Week 2 Native American Artistic Traditions PDF

Week 2 Native American Artistic Traditions Maidu Clown Performances Deer Man by Eric Whollam Traditions of Subversion and the Subversion of Tradition: Cultural Criticism in Maidu Clown Performances ¤ Robert A. Brightman The Maidu ¤ “The Northwestern Maidu were and are resident in the Sierra foothill...

Week 2 Native American Artistic Traditions Maidu Clown Performances Deer Man by Eric Whollam Traditions of Subversion and the Subversion of Tradition: Cultural Criticism in Maidu Clown Performances ¤ Robert A. Brightman The Maidu ¤ “The Northwestern Maidu were and are resident in the Sierra foothills of the Sacramento River Valley in the region of contemporary Butte County in northwestern California. There existed substantial cultural differences between the Foothill and Valley regions as well as micro regional variation within them” (272). The Maidu ¤ “Prior to martially assisted expropriation, the Maidu were sedentary village foragers with subsistence practices based on the production of acorn, salmon, and deer-meat surpluses” (272). ¤ Maidu history The Maidu Salmon Ceremony Today ¤ Salmon Ceremony The Maidu ¤ “The Maidu comprised multiple autonomous “triblets”, ceremonial and landowning units commonly composed of regionally contiguous villages. Villages were composed of one or more corporate and cognatic extended kin groups comprising spousal families affiliated by protracted co-residence” (272-273). The Maidu ¤ “Like most other Native Californian societies, Maidu society was hierarchical, exhibiting categorical or gradational distinctions between elite or aristocratic, commoner, and indigent status groups; these statuses were ascriptively hereditary but subject to some measure of manipulation” (272-273)/ The Maidu ¤ “The material wealth of the elite was predicated upon production or inheritance of three classes of interconvertible goods: monetary currency (diskshaped white clamshell beads measured on strings), wealth objects (abalone, dentalium, stone beads, woodpecker scalps), and food surpluses (salmon, venison, acorn meal). The Maidu: Abalone The Maidu: Clamshell beads The Maidu: Art objects and materials as currency The Maidu: A wedding veil made of dentalium The Maidu: Woodpecker scalps The Maidu: Stone beads The Maidu: Ceremonial clothing contained a variety of art materials and items otherwise thought of as currency The Maidu ¤ “Maximum authority over matters both sacred and secular resided in the village headman (Foothills huku and Valley yeponi) and in the yukbe or the village priest-shaman. The headman was of a “chiefly lineage”, the office was commonly passing to a son or brother” (273) The Maidu ¤ “Commoners were a silent majority in village populations, subject to the authority of the elite and required to subsidize the latter with labor and resources. […] At the lower extremities of the social continuum were a variety of marginal and deviant types collectively denoted by the noun suku (dog, incapable men, indigents and vagabonds) “immoral women” and crossgender types of both sexes”. The Northwestern Maidu Kuksu Cult ¤ “The Northwestern Maidu participated in the central Californian ceremonial complex that Kroeber called the “Kuksu cult”, a secret society to which males gained entrance through formal initiation. The society sponsored seasonal increase rites and a winter series of common and sacred dances, the latter featuring spirit and animal impersonations and exhibiting an operatic complexity of detail in choreography, music, and costumery. The winter dances were regional and in the Valley, calendrical affairs, involving both cooperation between affiliated villages and participation by visitors. In Foothills villages, maximum authority over the society and its ceremonies was vested in the offices of the huku or yeponi and of the yukbe” Maidu women ¤ “Sources on women’s initiatory statuses in both Foothills and Valley villages indicate both de jure exclusion and de facto participation in the society and its ceremonies; the only female source on the subject described a collective (and selective) initiation of girls that occurred concurrently with the boys’ yambasi initiation” (273). ¤ Mary Pitts Eagle song The Maidu Clown ¤ An initiated yeponi and an officer of the society ¤ Multiple clowns in a single village ¤ Collective and solo performances ¤ Clowns were appointed by head of society ¤ Distinguished by acorn necklace, props, cane, and pipe ¤ Comedy varied from region to region The Maidu Clown ¤ During ceremonies was positioned outside the earthlodge dance-house ¤ Or outside on the dance-house roof from where he orated ¤ Physical comedy and acrobatics ¤ Simulated fights ¤ Accidentally fell into water baskets getting others wet ¤ Liked eating…A LOT! J The Maidu: Earth Lodge by Eric Whollam The Maidu Earth Lodge The Maidu Earth Lodge The Maidu Earth Lodge The Maidu Earth Lodge The round house cross culturally The Clown and the Priest ¤ In a dialogue with each other ¤ Priest represents the social order ¤ The clown is a socially acceptable method of “letting off steam”. He makes fun of the social order but is a part of it. ¤ Let’s read the script together on page 275 The clown likes to eat and smoke ¤ Associated with acorn bread ¤ Associated with tobacco ¤ Makes fun of itinerate people by having a basket that he puts food in ¤ Takes food from others ¤ Others offer him food Acorn bread! ¤ Acorn Bread Recipe ¤ Acorn Corn bread Maidu Clown (276) ¤ Plays the social delinquent ¤ Intimate association with the social order and Maidu cosmogony ¤ In one version of the origin myth his name is glossed as “Father of the Secret Society” ¤ Fire-tender at ceremonies ¤ Dance director ¤ Knew different dialects Maidu clown (277) ¤ Joked with spectators ¤ Called the “morning speech” ¤ The Kuksu society initiator ¤ Taught esoteric and ethical teachings to the young boys ¤ Trainer of boys ¤ Presided over initiation of girls, even on menstrual proprieties ¤ Focused on socialization of children ¤ Exhibited paradoxical characteristics ¤ Panoptical gaze on the village Maidu clown and inversion ¤ Victor Turner’s ritual ¤ Bakhtin ¤ Shakespeare’s Olivia “no slander in an allowed fool” ¤ Mitchell and “ludic performances” ¤ Native Californian Protestantism– “remarkable cultural convergence with Calvinist Protestantism” ¤ Hellenic interpretation, man at war with his lazy side (281) ¤ Hobbesian interpretation, class reciprocal antipathy on the lines of self versus society The Maidu clowns and bums ¤ “The indigenous societies of California possessed genuine transgeneratoinal subcultures inhabited by indolent and itinerate bums” (279) ¤ Kwitxal: referred to a variety of overlapping deviant types ¤ Itinerant freeloading bums ¤ Local ne’er-do-wells ¤ Immigrant strangers ¤ Sexually delinquent women ¤ Transients in temporary communalities ¤ Some adopted into permanent settlements ¤ Gifted in knowing when they had worn out their welcome ¤ Like Gypsies, but worse because they might not have families ¤ White people, brumui, were also seen as bums because they were dishonest and wandering looking for an easy ride The Maidu clown: Conclusion ¤ The Maidu’s comic “relief” both let off steam from the rigors of conformity as well as reinforcing the social order ¤ The Maidu were both inside and outside societal norms, and were able to appeal to a wide range of people ¤ What can we say about Native American comedians today? ¤ Native American comedians ¤ Video links