as K. H. Schlesier (1987: 11) asserts, but other cultural plants had the sacred character too. However, the corn’s position among them is exclusive.

Corn, Gourd, Indian Breadroot, and Chokecherry in the Hunting Culture

of rippen corn were compared to hair of old men12 (Grinnell 1907: 191). However, Grinnell (1923a: 253) mentions elsewhere that corn was cultivated by women among the Cheyenne. When the Cheyenne sowed corn they used following spacing: four grains were planted, with the soft end up, at the corners of the square and one in the middle (Grinnell 1923a: 252). This way of planting might have religious connections. It remarkably resembles the offering of corn during the mȧsėháome ceremony.13 Thus, the grains at the corners would represent névėstanevóo’e (four sacred persons in the cardinal points) and the grain in the middle ma’heo’o (sacred power which created the universe). Corn has relation to two Cheyenne cultural heroes. Tomȯsévėséhe (Erect Horns), the culture hero of the Sutaio14, is known under the names Standing On The Ground [like corn] and Red Tassel [of corn] too; Motsé’eóeve15, the culture hero of the Cheyenne proper, was called Rustling Corn Leaf. The Cheyenne identified them with two men who got the sacred corn from éštšemane (Grinnell 1923b: 339–344). According to myths, these cultural heroes also brought respectively, the Sacred Buffalo Hat and four Sacred Arrows

12

13

14

15

The metamorphosis of green corn to nearly white could be considered much important by the Cheyenne and they can lump it with other phenomena related to the spring and fall changes in the nature. That is a complex of Cheyenne religious symbols characterized by alternation of green and white colors or their joining. The Cheyenne observe and consider everything dominated by these two colors (common green darner, buffalo chips, berries, hailstones, etc.) as sacred. For the Cheyenne, the hailstones are a manifest of life-giving power of nonóma’e (Thunder Being); they are among prominent symbols of the Sun Dance; and respect to them is transfered to everything which evokes them (berries, round stones, even bullets). They are also represented by objects with a “pruinose” look − some berries and drupes, white sagebrush (Artemisia ludoviciana), etc. (Moore 1974: 171, 1996: 224–227). The Cheyenne word mȧsėháome (in sources predominantly as massaum) means “crazy lodge” and is related to the tipi where the Contrary Society, an important protagonist of the ceremony, did its preparations. The ceremony is ancient. The Cheyenne consider it as a hunting and healing ceremony chiefly, but it also consecrated their territorial claims allegedly. It was performed at the turn of July and August and lasted four days. Raising of the central tipi, decorating of skins of the red and white wolves and the blue fox, dance of animal masks, symbolic hunt, and clownish performance of the Contrary Society were among the principal actions. The last mȧsėháome ceremony took place in Oklahoma in 1927 (Schlesier 1987). The Sutaio (só’taeo’o) were a small ethnic group of the Algonquian language family which joined the Cheyenne proper (tsétsėhéstȧhese) in the early 1700s and which merged with them subsequently. The Sutaio language was not spoken as early as in 1800s (Goddard 1978). The Sutaio are still mentioned as a separate group during the Arrow Renewal and Sun Dance (Powell 1969: 507, 618 f.). Some families retain the awareness of the Sutaio origin. This ancestry is important at choosing of the Keeper of ésevone (Buffalo Hat), a sacred object of Sutaio origin. Motsé’eóeve became a plant with sweet root which sparkled in an episode of his myth therefore the Cheyenne interpret his name as (Standing) Sweet Medicine or (Standing) Sweet Root although it is not the accurate translation from Cheyenne (Grinnell 1923b: 339, 376, 378, Fisher, Leman, Pine et al. 2007). The root motsé-, no longer used, has some connection with breeding; -’eó- means “to stand”; -eve is an equative meaning “to be (like)” (Petter 1915: s. v. bull, Leman 1980a, Glenmore, Leman 1986: 2).

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− great ceremonial objects linked with hunting rituals − to their people. These myths connect Cheyenne horticultural and hunting traditions (Hart 1981: 11) and also religious traditions of the Sutaio and Cheyenne proper. According to Grinnell (1923a: 251), the Cheyenne kept sacred corn ears, grown from those grains from éštšemane reputedly, and regularly performed ceremonies linked with corn, especially the corn dances, from the time when they began with the corn cultivation to 1876 at least. The Northern Cheyenne Daniel Old Bull remembered the last Corn Dance was held in 1877, near Fort Keogh in the southeast Montana where a division of the Northern Cheyenne was then interned (Anderson 1958: 60). Another Northern Cheyenne source mentions the last Corn Dance took place near Fort Keogh in 1891 (Stands in Timber, Liberty 1967: 102, fn.). Berries, tubers, and four kinds of corn played an important symbolic role in the Corn Dance (Moore 1986: 188). Girls and unmarried women, also middle-aged women according to Grinnell, participated in it. The dance was conducted by four young women. One was carrying a corn ear, the other one had a gourd rattle, the next one was wearing a bear robe over the shoulders, and the last one was holding a stuffed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) which she used to signal the beginning of dancing. The other women danced in a circle and four men, the priests of this ceremony, accompanied them with singing and beating hand drums. It might be a healing ceremony originally; later it served as a social event, it celebrated the return of a winning war party for instance (Anderson 1958: 58–60, Grinnell 1923a: 252). The name “Arikara Ceremony” was used for the Corn Dance sometimes because so called “Arikara doctors” were involved in it. They kept the traditions and items connected with the ceremony, the sacred corn ears among others. They were specialists in healing wounds and stopped bleeding with much success. The last one died in January 1879 (Anderson 1958: 60, Powell 1981). It is not clear if the epithet “Arikara” reminded of the adoption of the tradition from the Arikara or reflected the fact the most of Cheyenne corn came from this ethnic group in the “classic” period. There were more rituals connected with corn besides the Corn Dance. A corn planting dance, a circle one again, was performed by young men and young women. It was led by so called Corn Man. The dance was accompanied by a singing and a sound of elkhorn scrapers.16 Another version of this dance was danced around a stuffed prairie dog with blue beads on the place of eyes.

16

It worth to mention that one of the Cheyenne warrior societies used a similar music instrument during its dancing and ceremonies. The sound was generated by rubbing a shin bone of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) over grooves on an elkhorn figure representing a snake. There are no data about any connection between this item and a corn dance; it served during hunting rituals on the contrary (Dorsey 1905a: 18 f.).

Corn, Gourd, Indian Breadroot, and Chokecherry in the Hunting Culture

The prairie dog was sometimes replaced by a red post with red painted buffalo horn on the top (Anderson 1958: 62). According to the Cheyenne, there is a special link between corn and prairie dogs because corn “climb out” of dirt hillocks as well as prairie dogs, prairie dog towns remind corn crofts (a reference to the old way of corn planting on dirt hillocks), and prairie dog teeth resemble corn kernels. The yellow color bears more meanings. It symbolizes ripeness and refers to the hair of the youngest buffalo calves and vernix on the skin of newborns17 (Moore 1974: 164, Powell 1977). Not surprisingly, it dominated painting of the women performing the Corn Dance (Anderson 1958: 58). Ceremonial significance of corn was not limited to the corn dances. On an eagle trapping18, the Cheyenne prepared a ceremonial food involving the corn balls (Grinnell 1923a: 253, 302 f.). It brought blessing and contributed to the success of catcher (Powell 1969: 28). Corn had its place in the mȧsėháome ceremony too. It was among the foods that priests offered to spiritual powers. Four grains of corn were put down at the foot of the four poles of the ceremonial tipi in the cardinal points, one at the foot of a cottonwood stem set in the middle (Grinnell 1923b: 299). Based on an analogy with similar ritual acts (Dorsey 1905b: 139, Powell 1969: 508, Schlesier 1987: 92 f.), we know it represents an offering to névėstanevóo’e and ma’heo’o. There is a Cheyenne shield with a painting of five birds, a crescent moon, and the Pleiades cluster in the collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts to which a piece of black-colored corn husk is tied. The Cheyenne might see a mystic link between corn and the Pleiades. The heliacal rising and setting of Pleiades delimitate the growing season in the Northern Hemisphere and the constellation played an important role in religious life of agricultural groups (Kan, Wierzbowski 1979). Its importance is documented by a number of the Cheyenne myths; many artifacts of 1800s, that had a great spiritual significance for the Cheyenne (painted shields and tipi covers for instance), bear 17

18

The yellowish waxy coating on the skin of newborns (vernix caseosa) and the yellow hair which buffalo calves loose during their first year are parts of a Cheyenne symbolic complex emphasizing a link between the Cheyenne and buffalo chiefly. It is said ma’heo’o intended to give buffalo to the Cheyenne only which is exemplified by Cheyenne babies who are born yellow as well as buffalo calves. Many Cheyennes believe the vernix occures just among their people (Moore 1974: 163). An ancient tradition ranging throughout the northern and central Plains. On an elevated site, a pit was dug in which a man hid. The pit was covered with green branches in order that the bird did not smell the catcher and a bait was put on them. As soon as the eagle sit on the bait, the hunter catched it by the feet and pull into the pit where he chined it or plucked some feathers up with bare hands. This dangerous work had form of a ceremony and involved many ritual taboos and rules. Due to a spread of firearms, the Cheyenne practically abandoned this tradition by 1860s. Eagle feathers, of golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) mostly, are important for ceremonies and making of insignia or amulets (Grinnell 1923a: 299–306, Sundstrom 2004: 115–124).

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depictions of the Pleiades.19 Kan and Wierzbowski (1979) speculated that the common presence of corn, the earth spirit, and the stars might be a prayer about protection and life preservation. This explanation corresponds to the meaning of black color. The Cheyenne associate it with protection from death. The deeply rooted respect of the Cheyenne to corn is reflected in the words of George Bent20 who wrote to his friend G. E. Hyde in 1913: “My son is going to plant that corn and other seed you send me. I told old Cheyennes that was the corn that Cheyennes planted on Missouri river way back. They took one grain of this corn in their hands, rub themselves with it all over their bodies. Then hung their heads down and prayed.” The rubbing of body should transfer blessing of a sacred object over to a person (Powell 1969: 30).

GOURD (CUCURBITA SP.)21 There are two words for gourd in Cheyenne: séotsémȧhóó’o (“ghost melon”) and ho’oohémȧhóó’o (“boiled melon”), more frequent among the Southern Cheyenne in Oklahoma (Fisher, Leman, Pine et al. 2007). Gourd does not grow in Montana so the Northern Cheyenne obtain it from their friends and relatives of Oklahoma who have more prosperous conditions for cultivating (Hart 1981: 24). The Cheyenne rarely use gourd as a food today. Previously, it was dried and stored. One way was to shave gourd around in a continuous motion until a long strip was formed; it was hung up and dried; only a few older women did it toward the end of 1900s. The dried gourd was pounded and used to thickening gravies. The Cheyenne also baked or cooked gourd with corn (Hooper 1975: 76 f.). A tea of gourd peelings relieved many health difficulties. The Cheyenne drunk it for kidney problems, veneral and heart diseases, earache, rheuma19 The Cheyenne call the Pleiades “Seven Brothers,” “Seven Sisters,” “Seven Stars” (hotóhkeo’o tsénésȯhtȯxese), and “Bunch of Stars” (mano’otóhkeo’o) (Leman 1980b, Glenmore, Leman 1986, Schlesier 1987, Fisher, Leman, Pine et al. 2014). In the most cases, they depict them as a cluster of light dots, one in the center and others around it. The Pleiades are always seven although the Cheyenne could distinguish more stars in the constellation by naked eye. However, the seven (and four) is a sacred number for the Cheyenne. 20 George Bent (1843–1918) was a son of the prominent trader and politician William Bent and the Cheyenne Owl Woman, a daughter of White Thunder, the Arrow Keeper. He moved along the frontier of the Cheyenne and White American worlds all his life. He became an important source for authors writting about the Cheyenne in the beginning of 1900s. He is noted for his extensive corresponcence with the historian George E. Hyde (Halaas, Masich 2004). 21 No available source is specific about the species of gourd. The Pawnee, Kiowa, and Shoshoni used Missouri gourd (Cucurbita foetidissima). It seems this species was the most commonly spread among native groups in the west of the USA (Moerman 1998: 186 ff.). Informants of Helen Hooper (1975: 77) suggested the Cheyenne knew several kinds of gourd.

Corn, Gourd, Indian Breadroot, and Chokecherry in the Hunting Culture

tism, arthritis, and fever. It also acted as a diuretic and laxative. Only qualified priests, Arrow Man or Sun Dance priests for instance, were allowed to treat others with this medicine. They used a rattle and sang specific songs during the healing ceremony (Hart 1981: 24). The Cheyenne myths mention gourd among the sacred gifts of éštšemane similar to corn, bean, and tobacco (Grinnell 1907: 180 f., 184). Ceremonial rattles (mȧho’xeno) were manufactured from gourd. They were used in the Corn Dance and represented gourd which the Cheyenne once cultivated along with corn and bean (Grinnell 1923a: 252, Anderson 1958: 58 f., Moore 1996: 21). The gourd rattle is a necessary part of a peyote ritual22 and the main atribute of gourd dancers (Densmore 1936: 84, Moore 1996: 233, 237). According to the Southern Cheyenne tradition, the gourd dance (mȧ­ho’xé­ nonévȯhomó’ehestȯtse) and songs connected with it came from wolves. It is said they taught men of the Wolf Warrior Society (known as Bowstrings later) to bring them a success in fight. The sound of rattles made from dried gourd, imitated a rattling noise of bow quivers on the back of dancing warriors. By 1960s, oil cans and aluminium salt shakers began to replace gourd in rattle making, but the gourd dance tradition is still vital among the Cheyenne and there are many organizations engaged in it, such as the Watonga Cheyenne Veterans. According to another version of the legend of the Wolf Warrior Society’s origin, wolves taught the founder Owl Friend to make gourd rattles and the society used them not only when dancing but also on the warpath. The men believed a gourd rattle would protect them in fight if they shook it (Curtis 1930: 138). The Kit Fox Warrior Society owned a sacred gourd rattle as well. This red-painted rattle was among the most revered insignia of the society. The Kit Fox warrior favoured with keeping the rattle led singing and dancing of the society (Petter 1915: 778, Petersen 1964: 168). Some shamans often carried rattles made from a large gourd into fight (Hodges 1980: 33). We can infer from the aforementioned that the gourd rattles played an important role in the Cheyenne warcraft magic. Gourd rattle was also used by priests and healers known as “Arikara doctors” (Anderson 1958: 60). It was mentioned that they had been famous for curing wounds and stopping the bleeding. We can assume the men wounded

22 The peyote cult expanded onto the Great Plains from Mexico. It came to the Cheyenne at the end of 1800s and has many followers among them to this day. It is a fusion of Christianity and Mexican native traditions. Important elements of its night rituals are a water drum and consummation of peyote (Lophophora williamsii) (Stands in Timber, Liberty 1967, Straus 1976, Hirschfelder, Molin 1992).

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in fight were among their most frequent patients. This posits again the significance of the traditions tied with gourd rattles for warriors and their activities. We can still recognize this long-lived link when looking at gourd rattles in the hands of Cheyenne veterans of Vietnam or the Persian Gulf who are dancing the gourd dance in a local powwow.

LARGE INDIAN BREADROOT (PEDIOMELUM ESCULENTUM)23 Large Indian breadroot (mo’kȯhtá’éne, “black face,” in Cheyenne) is a plant of the pea family (Fabaceae), 10 to 45 cm tall, slightly branched, growing from a large tuberous root or root bundle. It grows in open places and it ranges almost over the whole Great Plains. American farmers cultivated it earlier much like potatoe, but tubers lose their taste during the storage. The Cheyenne categorize large Indian breadroot into a prominent taxonomic group heséo’honȯtse (“thing having roots”) which includes plants with edible tubers and roots (Straus 1976: 118, Moore 1996: 211). Beside large Indian breadroot, we can list Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), subterranean Indian breadroot (Pediomelum hypogaeum), and groundnut (Apios americana). This plant category was important for the Cheyenne from both practical and symbolic aspects, it influenced yearly economic cycle, and priests mentioned it explicitly in prayers during the major ceremonies (Grinnell 1923b: 234). Cheyenne women dug tubers with a root digger (hásoo’o).24 There were three kinds of the root diggers: (1) about two meters long, with a forked end; (2) about 80 cm long, more compact, with a wider end, designated to deeper digging; (3) even shorter sticks to that woman pressed by the knee. Women didn’t have to bend when working with the long digger. This digger was painted sometimes, lower part red and upper part black. In the old times, a prong of elk antler was reportedly set to the end of long digger and lashed with a strip of wet rawhide. The shorter diggers were made of ash wood mostly. Their handle ended with a knob to protect the palm; point was hardened in the fire. The tubers were dug with prongs of elk antler or tent pegs occasionally. By the beginning of the 1900s, the traditional root diggers were not used anymore and were replaced with pointed iron bars, but their ceremonial role remained intact. According to the tradition, the Cheyenne got the root digger from ma’heo’o, so it had a sacred character. During the 23

Moore (1996: 57) and Hart (1981: 29) mention Pediomelum esculentum (syn. Psoralea esculenta), but Grinnell (1923b: 178) and Tallbull (1993: 42), who derives from Grinnell probably, mention lemon scurfpea (Psoralidium lanceolatum syn. Psoralea lanceolata) instead of it. We believe the latter identification is wrong since lemon scurfpea does not form bulbs and names pomme blanche and prairie turnip, used by Grinnell, are applied to large Indian breadroot (Moerman 1998: 916, 924). 24 The Cheyenne word for crowbar today (Glenmore, Leman 1986: 196).

Corn, Gourd, Indian Breadroot, and Chokecherry in the Hunting Culture

Sun Dance, the short digger was used to excavate pits for poles and eventually put in the fork of central pole as an offering. It was a part of prayers for abundance of food, a symbolic petition on enough of plant nourishment. The root digger was used for a ritual digging of holes also in the vonȧhéome (sweat lodge) ceremony (Grinnell 1923a: 209 f., Grinnell 1923b: 178, Moore 1996: 57). When the Cheyenne found themselves on the Great Plains, large Indian breadroot became the most important tuberous plant and actually substituted corn in the Cheyenne diet (Moore 1987: 148). Cheyenne women gathered breadroot tubers always in June. Their season lasted only several weeks; they were woody-hard and not very palatable later. Since the plants became mature, their tops began to wilt quickly and practice and knowledge of landscape were required in searching for the tubers (Moore 1996: 57, 59). Women and girls went for breadroot tubers mostly in larger groups and seasoned their work with singing and games. The women returning with tubers could expect a playful fight against men. When the women arrived in sight of their camp, they sat down in a line and put tubers in front of them. Some set up the war cry and signaled with blankets as if a war party were returning. Young men mounted the oldest, ugliest, laziest horses they could find, and started toward the women. In the meantime, the women gathered sticks and buffalo chips for their defence. A fight broke loose. The men hid behind sham shields against the flying sticks and pieces of buffalo chips, but they could not dismount. Those who were hit were out of the game. Only a man who sustained a wound or whose horse was shot under him by an enemy in a real fight, was permitted to take the tubers away from the women. Before he reached them, the women pretty much fustigated him. Since the men captured some tubers, they went away to eat them. The women got home with remaining tubers. These playful attacks were launched just against the women returning with breadroot tubers. If they carried berries for instance, nobody paid any attention to them (Grinnell 1923a: 67 ff.). The Cheyenne gathered breadroot tubers still in 1970s. They were peeled and eaten raw or cooked. Also, they were cut in thin, lengthwise slices and dried for winter use. Above-ground parts of the plant were braided and the tubers were stored in braids as with garlic in our country. The dried pieces of large Indian breadroot were often finely floured and used to thickening soups, gravies, and broths. If the dried slices were boiled to mush and sweetened, the Cheyenne got liked breadroot pudding. Some Cheyennes roasted unpeeled tubers in hot coals (Hooper 1975: 70 f., Hart 1981: 30). The large Indian breadroot tubers were an important export commodity of the Cheyenne at the turn of the 1800s. The Cheyenne became experts in finding and gathering of these tubers, and bartered breadroot flour for corn, bean, and tobacco with sedentary groups of the Upper Missouri − the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (Jablow 1951: 45 f., Moore 1996: 58).

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The plant was a part of the Cheyenne herbal medicine too. It was mixed with blue giant hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) and prairie Junegrass (Koeleria macrantha). This mixture was used for burn treatment. Large Indian breadroot was also added into an anti-diarrheal mixture (Hart 1981: 30). It is said that until the Cheyenne performed the mȧsėháome ceremony, members of a religious guild threw breadroot tubers at each other during the ceremony (Hart 1981: 30). It probably concerns the Contrary Society, a guild associating men and women initiated in specific rituals that involved crazy, clowny actions. Even though these shamans played an important role in the mȧsėháome ceremony, however their principal mission was healing. According to eyewitnesses, they showed extraordinary powers during their ceremonies (Schlesier 1987: 15, 71).

CHOKECHERRY (PRUNUS VIRGINIANA) This bush of the rose family (Rosaceae) is called ménó’e (“berry tree”) in Cheyenne. It is usually 2 to 6 m tall, often forming thickets. It bears purple red to black drupes, 8 to 11 mm large, that ripen from June to September. Chokechery has three varieties: virginiana, demissa, and melanocarpa. Var. virginiana grows in Minnesota; black chokecherry (var. melanocarpa) was crucial for the Cheyenne along Missouri and on the Great Plains; it does not range in Oklahoma, but var. virginiana can be sporadically found in western and central part of the state. For the Cheyenne, the drupes of chokecherry were the most important among edible berries. It is also reflected in the Cheyenne lexicon: generic word menȯtse (“berries”) is used for them. Cheyenne women pounded chokecherry drupes containing drupels on smooth, flat stones with stone pestle; meat grinder replaces them today. The mass is shaped into flat cakes, 7 to 10 cm in diameter. They are dried by sun for winter use. The dried chokecherry cakes do not spoil as easily as other dried fruits and do not crumble even after being stored for several months. At the turn of the 1800s, the Cheyenne produced a large amount of them and traded them with other native groups (Hart 1981: 36, Tallbull 1993: 40, Moore 1996: 58 f.). The chokecherry cakes were used to prepare pemmican and other foods. For pemmican, the dried cakes were left soaked overnight. The juice was poured off and pulp was crushed into the meat with pestles and mixed with it up or the poured-off juice came to nothing. It was sweetened and thickened with flour, and a kind of chokecherry pudding (meneénȧháno) set in. The pudding was often cooked from the dried pulp directly. Water was added, all was thickened and boiled. Some women greased the pudding with a piece of tallow, preferably kidney fat (Grinnell 1923a: 250, Hooper 1975: 78, 128, Hart 1981:

Corn, Gourd, Indian Breadroot, and Chokecherry in the Hunting Culture

Black chokecherry (Prunus virginiana var. melanocarpa).

36). Cheyenne women prepare the chokecherry pudding to this day. The juice is strained through a cloth mostly, but the oldest generation leaves ground drupels in the pudding sometimes.25 The Great Plains native people consider this food ceremonial and traditional, and the Cheyenne trade chokecherry cakes to this day (Moore 1996: 59). Although the arid and windy environment of the Great Plains is eminently suitable for drying of food, many Cheyennes do not dry chokecherry berries anymore and they freeze them.26 The Cheyenne fed children with red, unripened berries to ease diarrhea. Ripe drupes were dried, pulverized, and added to some medicinal mixtures. They helped children affected with loss of appetite (Hart 1981: 36). Also, decoction of leaves is used for medicinal purposes (Tallbull 1993: 40). The Cheyenne cut the shoots to make arrows because they do not crack as easily as shafts from other kinds of wood. Bows were made from chokecherry 25 Marek and Kamila Košťák. Personal communication, August 2002. 26 Sandra Spang. Personal communication, 17th April, 2012.

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wood, but they were not so strong and elastic as those of green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) or Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum), (Grinnell 1923a: 173 f., 179, Hart 1981: 36). Chokecherry is used to make stakes for tipi cover. This wood is preferred, because it does not splinter when the stakes are beetled (Moore 1996: 38). There is a special Cheyenne word, vénȯho’kóhtsėstse (sg. vénȯho’kȯhtse), for chokecherry branches. They play a role in a number of the Cheyenne ceremonies. They symbolize growth. They are important in preparation of the Sun Dance altar for instance. The chokecherry berries are among the food offered to the sacred beings during this ceremony. They are put at the base of pole in the center of ceremonial place. In the Arrow Renewal, each of 145 songs sung inside the ceremonial tipi is represented with a chokecherry branch (Hart 1981: 36, Grinnell 1923b: 270). When the Sacred Arrows are displayed on a pole in the middle of camp circle in a certain phase of the ceremony, priests tie six chokecherry branches and one American plum (Prunus americana) branch to it. They represent seven levels of the universe and ritually change the pole into the world tree, the cosmic axis. Chokecherry berries were also a part of ceremonial feast prepared by the Contrary Society during the mȧsėháome ceremony. It involved meat and foods from three plant species representing the major cosmological realms − underground, ground’s surface, and space above it. Chokecherry represented all fruits growing above ground (Schlesier 1987: 92, 99).

CONCLUSION I can only hope that the assembled facts would help to outline the complexity and multi-layerness of the Cheyenne culture and its never-ceasing process of change. Even if we focus on a particular cultural element or phenomenon, we should not isolate it from its context but instead explore all threads of possible historical, economic, geographic, social, cosmological, or linguistic relations. I believe that this is the only way towards a deeper understanding, while avoiding incorrect interpretations. Let us not forget that we have in front of us a culture that still rather recently existed independently from our civilization. It is difficult to comprehend it, but it is still more difficult to respect it as unique and equivalent and to report on it in the language of our culture as accurately as possible. It is a bit like a shamanic journey back and forth. If we think about cultural change, we can imagine the Cheyenne culture as a tropical cyclone. Where velocity is the highest, we can place the way of subsistence or clothing. At the center, in a hypothetical “eye of hurricane,” we find the cardinal cosmological doctrines that have been slowly traveling,

Corn, Gourd, Indian Breadroot, and Chokecherry in the Hunting Culture

rather unchanged, with generations of the ancestors of today’s Cheyennes everywhere they have moved, for thousands of years. How long will the cyclone of the Cheyenne culture rotate until it dissipates? What of it will become a part of another culture and what will become extinct once for all?

BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, Robert T. 1958. Notes on Northern Cheyenne Corn Ceremonialism. Masterkey 32, 2: 57–63. Berthrong, Donald J. 1976. The Cheyenne and Arapaho Ordeal: Reservation and Agency Life in the Indian Territory, 1875–1907. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Britton, Nathaniel L. − Brown, Addison. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada, and the British Possessions. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. Curtis, Edward S. 1930. The Southern Cheyenne. In Edward S. Curtis. The North American Indian XIX. Norwood: The Plimpton Press. Dorsey, George A. 1905a. The Cheyenne I: Ceremonial Organization. Field Columbian Anthropological Series 9. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. Dorsey, George A. 1905b. The Cheyenne II: The Sun Dance. Field Columbian Anthropological Series 9. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. Fisher, Louise − Leman, Wayne − Pine, Leroy et al. 2007. Cheyenne Dictionary. Retrieved from http://cdkc.edu/cheyennedictionary/index-en.htm Glenmore, Josephine Stands in Timber – Leman, Wayne. 1986. Cheyenne Topical Dictionary. Busby, Montana: Cheyenne Translation Project. Goddard, Ives. 1978. The Sutaio Dialect of Cheyenne: A Discussion of the Evidence. In William Cowan (Ed.). Papers of the Ninth Algonquian Conference. Pp. 68–80. Ottawa: Carleton University. Grinnell, George B. 1907. Some Early Cheyenne Tales. The Journal of American Folk-Lore 20, 78: 169–194. Grinnell, George B. 1923a. The Cheyenne Indians: Their History and Their Ways of Life I. New Haven: Yale University Press. Grinnell, George B. 1923b. The Cheyenne Indians: Their History and Their Ways of Life II. New Haven: Yale University Press. Halaas, David F. − Andrew E. Masich. 2004. Halfbreed: The Remarkable True Story of George Bent. Caught Between the Worlds of the Indian and the White Man. Cambridge: Da Capo Press. Hart, Jeffrey A. 1981. The Ethnobotany of the Northern Cheyenne Indians of Montana. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 4, 1: 1–55. Hirschfelder, Arlene B. − Paulette F. Molin. 1992. The Encyclopedia of Native American Religions. New York: Facts on File. Hodges, Daniel H. 1980. Transcription and Analysis of Southern Cheyenne Songs. Ph.D. Thesis. Norman: University of Oklahoma. Holley, Linda. 2001. Dangles or Tassels for a Tipi. Retrieved from http://www.tipis-tepees-teepees. com Hooper, Helen M. 1975. Traditional Foods of the Northern Cheyenne Indians. M.A. Thesis. Newark: University of Delaware. Jablow, Joseph. 1951. The Cheyenne in Plains Indian Trade Relations 1795–1840. New York: J. J. Augustin. Johnson, Alfred E. 2001. Plains Woodland Tradition. In Raymond J. DeMallie (Ed.). Handbook of the North American Indian 13: Plains. Pp. 159–172. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. Leiker, James N. − Ramon Powers. 2011. The Northern Cheyenne Exodus in History and Memory. Norman: University of Oklahoma.

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Leman, Wayne. 1980a. A Reference Grammar of the Cheyenne Language. Greeley: University of Northern Colorado, Museum of Anthropology. Leman, Wayne. 1980b. Cheyenne Texts: An Introduction to Cheyenne Literature. Greeley: University of Northern Colorado, Museum of Anthropology. Liberty, Margot. 1965. Suppression and Survival of the Northern Cheyenne Sun Dance. Minnesota Archaeologist 17: 120–143. Moerman, Daniel E. 1998. Native American Ethnobotany. Portland: Timber Press. Moore, John H. 1974. A Study of Religious Symbolism Among the Cheyenne Indians. Ph.D. Thesis. New York: New York University. Moore, John H. 1986. The Ornitology of Cheyenne Religionists. Plains Anthropologist 31: 177–192. Moore, John H. 1987. The Cheyenne Nation: A Social and Demographic History. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Moore, John H. 1996. The Cheyenne. Cambridge, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Petersen, Karen D. 1964. Cheyenne Soldier Societes. Plains Anthropologist 9: 146–172. Petter, Rodolphe Ch. 1915. English-Cheyenne Dictionary. Kettle Falls, Washington: Mennonite Mission. Powell, Peter J. 1969. Sweet Medicine: The Continuing Role of the Sacred Arrows, the Sun Dance, and the Sacred Buffalo Hat in Northern Cheyenne History. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Powell, Peter J. 1977. Beauty for New Life: An Introduction to Cheyenne and Lakota Sacred Art. In Evan M. Mauer (Ed.). The Native American Heritage: A Survey of North American Indian Art. Pp. 32–56. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago. Powell, Peter J. 1981. People of the Sacred Mountains: A History of the Northern Cheyenne Chiefs and Warrior Societies, 1830–1879. San Francisco: Harper and Row. Schlesier, Karl H. 1987. The Wolves of Heaven: Cheyenne Shamanism, Ceremonies and Prehistoric Origins. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Schlesier, Karl. H. 1994. Commentary: A History of Ethnic Groups in the Great Plains A. D. 150–1500. In Karl H. Schlesier (Ed.). Plains Indians, A. D. 500–1500. Pp. 308–381. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Schweinfurth, Kay. 2009. Nish’ki: Cheyenne Grandmothers, Pillars of Strength. Bloomington: AuthorHouse. Stands in Timber, John – Margot, Liberty. 1967. Cheyenne Memories. New Haven: Yale University Press. Straus, Anne S. 1976. Being Human in the Cheyenne Way. Ph.D. Thesis. Chicago: University of Chicago. Sundstrom, Linea. 2004. Storied Stone: Indian Rock Art of the Black Hills Country. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Šolc, Václav. 1977. Indiánské historie. Prague: Československý spisovatel. Tadič, Roman. 2010. Cesty do posvátné hory: Šajenské mýty a jiné příběhy. Prague: Volvox Globator. Tadičovi, Jana a Roman. 2007. Tséhóné’o: Příruční šajenský herbář pro mírně pokročilé. Prague: Volvox Globator. Tallbull, William. 1993. Plant Lore of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe: A Continuing Teaching Materials as Part of Cheyenne Oral Traditions. Lame Deer, Montana: Northern Cheyenne Cultural Commission. Wedel, Waldo R. – George, Frison C. 2001. Environment and Subsistence. In Raymond J. DeMallie (Ed.). Handbook of the North American Indian 13: Plains. Pp. 44–60. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. Wissler, Clark. 1920. North American Indians of the Plains. New York: American Museum of Natural History. Wolf, Josef. 1984. Abeceda národů: Výkladový slovník kmenů, národností a národů. Prague: Horizont.

ART AND IDENTITY

TOURISM, MARGINALIZATION AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF ART IN A SMALL INDIGENOUS VILLAGE IN THE PERUVIAN ANDES MAREK HALBICH

INTRODUCTION On the basis of (micro)ethnographic realities in some parts of Peru in South America (especially on the Peruvian Altiplano), this study deals with the implications of the commodification (commercialization) of certain manifestations of Native American art and it tries to answer some questions: “What effect does the commodification of native art have in the small Peruvian village in the Andean Altiplano to the local Quechua inhabitants?”1 “Is it a manifestation of the indigenization of modernity as the North American anthropologist Marshall Sahlins expressed in relation to the indigenous people reactions to globalization (1993, 2000), or is it rather an indication of early assimilation of the indigenous people of the Andean Altiplano into the Peruvian society?” “Is it possible that the native art has become a part of the global business with the artistic artefacts, or is it definitely destined to be marginal goods reliant on casual sales of tourist groups?” “Are the tourists key actors helping the involvement of the native artists in global networks?” This paper is based on series of visits to Cuzco, Machu Picchu and its surroundings, but especially on short visits of Raqch’i village in 2009 and 2010, on observations, interviews in most cases in Spanish and English with indi­ genous merchants and tourists as well as on the analysis of short reports on the TripAdvisor of those who stopped in Raqchi’ for a while. The theoretical background is based primarily on the slightly modified Cohen’s typology of the commercialization of native crafts (Cohen 1989). Given that the article proceeds from research in the lesser known community, the study may be understood as one of the first contributions to new geographies of tourism in Peru (Bury 2008a, 2008b), or to those places that we associate with the “second incanismo” in this paper.

1

This paper was supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (GAČR) No. P41012P860.

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PERUVIAN TOURISM AND THE IDEOLOGY OF INCANISMO Tourism in Peru has developed relatively slowly since approximately the beginning of the 70s of the 20th century. Tourism in Peru is mainly directed towards archaeological monuments, ecotourism in the Amazonia, cultural tourism in colonial cities, gastronomic tourism, adventure tourism, and beach tourism. It makes up the nation’s third largest industry2, behind fishing and mining, and it is the most rapidly growing industry in this country, rising annually at a rate of 25% over the past five years. Tourism is now increasing in Peru faster than in any other country in South America. The small Andean community of Raqch’i in which the research was carried out is located on the axis of the Cuzco3-Titicaca-La Paz, where one of the largest concentration of tourists in South America can be found. Although tourists visit the different areas of Peru now, including remote parts of the Amazonia, we can say that the greatest concentration of tourism has settled on the route Lima-ParacasNazca-Arequipa-Colca Valley-Titicaca-Cuzco-Machu Picchu4. Geoglyphs and lines on the Nazca Plate, colonial churches of Arequipa, funerary towers (chullpas) at Sillustani, but especially the former capital of the Inca empire of Tawantinsuyu (Cuzco), the “Sacred Valley” of the Urubamba and the “Lost City of the Incas” Machu Picchu gradually became the symbols of local pride and the prime tourist attractions. All these places are today the national heritage, and Machu Picchu, which was included in the list of the seven modern wonders of the world in 2007, is undoubtedly one of the most iconic places of the world tourism. If someone arrives in Peru for only a few days, they almost surely decide to visit Cuzco and Machu Picchu, as the “Lost City of the Incas” has acquired “a mythical aura and become a ‘must’ of South American grand tours, and Cuzco is also the obligatory ‘gateway’ to this iconic place” (Berghe, Flores Ochoa 2000: 8). Cuzco-Machu Picchu/Aguas Calientes5 today basically consists of a “floating tourist conurbation”6. Although both centers 2 3

4 5

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Some authors state that tourism is even now the second largest industry in Peru (Bury 2008a: 312). We comply with spelling writing “z,” which appears in most English works. Increasingly, how­ ever, there are variations of “Cusco,” used primarily in Peruvian Spanish but also in English, or “Qosqo,” emphasizing the Quechua origin and meaning of the word (about the controversy over the spelling of “Cuzco-Cusco-Qosqo” see in more detail Berghe, Flores Ochoa 2000: 13). Investigations dealing with the spatial distribution of tourists and tourism services within developing countries are few. On the regional inequalities in the Peruvian tourist industry see e.g. O’Hare, Barrett 1999. A few years ago Aguas Calientes was a tiny village on the banks of the Urubamba river with one small camp for adventurous tourists. Today it is a small town with many hotels, restaurants and an indoor marketplace with many stands selling art objects, through all the passengers must pass after getting off the train. The archaeological site of Machu Picchu is in the jurisdiction of this tourist centre. I understand the tourist conurbation as a connection of two or more sites, including the ongoing

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are spaced about 100 km, thousands of tourists flows every day through this route and they participate in the continual expansion of this remarkable “conurbation” connecting the mountain valley at an altitude of around 3,300 m with the tropical Urubamba Valley in Aguas Calientes situated at the height of about 1,900 m. Cuzco, Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of Urubamba are today the most visible symbols of the ideology of incanismo that became a marketable commodity, with much of the marketing under the control of the Cuzco urban elite spawned in the first place (Berghe, Flores Ochoa 2000, Pérez 2006). The incanismo was originally created as a variant of the Peruvian indige­nismo7, whose roots date back to the 19th century (Narciso Aréstegui)8, but it is particularly associated with left-wing intellectuals like Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre and José Carlos Mariátegui. The Peruvian indigenismo, as in the other Latin American countries with large indigenous population, consisted of a romantic view of indigenous people living among others in harmony with nature and in an egalitarian way of life. The incanismo as a specific application of the indigenismo has gradually transformed and today is based on the idea that contemporary Andean society (mainly the Quechua people) is the heir of the ancient Inca empire of Tawantinsuyu. This central idea (ideology) is now increasingly linked to the tourist sector. The tourists arriving in Cuzco and the Sacred Valley of Urubamba may get the impression that they pass through recovering “the Inca empire” and through places where is the increasing layer of urban mestizos the main bearer of New Age spirituality, which can be decidedly seen as “a postcolonial mestizo formation” and its practitioners as the representants of “a utopian and idealized version of Andean mestizaje” (Hill 2010: 281) or perhaps more aptly an ethnic and cultural hybridization. Increasingly, there are signs in the Quechua language, the rainbow flag of the Tawantinsuyu is hoisted in the main square in Cuzco in front of the cathedral, the Indians from all parts of the Andes meet annually in June 24 in the vast grassy area of the fortress of Saqsayhuaman, to honour together in front of people from all over the world the Sun God Inti within the Inti Raymi ceremony, etc. However, once we leave Cuzco, the ideology of incanismo is slowly fading or is weakened or at least less visible. The tourists after a one-week stay in Cuzco return to Lima or some others move to

7 8

circulation of tourists all year long, as in the case of Cuzco and its surroundings. In contrast, for example, the Spanish turistikopolis as Lloret de Mar or Torremolinos are not such tourist conurbation because their intense tourist interconnectedness with Barcelona or Málaga are limited to a few months a year. Some authors talk about “the communal cohesion of the Andean world” and refer to this tendency as a demonstration of “neoindigenism” (Gascon, Furio 2004: 58). His novel El Padre Horán. Escenas de la vida del Cuzco (Father Horan. Scenes from the Life of Cuzco, 1848) is considered the first manifestation of the Peruvian indigenismo.

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Lake Titicaca, from which, according to the well known legend, the first Incas (Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo) emerged and founded Cuzco (Craven 2007). Accordingly, the core of incanismo should be just this sacred lake. But the fact remains that for most tourists Titicaca has not, for various reasons, a magical appeal as Cuzco and Machu Picchu have, despite the fact that there is a more intensive contact with the living “followers” of the Inca empire9. Before the tourists arrive in Puno or Cuzco if they come from the other side (from Lake Titicaca), they can visit several interesting and only very recently for the outside world discovered places associated with the Inca history and with the revitalization of the ideology of incanismo. One such a place is a small Andean village of Raqch’i with its temple complex from the pre-Hispanic period, little colonial church and the local market, which is the main ethnographic “field” of this study.

TOURISM BETWEEN CUZCO AND PUNO (LAKE TITICACA) AND THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF ETHNIC CRAFTS While the region of Cuzco-Machu Picchu is the very basis of the Peruvian tourism, the visit of other places also associated with the Inca past is not so obvious. However, the situation has been changing in recent years. Nowadays the solid mountain asphalt road connects Cuzco with the city of Puno (the cultural center and the port on Lake Titicaca), and this road has recently become a part of tourist business. It was commodified in order to revive some local places that were almost ignored by tourists until recently. The MINCETUR (Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo) in order to increase the attractiveness of transit between Cuzco and Puno has recently introduced a special stopover bus for tourists which makes with passangers short stops at the places of historical interest that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. During the seven-hour shift to the lake, the bus passes through about five sites10. One of these sites is the small village Raqch’i which is most probably associated with the idea of incanismo. Dozens of buses of the Turistbuss company are doing a one-hour stopover during which tourists can explore the

9

According to updated statistics of the MINCETUR only some 100,000 tourists visit annually the Titicaca region (Puno, Sillustani, Islas Uros, Taquile, Amantani, etc.) and spend there on average two or three days. In contrast, nearly 1.2 million tourists visited the “conurbation” of Cuzco-Machu Picchu in 2013. 10 While the “tourist conurbation” of Cuzco-Sacred Valley-Machu Picchu can be considered a sphere of some kind of the “nuclear” incanismo, Andean tourist road to Puno and its immediate surroundings can be characterized with respect to its dynamic development in the last decade as a manifestation of some kind of the “second” incanismo associated with Inca provinces, but consisting in order to revive these sites and attract more tourists.

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ruins of the Inca Temple of Viracocha (the opening of this temple increased the attendance of approximately 450 visitors in 1996 to 8,000 visitors in 2000 and now about 100,000 tourists every year). Despite the fact that Raqch’i was a primary control point on a road system that originated in Cuzco and expanded as the Inca empire grew, and despite the sacredness of the site, many tourists do not attend the vast temple complex and rather spend a break on a small colonial village square with the Catholic Church San Pedro, where a large number of stands with local work of arts is located. Raqch’i means “pottery,” which suggests the that the local Quechua speaking people deals with the production of ceramic articles which are nowadays trying to sell to tourists. The pottery from Raqch’i is an example of an adaptation of a local production for own needs to the needs or interests of international and national tourism. “In 1999 the Raqch’i community set up its own artisan association, the Inka Llaqta (Inka Village), which promotes the sale of a high-quality pottery and runs a daily market for tourists in the village square” (Sillar 1999: 52). The Quechua speaking residents of Raqch’i and its surrounding area lived almost exclusively on agriculture (corn, quinoa11), alpaca breeding and longdistance trade (trueque)12 until the mid-90s of the 20th century. From the late 90s the demand for goods that was not available (or only in a small way) in a market in Cuzco, Ollantaytambo, Chincheros or in Machu Picchu began to rise. Potters of Raqch’i thus began to take part in the local production system of work of arts destined for tourist market. The process of commercialization of this ethnic crafts is not an isolated or a uniform process but it has its own local specifics. “Rather, it is complexly interwoven with a broad array of economic, religious, cultural and political factors, the configuration of which shapes its particular course to a significant extent” (Cohen 1989: 161). Sociologist Erik Cohen deals in more detail with his study of the types of commercialization of ethnic crafts, he talks about a spontaneous and sponsored initiative. The first, is divided into the complementary and the substitutive, while the second he divides into the intervening in the foreign rights (encroaching) and the reintegrated (rehabilitative). Revitalization of the Raqch’i pottery on a

11

In Quechua kinwa. It is a species of the Chilean goosefoot (Chenopodium quinoa). Quinoa originated in the Andean region of Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, where it was domesticated 3,000 to 4,000 years ago for human consumption, though archaeological evidence shows a non-domesticated association with pastoral herding some 5,200 to 7,000 years ago. Today, the Chilean goosefoot is highly valued mainly due to the high nutritional value and the ONU has classified it as one of the crops containing very high levels of protein. The Andean Indians are now trying to use the fame of the Chilean quinoa by selling its dried grains for a small sum of money as a small souvenir for tourists. 12 It is a barter system of exchange through which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money.

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commercial basis is probably connected with all or at least three of these four types of commercialization of the ethnic (Quechua, “neo-Inca”) art. Firstly, one part of native craftsmen of Raqch’i continues to exercise their crafts for own benefit and consumption, but they also occasionally begin to sell their wares to outsiders, such as local and foreign tourists, i.e. both forms of production (for their own use and for sale) are mutually intertwined and are complementary. The complementary form of commercialization of indigenous art consists of the fact that the producers change the forms of subsistence during the year, which are complementary on the basis of spontaneous decision of producers. “The residents maintain a precarious living by making pottery during the dry season (usually from June to August) and undertaking agricultural work during the wet season (generally from December to March). The Inka ruins are a source of pride, but many villagers also feel aggrieved because their fields were appropriated by the Peruvian state in an effort to preserve the ruin complex and present it to tourists. This loss of agricultural land is particularly significant, because sales of domestic wares by the potters of Raqch’i have declined, partly because of the increasing availability of other products such as metal cooking pots and plastic bowls. The potters have also suffered a decline in the sale of their water jars, because recent development projects have supplied piped water to urban and rural households. Many of the potters have already begun to reorientate their production towards the urban and tourist markets by making reproduction Inka vessels, plates, flowerpots and other ornamental wares, but these items are often sold at cheap wholesale prices away from the community” (Sillar 1999: 52). So the beginnings of commercial pottery production in Raqch’i are probably mostly associated with the response to the confiscation of land (by the Peruvian state) on which the ruins of the Viracocha temple complex are located. The Raqch’i potters are also involved in the inter-regional market with art objects, as their products are sold in the markets in Cuzco, Oropesa and maybe in Lima too. Secondly, the substitutive commercialization manifests when “the native craftsmen, owing to missionary interference, political upheavals, and especially, the penetration of industrial goods, and their substitution for locally produced artefacts, are gradually driven out of business” (Cohen 1989: 162). The other tendency, which can be observed among the residents of Raqch’i (it concerns many other sites with original native art), is the gradual loss or decline of craft knowledge (in case of Raqch’i it was probably the intervention of Jesuit missionaries). However, as noted by Cohen, the increased contact and communication with the wider world may also bring the group in touch with tourists or middlemen for the tourist market, who provide the remaining craftsmen with an alternative outlet for their products. While within the complementary commercialization the local people rather continue

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in the “traditional” way of living (especially in agriculture), the manufacture and sale of works of art remain a complementary activity. In this case it leads to the formation of layers of specialized craftsmen whose products are almost exclusively intended for sale. This type of commercialization can have its local variants. For example, the part of local residents in the small Bolivian village of Colchani reoriented from quinoa cultivation to the production of small art objects made from salt. Colchani is now a part of the tourist circuit and a base from which tourists embark on one-day and multi-day trips to the salt altiplano Salar de Uyuni. In this case, it is not a “revitalization” of a native art, but it is a spontaneous recovery (overproduction) of local deposits of salt to the complementary and substitutive commercialization. Thirdly, the Raqch’i artisans who associate together in the local organization Inka Llaqta have a better chance to market of their products not only at the local and regional, but at the international marketplace as well. According to Cohen, it occurs when the native craftsmen are employed to manufacture marketable products by an external sponsoring agency. “It is typically one of ‘indirect tourism,’ which develops where the ethnic (local) group is still relatively isolated from the wider world and lacking direct access to the tourist market” (Cohen 1989: 163) as it is in the case of the Raqch’i craftsmen. So through foreign sponsors and middlemen the Raqch’i art can theoretically expand beyond the borders of the province and Peru and may become an encroaching commercialization. It seems that tourism can enhance or restore the regional craft specialization and can spread the fame of some native artists worldwide or at least to some countries of the First World. It is still unlikely not the case of the Raqch’i potters, but a dramatic increase of visitors of Raqch’i in recent years can change this situation soon. The Raqch’i art can become a more global phenomenon, as for example the Tanzanian Folk Art Tingatinga13, which is maybe a typical example of the emerging and encroaching globalization. This type of commercialization is so obviously based more on the increase in demand for indigenous goods and external sponsors who are willing to invest in its promotion and pay costs associated with exporting to international markets. Cohen is probably right when he says that this type of commercialization is nowadays rather rare, however vital, since is difficult for the disappering ethnic cultures to penetrate the international market and if they succeed, their products are usually sold at a low price. A similar case as Raqch’i can be also found in many other places in the Peruvian, Bolivian

13

Tingatinga is a painting style which developed in the second half of the 20th century in the Oyster Bay area of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and later spread to most of East Africa. Tingatinga paintings are one of the most widely represented forms of tourist-oriented art in Tanzania, Kenya and neighbouring countries. The genre is named after its founder, Tanzanian painter Edward Said Tingatinga.

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and Ecuadorian Andes. Everywhere we observe the dual tendency: on the one hand, there is a shift towards the commodification of local manifestations of material culture that is disappearing in its “original” form, on the other hand, these often marginal communities become active participants of an expanding the ideology of incanismo. We are witnessing the possible paradox: the decline or extinction of local subsistences is replaced by abstract revitalization of the Inca empire, which tourists help linking in a certain sense of the word through manifestations of “staged” or “commodified” authenticity14. And finally fourthly, the last type (rehabilitative) of commercialization is generally much more common as Cohen argues. It seems that the most common type of a massive commercialization of ethnic crafts is the discovering and the penetration of external markets and economic forces on local markets to revive them through an active sponsorship and investment. It is often claimed that without the commercialization the local craft would anyway simply die out. “Commercialization may also help to keep alive moribund crafts, or revive half-forgotten old techniques and the like” (Cohen 1989: 164). So the commercial rehabilitation can create a reestablished class of specialists, who enliven disappearing crafts with the help of an external sponsor and enhance or renew their cultural identity. This type is based essentially on commercial institutionalization of native culture. It often lies in organizing courses and workshops where tourists familiarize with techniques such as weaving fabrics in a broader cultural context, i.e. they do not acquire only manual skills, but they learn to recognize the symbolism of motifs, mythology, cosmology and the history of the Andean civilizations. This form of institutionalization has usually a shape of training centers15 which are open to the general public and are usually established and sponsored by the Peruvian state, provincial or municipal governments, or various individual sponsors. Founders are also the owners and patrons of these centers, in which the natives themselves, most often those who have moved to the cities (Cuzco, Juliaca, Sicuani, Puno, Lima, etc.), teach various manifestations of native cultures, and are fully engaged in these activities. So with a relatively increasing demand by tourists 14

15

The concept of the “commodification of authenticity,” “staged authenticity,” etc. was often studied in anthropology. Most authors now agree that authenticity is not static, not necessarily associated with past or originality of this or that community, but it is rather situational, dynamic, negotiated, constructed, open-ended, others have dealt with the genres of heritage authenticity, etc. (Cohen 1988, Hughes 1995, Wang 1999, Taylor 2000, Bruner 2001, Kroshus Medina 2003, Chhabra, Healy, Sills 2003, Reisinger, Steiner 2006, Cole 2007, Lau 2010, Andriotis 2009, 2011, etc.). However, some authors concluded that authenticity is a very elusive concept which has multiple meanings with both demand and supply side connotations (Bruner 1994, Andriotis 2011). E.g. the Apulaya. Center for Andean Culture based in Cuzco and having branches in the other places in the Altiplano is one of such largest centers. The applicants can study there the basics of the Andean science, art, civilization, they learn the Quechua language, play various instruments, or penetrate the mysteries of the local religious and spiritual system, etc.

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these different manifestations of indigenous cultures may be maintained and at least in this artificial way passed on to future generations. The dynamics of rehabilitative commercialization are somewhat different from those characteristic of their more spontaneous counterparts (namely the second and the third type). The encroaching commercialization is firstly based more on the spontaneous extension of members of native communities. They are the main and often the only actors who themselves decide on the distribution of local products at local and distant market places and they usually concentrate after a lapse of time into specialized marketing coope­ ratives or guilds, where each member must pay the membership fee and thus they partially contribute (sponsor) costs associated with the production, distribution and sale of goods. Penetration of extra-community markets is thus mostly in the hands of the local population, which does not exclude the possibility of external sponsorship (e.g. American, European and other immigrants living by the selling of native goods, regular contribution of Peruvian authorities, missionaries, etc.). In contrast, the commercialization of rehabilitation is probably more associated with external actors, which often tend to be people who arrive in a certain area as tourists or as teachers of English or as humanitarian workers, etc. and who fall in love with the new place so that they decide to stay there. However, these enthusiasts must start to make something for living and one of the ways of livelihood is engaging in the tourist business through revitalization (rehabilitation) of dying features of native material and spiritual culture. While the first three types characterized by Erik Cohen are primarily a reflection of changing economic, environmental and social conditions of local communities and the local indigenous people are mostly their actors in this cases, the foreign actors (outsiders) are much more involved in the fourth type. For example, the above mentioned Center of the Andean culture Apulaya has seven permanent employees, who come from different countries or regions in Peru and each of them has a different specialization (e.g. the Peruvian musician coming from traditional community teaches the Andean instruments play, the Swiss artist and teacher learns to make the replica of the Mochic and Paracas ceramics, the North American ethnomusicologist organizes lectures and professional conferences on pre-Hispanic musical mani­ festations, the Quechua woman coming from the mountain village acquaints the participants with the techniques of weaving of the Andean textiles, etc.). So the rehabilitation of native arts becomes real through the professionalized groups whose members are becoming or have become the bearers of “expert knowledge,” from which a lot of people can benefit: the members and operators of such centers, which, thanks to tourists participating in workshops and courses, earn a living wage adequately; the native members of the center are grooming the indigenous pupils in the old techniques, who then help to

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rehabilitate the defunct crafts and other features of native American cultural identity in their home villages; tourists, who participated in the courses are returning to their homes, and familiarize their friends with activities of the center and put their photos on facebook and other social networks, thus some aspects of native culture are becoming a “global” phenomenon (cf. e.g a boom of the Andean music groups in Europe in the early 1990s of the 20th century, popularity of wearing of the Quechua woolly cap of the chullo16, etc.).

