y This is the title cut from a magical album by Gary Stroutsos and Will Chapman, put out in 2006 on the SoundTraveler label. (7:07)
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a Indian Jewelry
The art of metal working is not original with the Indians of the southwest, however, some of the Navajo and Zuni men have perfected their work from generation to generation and are recognized as expert silversmiths. With crude appliances picked up on the outskirts of civilization these craftsmen convert large quantities of Mexican money into buckles, necklaces, earrings, bracelets and finger rings. Most of the work is done by pounding the material on a small anvil with no ordinary steel hammer. A small forge or bellows is used to soften the metal and to melt it when necessary to make casts and molds. The hammered pieces are decorated by stamping designs on them with steel dies which are prepared by the Indians themselves. Turquoise and other native stones are also used in many of the beautiful pieces of jewelry. The Apaches, especially of the eastern group, do much work with glass beads. These are sewed to articles of leather and buckskin, such as purses, tobacco bags, awl cases, and moccasins; or they are woven into a belt. Apache beadwork designs are similar to those found in their basket work, as well as designs of bows and arrows, and butterflies.
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a Weaving
Today the art of weaving is principally confined to three peoples, the Hopi, Navajo, and Zuni. Many of the pueblo peoples have for ages cultivated cotton and used it in large quantities in the manufacture of clothing. With the introduction of sheep in early times by the Spaniards a new textile was added which gave an additional impulse to weaving, which among the Navajos at least, has resulted in an industry second to no aboriginal industry in North America. All of the weaving of the Navajo is done by the women. However, contrary to this usual custom among primitive people all the weaving among the Hopi and Zuni is done by the men. Hopi men also do all of the carding, spinning, and dyeing of the wool. Colorful belts, garters, and hair tapes are woven on a small "heddle" loom. Blankets and dresses are woven on a primitive outdoor loom.
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Basketry
Basketry is one of the oldest arts of the Indian peoples, yet today it is not practiced to any great extent except by the Hopi of the pueblo people, and the Apache of the non-pueblo people. The Hopi does two types of basketry, the woven and the coil. Of the former are numerous shallow trays and baskets woven in large numbers in practically all the villages, which serve for a multitude of purposes. Another basket of so-called wickerwork weave (a variety of woven basketry, in common use by the Hopi and to be found in nearly every house) is the large carrying basket used for packing corn, firewood and other articles. The baskets of the Apache are usually shallow and of the coil type. However, since they have discovered the ready sales for their products a variety of forms are now being made. In addition to the coil-shaped tray the Apache makes large jar-shaped baskets and other types that are used for carrying various objects used in their domestic life.
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Pottery
As a rule, the art of pottery does not flourish among nomadic tribes such as the Navajo and Apache, while a fixed residence, such as that of the Hopi, Jemez, Zuni, and San Juan pueblo people, is conducive to a high degree of perfection of this art. Clay pottery is made by hand without the use of a potter's wheel. The larger vessels are for water and storage. The cooking is done in crude, undecorated pots which serve only for practical purposes, but the water jars and the bowls used for serving food or for ceremonials are delicate in form and beautiful in design The shapes, the use of colors and decorative motifs differ with varying localities. These days, many pieces are purely decorative rather than practical.
t Rather than a "traditional" song from a dance or ceremony, this is a "theme" piece, done with a contemporary touch, by a group of Native Americans. The group is Jessita Reyes with The Native Flute Ensemble, and the album title is Healers of the Flute. It came out in '98 on Talking Taco Music (no kidding). I could swear I hear a train in here. (2:05)
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From the Introduction to Masked Gods by Frank Waters
They began dancing. Shaking their rattles at the cringing children. Glaring at the stolid missionary. Crying at the pipe-chewing trader. Dancing back and forth before the rapt boy seeing them for the first time. No longer man nor beast nor bird, but embodied forces of earth and sky swirling across the sea of snow from the blue montains on the horizon, shaking this remote and rocky island, stiring awake the archaic wonder and mystery and pristine purity of man's apperception of his cosmic role. Dancing as gods have always danced before their people. Masked by the grotesque, but commanding that comprehension of the heart which alone recognizes the beauty within.
Suddenly it was over. "Humph!" muttered Bruce, the trader. "Let's go." The boy silently followed him down the trail to the wagon. The missionary mounted his grey nag. They plodded homeward to the trading post and Bruce put on a pot of coffee. The missionary stood in front of a shelf looking at a row of small figures carved out of cottonwood and painted to resemble the dancers. "Idols," he said disapprovingly, new to the country. "Dolls!" muttered Bruce tersely. The boy still held his tongue. This was the first time he had ever seen a kachina dance, and it still held him in a strange spell he could not shake off. "You say these carved wooden idols or dolls are called kachina," persisted the missionary. "But you called those masked dancers kachinas too. Now I can understand that all these images represent a pagan anthropomorphic god called Kachina. But when an ethnologist tells me the spirits of the dead, of mountains, clouds, trees, and animals are all kachina, I'm confused. I simply don't understand." "Why the the hell should you?" demanded Bruce, gruffly. I don't know anything about Indians, even after forty years."
The remarks about the kachinas were confusing to the boy. It did not matter. For, as years of comprehension slowly crept upon him, he began to understand. Life is a mystery play. It's players are cosmic principles wearing the mortal masks of mountain and man. We have only to lift the masks which cloak us to find at last the immortal gods who walk in our image across the stage. .
t "Katsina" is an older spelling of the word, and this is from an old recording made in 1924. The title is Hopi Katsina Songs & Six Songs by Hopi Chanters. A fellow named Porter Timeche is the only name on the credits - probably a Hopi who acted as the go-between with the Hopi singers and the museum or university crew doing the recording. It came out in 1964 on the Folkways label (Smithsonian). (2:05)
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ra
"It comes from the east, the south, the west, the north. It puts out its face, its belly before you, because it has no evil in it. It speaks straight. It is kachina . . . . " a Translated from the Hopi, from the Introduction to Masked Gods
