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Survival through tradition and change
Despite the best efforts of many Native Americans did not disappear
They worked hard to maintain their traditions But were also open to change Native American lifestyles had never been
static Lewis Henry Morgan and Salvage
Archaeology in Playing Indian
Into the 20th C native groups still utilized native plants as medicine
Dorothy Joseph Paiute-Shoshoni
Grew up chewing early shoots of poison oak to make her immune to it as adult
Tohono O’odham gathered creosote plants Cahuilla gathered white sage Both to use as medicine Despite this use, knowledge of tradition was
less well spread
Katherine Saubal Cahuilla
Born 1920 Los Coyotes reservation
Southern California Talking of traditional medicine
in 1997 “they didn’t have textbooks on
these things, they carried the knowledge in their head and used this knowledge to teach me about the plants”
Inducted into National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993
Wyandot elder Eleonore Sioui 1st Canadian Indian to obtain doctorate
in Amerindian Philosophy and spirituality
uses plant and animals of her local region to teach history, culture and religion
cultural preservation was a conscious survival tactic
Yet as stated not trapped in a static past
Navajo women adopted rug designs from Persia Used wool from Germantown, Pennsylvania Kiowa artists moved from hides to canvas The Kiowa Five
Oscar Brousse Jacobson a Swedish immigrant MA in fine arts Yale University
Hired by University of Oklahoma 1915 to head art department
Fascinated by the drawings sent to him by Susie Peters Indian Agent at Anadarko, Oklahoma
Issued invitation to the Kiowa students to come to become special students in the art department.
Eagle Dance by Stephen Mopope Five Kiowa men from
Anadarko, Oklahoma James Auchiah (1906 – 1974) Spencer Asah (1905 – 1954) Jack Hokeah (1902 – 1969) Stephen Mopope (1898 – 1974) Monroe Tsatoke (1904 – 1937). Internationally known artists in
the 1920’s referred to as the “Kiowa Five.”
Lois Bougetah Smoky (1907 - 1981): Original member of the Kiowa Five artists
only female and the youngest member of the group.
customary among the tribes of the Plains that women not draw or paint in a representational style
return to the reservation after only a few short years of painting, she did not pursue a career in the art world.
Lois Smoky's art, due to its rarity, is now the most sought after of all the Kiowa Five artists
United States Post Office and Kiowa Indian Agency
Jim Thorpe Best Athlete of 1
st
half twentieth Century
Resistance through Religion
“Common folk never handled feathers they were to powerful” Katherine Saubel
Feathers carry prayers skyward Feathers can be seen in homes,
trees near homes or on pipes, dolls, and baskets
Agents and Missionaries on Reservations tried to ban their use but they remained and remain important items
Title 50 Part 22 of the United States Code of Federal Regulations
Tobacco another important item
Tobacco has been used for many generations as offerings to the spirits for: Planting Gathering food Healing Ceremonies
Tobacco is medicine Used for prayer,
protection, and respect.
Religious revivals 1850s On Lalac Mountain on
Columbia River An Indian died and
travelled to the ‘Sky Above’
Met Nami Piap (elder brother) Told to return and tell
the people to return to traditional way
Smohalla Hunchback, short legs
and large head
Gathered followers at Priest River Idaho Worshipped each Sunday and held traditional
food feasts Commemorated link between Nami Piap Indian Sacred foods Following his daughter’s death Smohalla
learned more songs and procedures from Nami Piap
His word spread, shared his teachings with many Plateau people
Impacted people on reservations Umatilla, Nez Perce, Colville Yakama, and
others Teachings of passive resistance Urged people to remain off reservations No one had the right to mark the earth or force
others onto designated land Urged Indians to return to traditional ways of
hunting, fishing, and gathering
People should reject white attitudes “You ask me to plough the ground! Shall I take
a knife and tear her bosom? Then when I die she will not take me to her bosom to rest”
“You ask me to dig for stone! Shall I dig under her skin for her bones? Then when I die I cannot enter her body to be born again”
“You ask me to cut grass and make hay and sell it, and be rich like white men, but how dare I cut of my mothers hair?”
“men who work cannot dream and wisdom comes to us in dreams”
Passive resistance to the forces of modernization and cultural disintegration
After a while when God is ready, he will drive away all the people except those who have obeyed the laws
Those who obeyed the Washani Creed would experience new life
November 1882, Skookum Bay, Puget Sound
Squasachtun – John Slocam near death Died spoke to angels who took him to
both heaven and hell Given chance to return, end his drinking
and preach a native form of Christianity His wife Whe Bulehtash – Mary Slocam Witnessed these events
Together they created the Indian Shaker Church
Based on native beliefs, but acknowledged divinity of Christ
Church spread from northern California to Canada
Well known for healing the sick, exorcising demons, and empowering Native Americans to stop drinking
Healers travelled throughout the west
Indian Agents tried to eradicate Indian Shaker Church from reservations
Claimed Shakers howled like animals and knew nothing of prayers or Christ
Spread disease Parishioners kicked up dust during
ceremonies Early 20th C view changed as Agents
recognized the Church’s role in ending alcoholism and creating “model citizens”