RAQCH’I AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT Let’s return to our “microethnography” of the commodification of art in the Quechua village of Raqch’i. In the case of the Raqchi’s potters I am trying to analyze the Cohen’s typology of commercialization of ethnic crafts. The Raqch’i microcosm studied in the context of the development of Peruvian tourism is closely tied to its historical development and to recent changes in the area, two of which are the most important: in particular the outflow of young people to urban centers and the “confiscation”17 of the part of the Raqch’i land on which the Viracocha temple complex is located, and its use for tourism purposes. This complex was slated to become a major tourist attraction during the transfer of tourist groups between the main “incanistic” areas (Cuzco and Lake Titicaca), but the expected flow of money into municipal coffers did not come. On the basis of the relationship between the inhabitants of Raqch’i and the opening of the temple complex located in the immediate vicinity of the main square we can reconstruct the development of the village in the past twenty years in the context of tourism development. In the first “pre-commodified/ commercialized” phase, around the mid-90s, there were about 400 people (or according to Sillar 80 households) of Raqch’i who lived an “authentic” life of mountain farmers and herders and if anyone stopped here, it was probably a tourist with an extraordinary interest in archaeology or a person wondering how the descendants of the Incas live near their former “navel,” as the translation of the Quechua expression of “Qosqo” says. Pottery has been the main 16 See Escobar López 2012 and his precise study on ethnic tourism and the commodification of textiles and especially on the caps of chullo on the island of Taquile in the Peruvian part of Lake Titicaca. Another study examines tourism planning and management in this lake island (Mitchell 2001). 17 However, according to available data, the occupation of land by the Peruvian government was carried out in agreement with the local authorities, the profit from ticket sales to the complex (in 2010, 10 Peruvian sols = about 3 $) is evenly divided between the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism and the Raqch’i municipal authorities.

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craft here for centuries. Large earthen vessels were produced in the age of the Incas and exported to other provinces of vast empire. In modern times the pottery production began to decline, and the only outlet was the nearby village of Oropesa, where the Raqchi’i potters exported their products on the basis of barter trade, virtually twenty years ago. The short second phase (early commodification/comercialization) is associated with the opening of the temple complex for the public, especially for foreign tourists. For the first time in its long history Raqch’i has started to engage in the monetary system18 which caused that until half-forgotten ruins of an ancient Inca temple center began to “discover” first tourists. This short period took about five or six years (until the end of the 90s), the number of tourists grew, as well as the municipal revenue, but simultaneously the “traditional” forms of subsistence started to be in danger, among others, the village craft industry and especially the pottery. More or less egalitarian village communities began to divide into the “modernists” and “traditionalists.” The first preached the fastest modernizing of the village consisting, above all, in the collapse or weakening of old cross-community relations and a stronger bond with the city and tourism, while the others became from the beginning aware of the danger of this modernization consisting in the gradual liquidation of the “pre-commodified”way of life, but especially the risk of a rapid return to poverty caused by the subsidence of interest of the tourists19 and the extinction of those who pursued the handicraft in the village. Only in the third phase (institutionalized or professionalized commercialization), origins of which are connected primarily with the establishment of the above-mentioned association of the Raqch’i craftsmen Inka Llaqta (1999), we may speak about the commercialization of local craftsmanship. But this from the beginning was not a unilateral act of actors associated with this production. Especially those who had no benefit from the commercialization of the temple complex involved in this association, and also those who feared the loss or rapid decline of craft skills. Within this association and in the context of the Cohen’s typology several small subgroups quickly established: those who dedicated to the crafts beyond their primary duties related mainly to the agricultural production, the others began fully to pursue the art commercial work and thus they replaced or more or less abandoned their original main way of livelihood. 18 19

For a focus on the money with regard to tourist consumption in Peru, see e.g. Desforges 2001. It seems that the number of tourists visiting Raqch’i is still rising, but the question is how many of them pay for the entrance to the temple complex, which entrance fee has been the primary motivation of the local population to increase the municipal budget. The problem is that almost the entire complex is visible from a number of unpaid points and many tourists, especially those who are passing from Cuzco to Puno, do not most probably want to pay the entrance fee for an archaeological site that may not be in their eyes sufficiently attractive.

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According to Cohen, there emerged a group of complementary and substitutive craftsmen, for the first group as a complement to their primary activities and for the second group as a main source of their incomes. In this phase members of the association and individual producers at first began to sell their goods to tourists who made a short stop in Raqch’i and at the same time started to expand into more distant Peruvian markets, i.e. their acti­ vity transformed into the form of spontaneous encroaching commercialization. But the demand for tourist souvenirs and high-quality products always runs through cycles: an initial great interest in certain types of goods (ceramics, textiles, musical recordings, etc.) is quickly replaced by indifference and lack of interest in purchase. This is mainly due to the expansion of the encroaching commercialization in the areas with high frequency of tourists. They buy native goods with often a low-grade quality in the large concentrated markets in Cuzco, Lima and Arequipa and they are not interested in buying it in localities where certain specialized goods come from, thus they finally buy just cheap trinkets that are available everywhere. The Raqch’i potters are now probably entering the fourth phase (declining), which is characterized by incoming apathy, gradual abandonment or reduction of commercial production and return to the original sources of livelihood or by attempts to find some alternative sources of incomes which are usually also dependent on tourist demand. For example, in the case of Raqch’i, this is the production of cosmetic and medicinal commodities (e.g. skin creams, honey, herbal liquors, etc.) prepared from local natural resources. Although the earnings are not very high it shows a certain vitality and creativity of local people to cope with fluctuations of tourism demand, which is usually difficult to predict. Perhaps this (fifth) phase could be called in accordance with Cohen as rehabilitative, although in this case, there is probably no form of sponsorship or institutionalization of “expert knowledge,” as we illustrated in the case of the Apulaya Centre for Andean culture, or creative, because in this case, this is the emergence of “creative tourism” reflecting the growing integration between tourism and different placemaking strategies, including promotion of the creative industries, creative cities and the “creative class” (in more detail Richards 2011).

CONCLUSION To answer the questions that we determined at the beginning of this article is not easy, because the Raqch’i village microcosm is probably, just as the other Andean communities, to which the modernity and tourism have penetrated only recently, in the stage of finding an alternative production of local know­ ledge. The demand for “traditional” products (ceramics, textiles, etc.) declines

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sharply and products associated with the pre-Hispanic native medicine come into fashion, as well as a variety of small objects imitating or symbolizing the Andean mythology, history and culture. The “Andean cross” (in Quechua the “chacana”)20 is probably the most popular souvenir among tourists in the Andean tourist circuit and serves as a travel amulet protecting them on the journey. The sale of similar souvenirs can certainly be understood as a manifestation of local creativity, as a response to a decrease of interest in objects of higher artistic quality and as an effort to make a relatively quick and easy profit. The serial and handmade production of the chacana or similar amulets does not take too much time and although the price per unit is not too high (the equivalent of 1−5 $), it yields a handsome profit to their producers. However, this creativity and the ability to respond to changing trends has its limits. In recent years, the “global nomads”21 (D’Andrea 2007) migrate in these rural communities associated with the “second” incanismo and the start of tourism. These modern-day “rolling stones” (Maffesoli 2002), who are not firmly anchored in any country, do not usually have a permanent residence, but have to do something for a living on their journeys, are usually stealing the indigenous know-how and as a consequence they have better input conditions (at least the minimum capital), and may well compete with the local manufacturers. Their undoubted advantage is also their usually very good knowledge of English or of other foreign languages, and their bigger assertivity. Thank to that they have a greater ability to sell “their” products to tourists. Perhaps therefore these creative and adaptable indigenous craftsmen get into still larger pressure: on the one hand they are exposed to the saturation of tourist marketplaces by the native products which most of tourists buy in large and which are usually concentrated in one market center, or rapidly changing taste of tourists. On the other hand, they must resist the expansion of “global nomads,” who are increasingly flooding the Peruvian cities and also formerly unknown villages in the Andes, which are more or less associated with the Inca tradition (incanismo) and therefore potentially attractive for so-so subsistence. Morever, these people sometimes integrate into the local community, mainly through marriage with an indigenous girl, and then they are somewhat assertively using their symbolic capital (more financial options, good contacts, significant mobility, knowledge of foreign languages, 20 During my visits Raqch’i, but also in many other places in Peru, I witnessed how tourists bought these symbols of the Andean (Inca, Quechua, Aymara) identity in large quantities, while the truly artistically valuable products they either ignored or appreciated with a smile, but mostly not purchased them. 21 Anthony D’Andrea characterizes them, among others, as “expressive expatriates who are disproportionably influential upon the cultural sphere of mainstream societies, particularly the youth and other dynamic segments of society” (D’Andrea 2007: 10).

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but also newly acquired membership of community, etc.) to dominate on the local market, which leads to the disruption or weakening the already anyway tenuous social equilibrium of such a community. It can hardly be said if the Raqch’i people correspond to the Sahlins’s concept of the indigenization of modernity. According to the concept, there is a movement towards integration into larger exchange systems, a growing proportion of the world population participates in the fully unrestricted system, and at the same time more and more emphasis is put on cultural uniqueness. Regarding the studied microcosm and the Sahlins’s concept, we see several problems: Firstly, Raqch’i and its inhabitants do not constitute a separate “resistance” movement, which would be the center of an antimodernist resistance. They are rather a part of an ever wider “Pan-Inca” movement or the ideology of incanismo, which originated at least in part as “an elitist ideology espoused by educated urbanites who see themselves as the heirs to the Tawantinsuyu’s ruling class” (Berghe, Flores Ochoa 2000: 12). It seems that the “indigenization” came to Raqch’i in the course of the 90s rather as an expression of the expanding ideology of the Peruvian indigenismo than as an autonomous expression of resistance to modernity by local residents. Secondly, the Raqch’i villagers did not “discover” culture such as Kwakiutl, Sami, Welsh or Maori and other nations that in this moment stood on the edge of assimilation with the majority, as they always belonged to the heirs of the Inca empire, and although they did not avoid the activities of missionaries and other “outsiders” in colonial and postcolonial times, they practically do not lose their culture until the mid-90s of the 20th century, when tourism to which they quickly started to adapt arrived here. Contemporary Raqch’i microcosm is rather what some authors refer to as a performing place characterized as a “crumpled space where people and places are in process” (Coleman, Crang 2002: 10). Raqch’i is now a dynamic place that is eroded through tourism, but through tourism it could paradoxically quickly integrate into longer lasting indigenistic process of the Andean society within which it can no longer be regarded as a marginal place, but an integral part of the growing ideology of incanismo22. From a broader extraPeruvian economic perspective, however, the Raqch’i residents rather remain the marginalized community, which is largely dependent on the demand of tourists whose desires will probably be more difficult to satisfy.

22 In the case of the relationship between tourism and Raqch’i handicraft may be what some authors call the “modernization of indigeneity” (Eriksen 2008: 368), consisting among others in the commercialization of certain products originally intended for subsistence.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Andriotis, Konstantinos. 2009. Sacred Site Experience. A Phenomenological Study. Annals of Tourism Research 36, 1: 64−84. Andriotis, Konstantinos. 2011. Genres of Heritage Authenticity. Denotations from a Pilgrimage Landscape. Annals of Tourism Research 38, 4: 1613−1633. Berghe, Pierre L. van den – Flores Ochoa, Jorge. 2000. Tourism and Nativistic Ideology in Cuzco, Peru. Annals of Tourism Research 27, 1: 7−26. Bruner, Edward M. 1994. Abraham Lincoln as Authentic Reproduction: A Critique of Postmodernism. American Anthropologist 96, 2: 397−415. Bruner, Edward M. 2001. The Maasai and the Lion King: Authenticity, Nationalism, and Globalization in African Tourism. American Ethnologist 28, 4: 881−908. Bury, Jeffrey. 2008a. New Geographies of Tourism in Peru: Nature-Based Tourism and Conservation in the Cordillera Huayhuash. Tourism Geographies 10, 3: 312−333. Bury, Jeffrey. 2008b. Transnational Corporations and Livelihood Transformations in the Peruvian Andes: An Actor-Oriented Political Ecology. Human Organization 67, 3: 307−321. Chhabra, Deepak – Healy, Robert – Sills, Erin. 2003. Staged Authenticity and Heritage Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research 30, 3: 702−719. Cohen, Erik. 1988. Authenticity and Commoditization in Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research 15: 371−386. Cohen, Erik. 1989. The Commercialization of Ethnic Crafts. Journal of Design History 2, 2−3: 161−168. Cole, Stroma. 2007. Beyond Authenticity and Commodification. Annals of Tourism Research 34, 4: 943−960. Coleman, Simon – Crang, Mike. 2002. Grounded Tourists, Travelling Theory. In Simon Coleman, Mike Crang (Eds.). Tourism. Between Place and Performance. Pp. 1−17. New York: Berg­ hahn Books. Craven, Caitlin Emily. 2009. ‘Tourable’ Difference: Exploring Identity and Politics on a Tour of Lake Titicaca. M.A. Thesis. Ottawa: University of Ottawa. D’Andrea, Anthony. 2007. Global Nomads. Techno and New Age as Transnational Countercultures in Ibiza and Goa. London – New York: Routledge. Desforges, Luke. 2001. Tourism Consumption and the Imagination of Money. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 26, 3: 353−364. Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. 2008. Globální, lokální a glokální. In Thomas Hylland Eriksen. So­ ciální a kulturní antropologie. Příbuzenství, národnostní příslušnost, rituál. Pp. 353−372. Prague: Portál. Escobar López, Daniel. 2012. The Shifting Phases of a Commodity: Textiles and Ethnic Tourism on a Lake Titicaca Island. Totem: The University of Western Ontario Journal of Anthropology 20, 1: 1−20. Gascon, Jorge – Furio, Victoria J. 2004. Rich Peasant, Poor Peasant: Differing Fates of Urban Migrants in Peru. Latin American Perspectives 31, 5: 57−74. Hill, Michael D. 2010. Myth, Globalization, and Mestizaje in New Age Andean Religion: The Intic Churincuna (Children of the Sun) of Urubamba, Peru. Ethnohistory 57, 2: 263−289. Hughes, George. 1995. Authenticity in Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research 22, 4: 781−803. Kroshus Medina, Laurie. 2003. Commoditizing Culture. Tourism and Maya Identity. Annals of Tourism Research 30, 2: 353−368. Lau, Raymond W. K. 2010. Revisiting Authenticity. A Social Realist Approach. Annals of Tourism Research 37, 2: 478−498. Maffesoli, Michel. 2002. O nomádství. Iniciační toulky. Prague: Prostor. Mitchell, Ross E. – Reid, Donald G. 2001. Community Integration. Island Tourism in Peru. Annals of Tourism Research 28, 1: 113−139. O’Hare, Greg – Barrett, Hazell. 1999. Regional Inequalities in the Peruvian Tourist Industry. The Geographical Journal 165, 1: 47−61.

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Pérez, Beatriz. 2006. Turismo y representación de la cultura: Identidad cultural y resistencia en comunidades andinas del Cusco. Anthropologica 24: 29−49. Reisinger, Yvette – Steiner, Carol J. 2005. Reconceptualizing Object Authenticity. Annals of Tourism Research 33, 1: 65−86. Richards, Greg. 2011. Creativity and Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research 38, 4: 1225−1253. Sahlins, Marshall. 1993. Goodby to Tristes Tropes: Ethnography in the Context of Modern World History. The Journal of Modern History 65, 1: 1−25. Sahlins, Marshall. 2000. Culture in Practice. Selected Essays. New York: Zone Books. Sillar, Bill. 1999. Pilgrims Past and Present: The Ritual Landscape of Raqchi, Southern Peru. Archaeology International 3: 49−52. Taylor, John P. 2000. Authenticity and Sincerity in Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research 28, 1: 7−26. Wang, Ning. 1999. Rethinking Authenticity in Tourism Experience. Annals of Tourism Research 26, 2: 349−370. .

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THE SALISH PEOPLES: CULTURAL CODES IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST NATIVE ART BARBORA PŮTOVÁ

PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST NATIVE ART Native art of the Pacific Northwest that anthropologists refer to as Salmon Area is famous for its original combination of artistic expression, creative fantasy and geometric figurativeness (Wissler 2005). The first Europeans to set foot on the territory of British Columbia were literally fascinated by the unbounded beauty of Indian artifacts that combined a practical function with symbolic messages about the indigenous peoples’ relationship with nature, society, dead ancestors and mythological beings. The native peoples of the Pacific Northwest (e.g., the Salish, Kwakiutl, Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian) demonstrated a number of similar cultural traits related to patterns of food supply (fishing), type of dwellings (rectangular wooden buildings), clothing (woven tunics, kilts, mantles, conical hats), mode of transport (boats and canoes), craftsmanship and artwork production (fretworks, masks, totem poles), society organization (social stratification, existence of strata and classes), and practicing original rituals and status feasts such as the potlatch (Suttles 1990, Lévi-Strauss 1999, Soukup 2004). According to American anthropologist Ruth Benedict, the peoples of the Northwest Coast represent a specific type of Native American psychological culture complex characterized by individualism, competitiveness, aggressiveness and eccentricity. The pivotal configuration of this culture complex, which had given varying cultural elements a unique face, is the quest for prestige. It is a status competitiveness that penetrates the religious, political, economic, and family life of the Native Americans (Benedict 1949). American cultural anthropologist Franz Boas argued that two basic creative expressions can be distinguished in the pictorial composition and images of native art of American realism: masculine style and feminine style. Male style is linked to wood carving, drawing and painting, whereas female style appears in knitting, basket making and weaving. Masculine style is considered symbolic as it is a carrier of basic cultural codes and primary meanings. By contrast, the nature of female style is formal, mediated and geometrical, as it presents motifs without any ostensible deeper meaning. If symbolic zoomorphous or anthropomorphous representations do appear in basket making, these are only motifs that had been originally created by

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men: women only reproduced them using a different technology (Boas 1927, Lévi-Strauss 1963). On the whole, we can claim that Pacific Northwest Coast art is primarily symbolical and ornamental. Its essential attributes include: (1) realism in painting and composition, (2) emphasis on color synchrony and (3) preference of formal typology in anthropomorphous and zoomorphous motifs. Realism in painting and composition in artworks by Northwest Coast peoples has (1) configurative, (2) expansive or (3) distributive form. Configurative depiction is characterized by artists’ effort to depict an animal or human being in relatively realistic form so that the body of the depicted object does not extend over the whole background, while expansive depiction is characterized by the effort to fit the body of a depicted animal or a human into a certain shape. Different parts of painted or carved bodies can be quite easily identified, since they respect identifiable physical anatomy. Sometimes the depictions are split down the middle and laid out on each side. From the artistic point of view, split heads of zoomorphous or anthropomorphous beings depicted from the side (positioned back to back) are also very impressive. Still, seen from the perspective of the viewer, they form a compact face. Some objects represent an animal divided in two halves that face each other in profile and also form a complete head facing front. Split depiction is only used when a picture needs to be adjusted to a surface of a certain shape, a box, for example (Holm 1965, Layton 1991, Jonaitis 1995, Muckle 2011). Distributive depictions are distinguished by the effort to fill the whole surface with a reproduced object, including the parts of its body “ignoring natural anatomical relationships” (Holm 1965: 13). Despite deformation of typical body features, the depicted object can be usually identified without difficulties. The color spectrum of Northwest Coast art is distinguished by the use of black, red and blue-green (blue/green). White or yellow also appear, although rather rarely. “The colors in painting were limited, before the opening of the trade with Europeans, to a few natural pigments” (Holm 1965: 26). Black is the primary color; artists using it as an outline that defines the composition of basic body parts of the depicted object. Red is the secondary color; used for completing the message of dominant black lines and for painting anatomical structures and body organs such as the tongue, face or limbs. Blue-green is the tertiary color; artists use it for painting the background and highlighting other formal features. Black or red formlines were filled with negative and interior space of ovoids, and U forms were painted with green, yellow or white (Holm 1972, Shearar 2000). Color pigments from coal, minerals or plants were mixed with chewed salmon eggs on a stone palette or a paint dish. Red was obtained from ochre and probably from hematite; black from coal, lignite and graphite. Blue-green (blue/green) was probably obtained from copper. Pigments were applied using a brush made of porcupine quills attached to

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Haidas of Masset village.

a wooden handle. Some motifs were applied using a stencil made of leather or cedar bark, also used for ovoids (Holm 1965, Stewart 1979, Reid 2000). What plays a dominant role in Pacific Northwest Coast art are formlines and dynamic ovoids (rounded rectangles). Formlines define the main parts of the depicted object such as the head, limbs, wings or tail and unify the picture into a whole, its dynamics enhanced by narrowing or curves. If a line is too wide at one place, a large surface filled with a single color is created. To break the surface optically, a negative element in the V form, Y form or geometric shapes such as a circle is used. A second important element is the dynamic ovoid, usually used in Northwest Coast art to symbolize an eye, depiction of joints or the whole head. An internal ovoid is also used, ranging from a simple black retina to complex depiction of the eyes. Other elements, in U form, split U form and S form  are meant as symbols for body parts such as the ears, wings, tail, parts of legs and ribs, or used decoratively, such as depictions of small feathers on a wing or simply to fill an empty space (Holm 1965, Reid 2000).

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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NORTHWEST COAST ART Pacific Northwest Coast art is typically characterized by (1) stylization as opposed to realistic depiction, (2) simplification evoked by the accentuation of basic elements, (3) differentiation of themes and motifs, (4) dislocation of split details, (5) depiction of the subject from two side views, (6) symmetry, (7) reduction and (8) transformation of details into a new depiction (Adam 1936). Apart from these basic elements, other – rather partial – elements can be seen in Pacific Northwest Coast art, such as accentuation of a certain body part (proportion distortion) especially observed in zoomorphous as well as anthropomorphous motifs. Another frequent feature is disproportional anatomy of the head. Artists also sometimes depict certain parts of the object or several different objects from different perspectives or in split depiction. The whole surface is usually filled because empty space is to be avoided, what art historians call horror vacui. Hidden dynamics, achieved by the binary contrast of repetition/rhythm, can be observed in every work. Rhythm is created by repeating artistic elements such as colors, shapes, lines, measures, forms or space. The repeated elements are identical (or almost) and appear in regular order. Movement and rhythm represent a visual equivalent analogical to the heartbeat or regular sound of the drums. The constant flow of movement, distorted in rhythmical intervals, is typical of fine art of the Northwest Indians, noted also for their dances. .Rhythm is closely related to balance and symmetry. Shapes are divided in order to create symmetry in composition. Although there are some standard traditional rules, individual differences among artists are recognized (Malin, Feder 1962, Holm 1965, Stewart 1979). Basic elements of Northwest Coast native art are used particularly in depictions of mythological beings and clan zoomorphous symbols. Other elements depicted include natural motifs such as celestial bodies and different forms of natural forces. Favorite zoomorphous themes include a beaver (rounded nostrils, big incisive teeth and tail, a stick held in the forepaws); hawk (large recurved beak); an eagle (big beak hooked downwards, shorter than raven’s, tongue); raven (long straight beak, partially opened, holding the moon in the beak); killer whale (big head, longish nostrils, round eyes, big mouth with teeth, blowhole, big dorsal fin); shark (vertically domed head, mouth with sunken corners, gills); bear (big paws, wide mouth with bared teeth, stuck-out tongue, short and round muzzle, big distended nostrils); frog (wide mouth with no teeth, stuck-out tongue, flat nose, strong and distinct lips); wolf (long muzzle, distended nostrils, big teeth, ears and curled-over tail, usually depicted from the side crouching on all four legs or sitting with forepaws slightly lifted). Other favorite motifs include a seal, loon, owl, salmon, halibut or mosquito (Stewart 1979, Meuli 2000).

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Examples of ovoids of Northwest Coast art.

NATIVE ARTIFACTS FROM NORTHWEST COAST IN THE CONTEXT OF “HIGH” ART The Northwest Coast native artifacts gained recognition as so-called high art in the first half of the 20th century. However, anthropologists1 and collectors of “primitive art” were interested in native American artifacts as early as in the second half of the 19th century2, when a “scramble for Northwest artifacts” (Jonaitis 1991: 71) took place. In the 1940s works of the Northwest Coast natives captured also the attention of art historians. In 1941, MoMA held an exhibition called “Indian Art of the United States” (Gordon, Herzog 1988). Despite this, native artists received few orders that resulted in limited production as the market for this type of art was low. However, in the 1940s, Society for the Furtherance of BC Indian Arts and Crafts3 was founded sup1 2 3

For example surveys among Salish peoples took place during the Jesup North Pacific Expedition (1897–1902). However, the first ones to focus systematically on art were U.S. art historian Bill Holm and Franz Boas. Most of these artifacts can be found at the American Museum of Natural History, including a collection Heber Bishop and Israel Powell. As of 1951 it has been known as British Columbia Indian Arts and Welfare Society.

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porting the revival of art and craft development, intended to help indigenous people in spiritual, social and economic area (Hawker 2003, Shewell 2004).

THE SALISH PEOPLES: SUPPRESSING CULTURE AND ART IN THE 19TH CENTURY The Salish peoples inhabit the mountain regions of the Plateau and Northwest Coast. There are over 70 minority groups divided – on the basis of language family categories − into Coast Salish and Interior Salish. Traditional way of life and foraging strategy included fishing, hunting and gathering. For centuries, the Salish peoples had open access to the woodland and waters of the Pacific Northwest. Their culture represented an effective adaptation system that enabled them to use a natural ecosystem and develop spiritual culture linked to the world of traditional values, symbols and meanings. As is the case with other Indian nations, the Salish peoples faced acculturation pressures from the expanding Western civilization. Native Salish culture, art and identity began to gradual disappear during the 19th century under the influence of wars, demographic population decrement and technological innovations (Jacknis 2002a). Besides firearms, other

Examples of U forms and split U forms of Northwest Coast art.

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aspects that contributed to the destruction of Salish culture included disease, warring and tribal wars, and resulted in “high death rate among young Salish men” (Bigart 2012: 25). Other factors causing the decline of Salish culture were economic in nature, namely fur trade, white settler’s farms and forcing Indians out from fishing areas where raw materials had started to be extracted. Hudson’s Bay Company, whose first regional headquarters have been, since 1824, in Fort Vancouver near the Columbia River Estuary, contributed to establishing a non-native authority in this region. Pressure from “white suppliers” was even more intense after gold was discovered along the Fraser River in the 1850s (Jonaitis 1991). Moreover, immigrants coming to British Columbia promoted the idea of white race supremacy reflected also in the appreciation of local native art as an art that “merely provided confirmation of the depravity of Indian nature” (Fisher 1992: 90). In 1846 the Coast Salish territory was divided by the boundary between Canada and the USA, that led to urban development, isolation and the creation of reservations (Miller 2008). Subsequently, “Salish peoples were displaced from the labor force by new immigrants in a largely racially segregated economy” (Miller 1999: 90). Local Indians worked as woodcutters, factory workers, sailors or workers in mines. Also, Salish people had to rely on occasional, unqualified and seasonal jobs. Many tribes ceased to exist in this

Map of Coast and Interior Salish territory.

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period, or were integrated into reservations, of which Tacoma has remained the largest one until present.

REVITALIZATION OF PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST NATIVE ART Revitalization, sometimes referred to as the Renaissance of Pacific Northwest Coast art and culture, started in the 1960s. Its initiators were, in particular, art theoreticians, anthropologists and − of course − local Indian artists. There was a very small group of native artists, a bridging generation, who were making artifacts already in the first half of the 20th century (Brown 1998). Revitalization of traditional Indian art resulted in renewed interest in native culture, protection of cultural heritage, tourism development and economic prosperity of native as well as non-native artists (Jonaitis 1991). In this period, the Salish peoples rediscovered and appreciated the aesthetic beauty of their traditional art. However, the new generation of Salish artists became more dependent on their contact with some of the survivors from the previous generation, as Indians born in the 1950s no longer remembered their original culture. It is likely they have participated in just one secretly held traditional ritual, during their childhood. A significant factor influencing the approach towards Salish artifacts was their private and holy nature (Jacknis 2002b). The fact remains that in the late 1960s specialized art galleries in Vancouver sold contemporary Pacific Northwest art: first selling only relatively cheap screen prints, then Indian masks and later more and more sophisticated wooden artifacts.

REVITALIZATION OF SALISH ART Salish art did not really return to the Northwest Coast region until the 1980s. Since then, three types of artists can be found there. The first and most active artists are upholders of traditional art. These artists place their works at unconventional places or use unconventional technologies and materials. The second type of artists continue the craft tradition using traditional materials and technologies. The last type includes young contemporary artists whose works refer to traditional art, but their concepts and methods are totally new (Brown 1998). The most prominent artists4 today are Susan Point, Joe Wilson, Stan Greene, Marvin Oliver, Shaun Peterson or Dylan Thomas. These artists strive 4

The actual number of the contemporary artists is higher. Their list can be found at http://uvac. uvic.ca/gallery/cornett/artists/.

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Human with Thunderbirds, Stan Greene, silkscreen, 1979.

to transfer and install Salish art in public spaces, making it more visible. They are inspired by Salish myths or, for instance, the winter Spirit Dance and secret society rituals. Their works are often solicited by public and private institutions. Artists create not only in the name of their community, but in the name of all the Salish peoples. Nevertheless, they are not in favor of an overall identity encompassing all groups of the Northwest Coast (Brotherton 2008). Most of the Northwest Coast natives live predominantly in urban centers (Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria). Individuals may feel a contradiction between their non-native identity and the common native identity to all the Pacific Northwest Coast groups, or a conflict between their common native identity and the Salish identity. In total, there are around 18,000 people in Washington and British Columbia who claim to be Salish (Sturtevant 1978). Presenting art in public space and returning to Salish traditions, usually intermediated by art, has enabled reestablishing a lost or once forgotten identity. Native art also connects the native people with other local people gives them all a common identity referring to cultural history of their region. Moreover, several Salish peoples such as Cowichan, Squamish and Lil’wat are distinguished by their positive attitude to tourism and their indulgence in commercialization of their original culture and art (Thom 2009).

The Salish Peoples

CHARACTERISTICS AND DEVELOPMENT OF CONTEMPORARY SALISH ART Contemporary Salish art focuses on production of original artifacts such as masks, totem poles, little boxes, cases, bowls, clothes, amulets, canoes and houses. Their primary medium is wood, followed by glass, concrete or stainless steel. More distinct development can be seen in prints created by the silkscreen and giclée techniques allowing their reproduction in numbers over 100 pieces (Norris, Norris 2011). The Salish people currently use a wide range of colors. The principle of adjusting a motif to the shapes of the object still persists, which leads to deforming it and exaggerating some of its content (Stewart 1979, Shearar 2000). Its superimposition and flatness confirm the two-dimensional nature of art (Thom 2009). Contemporary art depicts ovoids, triangles and other pictorial elements in a highly sophisticated manner (Coe 2003). At the same time, it remains minimalistic, simple, limited by size and it is an impenetrable iconography that can be understood only as a message of its maker. Artists reflect changes and challenges of their ancestors’ original vision in the context of today’s world (Jonaitis 2006). In particular the Coast Salish artist Susan Point5 has rendered outstanding services to Salish art and its diffusion. However, she only got interested in art when she was twenty years old. “As a child I was not directly exposed to art, Coast Salish or otherwise” (Thom 2009: 117). In the 1980s she started to study traditional Salish art. “I feel the role of Native art is to continually evolve, to express the cultural beliefs and changes of its community now and in the future” (Easingwood, Gross, Hunter 1996: xiii). She was the first to use the screen printing technique, employing original patterns and enriching them. Currently, Point uses in her works other media such as glass, bronze, concrete or stainless steel (Jacknis 2002c). Coast Salish artist Joe Wilson came to Salish art through literature and by observing museum collections. He uses unconventional colorfulness in his graphic works. He gets actively involved in winter dance ceremonies in his tribe. His works are thus a reflection of searching for his own cultural identity (Feest 2001). Salish artist Stan Greene6 makes edition prints, wood carvings or masks. Originally, his style was based on the northern style of the Tsimshian people and he focused mainly on wood carving. Nowadays, his works are dominated by the tradition of Salish art that he studied at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC and through talks with tribe members. Rich colorfulness penetrates silkscreen prints by Marvin Oliver7. What is typical for his late works are monumental sculptures; 5 6 7

Personal website of the artist http://susanpoint.com/. More detailed information can be found at http://www.coghlanart.com/stan2.htm. Personal website of the artist http://www.marvinoliver.com/.

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however, he teaches traditional wood carving at the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington (Feest 2001). Shaun Peterson8 is the central artist. His works include prints, paintings and wooden sculptures. Especially his silkscreen and giclée is full of traditional forms and motifs (salmon, hawk, wolf, etc.). However, his early production of painted drums or masks was not primarily related to ancestral ceremonies (Karen, Ralph 2011). Another contemporary Salish artist, young Dylan Thomas9 was influenced by Susan Point. Apart from jewels and acrylic paintings on cedar panels he also makes silkscreen prints, in which he loosens traditional Salish patterns using computer graphics (Stanbridge, Cook, Thomas 2013). Also, Salish art is now dominated by emphasis on three typical features of Northwest native art – formal perfection, symbolic message and expressiveness. The recent appearance of new materials such as glass, steel or concrete does not change anything about the fact that current artworks demonstrate typical motifs of Salish art.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Benedict, Ruth. 1949. Patterns of Culture. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Bigart, Robert J. 2012. Getting Good Crops: Economic and Diplomatic Survival Strategies of the Montana Bitterroot Salish Indians, 1870−1891. Norman: University of Oklahoma. Boas, Franz. 2010. Primitive Art, New York: Dover Publications. Brotherton, Barbara (Ed.). 2008. S’abadeb. The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. Brown, Steven C. 1998. Native Visions: Evolution in Northwest Coast Art from the Eighteenth Through the Twentieth Century. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Coe, Ralph T. 2003. The Responsive Eye: Ralph T. Coe and the Collecting of American Indian Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Easingwood, Peter – Gross, Konrad – Hunter, Lynette. 1996. Difference and Community: Canadian and European Cultural Perspectives. Atlanta: Rodopi. Feest, Christian F. 2001. Studies in American Indian Art: A Memorial Tribute to Norman Feder. Alten­stadt: European Review of Native American Studies. Fisher, Robin. 1992. Contact and Conflict: Indian-European Relations in British Columbia, 1774−1890. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. Gordon, Beverly – Herzog, Melanie. 1988. American Indian Art: The Collecting Experience. Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, May 7−July 3, 1988. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Hawker, Ronald W. 2003. Tales of Ghosts: First Nations Art in British Columbia, 1922−1961. Vancouver: UBC Press. Holm, Bill. 1965. Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Holm, Bill. 1972. The Crooked Beak of Heaven. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

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Personal website of the artist http://www.qwalsius.com/. Personal website of the artist http://www.dylan-thomas.ca/about/.

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Jacknis, Ira. 2002a. Towards an Art History of Northwest Coast First Nations: 1. Traditional Period (1770−1870). BC Studies 135: 47−53. Jacknis, Ira. 2002b. Towards an Art History of Northwest Coast First Nations: 2. Transitional Period (1870−1930). BC Studies 135: 93−100. Jacknis, Ira. 2002c. Towards an Art History of Northwest Coast First Nations: 3. Contemporary Period (1930−Present). BC Studies 135: 137−143. Jonaitis, Aldona. 1991. From the Land of the Totem Poles: The Northwest Coast Indian Art Collection at the American Museum of Natural History. New York: American Museum of Natural History. Jonaitis, Aldona. 1995. The Boasian Legacy in Northwest Coast Art Studies. In Aldona Jonaitis (Ed.). A Wealth of Thought: Franz Boas on Native American Art. Pp. 306−336. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Jonaitis, Aldona. 2006. Art of the Northwest Coast. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. Layton, Robert. 1991. The Anthropology of Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1963. Structural Anthropology I. New York: Basic Books. Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1999. The Way of the Masks. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Malin, Edward − Feder, Norman. 1962. Indian Art of the Northwest Coast: The Cultural Background of the Art. Denver: Denver Art Museum. Meuli, Jonathan. 2000. Shadow House Interpretations of Northwest Coast Art. London: Harwood Academic Publishers. Miller, Bruce G. 1999. Salish. In Paul Robert Magocsi (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Canada’s Peoples. Pp. 88−93. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Miller, Bruce G. 2008. Be of Good Mind: Essays on the Coast Salish. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Muckle, Robert. 2011. The First Nations of British Columbia: An Anthropological Survey. Vancouver: UBC Press. Norris, Karen – Norris, Ralph. 2011. Contemporary Art on the Northwest Coast: Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth, Makah. Atglen: Schiffer Publishing. Reid, Bill. 2000. Solitary Raven: Selected Writings of Bill Reid. Vancouver: Douglas & Mclntyre. Shearar, Cheryl. 2000. Understanding Northwest Coast Art: A Guide to Crests, Beings and Symbols. Douglas & McIntyre. Shewell, Hugh. 2004. ‘Enough To Keep Them Alive’: Indian Welfare in Canada, 1873−1965. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Shearar, Cheryl. 2000. Understanding Northwest Coast Art: A Guide to Crests, Beings, and Symbols. Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre; Seattle: University of Washington Press. Soukup, Václav. 2004. Dějiny antropologie. Prague: Karolinum. Stanbridge, Nicole − Cook, Rande− Thomas, Dylan. 2013. Urban Thunderbirds/Ravens in a Mate­ rial World. Victoria: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Stewart, Hilary. 1979. Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast. Seattle: University of Wash­ ington Press. Sturtevant, William C. 1978. Handbook of North American Indian: Northwest Coast. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. Suttles, Wayne (Ed.). 1990. Handbook of North American Indians 7: Northwest Coast. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.  Thom, Ian MacEwan. 2009. Challenging Traditions: Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Wissler, Clark. 2005. The American Indian: An Introduction to the Anthropology of the New World. Whitefish: Kessinger Publishing.

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COAST SALISH ART: EMERGING FROM A SHADOW KRISTÝNA ŘEHÁČKOVÁ

Most tribal groups of the Northwest Coast (e.g. Tsimshian, Tlingit, Haida, Kwakwaka’wakw and Coast Salish) from Oregon to Alaska share a common myth about Raven who stole the daylight. Raven was a creator, cultural hero and a sacred animal, whose killing signaled an incoming disaster, as well as a trickster figure in the central and northern part of the Northwest Coast (Půtová 2010). However, it did not play such an important role in southern part among Coast Salish tribal groups. They did not refer to him as to a trickster figure. And yet this myth is shared by the Coast Salish. This is a short example of its Cowichan version: “Long time ago, it was always dark and all people had to live in the shadow of dusk, because one Seagull carried all daylight away, imprisoned it in a chest in his house and didn’t want to let it go. Raven felt sorry for the people stumbling in the gloom, so he decided to persuade Seagull and make him to release daylight. One day he came up with a plan. He made a big torch and went to the coast to catch sea urchins. Then he put their spines on the Seagull’s threshold. When Seagull got up and went out, he stabbed spines in his leg because he couldn’t see them in the dark. The pain was so bad he couldn’t even step on his leg again so he returned to the house. That was what Raven, lurking nearby, was waiting for. He knocked on the door and pretended to be very sorry for his suffering. He offered to take the spines out of his leg with a knife. On purpose, he was taking them out very insensitively, which made Seagull scream in pain. Raven told him that he couldn’t see what he was doing and that he needed more light so he wouldn’t hurt him while taking out the spines. And so Seagull – in his suffering – took the chest with daylight out of its secret hiding place and opened it just a little bit to give some light to Raven. Raven started taking out spines again and hurt the Seagull’s leg on purpose again. Seagull screamed in pain even louder than before. Raven said he needs a little more light. Seagull lost his prudence because of the pain and pushed the chest to the Raven. Raven opened it immediately, grabbed the daylight and flew away through the smoke hole. Daylight was so happy it was finally freed from the prison that it flooded the whole world.” (Jack 2005) Why is this myth significant? It is possible to find a parallel between this myth and current events leading to revitalization of Coast Salish art and cul-

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ture. The group of artists and art theorists which currently forms the basis of the Coast Salish revitalization movement represents Raven for indigenous culture and art as it is making it to emerge from shadows and return to daylight.

COAST SALISH CULTURE AND ART: GENERAL DESCRIPTION The Coast Salish is a tribal group speaking languages from a Salish family. The Inland Salish originally mainly inhabited Montana, while the Coast Salish inhabited the northwest part of Oregon, west Washington and the southwest region of British Columbia. This article is dedicated to the Coast Salish group; one of the tribal groups which originally inhabited the cultural area of the American Northwest Coast. This area includes coastal areas of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon (Soukup 2004, Zelený 1994, Ames, Maschner 1999). Large urban areas such as Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria currently fall within the original Coast Salish area which fundamentally influenced the development of Coast Salish culture and art. Coast Salish culture and art have a lot in common with culture and art of other tribal groups in the area of the Northwest Coast, but there are also some differences that were formerly overlooked and only now, thanks to ongoing revitalization, are finding their own foothold within modern culture. Like other groups in the area the Coast Salish people lived in categorized and stratified hunter-gatherer societies where relatively complex system of artefacts, with utilitarian as well as symbolic function, could be developed (Ames, Maschner 1999). As with other tribal groups the widely known ritual of potlatch was widespread among the Coast Salish people (Malin 1994). Potlatches were manifest mainly in the northern and central part of the Northwest Coast. Amongst the southern groups – such as the Coast Salish – these rituals have never developed into the extreme positions Ruth Benedict (1934) describes in her well known book Patterns of Culture. Other authors describe potlatch as an economical redistribution system (Harris 1974). Coast Salish people themselves describe potlatch as a ritual of giving. Robert Bruce Inverarity (1967) explains this approach in his book Art of the Northwest Coast Indians. According to him there were two types of potlatches; one could be arranged by a chief for members of his own clan, for example on an occasion of birth of a son, or it could be arranged by anyone seeking prestige for a member of another clan. Gifts donated during the ceremony served to confer prestige and power, and they were understood as a loan. The recipient had to repay the donor, or barter the gifts. Guests brought gifts to the host and the host repaid them in − a reciprocal system.

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Potlatch as a ritual influenced the material as well as spiritual culture of all tribal groups of the Northwest Coast, also influencing the diversity of art in the Northwest Coast area as well. The whole area is characterized by local differences and regional similarities (Ames, Maschner 1999: 41) and among other things potlatch ritual caused diffusion of certain cultural patterns. Coast Salish rituals and other cultural elements had generally less public character than those of other tribal groups along the Northwest Coast. Their culture was sacred and secret and knowledge was passed orally only among chosen people – one of the main reasons why so little preservation or attempts to revitalize have been made earlier than the 1980s. Undoubted difference between the tribes of central and northern areas, and the southern tribes − in particular Coast Salish, can be found in formal

U forms of Northwest Coast art can vary greatly in shape.

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characteristics of their art. Art of the Northwest Coast consists of two basic styles (Boas 2010) – feminine (weaving and basketry) and masculine (carving, painting and derivatives thereof). Masculine style is symbolic and feminine style is formal. The authors describing forms of art on the Northwest Coast focus on masculine art in the northern and central part of the area. Geometric patterns with less zoomorphic and anthropomorphic motifs are more frequently found amongst populations in southern parts of the area. According to Boas (2010) it is an older original art style that has relatively recently migrated into the northern and central style of art. Northern and central styles have been major in the area for over a century, but Coast Salish art has been rediscovered by artists as well as scientists as recently as the last few decades. Art of the Northwest Coast can be formally studied by its basic characteristics: color, degree of realism and the use of formal elements. The range of colors was originally restricted due to availability, consisting of black, red, cyan, yellow and white (Holm 1970). Contemporary artists from northern and central areas use the same color range in most cases. In contrast contemporary Coast Salish artists expanded the color scale to include less-saturated colors, pastel colors and color gradients. Authors (Holm 1970, Boas 2010) relating the Northwest Coast art usually describe three levels of realistic portrayal – configurative, expansive and distributive. Configurative design depicts an animal or human in relatively realistic form; expansive design is characterized by the fact that the animal (or human) is stuck in a given shape, where body parts can be easily identified and are in anatomical order; in distributive design the animal (or human) subject fills the whole area, and parts of the body are placed in a way that completely ignores any anatomical structure. These types of design are not as characteristic for Coast Salish art as they are for art of northern and central parts of the area. Simple configurative design is the most common for Coast Salish art, although it is also possible to find the other two types. The element that differs the most amongst art styles of the Northwest Coast is the use of formal elements. Within the northern and central parts of the area formlines, ovoids and S and U elements are typical. Salish formal elements are different as they do not use formlines. According to Coast Salish artist Shaun Peterson (2010) the Coast Salish formal elements include outline, circle, crescent, and Y and U shaped elements − the last two often referred to as ’the fourth element’. The formal elements in painting and graphic design are derived from carving. These elements were carved into the surface, with the outer line formed by the shape of the object. This is the opposite approach to that found in the central and northern part of the Northwest Coast, where design is based on formlines. Even though formlines existed in a simple form in archaic art of the southern region, they disappeared later in Coast Salish

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Examples of S forms of Northwest Coast art.

art. On the other site the use of formlines was transformed, and began to be widely used in central and northern regions. All of the four mentioned Coast Salish elements each carry a symbolic meaning and are derived from the Coast Salish culture. Outlines refer to a connection between all things, circles to harmony and coexistence, crescents to phases of life, and ’the fourth element’ to the magical number four.

EXTINCTION OF COAST SALISH CULTURE AND ART The current revitalization of Coast Salish art and culture logically follows from its extinction. The extinction was coupled with the arrival of European

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colonizers and inhabitation of originally Coast Salish areas. Cities such as Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria were later established in these areas. In the beginning native populations benefited from the arrival of colonizers, but the relationship between both groups began to deteriorate gradually. The extermination of indigenous people through lack of medical provision in the face of new diseases took place in the middle of the 19th century, with survivors forced to assimilate. The extent and rate of assimilation differed in various areas; the assimilation of the Coast Salish people was fast as extinction of almost 90% of the population was caused by diseases. As a consequence, the production of Salish art decreased rapidly in the south. Ritual and other art objects had never been made in such large amounts in the Coast Salish area as they had in the neighboring Kwakwaka’wakw tribal group, and the rapid decrease in population saw the rate of production decline still. Furthermore, the ritual and spiritual manifestations associated with the creation of these artifacts meant that only chosen ones were initiated to facilitate their production.

DECONTEXTUALISATION OF INDIGENOUS ART In the central and northern parts of the Northwest Coast artistic artifacts were partially preserved as tourist souvenirs, which were a source of livelihood. The totem pole became a dominant symbol of native people along the Northwest Coast, as well as all indigenous people across North America, due to the growing demands of tourism and related higher economic profits for producers (Glass, Jonaitis 2010). Wayne Suttles describes work of a Salish artist and highlights his calculated decontextualisation of the totem pole and use of artifacts of other native cultures of North America, referencing the intentional creation of artificial past. The Coast Salish people have historically never created separately standing totem poles within public space. The aim of this decontextualisation was to bring attention to relationships of native and non-native inhabitants, and to improve them (Glass, Jonaitis 2010). While the aforementioned process of decontextualisation of art artifacts came from the people (i.e. from ‘below’), the second wave was motivated and organized from state governments (i.e. from ‘above’). At the beginning of the 20th century the states of Washington and Alaska, and the Canadian province of British Columbia were seeking a way to distinguish themselves from other regions. They did so through the legacy of the near-extinct native culture of the area, and its monumental art. The art artifacts (especially totem poles) literally became totems of particular areas (Glass, Jonaitis 2010).

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RENAISSANCE OF ART AND CULTURE OF THE NORTHWEST COAST The obliteration of already-forgotten Coast Salish art eventually came full circle in the 1960s, leading to a renaissance of art and culture along the Northwest Coast. The focal point of the whole movement was a return to the traditional artistic and aesthetic canon – the so-called northern style. There were two fundamental publications on the forgotten art style – Art of the Northwest Coast Indians by Robert Bruce Inverarity was first published in 1950 (Inverarity 1967) and Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form by Bill Holm, first published in 1965 (Holm 1970). Artists took inspiration particularly from Holm’s text, and the art canon described and explained therein became widely recognized even among Coast Salish artists, although it differed considerably from the original Coast Salish art style. During this time period they could not draw from anything else than Holm’s publication. The most striking result of the rebirth of the art and culture of the Northwest Coast was the creation of a new native identity. Originally the identity attached an individual to a household, and later to a village or a clan. The common identity of all groups along the Northwest Coast was formed in the 1960s, symbolized by art artifacts of the central and northern style. Not only the renaissance of art in the area, but also the deployment of these artifacts − especially totem poles, in public spaces contributed to the shaping of a new identity. Presentations of monumental native art pieces in public spaces came from municipal initiatives. The cities, on the other hand, tried to create and strengthen their own identity as a mean to differ themselves from other areas in Northern America. Coast Salish artists saw little reason to try and restore original Coast Salish art, as there was no demand for it on the existing art market. The whole area has rather adapted to a new general native culture related to the central and northern art style, a shift made all the more necessary as curators chose not to present traditional Coast Salish art in the popular exhibitions of the time.

CONTEMPORARY COAST SALISH CULTURE AND ART Coast Salish culture and art disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century, even before the cultures of other groups in the region. There was no bridging Coast Salish generation that could carry on the tradition, as the Coast Salish people traditionally lived in the northwest region of Washington state and southwest part of British Columbia, which became the most populated urban centers; Coast Salish culture consequently giving way quickly to European

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influences and increasing social repression. With the exception of some organized dances Coast Salish tribal groups were not trying to defend themselves, due to their low population after devastating epidemics in the second half of the 19th century. Less than 10% of the whole population had survived these outbreaks − a large number of tribes died out entirely while the rest were randomly integrated into several reservations. Some continuity between art of the late 19th century and the so-called renaissance period existed in central and northern groups, although only amongst a few families, with the tourist art having long lost its original utilitarian or symbolic function. Little continuity existed among Coast Salish tribes. Basketry, which was dominated by female crafters, survived in a way as it was a desirable trade commodity amongst the new non-native inhabitants of the area, but even this craft had to adapt to European tastes. With few artists still aware of the traditional approaches to Coast Salish art, individual artists rarely had chance to get to know the traditional approaches which saw most Coast Salish artists during the 1960s creating work beholden to the northern canon. As a consequence, institutions where artists could become familiar with the northern style (but not the southern style) of art were created in 1960s. People born later than at the end of 1930s had no sense of this culture − according to interviews they often attended a couple of secretly organized rituals as small children, but most of them have never had ambitions to return to traditions of Coast Salish culture. Art dealers and gallery owners favored the northern style to the secretive, private and ultimately unknown southern style, which was a further reason for many artists to not return to their cultural roots. Art historian Norman Feder (1983) wrote that some Central Coast Salish have had only recently became interested in rediscovering their original art style and he predicted a return of Central Coast Salish carving, jewelry and graphics in the next ten years. Original Coast Salish art has started to be created again in the 1980s, with three types of artists flourishing in the area since then. The first and most visible type build on traditional art, but their works are either placed in unusual spaces or created using unconventional materials and technology; the second type of artists builds on the craftsmanship tradition, while continuing to use traditional materials and technology; the last type – largely younger − reference the traditional artistic approaches within newer concepts and mediums (such as street art). Taken as a whole these are not mass art movements and, in comparison to artists from other tribal groups of the Northwest Coast, the number of Coast Salish artists is still minor. Of the three types mentioned, it is the first which includes the forefront of current Coast Salish artists, and these can be divided into two genera-

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tions – those pioneers such as Susan Point, Marvin Oliver or Stan Green, who started to create art in the Coast Salish style during the 1980s; and those of the second generation, currently in their thirties and leading the revitalization movement. These include Shaun Peterson, Jody Broomfield and the Marston brothers. There exists amongst these artists a clear attempt to transfer Coast Salish art into the public space and to make it generally more visible. They are inspired by Coast Salish mythology as well as winter dances and secret societies rituals that they only know from storytelling. Their artworks are often commissioned by private as well as public institutions, and placed into the public space alongside works of both the northern and central style. They work not only on behalf of their own communities but also on behalf of all Coast Salish tribes.

GENERATION 1: SUSAN POINT (MUSQUEAM TRIBE) Susan Point, born in 1952, is the only significant female Coast Salish artist who works in originally male style – carving and painting which she transforms into graphics. She is one of the pioneers of contemporary Coast Salish art and has been instrumental in reestablishing Coast Salish art both in Canada and the United States. She found inspiration for her artwork in museum archives where she searched for preserved Coast Salish artifacts. She managed to return traditional Coast Salish spindle whorl back into public knowledge. Spindle whorl has had historically enormous importance in traditional Coast Salish culture in terms of utility as well as ritual. The whorl was placed on a wooden spindle to add the weight needed to maintain the spinning motion. Traditionally, Coast Salish spindle whorls have powerfully carved design with anthropomorphic, zoomorphic or geometrical motifs. As the whorl turns, design blurs as a whole and puts the spinner into a trance state which gives an opportunity to create textile with special powers (Jack 2005). Thanks to art work from Susan Point the spindle whorl became an important symbol of contemporary Coast Salish art. Contemporary spindle whorls are not only worldwide desired market artifact, but their presence in public space contributes to a creation of new Coast Salish identity and refers to Coast Salish cultural tradition. Large carved sculpture of traditional spindle whorl by Susan Point can be found together with two welcome figures and other art pieces on Vancouver International Airport. Susan Point also created three gateways People Amongst the People to Stanley Park in Vancouver, traditional lands of the Coast Salish people. Their form represents traditional slant-roof style of the Coast Salish architecture. She constructed them in collaboration with Vancouver Storyscapes (a City of Vancouver Social Planning project to encourage aboriginal people to share

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their stories through a variety of media), local tribes and the Vancouver Park Board. Its realization took three years (2005–2008). Susan Point was actually the first Coast Salish artist who started working with glass, which became very popular material amongst artists from the second generation. She commenced the use of other non-traditional materials and techniques in paper, bronze, wood, concrete, polymer, stainless steel and cast iron as well. She releases number of print editions each year, but her focus has been mainly on commissioned sculpture (Blanchard, Davenport 2005).

GENERATION 2: SHAUN PETERSON (PUYALLUP TRIBE) Shaun Peterson is a pivotal figure of the Coast Salish art revitalization movement. He learned from mentors including Steve Brown, Greg Colfax and Loren White. His early works were mainly prints, paintings and wood sculptures based on stories of utilitarian objects such as rattles, regalia or hand drums. Shaun Peterson is working with variety of non-traditional materials and techniques. He started working with sandblasting glass paired with hand carved cedar panels in 2000. Glass became one of his favorite materials and later he started incorporating steel and aluminum along with etched glass (Peterson 2013). Shaun Peterson’s major art work is a traditional welcome figure near Tollefson Plaza in Tacoma. It was commissioned by City of Tacoma, Puyallup tribe and Tacoma art museum and unveiled in September 2010. The idea originated in 1999 and the initial suggestion was to raise a totem pole near the tribal administration. But Peterson (Welcome figure program 2010) saw this as a great opportunity to introduce traditional Coast Salish welcome figure to public as it is more customary to the Coast Salish people of this part of the area than a totem pole. The welcome figure wears a white dress with a Thunderbird design and a traditional woven cedar hat. Thunderbird design was chosen for its symbolic meaning. It symbolizes ability of the Coast Salish people to see strength and power in small beings that are usually overlooked by most. Honoring of his ancestors serves as Shaun Peterson’s inspiration for his art works (especially in the creation of welcome figure). His aim is to tell stories of his people through his art pieces (Welcome figure program 2010). Although the welcome figure is based on the traditional Coast Salish design, Shaun Peterson used unique contemporary technologies – for example a steel support, which he cooperated on with various scientists and engineers, so he could manage to carve the whole sculpture himself. He used special tools created especially for this project. Like many other carvers of the Northwest Coast region he designs and produces his own tools.

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Peterson often uses new media for promotion of the Coast Salish culture. In his flat design creation he works with graphic design programs and releases giclee’ (digital inject) pieces. He started to combine his graphic designs with photography and works on unique clothes designs based on the Coast Salish culture. As an artist Shaun Peterson also runs his own website, Facebook profile and YouTube video channel with educational videos on Coast Salish art. Despite of his young age he is a significant person in the Coast Salish community.

CONCLUSION Revitalization of the Northwest Coast art builds on and draws from very powerful and unique indigenous cultures. They are often incorrectly perceived as one culture. Art of the central and northern part of the area is usually refered to as an art of the Northwest Coast. Coast Salish art remained ignored and forgotten for decades for several main reasons: The original Coast Salish territory is now the most urbanized area of the whole coast, Coast Salish art had traditionally very secret and sacred nature and the bridging generation of artists almost didn’t exist. Revitalization of Coast Salish art began with the first generation of contemporary artists in 1980s and the process still continues. With work of the second generation, Coast Salish art is appearing in commercial as well as noncommercial galleries and museums as well as in the public areas increasingly, but it is still in the shadow of the central and northern style art. There is an international demand for the Coast Salish art works on the art market of the coastal area, which previously wasn’t present. However, Coast Salish artist still have minority representation in commercial galleries compared to artists coming from other tribal groups. Amongst the most significant galleries in the area are for example: Wing Luke Museum, Stonington Gallery, Legacy Limited and Steinbrueck Native Gallery in Seattle and Eagle Spirit Gallery and Spirit Wrestler Gallery in Vancouver. Not only are carved sculptures and other monuments appearing in public areas, but art becomes part of everyday urban life – bus stops, municipal houses and hospitals. Artists are using new materials (glass, steel, iron etc.) and technologies (digital print, computer programs etc.). Some artists are even cooperating with various Czech glass factories. But the most significant international cooperation exists with Japanese and Maori artists. Revitalization movement is not only focused on production of the Coast Salish art, but also on language revitalization and educational programs for youth. Tribal councils put great efforts into social services for their members. Some leading figures are pointing at misuse of Native American legacy by dominant culture (advertisement,

Coast Salish Art: Emerging from a Shadow

trade, tourist industry, popular culture etc.). Thanks to contemporary artists and their efforts given to revitalization of culture and education, the Coast Salish is emerging from the shadows once again.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Ames, Kenneth M. – Maschner, Herbert D. G. 1999. Peoples of the Northwest Coast: Their Archeology and Prehistory. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd. Benedict, Ruth. 1934. Patterns of Culture. New York: Houghton Mifflin. Blanchard, Rebecca – Devenport, Nancy (Eds.). 2005. Contemporary Coast Salish Art. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Boas, Franz. 2010. Primitive Art. New York: Dover Publications. Feder, Norman. 1983. Incised Relief Carving of the Halkomelem and Straits Salish. American Indian Art Magazine 8, 2: 46−55. Glass, Aaron − Jonaitis, Aldona. 2010. The Totem Pole: An Intercultural History. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Harris, Marvin. 1974. Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture. New York: Random House. Holm, Bill. 1970. Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form. Seattle: University of Washington. Inverarity, Robert Bruce. 1967. Art of the Northwest Coast Indians. Los Angeles: University of California Press. Jack, Joe. 2005. Raven Steals the Sun. Retrieved from http://www.joejack.com/ravenstealsthesun.html Jack, Joe. 2005. Coast Salish Spindle Whorl. Retrieved from http://www.joejack.com/salish­ spindlewhorl.html Malin, Edward. 1994. A World of Faces: Masks of the Northwest Coast Indians. Oregon: Timber Press. Peterson, Shaun. 2010. Coast Salish Design Elements. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Kc3K-MyH3xg Peterson, Shaun. 2013. Artist Biography Qwalsius – Shaun Peterson. Retrieved from https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=DErx2YlDNHA Půtová, Barbora. 2010. Havran jako kulturní fenomén. Anthropologia Integra 1, 1: 43−56. Soukup, Václav. 2004. Dějiny antropologie. Prague: Karolinum. Tacoma Art Museum. 2010. Welcome Tacoma – Tacoma Welcome First Traditional Welcome Figure. Welcome Figure Program. [Brochure]. Zelený, Mnislav. 1994. Indiánská encyklopedie: Indiáni tří Amerik. Prague: Albatros.

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VIEW FROM A REAL INDIAN SHAUN PETERSON

As a man born in the 1970’s I grew up under the notion that totem poles and ravens were part of my heritage. I grew up traveling south of Seattle to just north of it with my grandparents my entire childhood. The tribe I am enrolled in is called Puyallup. When traveling north to my grandmothers tribe we arrived in Tulalip. These are the names I knew along with Yakama, Skokomish and Muckleshoot. In my youth I had never heard the term Coast Salish. It was only as a young adult by that time I’d learned that term. That time was only the beginning on what would unfold a great lie the had been over my eyes growing up. This essay is a brief visit to that journey. I come from a tribe that is quite unique, it is one of few tribes in America that was not relocated and removed of it’s resources from the government, at least not relocated. I grew up like many children of the 1970’s exposed to television, travelled by car and even plane. I believe much of the world perceives Native America as a third world country without resources or exposure to the outside world. Realistically, yes many tribes suffer poverty and underdeveloped economies as a whole but this accounts for vast territories. I say this in relation to this essay because it is to clarify my tribe is one nation within many. As an example it is on it’s own as much as Italy would be to Germany but within the European classification. There are generalizations that Native American culture is one culture but that is far from true. I share this because I as an American informed by Hollywood and history books felt this false belief, despite being Native myself growing up in my culture. The media influence left an impact on how I felt about myself. My first experience in school being singled out at one of very few Native children was on a field trip to Seattle. We attended the Pacific Science Center and at that time there was an exhibit called the Sea Monster House which was based on Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl) culture north of our region in British Columbia. Not only was this not my culture but a culture that our people warred with historically. There were other tribal groups of Alaska also represented who also had tensions with our Coast Salish people long before. My 5th grade teacher led us to an interactive exhibit and put me front and center saying “c’mon this will be great, show everyone how to put this together.” He was talking about a puzzle of shapes that represented an animal in what is known as formline design. This design tradition was not a practice of our

View from a Real Indian

people, it was far removed really. As an analogy once again I pose the concept of a child of Vienna being asked to lead students in an activity from Portugal without exposure on the premise that he or she were European and therefore aware of all European culture and practices. Many years later I connected deeply with my heritage upon my high school graduation. After a year of finding my way I became involved in an artist residency program for a tribal school in my community. At that time I was 19 years old but very excited to learn what I could about tribal art. I met Bruce Cook III who at that time was learning from Steve Brown, a former student of the famous Bill Holm. Steve was teaching an informal class for mostly Alaska Native migrants who lived in the Seattle area, about the formline art tradition. I was the only Coast Salish person there and in Steve’s slides he noted the early and ancient styles at one time up and down the Coast share a more common root than we express today. He showed respect toward the various tribal groups and diversity amongst them all and he became a mentor to me then, a very enthusiastic young Native man eager to learn. I went on to create many works for galleries participating in group shows and even had a dual exhibition with my mentor. Perhaps my most significant installation was of a 24 foot (2.31 m) tall sculpture in what is known to my people as a “welcome figure.” Often mistaken as a totem pole it is a single human figure that is a representation of the community or family group who commissioned it. They once stood outside village boundaries to welcome people into the territory. To remind people why this is not a totem pole, totem is literally the stacking of figures. I was proud to create the one for my people and to this day I will remember one instance at the worksite of a man from the city who was installing internet cable lines for the worksite next to mine. He stopped to ask what the totem pole was and I explained it’s history and meaning and clarification of welcome figure. He seemed like a nice man but in the end before he left my site he came back to ask “are you a real Indian”? I was offended but was unclear what his definition was so I asked his reply was “100%.” I assumed he meant blood quantum but I shared that I know my tribal language, I know my traditions and I am enrolled and have an identification card from my tribe but even if I didn’t know all those things they would be no fault of mine nor within my control. I turned to him to say, “when you drive downtown and see this sculpture you can tell your friends, that was carved by a real Indian, so yes.”

AN EXAMINATION OF INFLUENCES I have come to understand that there are a few key events that shaped the way people perceive the art of the Northwest Coast Native people as a whole.

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Despite there differences these various events shaped the minds of many both Native and non-Native alike into the present day. Perhaps the first of these would be the cultures themselves and how they differ by structure. The tribal groups have different practices and beliefs but overall art is created by the need for it within the culture and it’s ceremony. The second is the Alaska Yukon Pacific expo of 1909 held in Seattle, Washington. This expo highlighted cultures of the world and their differences but most importantly excluded Coast Salish tribes from the event. The third, the publication of Northwest Coast Indian Art: Analysis of Form by Bill Holm (1965). This book originally written as a scholarly examination not intended for or written for the consumer market, made a long lasting impression on what people assumed was an all encompassing examination of Native art in the Pacific Northwest region. The fourth, the tourist art market that came to rise in the 1980’s. The art market and the impression it left on people made long term impacts on what people came to expect of the appearance of Northwest Coast Native art. For the anthropologists and art historians who examine the cultures of the Northwest Coast they are familiar with key differences. To simplify this for sake of brevity cultures in Southeast Alaska down to the Northern region of Vancouver Island create works of art to be representations of their lineage much like a coat of arms or crest. The Coast Salish however at the southern most part of this region, regard art works as strictly ceremonial. Coast Salish culture is not organized by clans of Eagle or Raven. They are organized by family relationship. For this reason art was not created to be passed down because there were no crests to transfer, the culture was based on individual visions that were for a person to experience on their own. Objects created that represented spirits or visions were ambiguous because the people then believed if you clearly depicted what your vision was thru art, the associated spirit would leave you and something awful would befall your family. In fact items used in or created for ceremony would often be burned once completed to respect the privacy of the spiritual experience and the individual. In museum collections today there are objects labelled “spirit canoe boards” of a very particular shape made of cedar planks painted with what appears random and spontaneous but are symbols that reoccur with intent. These were not crafted for art and made during the ceremony itself. For whatever reason a handful exist that were not burned and have been used to compare the Coast Salish as crude work when juxtapose to finely crafted sculptures which is really an unfair comparison. One was created to be seen and appreciated for generations that was planned and took time, the other an object not as an expression to represent the people but an experience at that moment. In the early settling/colonization of North America, Euro-American settlers were working to promote the other cultures of the world as inferior. This some believe was created to justify the removal of tribal people who

View from a Real Indian

were unfit to live as they existed before their arrival. At this time the gold rush in Alaska was prominent and Seattle in particular was viewed as a “stopping point“ on the way to seeking fortune. The famous totem pole of Pioneer Square that stands today is a key example of this. A group of officials from the Seattle commerce group took a trip to Alaska and cut down a totem pole claiming that the village it came from was abandon, which it was not. They brought it to Seattle by boat and raised it in the place it stands today. Why is this important, well, it is an example of white settlers influencing iconography through personal interests NOT cultural respect. Had Chief Sealth for which the city is named after not been removed from his territory he would not have allowed such a symbol, for culturally such an action would be to claim his people as conquered which they were but it was an insult to the tribal people for whom were removed from their lands to have culturally inaccurate works of art standing in the city while signs in store fronts read “no Indians allowed.” A Northwest Coast Indian Art: Analysis of Form published in 1965 and written by the famous curator Bill Holm has been deemed by many as “the Bible of Northwest Coast Native art.“ Bill himself has expressed his reluctance to have people praise it as such. In fact Bill has shared with me personally his troubled feelings that this book is by many thought of a “how to do Indian art” book. It really only covers a small section of the Northern most part of what is known as the Northwest Coast Native Art groups. Despite having a map that highlights this many people overlook it and browse it’s numerous illustrations that examine objects of Haida, Tsimshian and Tlingit artists. There are many tribal groups and styles and despite his understanding of those he has shared that defining them with consistency was nearly impossible. The variety of artistic expressions within tribal groups outside the aforementioned do not conform to an art tradition that has strict rules defining it. The Formline, a term that Bill created in the publication defines an art tradition that adheres to rules outlined in his examinations. There are many tribal groups that despite having many shared characteristics fall outside of that classification. At any rate the book is in it’s 17th reprinting and has been a book that anyone who studies Northwest Coast Native art has in their collection and has had and will continue to have influence on generations to come. Northwest Coast Native art has long been admired even if not understood. Given that most of the publications on the subject were focused on the Northern tribal groups it is no surprise this was the sought after work in the early established market place. In that demand Native and non-Native artists produced for the market place largely for tourism with the majority practicing Northern styles. Many Salish artists went into this field foregoing their art heritage to feed the markets demands. This demand grew to a point at which elders of the Salish communities feared that the defining character-

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istics of the people would disappear if their artists continued on such a path. As a result the restrictions of depicting art and stories was lifted in order to preserve what would otherwise become lost forever. This span of time marks half a century but despite this fact Coast Salish artists are starting to create a demand of their own to contemporary art collectors.

A BRIEF SOUTHERN COASTAL ANALYSIS In regard to the overview of Northwest Coast Native art the Coast Salish have been regarded as holding to their artistic roots as far as the defining shapes are concerned. When one looks back to the ancient objects of this region there were clearly simple examples of common roots. These were defined by incized lines and low relief carvings on bone, stone, antler and wood. The simple representations started to differ with Northern tribal groups introduced variations that set apart their development. Coast Salish art in it’s simplest form we know today draws it’s creations by implementing three basic shapes, circle/oval, crescent and trigon. There are variations on terms from various art historians and artists themselves but these have become common terms as of this publication. Despite the use of medium the distribution of these shapes remains contingent on their placement within compositions of the 17th through the 20th century. There are but a few hundred objects adorned with what we today regard as the defining characteristics of a Coast Salish art tradition. There are many reasons for this the main being the culture and belief system from which is trigon

oval

extended crescent

crescents

A basic illustration of Coast Salish design elements using a black and white format whereas most work would otherwise be low relief carving technique.

View from a Real Indian

stems. The Coast Salish are a large language group of which there is much variation but one that shares artistic overlapping roots. The culture and the people created most of their implementations of daily life unadorned with but a few exceptions of memorial figures, textile tools, combs and feast platters of which the majority were carved. The carved out areas or negative spaces were generally simple shapes consisting of circles, crescents and trigons. This dates back to stone objects as early as 300 AD. Yet when one is to examine the art tradition in it’s present day it utilizes the same shapes and distribution to compose works of art even in the contemporary market place. Some might see the minimal approach as primitive but others as simplicity with intention. While other tribal groups adopted shapes like the ovoid and u-form and a stylistic approach fueled by painting the Coast Salish have held onto the basics and have therefore remained an anomaly on the Northwest Coast. Despite efforts by art historians and artists alike there have been no publications that have examined the Coast Salish art tradition as a whole. This is in part that despite it’s simplicity it is a large cultural region that has variations that don’t adhere to a hard set of rules. Even so there are enough principles amongst the communities themselves that understand what goes outside the realm of Coast Salish appearance. Such balance is to walk a fine line to stay within cultural definitions but even so it has been ongoing for generations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Blanchard, Rebecca – Devenport, Nancy (Eds.). 2005. Contemporary Coast Salish Art. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Brotherton, Barbara (Ed.). 2008. S‘abadeb. The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. Feest, Christian F. (Ed.). 2001. American Indian Art: A Memorial Tribute to Norman Feder. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Holm, Bill. 1965. Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Norris, Karen – Norris, Ralph. 2011. Contemporary Art on the Northwest Coast: Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth, Makah. Atglen: Schiffer Publishing. Shearar, Cheryl. 2000. Understanding Northwest Coast Art: A Guide to Crests, Beings and Symbols. Douglas & McIntyre. Stewart, Hilary. 1979. Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Sturtevant, William C. 1978. Handbook of North American Indian: Northwest Coast. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. Trigger, Bruce G. (Ed.). 1978. Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 15: Northeast. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.

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MYTHOLOGY AND HISTORY

HISTORICAL CHANGES OF THE RAVEN: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON THE TRICKSTER VÁCLAV SOUKUP

THE RAVEN IN THE CONTEXT OF NATIVE CULTURES OF THE AMERICAN NORTHWEST COAST In the year 1899 The Hall of Northwest Coast Indians was opened at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The former curator of the Museum and the leading figure of American cultural anthropology Franz Boas presented there the results of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, during which in the years 1897 to 1902 a unique collection of artefacts devoted to native cultures of American Northwest was collected (Boas 1898). From the moment The Hall of Northwest Coast Indians was opened, its exhibits captivated an immense amount of visitors, including the French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, who in one of his articles did not spare his words of praise at the expressive appeal of the collection (1943). Franz Boas used the exhibits to introduce knowledgeably the museum visitors into the disappearing world of arts, crafts and myths of the Northwest Coast Native Americans. He presented the carved totem poles in such light dimness, which emphasized their monumental exotic appeal. By doing that he achieved the magical atmosphere of inducing similar feelings which people experience in the interiors of medieval Gothic cathedrals. In The Hall of Northwest Coast Indians the visitors are surrounded by large wooden sculptures, in which bodies of bears, seals, beavers, fish and birds are almost surreally blended. The impressiveness of the collection is sketched in by fine objects of everyday use decorated by artistic carvings or mysteriously-looking ceremonial masks of the Kwakiutl tribe (Kwakwaka’wakw), whose research Boas devoted many years of his life. Here it is possible to stand face to face with the hero of Native American myths who became the major inspiration for artistic carvers of Tlingit, Tsimshian, Kwakiutl and Haida tribes. This cultural hero and the dominant symbol of American Northwest culture is the raven. In order to understand the symbolism of different forms of the raven, which we encounter both in the oral history and in Native American art works, it is, however, necessary to put the raven into the broader cultural context of native cultures of the Pacific Northwest (Ross 1994, Jacknis 2002, Brotherton 2008). The Northwest  Coast  Culture  Area,  known by anthropologists as the Salmon Area, is inhabited by the Kwakiutl, Tlingit, Haida, Bella Coola, Noot-

Historical Changes of the Raven

Two Tlingit girls Tsacotna and Natsanitna, wearing nose rings, near Copper River, Alaska, 1903.

ka, Tsimshian, Coast Salish, and Chinook tribes. These tribes belonging to several different  language  groups  are connected by the same  type of  culture which was formed under the influence of the local natural environment and subsistence bound to it. The coastal territory was covered with pines, spruce and juniper trees, the sea and the river provided a large variety of fish and marine animals, forests were rich in animals, fruit, and other edible berries. For the local Native American culture the hunter-gatherer subsistence

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was typical, where fishing was the most significant. The Northwest Native Americans fished in numerous rivers and on the open sea. Their sophisticated fishing technology allowed them to successfully fish cods, flounders, salmons, seals, sea otters and even whales. Specific features of this culture are also connected with the use of forests and masterly working of timber that was used to build homes, boats, totem poles, ceremonial artefacts and a large number of objects of everyday use. Typical cultural elements and complexes which were shared by the Northwest Native American tribes were: (1) villages constituted by large rectangular buildings, (2) woven garments such as tunics, skirts, cloaks, shawls, conical hats and furs from sea otters, (3) wooden canoes and big boats capable of sailing on the open sea, (4) carved totem poles depicting characters and figures of the ancestors associated with mythical events and (5) ritual artefacts decorated with carvings such as ceremonial masks. The Northwest Native Americans differed from other Native American cultures by their social organization and their distinctive festivals and rituals (Drucker 1965, Hays 1975, Allan 1977, Bancroft-Hunt 1988, 1992, Berlo Walens, Phillips 1998 Burkinshaw, Johnson 2004).

Tsimshian Indians in ceremonial dress, Benjamin Alfred Haldane.

Historical Changes of the Raven

The Pacific Northwest Coast area and its native inhabitants were alike all of America exposed to a strong acultural pressure from the expanding Western civilization. Among the first Europeans who visited and described this coastal area was the Russian naval captain Alexei Chirikov in 1741. In 1778 the English navigator James Cook met the local Native Americans and then, in the years 1792 to 1794, the British naval captain George Vancouver explored the entire coast. More intense and more regular contacts with the Northwest Native Americans were launched by the Russian fur traders, who set up their businesses in this area. Tragic consequences for the Native American culture were caused by the discovery of gold in British Columbia in 1866. The influx of white gold miners caused the widespread of smallpox which reduced the number of the local Native Americans from 150,000 to 40,000 people. It was not only the Native American population that was destructed but also the uniqueness and cultural diversity of the native Pacific Northwest cultures (Benedict 1934, Collingridge 2002, Layland 2013). Scientific effort to rescue and document the disappearing world of the Native American cultures is associated with the research of cultural anthropologists who, by way of living among the members of the studied tribes, were acquiring valuable information about the way of life of Native Americans. The leading figure was, from this point of view, in particular Franz Boas, who carried out an array of field research among the Northwest Native Americans. His efforts to understand and describe the essence of Native American cultures were followed by his pupil, the American cultural anthropologist Ruth Benedict, who processed the empirical data which Boas obtained in the course of his stay among the Kwakiutl. According to Benedict, each culture is analogous to human personality in a way that it has more or less consistent central configuration of thought and conduct. Culture gradually obtains its own characteristics through the preferred interests and objectives, emotional and intellectual stimuli and cultural patterns shared by members of a given society. Cultures do not differ simply by the presence or absence of a certain cultural element but also by the units being oriented to different directions. Benedict was convinced that a particular culture presents a system of cultural patterns that are built around one dominant configuration which imprints on each culture its unique and unrepeatable image. It is therefore possible to compare by analogy the configuration with an artistic style because it gives cultural elements its distinctive logic, order, and organization. She published her opinions on the essence of the Pacific Northwest culture in the book, Patterns of Culture (1934). According to Benedict, the Northwest Coast Native Americans share the Dionysian type of culture which she described and interpreted on the example of the Kwakiutl tribe members and their way of life. The basic principle and the central configuration of this Native American culture was, in her opinion, the fight for prestige which

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Kwakiutl Potlatch in Alert Bay, British Columbia, Major J. S. Matthews, ca. 1912.

projected in the form of perpetual rivalry. “Behaviour on the Northwest Coast was dominated at every point by the need to demonstrate the greatness of the individual and the inferiority of his rivals.“ (Benedict 1934: 215) The rivalry principle connected with individualism, eccentricity, aggression and continuous struggle for titles and social status, significantly influenced the religious, economic, political and private life of tribe members. Through the rituals, psychotropic substances, and dances these Native Americans were achieving also the state of intoxication and ecstasy, which were so typical for the Dionysian culture (Benedict 1934). The Kwakiutl people lived like other Pacific Northwest Native Americans in wooden houses, in villages lying close to the coast, surrounded by fir and cedar forests. Straits and fjords of the Vancouver Island provided a huge quantity of fish; the forests were rich in wildlife and forest fruits. Thanks to this, the Kwakiutl people were able to accumulate substantial wealth in the form of mats, blankets, baskets, canoes, dried fish, shells and animal teeth used as the currency. More than material possessions the symbolic values such as myths, songs, privileges, and titles, were highly regarded. The noble titles and privileges were considered the most valuable. The local tribal chief was never satisfied with the amount of respect he was given by his own adherents and the neighbouring chiefs. He could never be sure of his status. In addition,

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the ancestral titles he claimed belonged to his ancestors. Other people could trace back their origin to those ancestors and therefore they were entitled to compete with him for the tribal chief status. Each tribal chief therefore felt the need to justify and confirm his title. The legitimate means, which enabled that, were organizing potlatches − festive banquets at which the tribal chief generously entertained and gifted his rivals and his supporters with the most possible amount of blankets, furs, fish, berries and other valuables. Part of the potlatch was sometimes the destruction of his own property. The aim of this wasting was to humiliate opponents. In case the opponents did not want to be ashamed, they had to organize their own potlatch and pass out even more valuables than they had obtained. Potlatch was held not only when the tribe chief was demonstrating to deserve his status but also the urge to reach any higher title. Potlatch was therefore not dependent on the changing of the seasons, harvest or good hunting. It took place whenever the richest members of the tribe had enough property and wanted to get some new, more noble titles for themselves or their children (Benedict 1934, Boas 1935, 1966, 1974, Beck, Schneider 2013). The Dionysian type of culture was characteristic not only for the Kwakiutl tribe members but for the whole culture area of salmons. The typical features of the Dionysian culture connected with a continuous struggle for status, power and authority, individualism, eccentricity, passion and ecstasy are characteristic for one of the most distinct symbol of the Pacific Northwest culture, which is the Raven. Its sinister beak looks down at us from the totem poles, while its controversial nature is the subject of many mythological stories. The Raven represented for the Northwest Native Americans the impersonation of the fundamental paradoxes of human life in which the good blends with the evil, passion with intellect, nobleness with wickedness, and triumph with humiliation. Numerous myths about the Raven present him in two basic roles. The first role is bound to its ability to transform everything. The second role, which is associated with the Raven’s tendency to cheat, has found its expression in his designation of a trickster. The Raven is, in this respect, the holder of the bipolarity principle and its essence can be understood only in terms of binary contrasts, which are seen in his actions. The Raven is concurrently creator and destroyer, cultural hero and evildoer, the one who gives and takes away. Mythological stories about the Raven seem to be the objectification of contrasting personality dimensions that create the very essence of the human nature. The Raven as the topic of the Northwest Native American myths and the object of artistic creation was concurrently a projection screen showing the typical values and standards of the Pacific Northwest Dionysian culture. Additionally, the Kwakiutl desired to triumph over their rivals in the extravagant potlatches so did the Raven always strove for the triumph coupled with destruction, delights and chaos. From this per-

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spective, the Raven represents the Native American variation of the ancient God of wine, Dionysus, who loved intoxication, ecstasy, sensuality, physical pleasures and sexuality. The Raven by his actions also recalls the ancient titan Prometheus, as he brought the Sun, Moon, stars, rivers, sea tides, the first salmon and berries to people. The Raven was above all a wily trickster who, on behalf of his own satisfaction, did not hesitate to cheat, lie, steal, seduce, blaspheme, defile or transform reality (Radin 1956, Vizenor 1990, Shetterly, Shetterly 1991, Hynes, Doty 1993, McDermott 1993, Hyde 1998, Půtová 2010).

THE RAVEN AS A MYTHOLOGICAL HERO OF THE NORTHWEST NATIVE AMERICANS The Raven as a tool of the heavenly chief and the Creator (Nascakiyel) performs in many different stories under a number of different names and forms in the mythology of the Pacific Northwest Coast Native Americans. It is concurrently a hero completing the Creator work; a prankster who transmutes everything; a pleasure-seeking joker, a wicked tempter, a jolly scamp, a thoughtless adventurer as well as a noble and an airy-fairy dreamer. Wisdom, prudence, honour and morality were never the raven’s strengths. He was so obsessed with the desire for sex and erotic delights that some Native American stories present him as a creature whose attribute is such a long penis that it must be worn curled over his shoulder like a lasso. The raven was also well-known for his greediness since he did not hesitate to devour everything, including parts of his body. Among his typical personality features were conceit, mendacity and slyness which he did not hesitate to use against both his friends and his enemies. The raven as a weariless wanderer and incurable fumbler was very often the victim of his own tricks, naivety and stupidity. The raven’s actions present a colourful kaleidoscope of mutually conflicting activities in which he appears both in the role of a demiurge, a benefactor, a noble hero, a monster killer, the protector of people, as well as in the role of a cunning swindler, a perpetrator of obscene acts, a thief, an assassin, magician, seducer, cannibal and a blockhead. The raven personality is a demonstration of the “grotesque dualism“, where animality mingles with divinity, nobility with wickedness, and tragedy with humor (Radin 1956, Goodchild 1991). Considering the raven’s personality features from the perspective of the binary contrasts we learn that the raven is concurrently the creator and destroyer, triumphing and humiliated, a noble and villainous cultural hero of Native American myths. We can meet the raven as a cultural hero in the Native American mythology of the Haida tribe inhabiting the Northwest Coast of Canada. The stories of these Native Americans say that after the “Creator” created the Earth, the

Historical Changes of the Raven

Haida Raven, Bill Reid, silkscreen, 1972.

raven was wandering the world finishing the work of creation. So the conclusion came that the raven was worthy of the birth of the first men. So it happened on the beach where the raven overheard muffled sounds coming from a huge shell. The raven opened the shell and found human new-borns in it – the first people and ascendants of all Haidu people. At that time the world was shrouded in darkness. Besides people the world was inhabited by ghosts and animals. The animals were more powerful than humans as they could transform their bodies into a variety of forms. Even more dangerous were the invisible ghosts since they consumed human bodies and their souls. The raven decided to quit this dangerous time of darkness by deceitfully stealing the Sun from the heavenly chief. First, in disguise, the raven impregnated the daughter of his uncle, the heavenly chief, and then he transformed to her son and began to disturb the grandfather with a baby’s cry. The heavenly chief, who loved his grandson dearly, wanted to comfort him by offering him a box with a hidden Moon inside it as a toy. The raven hidden in the child removed the lid from the box and the Moon escaped onto the night sky. The subsequent baby’s cry once again attracted his grandfather, who gave him a bigger box to play with. This time the Sun and the daylight were impris-

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oned in it. The raven did not hesitate, grabbed the box and escaped from the heavenly chief through the hole in the roof, which led the smoke from the fireplace. So it happened that raven’s originally white feathers turned black. After the raven released the Sun onto the sky, he travelled the world with an open box and brought all people the daylight and fire. This substantially changed, until then, very hard life of human beings. The ghosts, who hated light, fled dark areas. The animals have also lost their former power as they could transmute to people only in secret. Thanks to the raven’s “gifts,” people started to face the ghosts and animals and began to create culture, cultivate wisdom and develop skills. The raven as a cultural hero, enabled people to establish an equal relationship with ghosts, animals and plants (Brinton 1976, Erdoes, Ortiz 1984, Campbell 1991, Goodchild 1991, Dixon, Watts 1992, Erdoes, Ortiz 1998, Leeming, Page 1998). The raven is not only a positive cultural hero since he is deeply controlled by his dark side connected with the animalistic lust and wickedness. As it was already mentioned, the raven is by its nature a trickster, who in its scramble for triumph and sensual delights, lies, steals, cheats and ruins. His destructive desire to transform all turns him to anti-hero. In this respect, the raven is a liminal being in which the sacral and profane worlds are mutually intertwined. This is due to the fact that trickster is concurrently a god, a human being and an animal. The raven in the role of a trickster, acting as a philanthropist, a prankster and a fool, does not respect the recognized standards and values, brings chaos and destroys social order. By his acts the raven, quite paradoxically, clarifies, legitimizes and revitalizes these recognized values and norms. By bringing chaos to order, the raven creates a new complementary reality which, as a whole, expresses the dialectical unity of the struggle of opposites. The message of the mythological stories about the raven can be seen also from an ontogenetic perspective as life’s journey on whose start a man makes mistakes from which he learns by controlling more his unaware impulses and animalistic desires, and gradually transforms them to a controlled socio-cultural activity (McDermott 1993). The phenomenon of the raven as a trickster can also be analysed from the perspective of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis and Carl Gustav Jung’s depth psychology and his theory of archetypes. According to Jung the archetypes constitute the innate species-typical universal images of psychological behaviour and basic elements of the collective unconsciousness which appear in the form of mutually shared primordial world-pictures. One of the archetypes that can be linked to trickster is “shadow” − collective personification of human animality and ability to destructively transform the world. As Sigmund Freud, the founder of Psychoanalysis, noted in this context, a trickster can be seen as a gateway to the Id –the unconscious layer of human personality, controlled by an instinctual desire for pleasure and destruc-

Historical Changes of the Raven

tion. The raven in the role of a prankster represents the personification of instinctive and unconscious oral, anal and genital desires. The driving force of trickster acts is, therefore, the revolt against restrictive power of culture which repressively limits human impulses and human nature. Considering the raven an archetype and concurrently a cultural universal term in transcultural perspective, we learn that the trickster phenomenon and attributes connected with it can be found in various world cultures (Radin 1956, Jacobi 1973, Jung 1999). The trickster attributes are in the Scandinavian mythology found in Loki, in the ancient myths in the Greek god Hermes and the Roman Mercury, in Africa in such fairy creatures as Eshu and Legba and in China it can be found in tales cult hero known as Monkey King. The message of the Native American myths about the raven performing as a trickster is, in this respect, timeless. Stories about the raven are, that is to say, the embodiment of fundamental paradoxes of human life. With some exaggeration it can even be noted that meeting the Raven is like a look in the mirror. The raven and the trickster bound to it are still a part of each of us. (Translated by Kateřina Baušteinová)

BIBLIOGRAPHY Allan, Lobb. 1977. Indians of the Northwest Coast. Seattle: Hancock House Publishers Inc.  Bancroft-Hunt, Norman. 1988. People of the Totem: The Indians of the Pacific Northwest. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Beck, Mary Giraudo. 2013. Potlatch: Native Ceremony and Myth on the Northwest Coast. Anchorage: Alaska Northwest Books. Benedict, Ruth. 1934. Patterns of Culture. New York: Houghton Mifflin. Berlo, Janet Catherine − Phillips, Ruth B. 1998. Native North American Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Boas, Franz. 1898. The Jesup North Pacific Expedition. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 1, 1: 3–6. Boas, Franz. 1935. Kwakiutl Culture as Reflected in Mythology. New York: The American Folklore Society. Boas, Franz. 1966. Kwakiutl Ethnography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Bruggmann, Maximilien. 1989. Indians of the Northwest Coast. New York: Facts on File Publications. Brinton, Daniel G. 1976. The Myths of the New World: Treatise on the Symbolism and Mythology of the Red Race of America. New York: Multimedia Publishing. Brotherton, Barbara (Ed.). 2008. S’abadeb. The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. Campbell, Joseph. 1991. The Power of Myth. New York: Anchor Books. Collingridge, Vanessa. 2002. Captain Cook: Obsession and Betrayal in the New World. London: Ebury Press. Dixon, Ann − Watts, James.  1992. How Raven Brought Light to People. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.

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Drucker, Philip. 1965. Cultures of the North Pacific Coast. San Francisco: Chandler Publishers. Erdoes, Richard − Ortiz, Alfonso. 1984. American Indian Myths and Legends. New York: Pantheon Books. Erdoes, Richard − Ortiz, Alfonso. 1998. American Indian Trickster: Tales. New York: Penguin Books. Goodchild, Peter. 1991. Raven Tales: Traditional Stories of Native Peoples. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. Hays, Hoffman Reynolds. 1975. Children of the Raven: The Seven Indian Nations of the Northwest Coast. New York: McGraw-Hill. Hyde, Lewis. 1998. Trickster Makes this World. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Hynes, William J. − Doty, William G. 1993. Mythical Trickster Figures, Contours, Contexts, and Criticisms. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. Jacobi, Jolande. 1973. The Psychology of C. G. Jung: An Introduction with Illustrations. New Haven and London: Yale University Press Jacknis, Ira. 2002. The Storage Box of Tradition: Kwakiutl Art, Anthropologists, and Museums, 1881– 1981. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. Johnson, Michael – Burkinshaw, Jane. 2004. Native Tribes of the North and Northwest Coast. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens. Jung, Carl G. 1999. Snové symboly individuačního procesu. Brno: Nakladatelství Tomáše Janečka. Layland, Michael. 2013. The Land of Heart’s Delight: Early Maps and Charts of Vancouver Island. Victoria: TouchWood. Leeming, David − Page, Jake. 1998. The Mythology of Native North America. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1943. The Art of the Northwest Coast at the American Museum of Natural History. Gazette des Beaux-Arts 24: 175–182. McDermott, Gerald. 1993. Raven: A Pacific Coast Northwest. San Diego: Harcourt Brace and Company. Půtová, Barbora. 2010. Havran jako kulturní fenomén. Anthropologia Integra 1, 1: 43−56. Radin, Paul. 1956. The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology. New York: Schocken Books. Ross, Stephen David. 1994. Art and Its Significance: An Anthology of Aesthetic Theory. Albany: State University of New York. Shetterly, Susan Hand − Shetterly, Robert. 1991. Raven’s Light: A Myth from the People of the Northwest Coast. New York: Atheneum.  Schneider, Harold K. 1974. Economic Man: The Anthropology of Economics. New York: Free Press. Vizenor, Gerald. 1990. Trickster Discourse. American Indian Quarterly 14: 277−288. Walens, Stanley. 1992. The Kwakiutl. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.

HISTORICAL CHANGES OF THE COYOTE: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON THE TRICKSTER BARBORA PŮTOVÁ

The coyote is a canid that has become a mythological, religious, artistic and literary motif of narrative stories of North American Indians. In the myths of Indian tribes (such as Karuk, Miwok, Maidu, Pomo, Crow Indians, Winnebago, Menominee, Chinook, Salish, Nez Perce, Mescalero and Shuswap), the coyote plays various roles, which mostly include Trickster, cultural hero and the Creator (Walker 1998, Leeming 2009). The actual zoological model of these myths – the coyote – originally lived in the northern part of Mesoamerica but later spread to the entire territory of North America and Alaska. It only cannot be found in the western part of Alaska, Northern Canada and American Southeast including Florida. In the terms of zoological taxonomy, the coyote (Canis latrans) is proximate to the Golden jackal (Canis aureus), the Grey wolf (Canis lupus) and the domestic dog (Canis lupus f. familiaris), because all of them belong to the same family. The coyote’s stature is slight and slender. It is not taller than one meter (58–66 cm) and its weight varies from 10 to 19 kilograms. The coyote is distinguished by a bushy tail and sharppointed muzzle (Dobie 1961, Anděra 1999). The result of the fact that the coyote eats cadaver, attacks other animals and adapts to demanding environmental conditions without greater problems is that it is also attributed with negative features as well (Werness 2003). For example, a deceitful, unfair and contemptible individual is, in metaphorical sense, called a  coyote. Despite negative connotations evoked by the word coyote, scientists do not question its ability to survive. This may be the reason why we encounter following characteristics in scientific literature: “its fur is very thick and beautiful; it is extraordinarily smart and compensates the lack of physical strength by tricks” (Kvapil 2001: 89). The synonyms for the word coyote include American jackal, forest wolf and prairie wolf. The coyote is also a slang expression in the American Southwest, where it refers to an individual paid for illegal contraband trade over the Mexican-American border (Půtová 2011). In the mythology of Indians of American Northwest, the coyote represents a unique cultural construct symbolizing the bipolar contrasts of human personality, namely the principles of good and evil. In the stories of these Indians, it usually plays the role of Trickster – an amorphous being who can transform or incarnate into any creature, animal or person. Trickster constitutes a new world, reconfirms the social system, lives on the threshold

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In some Native American myths, the coyote is a respected and admired culture hero helping people.

(liminality), personifies the process of change as well as creative mind and spontaneity, ties together the worlds of nature, gods and humans and establishes the fourth, independent dimension of space and time (Turner 1995). Trickster personifies a divine as well as animal being, whose capabilities include superhuman powers as well as weaknesses relating to potential imprudence, ignorance or foolishness (Hynes 1993, Ullrich 2002, Bastian, Mitchell 2004). Trickster “is the exponent and personification of the life of the body: never wholly subdued, ruled by lust and hunger, forever running into pain and injury, cunning and stupid in action” (Radin, Kerényi, Jung 1956: 185). From a transcultural point of view, Trickster can be compared to the antique Titan Prometheus, West African god Anansi or the Polynesian demigod Māui. In the mythological stories of American Indians, the coyote uses its ingenuity, wits and playfulness (Luckert 1979, Clinton 2005). At the same time, he is able to destruct the restraining bonds of desirable values and official standards of given culture and transform into a carefree satyr, cormorant, cannibal, thief, fiddler, bungler and joker. He shares Trickster’s

Historical Changes of the Coyote

role with the raven, which is just as flagitious as the coyote and, within its feeding orientation, eats cadaver as well. French social anthropologist and ethnologist Claude Lévi-Strauss even described the coyote and the raven as two reconciling antipoles and mediators between life and death. Lévi-Strauss considers the coyote a scavenger that, on one hand, lies between hunting and food-gathering and, on the other hand, between agriculture and warfare (1963: 222). In the mythology of North American Indians, the coyote created the world, animals and people, or procured fire. According to the myths of the Miwok tribe, the coyote summoned all the animals after creating the world. His intention was to create people and hold counsel about their appearance. Each of the animals projected their own corporal characteristics to the “image of a human being.” In the end, the coyote’s egoism prevailed. Regardless the wishes of the other animals, the coyote created people in his own image – smart and ingenious (Leeming 2009, Erdoes, Ortiz, 1984). In the myth of the Chelan tribe, the world and animals were the work of the Creator who had decided to create people. However, some animals including the coyote were not satisfied with their names. This was the first revolt against the will and order of the Creator, who established the coyote as the leader, peace keeper and warden of other animals. The coyote only adhered to His order until the he formulated his own law. The Creator punished the coyote for this rebellion by expelling him to a remote island. As a result, wolves became the leaders of animals. We can also encounter the motif of punishment in the myths of Maidu, this time in the context of human ageing. According to these Indians, the coyote is directly responsible for the presence of death in human life. Maidu myths tell a story where people, when they started to feel that they were growing old, dived into a lagoon and became younger after they emerged. However, the coyote incited human beings to learn about death. He was punished by the death of his own son for his imprudence. Although he asked the Creator to give his son’s life back, he did not convince the Creator: “It’s too late now, it’s too late now” (Snyder 1977: 70). The message of this topical layer of myths about the coyote is more than timeless, since the rebels have to pay for any creative act, revolt against the social order and conformity as well as desire for knowledge (Merton 1968, 2007). A completely different dimension of the inconsistent personality of the coyote is presented in the myths telling about its merits of procuring fire. In the stories of North American Indians, the coyote played the same role as Prometheus in Greece, because he enabled humans to cross the border between the nature and culture. For example, one of Mescalero myths tells us that fire was initially unavailable for humans because it was guarded by a swarm of flies in a protected circle. The brave coyote tucked its tail into this circle; it caught fire and spread the flames beyond the border of the circle. Another

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version of the story of the coyote as the mythical torchbearer can be found in a myth of Navajo, according to which the coyote stole a fire stick from the Fire God and travels through the four corners of the Earth and finally gives the fire to the first humans (Eliade 1987, McDermott 1994, Griffin-Pierce 1995). Another important personality trait of the coyote that we often encounter in the myths of American Indians is its desire for forbidden sex. The coyote’s temptation and longing for intimate connection with tabooed women was so strong that he even simulated others’ identities. For example, it was able to take on the appearance of its brother, grandson or brother-in-law in order to be able to make love to their wives. The coyote looked for sexual romances with young girls as well as close relatives. The myths of Sanpoil, where the coyote married its own daughter, reflect its incest tendencies. Pima myths illustrate the coyote’s ability to use tricks to achieve sexual satisfaction. For example, in one of the mythological stories, the coyote pretended to be injured and asked his sister-in-law to carry him on her back. This way he got to a convenient position of which he immediately took advantage and easily achieved sexual intercourse (Lévi-Strauss 1981). Kalapalo mythology includes a story in which the coyote did not hesitate to seduce his brother Puma’s wife. After the fornication was revealed, Puma pulled out two babies – his own and his brother’s – from his wife’s stomach. While he had his own baby carried to heaven by a sparrow-hawk, he threw the coyote’s baby into a river. In another role, the coyote faces or yields to baits, becomes a subject of tricks and mockery or its own pride, greediness and lust. The Klickitat myths, for example, tell us about the coyote’s sexually motivated inclination to lie down next to its daughters-in-law. The coyote would kindle a fire that produced sparkles. Daughters-in-law hitched up their clothes in their fear, revealing their charm, which was a source of pleasure for the coyote. Another version of the coyote’s sexual trickery is presented in the myths of Crow Indians (Ramsey 1980, Leeming 2009). According to one of their stories, the coyote hid in a strawberry patch, only letting the tip of his penis protrude from the bushes. One of the young girls who came to pick forest fruit commented on the singularity and strangeness of this peculiar strawberry she failed to pluck out from the soil by the following words: “It is completely different from the others... This one must have its roots too strong, she thought.” (Topol 2008: 104) The coyote sets off to get beautiful girls in Ponca myths as well. According to one of the stories, he visited, driven by his lust for beautiful women, a witch and her two daughters. These women had very bad reputation because none of their visitors had ever returned. However, the coyote succeeded in overcoming the difficulties of the visit. At night, his stepdaughter, a prisoner of the witch, disclosed to him the pitfall the witch had prepared for him. The danger was waiting for him in the girls’ vaginas, which were full of teeth. The coyote did not hesitate and killed the old witch and one of her daughters. In the morn-

Historical Changes of the Coyote

ing, he took the other young girl away with him and removed the dangerous teeth from her vagina, “leaving just one blunt tooth that was very thrilling when making love” (Bastian, Mitchell 2004: 74). Another version of the coyote’s quests to find attractive women is presented in the myths about the coyote’s courtship, whose aim was not only sexual pleasure but also having a legitimate bride. For example, in a Wasco story, the coyote took the form of a young man and proposed to a beautiful young daughter of the chief, whose future husband was to become the chief ’s successor. The present chief did not require any property but only happiness of his daughter. The coyote strove to gain the girl’s heart and, at her request, created a lagoon where she could bath in private. The girl’s happiness led to marriage. However, there were two old women that used to sit on the mountain tops, who watched the girl bathing. They laughed and divulged her secret. The miserable girl submerged into the Great River. However, the coyote managed to catch her on his canoe. Both of them were transformed into summer ducks on the bank of the great water, where the Sun sets in the evening (Ramsey 1980, Clark, Edmonds 1981). We can also encounter the motif of courtship in the mythological story of the Sahaptin people, which tells us about the coyote who proposed to a girl as a venison carrier. The woman wanted to marry a  distinguished man. First, the coyote offered her his older brother, the Eagle, whose livelihood was hunting. However, the Eagle rejected the woman and the coyote decided to marry her himself. But the woman rather transformed into a salmon instead. The coyote, rejected and offended, proclaimed that no woman would strive to marry a distinguished man on her own any more. Only men will look for and propose to their potential wives. “And henceforth, no woman will on her own initiative marry a nobleman. In future men will seek woman, and no woman will go about seeking men” (Lévi-Strauss 1981: 281). If we think about this message in terms of the importance of exogamous exchange of women in preliterate societies as an instrument of settling friendly alliances between men, it is obvious that the stories about the coyote’s courtship reflect the asymmetric position of women in preliterate societies. Despite women’s attractiveness and potential love they can evoke, it is the man who decides on woman’s fortune in the end. Another mythological form of the coyote is its image of warrior, cannibal or hunter. The coyote combating evil can be found, for example, in Salish myths, where he kills monsters (Erdoes, Ortiz 1984). On the contrary, in the myths of Chiricahua people, he is perceived as an evil being because it eats humans. In the mythology of North American Indians, there is even a story about a coyote who tricked an eagle-owl to be able to kill and eat humans at the topmost point of a mountain saddle. The targets of the coyote’s ravenous appetence were not only humans but also salmons. When hunting, the

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coyote did not hesitate to utilize trickery and even deceive the organs of his own body. Salish mythology contains a spicy story: the coyote used his own buttocks for fishing; he took them out of his body for this purpose. However, he did not share the harvest with them and ate it himself. His deceived buttocks shot their lips indignantly, seeing this betrayal. That is why human buttocks differ from the mouth, although they had initially been alike (LéviStrauss 1981). In the myths of Shasta Indians, the coyote went fishing with Indians themselves. On his way back, he wanted to take a rest; he fell asleep and hives of yellow jackets (hornets) stole the salmons he had caught. Therefore he returned to the Indians and caught some more salmons. On his way back, however, the same incident occurred. Shasta people decided to repel the hornets and gave the coyote another back-pack of salmons. The hornets stole the salmons again and flew into the Shasta Mountain with the salmon meat. Indians decided to smoke them out; a turtle helped them by covering the hole on the top of the mountain with its shell. The mountain exploded and boiled and smoked salmons flew out of the hole (Clark, Edmonds 1981). In this context, we may say that the alliance between the coyote and humans allowed the victory of culture over nature in terms of Lévi-Strauss’ dichotomous relationship and transition from raw meat to cooked meat (1983). One of the key categories of primitive preliterate societies functioning was mutually advantageous reciprocal exchange. The coyote, similarly, likes to exchange in the myths told by people. In his case, however, the transactions take absurd forms. For example, in one of the stories he exchanged his genitalia for a penis that enabled him to cut a tree just like with an axe. Unfortunately, there were no trees to cut for the penis so it directed its force against the coyote himself. The coyote even exchanged his eyes with a juggler. After he threw them in the air, a vulture took them away in its beak. The coyote immediately made himself new eyes from flowers. These, however, faded and the coyote went blind. He did not hesitate to exchange the blind eyes with a snail, which lost its sight forever (Ramsey 1980, Lévi-Strauss 1981). Stories of the coyote’s exchanges carry timeless messages in them. In preliterate societies, just as in the postmodern era, it is hasty and short-sighted to count on immediate benefit and profit when exchanging. In long-term, the nature punishes us hard for our desire for exponential growth and irresponsible satisfaction of our needs (Mander 1991). Mythological systems of North American Indians did not cease to exist with native cultures that had created them. The myths of American Indians became a part of mankind’s cultural heritage and, in the 20th century, a source of inspiration for literary and artistic work of authors whose origins are bound to the autochthonic inhabitants of North America. For example, the Canadian playwright and poet of Indian origin (Delaware) Daniel David Moses brings back in his play Coyote City the motif of Indians’ right and longing

Historical Changes of the Coyote

for ownership of the land where their bodies have been buried. Johnny calls his girlfriend Lena six months after his death because his soul cannot leave for the realm of the dead in peace. The play presents an analogy between Johnny’s destiny and the legend of Nez Perce that tells a story about a coyote and his dead wife. The coyote suffers after his wife’s death and sets off to the realm of the dead to ask for her return. His wish is heard under the condition that he does not touch her on their way home. The coyote does not adhere to this rule and loses her forever (Moses 1990, Walker, Matthews 1998). Also, the motif of the coyote as Trickster can be found in the novels and short stories by the Canadian writer of Indian (Cherokee) and Greek origin, Thomas King. American writer Michael Chabon presented in his book Summerland (2002) an allegory of the world as a great tree, whose branches symbolize individual worlds. Nobody can enter or leave the territory of the Glowing Land, which is analogical to Indians’ spiritual realm, ruled authoritatively by the coyote (Chabon 2008). The level of flexibility and resilience of the coyote’s organism was, in the postmodern society, an inspiration for being matched with the cyborg – a living creature that synthesizes a  body and a  machine and is enhanced with mechanical or electronic systems. The cyborg represents a liberated “human” being that is the possessor of the perfect existence. Being similar to the cyborg provides the hope for escaping the real world and right to life, whose structures are determined by the individual on his free choice. Such choice can also turn into disembodiment and vanishing of the body, which enables full submission to the cyberspace making all mental and corporal limits relative (Tomas 1996, Kelemen 2001). The coyote in the role of the cyborg was presented, for example, by the American sci-fi writer L. Neil Smith in his novel The Nagasaki Vector (1983), or by the American sci-fi and fantasy writer Kage Baker in her book Sky Coyote (1999). The American writer Christopher Moore used the motifs of transformation, reincarnation and wide variability of Indian mythology in his novel Coyote Blue. He put in contrast the coyote as jesting divinity and the American man, personifying the perfect self-control and discipline. The coyote becomes a protective ghost of Sam Hunter, an intelligent and reasonable businessman. He has the ability to arbitrarily take on animal or human (Indian) form and he converts the natural order of the world. With his unpredictable behaviour, for example, he seduces Sam’s bad-looking secretary. However, Sam catches them in the act and attacks the Indian in his anger. The Indian falls to the ground, pretending to be dead, and his body begins to transform: “His eyes went wide with terror as the arms and legs shortened and grew fur, the face grew into a whiskered muzzle, and the spinal column lengthened and grew into a bushy tail. Before Sam could catch his breath again he was looking at the body of a huge black coyote.” (2008: 76)

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Low relief depicting coyote, jaguar and eagles feasting on human hearts. Pyramid B, also called Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, at Tula.

The polarity of various elements of the coyote’s personality inspired European writers as well. The Swiss writer of German origin Herman Hesse denounced conformal bourgeoisie and human ordinariness through the character of the highbrow Harry Haller in his book Der Steppenwolf. Harry is torn between two incongruous subjects – a human and a prairie wolf – which drive him to depression, suicidal intentions and animalism or addiction to alcohol and drugs. The prairie wolf “felt himself to be utterly alone, whether as an oddball and sick hermit, or as an above-normal, genius-level capacity individual raised above the little norms of the average man’s life” (2010: 40). Untamed and dangerous character of a prairie wolf results in disunity and ambivalence of Harry Haller’s life, which culminates with a murder. In fine art, the coyote is documented in Toltec and Aztec culture that considered the coyote a symbol of war and the cunning. The appearance of the coyote was taken on by the Aztec god of music, dance and singing, Huehuecoyotl. A dancing coyote with human limbs can be found in the Aztec manuscript Codex Borbonicus (1507). Also the treacherous, omnipresent and omniscient Aztec god of war and night, Tezcatlipoca, transformed into a coyote, who was the main opponent of the god of science and art, Quetzalcoatl, in many Aztec myths. The coyote symbolized its chthonic aspect (Werness 2003, Křížová 2005). The Indians of the Huichol tribe in the Sierra Madre Moun-

Historical Changes of the Coyote

I Like America and America Likes Me (1974), Joseph Beuys spent three days with a coyote.

tains use the motif of the coyote until today for creation of artistic artefacts, for example wooden sculptures or masks decorated with glass beads.1 The Mexican artist Mario Castellanos used pop-art symbology in combination with Zapotec motifs in his wooden sculpture named Coyote. The Canadian artist Joy Austin Kirkwood imprinted the postmodern character to the multimedia object Coyote (2003). In the performance Coyote: I Like America and America Likes Me (1974) by the German sculptor and painter Joseph Heinrich Beuys, the coyote became the instrument of unpredictable events. The artist spent three days with a coyote in an empty room in the René Block gallery in New York. The course of the performance is documented by photographs, on most of them Beuys is covered and wrapped in felt as a shepherd with a crook. He watched the coyote, read poetry to it, or tried to imitate its behaviour. Demonstrations of the coyote’s caution and aggressiveness resulted in its debasement as a symbol of destruction done by white men to the American continent and autochthonous Indian population. The dialogue between Beuys and the coyote referred to a medicine man who had close relationship to animals, understood their 1

Prior to the coming of European missioners, these artifacts were covered with parts of shells, small stones and seeds (Muller 1978).

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speech and transformed into their form (Fischer-Lichte 1997, Vojtěchovský, Vostrý 2008). In this connection, we can mention that coyote skin as a headdress with full skull, tail, teeth or claws can be part of the shaman’s ritual equipment. Tanned coyote leather was also worn by scalped men who survived the cruel scalping custom, popular among North American Indians (Zelený 1994, Perkins 1997). The coyote also entered the world of postmodern animated shows. The American animator and cartoon artist Chuck Jones is the author of the characters of the American animated series Will E. Coyote and Road Runner (since 1949), where an unyielding coyote strives to catch up with a swift and quick bird. This cuckoo2, fleeing along desert roads and making a meep-meep sound, always outsmarts the coyote, who usually becomes the victim of its own traps in a number of the episodes (Dahl 1988). The coyote stared in the American series The Simpsons (since 1987), created by the American cartoonist and screenwriter Matthew Abram Groening. In the episode The Mysterious Voyage of Homer (El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer, 9th episode, 8th series, 1997), Homer eats chilli peppers and sets off to a trip for knowledge in hallucination. On a pyramid, he encounters a mystic coyote who becomes his spiritual mentor. The coyote encourages Homer to achieve peace of mind. During their conversation, he suddenly bites Homer’s trouser leg. After being repelled by Homer, he apologizes: “Sorry, I am a coyote” (Turner 2004). What all can the coyote become? What is its transcultural message overlapping boundaries of mythology, science, literature, TV shows as well as fine art? Diverse variations on the topic of the coyote can be interpreted as a universal message about the multidimensional character of human nature – a semiotic text telling us a never ending story about human beings who can be both, evil and good, reasonable and irrational, wise and silly, egoistic and altruistic.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Anděra, Miloš. 1999. České názvy živočichů II. Savci (Mammalia). Prague: Národní muzeum. Bastian, Dawn E. − Mitchell, Judy K. 2004. Handbook of Native American Mythology. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. Clark, Ella E. − Edmonds, Margot (Eds.). 1989. Voices of the Winds: Native American Legends. New York: Facts on File. Clinton, Esther. 2005. The Trickster, Various Motifs. In Jane Garry, Hasan M. El-Shamy (Eds.). Archetypes and Motifs in Folklore and Literature: A Handbook. Pp. 472−480. New York: Armonk. Dahl, Evelyn. 1988. Coyote Tales from the Indian Pueblos. Santa Fe: Sunstone Press.

2

Road runner is actually an American name for Geococcyx californianus, which is a big terrestrial cuckoo (51–61 cm) that can run at a  speed of 24–32  km/h when fleeing or hunting of lizards, snakes, birds and invertebrates.

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Dobie, Frank. 1961. The Voice of the Coyote. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Eliade, Mircea. 1987. The Encyclopedia of Religion IV. Collier Macmillian: New York. Erdoes, Richard − Ortiz, Alfonso (Eds.). 1984. American Indian Myths and Legends. New York: Panthon Books. Fischer-Lichte, Erika. 1997. The Show and the Gaze of Theatre: A European Perspective. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. Griffin-Pierce, Trudy. 1995. Earth Is My Mother, Sky Is My Father: Space, Time and Astronomy. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. Hesse, Hermann. 2010. Steppenwolf. New York: Algora Publishing Hynes, William J. 1993. Mapping the Characteristics of Mythic Tricksters: A Heuristic Guide. In William J. Hynes, William G. Doty (Eds.). Mythical Trickster Figures: Contours, Contexts and Criticisms. Pp. 34–42. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press. Chabon, Michael. 2002. Summerland. London: Harper Perennial. Jordan, Michael. 1993. Encyclopedia of Gods: Over 2500 Deities of the World. New York: Facts on File. Kelemen, Jozef. 2001. Kybergolem: Eseje o cestě Adama ke Kyborgovi. Olomouc: Votobia. Křížová, Markéta. 2005. Aztékové: Půvab a krutost indiánské civilizace. Prague: Aleš Skřivan ml. Kvapil, Antonín. 2001. Malý Brehm: Savci. Prague: Levné knihy KMa. Leeming, David Adams. 2009. Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia I. Greenwood: ABC-CLIO. Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1963. Structural Anthropology. New York: Basic Books. Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1981. The Naked Man: Mythologiques IV. New York: Harper & Row. Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1983. The Raw and the Cooked: Mythologiques I. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Luckert, Karl. 1979. Coyoteway. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Mander, Jerry. 1991. In the Absence of the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. McDermott, Gerald. 1994. Coyote: A Trickster Tale from the American Southwest. New York: Harcourt. Merton, Robert King. 1968. Social Theory and Social Structure. New York: The Free Press. Merton, Robert King. 2007. Studie ze sociologické teorie. Prague: Sociologické nakladatelství. Moore, Christopher. 2008. Coyote Blue. New York: Simon & Schuster. Moses, Daniel David. 1990. Coyote City: A Play in Two Acts. Stratford: Williams-Wallace. Muller, Karl. 1978. Huichol Art and Acculturation. In Kathleen Berrin (Ed.). Art of the Huichol Indians. Pp. 84–100. New York: Harry N. Abrams. Perkins, John. 1997. Shapeshifting: Shamanic Techniques for Global and Personal Transformation. Rochester: Destiny Books. Půtová, Barbora. 2011. Kojot jako kulturní fenomén. Anthropologia integra 2, 1: 89−95. Radin, Paul, Kerényi − Karl, Jung, Carl Gustav. 1956. The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology. New York: Philosophical library. Ramsey, Jarold (Ed.). 1980. Coyote Was Gong There: Indian Literature of the Oregon Country. Seattle: University of Washington press. Smith, David Lee. 1997. Folklore of the Winnebago Tribe. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Snyder, Gary. 1977. Old Ways: Six Essays. San Francisco: City Lights Books. Tomas, David. 1996. Feedback and Cybernetics: Reimaging the Body in the Age of the Cyborg. In Roger Burrows, Mike Featherstone (Eds.). Cyberspace/Cyberbodies/Cyberpunk: Cultures of Technological Embodiment. Pp. 21–43. London: Sage Publications. Topol, Jáchym. 2008. Trnová dívka: Příběhy severoamerických Indiánů. Prague: Torst. Turner, Chris. 2004. Planet Simpson: How A Cartoon Masterpiece Defined A Generation. Cambridge: Da Capo Press. Turner, Victor W. 1995. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Chicago: Aldine Trans­ actions. Ullrich, Jan F. 2002. Mýty Lakotů aneb Když ještě po zemi chodil Iktómi. Prague: Argo.

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Vojtěchovský, Miroslav − Vostrý, Jaroslav. 2008. Obraz a příběh: Scéničnost ve výtvarném a dramatickém umění. Prague: Nakladatelství KANT – Karel Jedlický. Walker, Deward W. (Ed.). 1998. Handbook of North American Indians XII.: Plains. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. Walker, Deward E. − Matthews, Daniel N. 1998. Nez Perce Coyote Tales: The Myth Cycle. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Werness, Hope D. 2003. The Continuum Encyclopedia of Animal Symbolism in World Art. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. Zelený, Mnislav. 1994. Indiánská encyklopedie: Indiáni tří Amerik. Prague: Albatros.

QUETZALCOATL AND HUMAN SACRIFICE ZUZANA MARIE KOSTIĆOVÁ

Quetzalcoatl is one of the topics that has fascinated many a scholar around the world. Not only because Quetzalcoatl seems to be so different from the other Aztec gods, mostly too dark and cruel for the contemporary mind, but also for all the inner paradoxes that fill the mythic narratives connected with Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, demiurge and the god-king of paradisiacal Tollan. While there is indeed a giant corpus of scholarly work considering this symbol-man-king-demiurge-god and all his impact on Mesoamerica since the first great Olmec serpent with feathers on its head towering above a scribe on La Venta monument 19, this article sets out to explore a small portion of this wide topic. Namely, the late Aztec account about the fall of Tollan, particularly with regards to the cultic reform that Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl supposedly initiated.

THE PRIEST WHO FORBADE HUMAN SACRIFICE The abolition of human sacrifice is one of the most discussed paradoxes of the myth of the downfall of the Toltec Empire. As is widely known, this version contrasts not only with other non-Aztec accounts of postclassical Feathered Serpent (especially the Postclassic Maya), in which the deity mostly appears as the chief promoter of human sacrifice, but also with the cult of Aztec Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl himself, who required regular offerings of human lives (Kostićová 2009). Moreover, in this version of Quetzalcoatl’s life, the fall of Tollan is intimately linked with the new cultic practices, which, as we can see in the Codex Chimalpopoca, were more focused on auto-sacrificial and purification techniques of the sacred ruler and high priesthood, giving the gods only minor offerings of snakes, butterflies, flowers and small animals. Anales de Cuauhtitlan explicitly state that los demonios (Aztec gods) tried to convince Quetzalcoatl to introduce human sacrifice again and since all intents failed, Tezcatlipoca was sent to bring the ruler down and reinstall the old cultic practices (Códice Chimalpopoca 1975; see also Brundage 1983, Caso 2000, Nicholson 2001, Graulich 2002). An opposition to the sacrifice of human beings is such a unique and isolated phenomenon in Mesoamerica that it naturally provoked many speculations,

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commentaries and theories. The original reaction of the conquistadores and first missionaries in America has been an awakened interest that gradually changed into appreciation and adoption of Quetzalcoatl in their own, deeply Christian, worldview. Jacques Lafaye’s brilliant analysis of post-conquest attitudes towards the Plumed Serpent clearly shows how the strange, white, barbed, penitent priest slowly turned to an Apostol of the Americas, Saint Thomas or Jesus himself, preaching the gospel to the indigenous populaces of the New World (Lafaye 1991). Contemporary scholars have naturally reflected upon this bias and hence tend to approach the problem with more caution. One of the possible interpretations concerns a historical figure of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl and his radical religious and cultic reform, in which the focus shifted towards auto-sacrifice (Brundage 1983, Piña Chan 1997). Topiltzin is seen as a leader of a reforming faction that provoked great turbulences in the Aztec state and created a powerful opposition, led by the priesthood of Tezcatlipoca. After a long struggle between the factions, possibly even a civil war, the traditionalists finally managed to overthrow their dangerous challenger and reinstall the old cultic practice. Unfortunately, the differences between the groups went deep, and peace was no longer possible. Eventually, the conflict tore the Toltec state apart. Topiltzin and his followers left Tollan and embarked upon a journey east towards the Maya area, where the high priest died on the shores of the Caribbean. Meanwhile the traditionalists remained in Tula experiencing one last short period of florescence before the city’s apogee was finally over. Burr C. Brundage, one of the proponents of this view, summarizes the events as follows: “The new high priest insisted that his god wanted only the mildest sacrifices, such as flowers and birds, and that he abhorred the effusion of human blood except in auto-sacrifice. His message was a penitential one, and he called for a new holiness on the part of all the Toltecs. This doctrine inevitably must have struck at the privileges and the way of life of the entire warrior class. Seeing their imperial god Ce Acatl as the captive of a lunatic whose preachings must surely sap the vitality of the state, they turned to the god Tezcatlipoca and his priesthood to aid them in defeating the new teaching. We do not know the details of the great religious struggle but we can see that it racked the state, soon reducing it to disorder, for the priest Topiltzin in his charismatic power had secured a large following by the time civil war broke out. In the end the Tezcatlipoca faction won, forcing the exile of Topiltzin along with a significant portion of Tula’s population.” (1983: 114). In the last two decades, the supposed Toltec migration eastward has been heavily criticized (Kowalski, Kristan-Graham 2006, Jones 1993a, 1993b, 1995, 1997). Susan Gillespie gave what appears to be a final blow to this theory in 2006, when she called it a decontextualized “archeological myth” based on literal interpretation of the ethnohistorical sources, one for which there ex-

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ists no material evidence whatsoever to prove it. In this view, Quetzalcoatl’s mythical journey east is not a reliable historical account of what happened in Tula Xicocotitlan in the early Postclassic, but a mythical narrative about the downfall of an ideal city ruled by a demiurge-culture hero-god-king (Gillespie 2006). A “mild” version of this historicizing theory was presented by scholars with background in comparative religions, such as Davíd Carrasco (1980, 1982) or Michel Graulich (1981, 2002). Since the discipline has been ruled for dozens of years by Mircea Eliade’s theories, the approach of these authors is largely based on his writings. Eliade’s core idea of religion is that mythical narratives create a picture of an illud tempus, a time before creation of the present world, when the gods walked the earth (Eliade 1993, 2006). Traditionally, a special role in these myths is reserved for a “culture hero”, god or demi-god who instructed the primordial, savage humanity, in arts, crafts, writing and proper worship of its creators. Therefore, the narrative that at first seemed to be a historical account of early postclassic Tula de Allende civil war, slowly turned into a half historical, half mythical story about a golden age of civilization that ends tragically with the expulsion of an ideal god-king (created by a confusion between a historical priest Topiltzin and Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl, the god to whom he served). In this sense those scholars

Quetzalcoatl depicted as a Feathered Serpent.

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partially revive an old ‘symbolist’ approach of the early Mesoamericanists such as Eduard Seler (Carrasco 1982), who denied the existence of an earthly Tollan and that has seen the myth as an allegory of natural phenomena such as day-night, drought-rain etc. Closely related to this approach are Alfredo López Austin’s and Leonardo López Luján’s theories (López Austin 1989, López Austin, López Luján 1999, 2004, López Luján, López Austin 2007) that posit Topiltzin as an example of an ancient office of a “man-god” (hombre-dios) and the postclassic diffusion of Feathered Serpent imagery as a Zuyuá (mythical Tollan) phenomenon linking sacred rule, charismatic leadership, cult of war and worship of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl. Similar analyses have been made for the Maya region by Ringle, Gallareta Negrón and Bey III. While keeping all the Tollan narrative largely mythical, these authors managed to transform the original Toltec migration theory into a theory of diffusion of a specific cult that focused on the Plumed Serpent as a culture hero and founding ancestor. Assuming then that the historical approach to Tollan has largely fallen apart, we must ask what, then, happened to the strange claim of the chroniclers that Topiltzin abolished human sacrifice that played such a central role in the previous interpretations? What seemed logical enough when the sources were taken literally now raises many questions and doubts, reviving the original missionaries’ paradox: In what sense are we to understand the supposed Quetzalcoatl’s religious reform? Had it really taken place? Was it a myth? Was it a misunderstanding? Was it a lie?

THE REFUSAL OF THE REFUSAL Since it has been established that history and myth mix in a large degree in the Tollan narrative and since Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl possibly originated as a historical personality, turning into a mythical figure, the supposed eradication human sacrifice has enjoyed considerably less scholarly attention. Most of the monographs regarding Quetzalcoatl that have been published in the last twenty years devote only a minimal space to the “reform” (such as Carrasco 1982, López Austin 1989, López Luján 1999, Nicholson 2001 and others). Instead, current interpretations generally stress the aforementioned disagreement between Aztec and other sources and between the myth and the cult. And just as the myth was favoured and the material evidence overlooked, or interpreted in favour of the myth before, today the myth is largely interpreted as unacceptable and suspicious. The general consensus seems to be that the myth has been manipulated by the post-conquest Aztecs themselves trying to please the Christian friars. These interpretations point to the character of the human sacrifice as an absolute cultic necessity and

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seriously doubt the possibility of a real historical reform of this practice (Davies 1976, Gardner 1986, Florescano 1993, 2003). Indeed, it is not necessary to stress the importance of human sacrifice for Mesoamerican religion and daily life (Brundage 1983, Nájera 1987, Read 1998). Many sources all over Mesoamerica repeat time and again the supreme importance of such rituals, and point to the danger that should befall the world should the sacrifices stop, and to the normative example that the gods created in Teotihuacan by allowing themselves to be sacrificed and their own hearts offered to Tonatiuh (Kostićová, Křížová, Květinová 2011). The Aztec context seems to be even more exalted in terms of quantity than the rest of Mesoamerica. The stately ideology attributed to Itzcoatl and Tlacaelel counted with human sacrifice as the pivotal phenomenon that linked gods and men and earthly life with afterlife, enabling military expansion and the accumulation of power by the state, thus allowing social mobility among otherwise largely separated segments of the Aztec society and offering prestige to the youth and honour to the “old eagles” (Brundage 1983, Kostićová, Křížová, Květinová 2011). Claiming that the roots of the Aztec state itself depended on human sacrifice would be therefore no exaggeration. Moreover, there is no historical evidence of a possible reform of the cult and/or questioning of the necessity of the hecatombs. Quite to the contrary – from the long span of Mesoamerican history, we can discern a growing stress on the quantity. What has possibly begun as an extensive ritual torture of the elite prisoners of war, probably observed by the public at large, was slowly transformed into a mass slaughter of enemies and slaves alike that took place up on the pyramid temple, where the eyes of the people couldn’t reach, leaving only the gruesome display of dead bodies falling from the main stairway and covering it with blood (Kostićová, Křížová, Květinová 2011). In other words, material evidence is in sharp disagreement with the sources regarding this religious reform. Recent findings have proven that the Toltecs kept sacrificing people just as the rest of Mesoamerica (Cobean, Gamboa Cabezas 2007). Moreover, as we have seen, the international cult of Quetzalcoatl, if it really existed (Ringle, Gallareta Negrón, Bey III 1998, López Austin, López Luján 1999, 2004), presented its divine founder not as an abolisher, but precisely as the opposite, as an author and teacher of human sacrifice. We see this most pointedly in the postclassic Maya area and its cities of Chichén Itzá and Mayapán. The main structures of the so-called “Toltec Chichén”, adorned with clear Feathered Serpent allusions form part of the sacred precinct of La gran nivelación or the main plaza, all show clear sacrificial context, most notably the Temple of the Warriors, El Castillo pyramid and the Upper Temple of the Jaguars at the Great Ballcourt: the presence of chacmools, bas-reliefs of warriors and proximity to the Tzompantli and Platform of the Eagles and Jag-

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uars, which was probably used as a sacrificial platform, clearly show that the Kukulcan-related religion of Chichén Itzá was by no means a peaceful one. Even more clearly speak the written sources such as Landa’s Relación de las cosas de Yucatán or the Relaciones geográficas, in which Kukulcán is presented as a “Mexican captain” bringing culture and “idolatry” (including human sacrifice) to the innocent, ingenuous Maya (Garza Camino 1983, Landa 2002, Guida Navarro 2009, Kostićová 2009). The most telling evidence is probably the sacrificial scene depicted on the murals of the Upper Temple of Jaguars, where a giant feathered serpent with gaping open mouth undulates behind the sacrificing nacom (Cohodas 1978). Similar depictions can be seen on the golden discs (Lothrop 1959) of the Cenote of Sacrifice, where plumed serpents float above scenes of war, captivity and sacrifice, showing possibly the presence of Kukulcan. All of these stand in a sharp contrast to the alleged peaceful nature of the ancient Quetzalcoatl cult. Moreover, it has been proven that human sacrifice (even child sacrifice in times of drought) was present even in the practical cult of the Aztec Quetzalcoatl-Ehecatl himself in Tenochtitlán, Tlatelolco and Calixtlahuaca (Brundage 1983, Guilliem Arroyo 1999, Smith 2009). Indeed, one of the possible explanations of this paradox is to insist on the contrast of the supposedly “peaceful” Toltec religion with the bloody and cruel Aztec cult that has corrupted and stained their ancient Toltec heritage. Serious scholarly attention to this theory belongs to the 19th century (Jones 1995). Today, most of the proponents of this idea are found in the New Age current with its popular Castaneda-inspired “Toltec” spirituality. Nevertheless, there are still some noteworthy hypotheses grounded in this approach. One of the most notable is Laurette Séjourné and her theory according to which Quetzalcoatl stands for the deification of man, perfection, burning faith, penitence, confession and resurrection (Séjourné 1962). It is not hard to see the powerful Christian bias of this theory that somehow recalls the Saint Thomas of the friars. Another and quite exaggerated example might be José Luis González’ claim that the Quetzalcoatl story represents remains of a short period of rationality, subjectivism and anthropocentrism not unlike the Weber’s theory of capitalism shaped by the Protestant ethics (Gonzalez 1991). In short, Quetzalcoatl’s perceived difference keeps inspiring many (and often quite daring or even extravagant) intents to explain it – or explain it away. In any case, in this current, it is the Aztecs that tend to be the villains and are to be blame for a supposed Toltec paradise-lost. The most important thing that we have to keep in mind is the fact that the known version of the narrative is Aztec, not Toltec. While it is more than possible that the Aztecs accepted and kept some of the Toltec religious heritage, it is also clear that foreign myths that migrate to other culture need to undergo significant reinterpretation. Whatever the story of the possible

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historical Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl was, the late Postclassic version of the narrative reflects the Aztec worldview, and not the Toltec one. Davíd Carrasco, a historian of religion of a wide renown, knows this effect well and therefore tries to find a plausible explanation. He renders it as follows: “It also seems likely that by the time the Toltecs moved into the Yucatán area, Quetzalcoatl was the title for certain leaders who derived their authority from the Toltec paradigm. One of the main arguments for this position stems from the forceful appearance in Chichén Itzá of human sacrifice under the patronage of feathered serpent. It is stated that this captain introduced new types of blood sacrifice including heart sacrifice into the area. As with the later Quetzalcoatl of Tenochtitlán, the earlier prohibitions on human sacrifice so important in the religious history of Tula, have been completely reversed. Quetzalcoatl celebrates and achieves his conquests through human sacrifice. If this is the same Topiltzin, how do we explain such a complete reversal in religious theology and ritual strategy? Is this turnabout the result of a king who was educated to the military necessities of political power and religious dominance, necessities which included human sacrifice? Although this is an interesting possibility, I find no basis for it in the material. It is more likely that the Toltecs who led the invasion of Chichén Itzá filled the royal office of Quetzalcoatl and performed the ritual and political activities necessary to win kingdoms and divine favor.” (Carrasco 1982: 145). An echo of this “reversal” is Michel Graulich’s solar theory interpreting Quetzalcoatl’s life circle as a story of the Sun (1981, 2002). Young Quetzalcoatl is the fresh morning sun, a strong warrior, demiurge, culture hero, while the Old Topiltzin, the Tollan god-king, represents the weak setting sun, an old man hidden in his palace, ugly and exhausted, easily seduced by Tezcatlipoca. Originally he fought as a valiant hero against the old and autocratic authorities; later he himself turns into one of them, an old, rich, sedentary man, eventually duly brought down by his adversaries. For Graulich, the death of Quetzalcoatl in Tlapallan is the mark of the end of the fourth era, the fourth Sun, Sun of Tollan and of Quetzalcoatl.

PROMETHEUS OF THE WESTERN WORLD In sum, those scholars that prefer the purely historical interpretation of Topiltzin’s life tend to see the enigmatic “reform” as a historical event that took place in the last decades of the Toltec state and that brought about great restlessness, possible even a civil war that ended by the fall of Tollan. Conversely, those who recognize mythical patterns in the myth tend to refuse the idea of the “reform” or at least doubt it as illogical and sharply contrasting with everything we know about the Aztec culture.

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I believe that the only possible way out of this paradox is evaluating the attitude of the Aztecs toward human sacrifice and accepting its consequences. As Enrique Florescano puts it: “The images of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl that bring the chronicles belong to a warrior conqueror. And the iconography that was preserved in Tula is an exaltation of a military power that gave rise to the kingdom. That means that if those images of power are dominant in Tula, a question arises if we still can maintain the idea of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl the priest, who had renounced the weapons and has dedicated himself to religious cult, such as the works of Bernardino de Sahagún, Diego Durán and other Spanish chroniclers present him.” (2003: 226). Florescano’s conclusion is that it is indeed impossible and that the Spanish Christian chroniclers are themselves responsible for this unlikely image. The only problem with this approach is that it forces us to put in serious doubt not only Sahagún’s version (possibly affected by the priest’s bias toward native religions), but also the Anales de Cuauhtitlán, which are otherwise accepted as a reliable and authentic, albeit somehow fragmented source of information, one rich in detail (Nicholson 2001). The Anales describe the story as follows: 1) There was once a mighty god-king in Tollan, who, out of love to his subjects, decided to stop practicing human sacrifice and instead offered flowers, butterflies and other minor stuff to the gods. 2) The “demonios” (Aztec gods) grew hungry and angry and demanded sacrifice. The king refused. 3) Tezcatlipoca is sent to Tollan to rectify the situation. Shows Quetzalcoatl his own rugged old face. Quetzalcoatl weeps. 4) Emotionally shaken, Quetzalcoatl is easily persuaded to get drunk and commit incest. 5) Next morning, he sobers up and realizes his reign is over. He leaves for Tlapallan. 6) He burns himself alive on his funeral pyre and enters the skies as Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, the mighty warrior of the Morningstar. I believe that Michel Graulich (2002) is quite close to the point of the story. While I consider his interpretation a little too “socialist” (young and poor Quetzalcoatl against tired old rich monarch who needs to be overthrown), I perfectly agree that something is amiss with the morals of the venerable priest. On one hand, he behaves as he should and is admired for it (as autosacrifice and hard purification practices are a supreme duty of a high priest and he is shown as an ideal example of priestly life); on the other hand, he commits a major transgression when he forbids human sacrifice. To the contemporary Christian or secular humanist ears this sounds reasonable and desirable, but to the Aztec this was without a doubt a major transgression, an offence to the gods and highly dangerous behaviour that would in due time result in the wrath of the gods, catastrophes and even the end of the world, as

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it is clear from the Leyenda de los soles and Aztec political propaganda (Códice Chimalpopoca 1975, Read 1998, Kostićová, Křížová, Květinová 2011). As the high priest, Quetzalcoatl should have been perfectly conscious of this – yet he insists. In Sahagún’s version of this version of the myth, gods send three hechiceros (warlocks), Huitzilopochtli, Tlacahuepan and Titlacahuan (easily identified as Aztec gods, while the leader, Titlacahuan, is another name of Tezcatlipoca) with messages to Quetzalcoatl, who try to convince him to go back to standard practices. They fail, and hence it is time for Titlacahuan to send many misfortunes and disasters upon the Toltecs, until Quetzalcoatl is saddened enough to leave the city (Nicholson 2001). Many authors stress the fact that Tezcatlipoca is the epitome of darkness, chaos, unpredictability and evil and that he never acts as a protagonist of a universal order (Brundage 1983, Caso 2000). I believe that this case perfectly agrees with this image of the Smoking Mirror – he descends to Tollan not to restore tradition but mainly as an agent of punishment and destruction. The real moral qualities of the heretic ruler are clearly shown in this confrontation of the two gods: As Graulich brilliantly points out, it is almost too easy for Tezcatlipoca to induce the venerable priest to commit two of the most abhorrent crimes the Aztec law ever knew (Graulich 2002). Gradually the king realizes there is no turning back – he compromised himself to such a degree (and, in Sahagún’s version, the gods are already so angry) that he lost is legitimacy and is bound to leave the city. After he complies, his enemies immediately reinstall human sacrifices and start again feeding the gods properly. What has been interpreted for hundreds of years as a story with a sad, tragic ending is in fact a narrative about a just punishment of a king who placed his love for his subjects (and possibly for himself, as we shall see later) above his priestly and kingly duties. As is well known, diligent care of the gods was Mesoamerican rulers’ most important responsibility and the fate of the state depended on fulfilling it (Brundage 1983, Kostićová, Křížová, Květinová 2011, Carrasco 2012). Western readers immediately see a kind and loving, reasonable king who stopped cruel and irrational practices: but an Aztec would have seen a story of hubris, of terrible pride that in the end brought about the wrath of the gods and the fall of an ideal city. A tension between gods and a culture hero is not entirely unheard of in world religions. In some ways Quetzalcoatl’s story reminds us of Prometheus, the Greek trickster that stole fire from Olympus and helped humans at the expense of the gods. As we know, his punishment was terrible. Another possible example is the wise king Solomon, who, like Quetzalcoatl, ruled a beautiful city in illo tempore and his rule was part of the Jews’ golden age; at the end he immersed himself in politics to such a degree that he effectively brought cults of foreign gods to Israel and, again, was duly punished by God.

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All these stories have a common theme which is hubris, the arrogant pride of a mere man who forgets his most essential duties to his creators. Quetzalcoatl might not have been entirely a mere man (unless we accept the Tollan story as a more or less reliable historical account), but his transgression is of the same kind and the moral of the narrative is identical. Thou shall not neglect your god. Turning back to Mesoamerica this particular segment of the quetzalcoatlian cycle might have a surprising parallel, which would in turn corroborate in an interesting way Graulich’s theory that the Quetzalcoatl’s downfall is equivalent to the end of the fourth sun. Although there are basically no parallels between the story of Tollan and Chalchiuhtlicue’s nahui atl Sun (except for some superficial aquatic connotations common to the Jade Skirt and Ehécatl-Quetzalcoatl, see Brundage 1983, O’Mack 1991, Caso 2002), we find a slightly similar story among the K’iche’ Maya of Guatemala and the story of Wuq’ub Kaqix as it appears in Popol Vuh. The haughty Seven Macaw has no apparent connections with the culture hero archetype and there is no mythical city comparable to Tollan. Nevertheless, it is a story of pride, a story of a pretentious king who believed himself to be the Sun; such as Tezcatlipoca seduces Quetzalcoatl to commit moral and ritual transgressions, the Hero Twins strip the false Sun of its jewels and luxurious apparel and show him as he is, a mere mortal (Sáenz de Santa María 2002). In turn, Graulich emphasizes the solar character of Topilztin’s story and especially its “solar” ending, the great pyre in which the fallen priest dies and turns into a Morningstar (2002). I believe that this is a strong argument in favour of this “transgression-punishment” interpretation and at the same time kind of a happy ending to the story. It is powerfully symbolic that the god emerges from the fire as one of the fiercest warriors that the Aztec pantheon ever knew, with the only exception of the mightiest of the mighty, Tonatiuh himself (Brundage 1983). Had the renegade king been forgiven for his transgression, had he possibly changed his way to accept war and sacrifice as a true path of an honourable man? Another way of interpreting this transition is the fact that the Morningstar god is a major enemy of the Sun in the Aztec religion (Brundage 1983; this might be related to the “solar” interpretation in Graulich 2002). Is the reason why he abolished human sacrifices his hate of his rival rather than his love for his subjects proclaimed in the Anales? As for the fall of Tollan, in the last decades it has been intimately linked to the last days of Tula, whether historical or mythical. Nevertheless, the narrative makes also sense in context of older theories that favoured Tollan Teotihuacan as the “original” Tollan of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl. In his seminal study of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent of Teotihuacan, Karl Taube plays with the possibility that the main pyramid of the Ciudadela was the source of panMesoamerican Teotihuacan-inspired imagery of sacred warfare and rule

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embodied by the headdress representing Mosaic Serpent, an ancestral form of the turquoise Xiuhcoatl of the Aztecs (Taube 1992). What, then, should we make of the Feathered Serpent of the pyramid? We might easily deduce, as did many authors in the last decades (Davies 1976, Taube 1992 and Piña Chan 1993 among others), that Teotihuacan’s Plumed Serpent was the main source of later, early postclassic Feathered Serpent imagery and possibly the pyramid acted as the primal model for other buildings such as Xochicalco’s Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl or Chichén Itzá’s El Castillo. The sudden diffusion of what López Austin and López Luján call Zuyuá phenomenon and Ringle et al. “international cult of Quetzalcoatl” (Ringle, Gallareta Negrón, Bey III 1998, revised by Ringle 2004, López Austin, López Luján 1999) might be a direct consequence of Teotihuacán’s downfall and subsequent migrations that influenced whole Mesoamerica. I would not go as far as to look for reliable historical information in the myth; suffice it to say that the origin of the narrative might reach back the early decades after the collapse of Teotihuacan and the story of the pretentious god-king might serve not only to describe the historical causes of the downfall, but to attempt to explain the logic behind it, the reason why the gods turned their backs on Tollan. It might also explain why the Maya and Mixtec versions of the myth completely lack the “reform” version and insist only on the “culture hero” dimension of the narrative. I presume that in Central Mexico, so close to the ruins of Teotihuacan, the explanatory function of the myth lived longer than in the distant lands, where only the core message of the golden-age city ruled by an ideal king remained. At the same time, the dispute between the scholars who favour Tollan Teotihuacan as the original seat of the divine kingship and those who insist on identification of the enigmatic metropolis with Tollan Xicocotitlan might be settled easier than it seems: the story might speak about both. Artistic style of Tula and Chichén as well as similar imagery and stories that circulated throughout Mesoamerica during the Postclassic period might point to Teotihuacan as the origin of the myth. Nevertheless, it is possible that in Central Mexico the myth was adapted as an account of the fall of Toltec Tula and possibly also greatly altered in the process.

CONCLUSION There are many versions of Quetzalcoatl’s life, his city and his death and it is clear that the so-called Quetzalcoatl cycle was formed on the basis of the different layers of myths and minor godheads that slowly integrated in one whole. This process is sufficient to explain the incoherencies in the cycle without having to sort out the sources and look for the “original”, “pure” or “esoteric” versions. Religion, especially one that has not been fully codified

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and subject to rigid orthodoxy maintained by a centralized hierarchical organization, is always filled with paradoxes. At the same time, different local versions generally display inner coherency and although I am not inclined to believe that the Tollan narrative shows any major historical accuracy, it definitely has its raison d’être and some kind of inner logic that was supposed to be largely clear to an educated Aztec. I believe that the essential message of this version can be summarized as follows: Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, the great ruler of the ancient paradisiacal Tollan, has forgotten his supreme duties to the gods and stopped the regular sacrifices that were needed to keep the world in motion and the gods happy. The subsequent appearance of an adversary, whose subversive actions led directly to the downfall of the king, is not a tragic, unfathomable, illogical and obscure product of a gloomy nature of the Aztec mind, but a crystal clear account of a just and deserved punishment of Topiltzin’s negligence and pride. Whether this myth bears in itself some long distant memory of a real religious reform that took place in the last decades of Teotihuacan or Tula de Allende is – given the character of the sources – hardly possible for us to ever know. Nevertheless, the myth in itself is neither Teotihuacano nor Toltec, but Aztec. Therefore, the hermeneutics of the narrative must first of all explain its inner logic in the Aztec culture. I am convinced that to the Aztecs the myth recounted a pride-induced fall of a great city. As such, the myth might have worked as a narrative about the fall of Teotihuacan, of Tula, or of both, regardless of its real historical origin.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Brundage, Burr Cartwright. 1983. Fifth Sun: Aztec Gods, Aztec World. Austin: University of Texas Press. Carrasco, Davíd. 1980. Quetzalcoatl’s Revenge: Primordium and Application in Aztec Religion. History of Religions 19, 4: 296−320. Carrrasco, Davíd. 1982. Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire: Myths and Prophecies in Aztec Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Carrasco, Michael D. 2012. The History, Rhetoric, and Poetics of Three Palenque Narratives. In Kerry M. Hull, Michael D. Carrasco (Eds.). Parallel Worlds: Genre, Discourse and Poetics in Contemporary, Colonial and Classic Maya Literature. Pp. 123−160. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. Caso, Alfonso. 2000. El pueblo del sol. México: Fondo de cultura económica. Cobean, Robert H. − Gamboa Cabezas, Luis M. 2007. Investigaciones recientes en la zona monumental de Tula (2002−2006). Arqueología Mexicana 85: 36−39. Códice Chimalpopoca: Anales de Cuauhtitlan y Leyenda de los soles. 1975. México: Universidad nacional autónoma de México, Instituto de investigaciones históricas. Cohodas, Marvin. 1978. The Great Ball Court at Chichén Itza, Yucatan, Mexico. New York, London: Garland Publishing. Davies, Nigel. 1976. The Toltecs: Until the Fall of Tula. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Eliade, Mircea. 1993. Mýtus o věčném návratu: Archetypy a opakování. Prague: OIKOYMENH.

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Eliade, Mircea. 2006. Posvátné a profánní. Prague: OIKOYMENH. Florescano, Enrique. 1993. El mito de Quetzalcóatl. México: Fondo de cultura económica. Florescano, Enrique. 2003. Saga de Quetzalcoatl. Relaciones 24, 95: 200−234. Gardner, Brant. 1986. The Christianization of Quetzalcoatl: A History of the Metamorphosis. Sunstone 10, 11: 6−10. Garza Camino, Mercedes de la (Ed.). 1983. Relaciones histórico-geográficas de la gobernación de Yucatán (Mérida, Valladolid y Tabasco). México: Universidad nacional autónoma de México. Garza Camino, Mercedes de la. 1978. Quetzalcoatl-dios entre los mayas. Estudios de cultura maya 11: 199−213. Gillespie, Susan D. 2006. Toltecs, Tula and Chichén Itzá: The Development of an Archaeological Myth. In Jeff Karl Kowalski, Cynthia Kristan-Graham (Eds.). Twin Tollans: Chichén Itzá, Tula, and the Epiclassic to Early Postclassic Mesoamerican World. Pp. 85−127. Washington: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. Gonzalez M., José Luis. 1991. Quetzalcoatl: Racionalidad y desencantamiento del mundo: Notas sobre un proceso singular en el desarrollo cultural de Mesoamérica. Pp 123−125. In América: Religión y cosmos. Granada: Junta de Andalucía, Diputación Provincial de Granada, Sociedad de historiadores mexicanistas. Graulich, Michel. 1981. The Metaphor of the Day in Ancient Mexican Myth and Ritual. Current Anthropology 22, 1: 45−50. Graulich, Michel. 2002. Los reyes de Tollan. Revista española de antropología americana 32: 87−114. Guida Navarro, Alexandre. 2009. El dios Kukulcán en las fuentes etnohistóricas de Yucatán y su relación con Chichén Itzá. Temporalidades: Revista de história 1, 1: 9−28. Guilliem Arroyo, Salvador. 1999. Ofrendas a Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl en México-Tlatelolco: Proyecto Tlatelolco, 1987−1996. Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. Jones, Lindsay. 1993. The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture: A Reassessment of the Similitude Between Tula and Chichen Itza, Yucatan. Part I. History of Religions 32, 3: 207−232. Jones, Lindsay. 1993. The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture: A Reassessment of the Similitude Between Tula and Chichen Itza, Yucatan. Part II. History of Religions 32, 4: 315−344. Jones, Lindsay. 1995. Twin City Tales: A Hermeneutical Reassessment of Tula and Chichen Itza. Niwot: University Press of Colorado. Jones, Lindsay. 1997. Conquests of Imagination: Maya-Mexican Polarity and the Story of Chichén Itzá. American Anthropologist 99, 2: 291−305. Kostićová, Zuzana Marie − Křížová, Markéta – Květinová, Sylvie. 2011. Krvavé rituály Střední a Jižní Ameriky. Prague: XYZ. Kostićová, Zuzana Marie. 2009. Quetzalcoatl a modloslužebnictví v Relaciones histórico-geográficas z Méridy. Retrieved from http://clovek.ff.cuni.cz/view.php?cisloclanku=2008121508. Kowalski, Jeff Karl − Kristan-Graham, Cynthia. 2006. Chichen Itza, Tula and Tollan: Changing Perspectives on a Recurring Problem in Mesoamerican Archaeology and Art History. In Jeff Karl Kowalski, Cynthia Kristan-Graham (Eds.). Twin Tollans: Chichén Itzá, Tula, and the Epiclassic to Early Postclassic Mesoamerican World. Pp. 13−84. Washington: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. Lafaye, Jacques. 1991. Quetzalcóatl y Guadalupe: La formación de la conciencia nacional de México. México: Fondo de cultura económica. Landa, Diego de. 2002. Relación de las cosas de Yucatán. Madrid: Dastin. León Portilla, Miguel. 2002. Aztécká filosofie: Myšlení nahuů na základě původních pramenů. Prague: Argo. Lincoln, Charles E. 1994. Structural and Philological Evidence for Divine Kingship at Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico. In Hanns J. Prem (Ed.). Hidden Among the Hills: Maya Archaeology of the Northwest Yucatan Peninsula. Pp. 164−196. Möckmühl: Verlag von Flemming. López Austin, Alfredo. 1989. Hombre dios: Religión y política en el mundo náhuatl. México: UNAM. López Austin, Alfredo − López Luján, Leonardo. 1999. Mito y realidad de Zuyuá: Serpiente emplumada y las transformaciones mesoamericanas del Clásico al Posclásico. México: El colegio de México, Fideicomiso Historia de las Américas, Fondo de cultura económica.

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López Austin, Alfredo − López Luján, Leonardo. 2004. Tollan y su gobernante Quetzalcóatl. Arqueología Mexicana 12, 67 : 38−43. López Luján, Leonardo − López Austin, Alfredo. 2007. Los mexicas en Tula y Tula en Mexico-Tenochtitlán. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 38: 33−83. Lothrop, Samuel Kirkland. 1959. Battle Scenes from Chichen Itza. In Robert F. Heizer (Ed.). The Archaeologist at Work: A Source Book in Archaeological Method and Interpretation. Pp. 489−499. Westport: Greenwood Press. Nájera Coronado, Martha Ilia. 1987. El don de la sangre en el equilibrio cósmico: El sacrificio y el autosacrificio sangriento entre los antiguos mayas. México: Universidad nacional autónoma de México. Nicholson, Henry B. 2001. Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl: The Once and Future Lord of the Toltecs. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. O’Mack, Scott. 1991. Yacateuctli and Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl: Earth-Divers in Aztec Central Mexico. Ehtnohistory 38, 1: 1−33. Piña Chan, Román. 1997. Quetzalcóatl: Serpiente emplumada. México: Fondo de cultura económica. Quiñones Kerber, Eloise. 2002. Quetzalcóatl, patrono dinástico mexica. Arqueologia mexicana 9, 53: 46−49. Read, Kay Almere. 1998. Time and Sacrifice in Aztec Cosmos. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Ringle, William M. 2004. On the Political Organization of Chichen Itza. Ancient Mesoamerica 15: 167−218. Ringle, William M. − Gallareta Negrón, Tomás − Bey III., George J. 1998. The Return of Quetzalcoatl: Evidence for the Spread of a World Religion During the Epiclassic Period. Ancient Mesoamerica 9: 183−232. Sáenz de Santa María, Carmelo (Ed.). 2002. Popol Vuh. Madrid: Dastin. Séjourné, Laurette. 1962. El universo de Quetzalcoatl. México, Buenos Aires: Fondo de cultura económica. Smith, Michael E. 2009. Human Sacrifices to Ehecatl -OR- The Importance of Context [online]. Calixtlahuaca Archaeological project. Retrieved from http://calixtlahuaca.blogspot. cz/2009/07/human-sacrifices-to-ehecatl-or.html. Taube, Karl. 1992. The Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Cult of Sacred War at Teotihuacan. Res 21: 53−87.

APPENDIX

Wearing traditional clothing is one of demonstrations of Mayan identity. Decorative motifs on the clothing express the sense of belonging to a particular ethnic group.

A typical Mayan country house is built from locally available natural construction materials.

An essential characteristic of the Mayan society is union with the spiritual forces inherent in nature.

Daily rituals honouring particular spiritual forces according to the sacred Mayan calendar are observed in Mayan schools. Paxay, San Martín Jilotepeque.

Santa Clara Huitziltepec.

Dance of the Moors and the Christians is typical for Guadalupe fiestday in Hueyapan.

Procession with the statue of Saint Clare − patroness of Santa Clara Huitziltepec during the feast day celebration in August 2010.

Pasturing together with agriculture is typical feature of being Indian in Mexico.

Dance practice of calpulli Tlauikayotl, Cuernavaca.

Caracolero, calpulli Tlauikayotl, Cuernavaca.

Men’s dance suit: coyoleras, maztlatl, copilli.

Ceremony during the Days of the Dead, Cuernavaca.

The Chaco Boreal today.

Puerto Esperanza.

Charles Deas, Sioux Playing Ball, oil on canvas, 1843.

Iroquois Nationals’ Victory over Team Czech Republic.

Sunrise Ceremony: Apache Mountain Spirits dancing at a coming-of-age ritual bringing knowledge, healing, and protection.

The godparents become lifelong guardians of the initiated girl.

Andean village of Raqch’i with its temple complex from the pre-Hispanic period, little colonial church and the local market.

The ruins of the Viracocha temple complex.

The eagle is a sacred, wise and noble creature representing power and prestige to the First Nations People of the Northwest Coast.

Susan Point, Discovery, silkscreen, 2005.

Mural in Quw’utsun’ Cultural and Conference Centre.

A Salish wooden mask with feathers.

Contemporary Coast Salish artists expanded the color scale and broad spectrum motifs, such as a butterfly.

Shaun Peterson, Foundations III, giclée print, 2003.

Shaun Peterson, Killer Whale I, giclée print, 2010.

A raven in Northwest Coast Indian Art.

Philip Gray, Raven Mask (Triangle of Life), alder, paint, cedar bark, 2002.

David Boxley, Box drum with a raven, wood, cedar, paint, 1997.

Shaun Peterson, Raven Steals the Sun, giclée print. →

The pyramid of the Feathered-Serpent at Teotihuacan (Morelos, Mexico) has dozens of stone heads of the feathered serpent attached to the exterior.

LIST OF FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS

FIGURES LISTED ACCORDING TO ARTICLES Chamacoco Indians at Gran Chaco in Paraguay Míllet from the Chamacoco tribe, Guido Boggiani, 1897 (Photographic Material from Archive of Yvonna Fričová). Nomads in the Chaco, Alberto Vojtěch Frič, beginning of the 20th century (Photographic Material from Archive of Yvonna Fričová). A Chamacoco fighter in a ritual dress, Alberto Vojtěch Frič, 1905 (Photographic Material from Archive of Yvonna Fričová). A group of catechized Chamacoco people, the end of the 1950s (Photographic Material from Archive of Yvonna Fričová). Corn, Gourd, Indian Breadroot, and Chokecherry in the Hunting Culture of the Cheyenne Black chokecherry is important to the Cheyenne along Missouri and on the Great Plains (Brown, Addison – Britton, Nathaniel Lord. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons). The Salish Peoples: Cultural Codes in Pacific Northwest Coast Native Art Haidas of Masset village (Jonaitis, Aldona. 1988. From the Land of the Totem Poles: The Northwest Coast Indian Art Collection at the American Museum of Natural History. New York: American Museum of Natural History). Examples of ovoids of Northwest Coast art (Holm, Bill. 1965. Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form. Seattle: University of Washington Press). Examples of U forms and split U forms of Northwest Coast art (Holm, Bill. 1965. Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form. Seattle: University of Washington Press). Map of Coast and Interior Salish territory (Photo by Kateřina Šišperová). Human with Thunderbirds, Stan Greene, silkscreen, 1979 (Holm, Bill. 1965. Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form. Seattle: University of Washington Press). Coast Salish Art: Emerging from a Shadow U forms of Northwest Coast art can vary greatly in shape (Holm, Bill. 1965. Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form. Seattle: University of Washington Press). Examples of S forms of Northwest Coast art (Holm, Bill. 1965. Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form. Seattle: University of Washington Press). View from a Real Indian A basic illustration of Coast Salish design elements using a black and white format whereas most works would otherwise be low relief carving technique (Photo by Shaun Peterson). Historical Changes of the Raven: An Anthropological Reflection on the Trickster Two Tlingit girls Tsacotna and Natsanitna, wearing nose rings, near Copper River, Alaska, 1903 (Gmelch, Sharon Bohn. 2008. The Tlingit Encounter with Photography. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology).

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List of Figures and Illustrations

Tsimshian Indians in ceremonial dress, Benjamin Alfred Haldane (Askren, Mique’l. 2007. Bringing our History into Focus: Re-Developing the Work of B. A. Haldane, 19th Century Tsimshian Photographer. Blackflash: Seeing Red 24, 3: 41−47). Kwakiutl Potlatch in Alert Bay, British Columbia, Major J. S. Matthews, ca. 1912 (Nuytten, Phil. 1982. The Totem Pole Carvers: Charlie James, Ellen Neel, Mungo Martin. Vancouver: Panorama). Haida Raven, Bill Reid, silkscreen, 1972 (Holm, Bill. 1965. Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form. Seattle: University of Washington Press). Historical Changes of the Coyote: An Anthropological Reflection on the Trickster In some Native American myths, the coyote is a respected and admired culture hero helping people (Photo by Barbora Půtová). Low relief depicting coyote, jaguara and eagles feasting on human hearts. Pyramid B, also called Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, at Tula (Photo by Václav Soukup). I Like America and America Likes Me (1974), Joseph Beuys spent three days with a coyote (Tisdall, Caroline. 2008. Joseph Beuys: Coyote. London: Thames and Hudson). Quetzalcoatl and Human Sacrifice Quetzalcoatl depicted as a Feathered Serpent (Photo by Barbora Půtová).

ILLUSTRATIONS IN APPENDIX Wearing traditional clothing is one of demonstrations of Mayan identity. Decorative motifs on the clothing express the sense of belonging to a particular ethnic group (Photo by Olga Vilímková, 2012). A typical Mayan country house is built from locally available natural construction materials (Photo by Olga Vilímková, 2009). An essential characteristic of the Mayan society is union with the spiritual forces inherent in nature. This is realized in many rituals (Photo by Olga Vilímková, 2011). Daily rituals honouring particular spiritual forces according to the sacred Mayan calendar are observed in Mayan schools. Paxay, San Martín Jilotepeque (Photo by Olga Vilímková, 2012). Santa Clara Huitziltepec (Photo by Radoslav Hlúšek). Dance of the Moors and the Christians is typical for Guadalupe feast day in Hueyapan (Photo by Radoslav Hlúšek). Procession with the statue of Saint Clare − patroness of Santa Clara Huitziltepec during the feast day celebration in August 2010 (Photo by Radoslav Hlúšek). Pasturing together with agriculture is a typical feature of being an Indian in Mexico (Photo by Radoslav Hlúšek). Dance practice of calpulli Tlauikayotl, Cuernavaca (Photo by Michelle Leisky). Caracolero, calpulli Tlauikayotl, Cuernavaca (Photo by Michelle Leisky). Men’s dance suit: coyoleras, maztlatl, copilli (Photo by Michelle Leisky). Ceremony during the Days of the Dead, Cuernavaca (Photo by Michelle Leisky). The Chaco Boreal today (Photographic Material from Archive of Yvonna Fričová). Puerto Esperanza (Photographic Material from Archive of Yvonna Fričová). Charles Deas, Sioux Playing Ball, oil on canvas, 1843 (Clark, Carol. 2009. Charles Deas and 1840s America. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press). Iroquois Nationals’ Victory over Team Czech Republic (Photo by Lívia Šavelková). Sunrise Ceremony: Apache Mountain Spirits dancing at a coming-of-age ritual bringing knowledge, healing, and protection. (Photo by Daniela Pěničková). The godparents become lifelong guardians of the initiated girl (Photo by Daniela Pěničková). Andean village of Raqch’i with its temple complex from the pre-Hispanic period, a small colonial church and the local market (Photo by Marek Halbich). The ruins of the Viracocha temple complex (Photo by Marek Halbich).

List of Figures and Illustrations

The eagle is a sacred, wise and noble creature representing power and prestige to the First Nations People of the Northwest Coast (Photo by Sára Suchá). Susan Point, Discovery, silkscreen, 2005 (Wright, Robin K. − Bunn-Marcuse, Kathryn (Eds.). 2013. In the Spirit of the Ancestors. Contemporary Northwest Coast Art at the Burke Museum. Seattle: University of Washington Press). Mural in Quw’utsun’ Cultural and Conference Centre (Photo by Kristýna Řeháčková, 2012). A Salish wooden mask with feathers (Jonaitis, Aldona. 1988. From the Land of the Totem Poles: The Northwest Coast Indian Art Collection at the American Museum of Natural History. New York: American Museum of Natural History). Contemporary Coast Salish artists expanded the color scale and broad spectrum motifs, such as a butterfly (Photo by Michaela Kadeřábková). Shaun Peterson, Foundations III, giclée print, 2003 (Photo by Shaun Peterson). Shaun Peterson, Killer Whale I, giclée print, 2010 (Photo by Shaun Peterson). A raven in Northwest Coast Indian art (Photo by Aneta Lomozová). Philip Gray, Raven Mask (Triangle of Life), alder, paint, cedar bark, 2002 (Wright, Robin K. − Bunn-Marcuse, Kathryn (Eds.). 2013. In the Spirit of the Ancestors. Contemporary Northwest Coast Art at the Burke Museum. Seattle: University of Washington Press). David Boxley, Box drum with a raven, wood, cedar, paint, 1997 (Wright, Robin K. − BunnMarcuse, Kathryn (Eds.). 2013. In the Spirit of the Ancestors. Contemporary Northwest Coast Art at the Burke Museum. Seattle: University of Washington Press). Shaun Peterson, Raven Steals the Sun, giclée print (Photo by Shaun Peterson). The pyramid of the Feathered-Serpent at Teotihuacan (Morelos, Mexico) has dozens of stone heads of the feathered serpent attached to the exterior (Photo by Václav Soukup).

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LIST OF AUTHORS

Yvonna Fričová (freelance scholar; e-mail: [email protected]) Marek Halbich (Department of General Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague; e-mail: [email protected]) Radoslav Hlúšek (Department of Ethnology and World Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Trnava; e-mail: [email protected]) Zuzana Marie Kostićová (Department of Religious Studies, Hussite Theological Faculty, Charles University, Prague; e-mail: [email protected]) Michelle Leisky (Centre for Ibero-American Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague; e-mail: [email protected]) Daniela Pěničková (School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Anglo-American University in Prague; e-mail: [email protected]) Barbora Půtová (Institute of Ethnology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague; e-mail: [email protected]) Kristýna Řeháčková (Institute of Ethnology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague; e-mail: [email protected]) Shaun Peterson (Coast Salish artist; e-mail: [email protected]) Václav Soukup (Institute of Ethnology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague; [email protected]) Lívia Šavelková (Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, University of Pardubice; e-mail: [email protected]) Roman Tadič (freelance scholar; e-mail: [email protected]) Olga Vilímková (Department of Romance Languages, Faculty of International Relations, University of Economics, Prague; e-mail: [email protected])