Self Made Monsters Indigenous North American Groups and Body Modification

1
Self Made MonstersIndigenous North American
Groups and Body Modification

• Nicole Jerome

2
Topic Questions

• What indigenous North American groups had
  traditions of body modification?
• Describe the practices of at least two groups,
  along with the purpose of the modification (s),
  gender differences (if applicable), and other
  relevant details

3
Southeast

• Ex Virginia, Florida, Mississippi
• Cherokee, Choctaw, Yuchi, and Siouan tribes
• Capt. John Smith noted VA Indians as having body
  parts painted red and women were adorned with
  serpents painted on their legs, face, hands and
  breast
• Tattooing was practiced by both sex, but many
  women had a band painted around their waist and
  arms
• Roanoke men did not tattoo but had a totemic mark
  (tribal marking) on part of the body, usually on
  the shoulder.
• Cherokee men would paint themselves for war and
  have tattoos but the women never were tattooed.

4
Southeast cont.

• In general both men and women had pieced ears and
  wore shinny stones or shells
• Men pierced their nasal septum
• Everyone could have tattoos but men who where
  chiefs or warriors had elaborate designs
• Face, legs, truck and arms were tattooed
• Deformed heads
• Pressure of bags and wood were used to deform the
  heads of infants craddle board
• Body painting was used for war and morning
• Scarification of birds, serpents and other
  animals

5
Yuchi tribe
6
Oasis/Southern Plains

• Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas and Oklahoma
• Kiowa women had a small circle tattoo on their
  forehead or a cross over their nose and between
  the eyes
• This was special ceremony done by the elder women
• Wichita men and women tattooed most of their body
• Men had tattoo lines from their lips downward
• Women made tattoo rings around their breast

7
Pueblo Indians
8
Northwest Coast

• Nez Perces of Washington
• In general both men and women had pieced ears
• Men pierced their nasal septum
• Nez Perc, is French for nose pierced
• A long stick or bone is passed though the nose
  and piercing flattens the nose, which was
  desirable
• Paints of red, black and white were used on
  special occasions by both sexes
• Men plucked their beards and women their eyebrows
  
• Head deformation for infants with a craddle board
  or binding

9
Northern Plains

• Middle states Ohio, Michigan
• Iroquois
• Scarification of birds, serpents and other
  animals
• Its an operation with a needle where gunpowder is
  rubbed into the puncture
• Found on the faces or breast of men
• Used to give off a courageous appearance
• Women did not use Scarification
• Chippewa
• Tattooed cheeks and foreheads
• Both sexes have blue or black thick lines that
  are one to four in number. They tell which tribe
  someone is in.
• The women tattoo over temples, head or checks in
  order to relieve a headache or tooth ache.
• In general less tattooing than other tribes

10
Mandan tribe of North Dakota

• Sun Dance
• The tribal leaders and the young men would be
  hung up with hooks that are pierced into the
  man's chest and he is hung from the ceiling until
  the hooks tare free from the flesh. Capture,
  torture, release
• The dancers are captured by warriors and an
  incision is made in their chest and back with
  pieces of wood attached by leather ropes, which
  are tied to a pole. The men where hung from the
  ceiling while they stare at the sun until their
  flesh ripped. To make the process go faster, some
  people would add their weight to the ropes so the
  skin would rip faster.
• Served as a coming-of-age ritual for the young men

11
Sun Dance

• This is a 1908 photo by Edward S. Curtis
• Its a Crow Indian of Montana, leaning back with
  sticks pierced to his chest.

12
Alaska

• Eskimo women in 1589 we reported to have raised
  tattoos on their faces
• Sacrificial scares
• In 1975 a 1600 year old body of a women was
  discovered in St. Lawrence Island, AK.
• The womans arms were tattooed
• In 1928, observers saw that the young women were
  still having these tattoos on their arms

13
(No Transcript)
14
Bering Sea Eskimos

• Women wore masks that had tattoos on them for
  religious rituals
• They had chin tattoos and red cheek spots.
• Blueberry Woman, 1917

15
Tlingit Tribe of Alaska

• Shark Tooth Earrings
• Labret, 1897

16
(No Transcript)
17
Alternative Beliefs

• While tattooing may not be an alternative belief,
  the reason for the tattoos is an alternative
  belief
• For religion, tribal identification and military
  rank not often for ornament or beauty
• The concept of forced deformation was considered
  beautiful
• The sun-dance and ripping the body in order for a
  boy to become a man

18
Time, Place and Culture

• In the past, tattooing, head deformation,
  scarification and the sun dance were considered
  normal rituals
• Today, the sun dance is considered torture by law
  and is illegal to practice
• However, people are still practicing it

19
Cont.

• In the past scarification and tattooing was seen
  as enhancing the beauty of someone and their was
  pride in the pain
• Today, those practices can be seen as
  disfigurement of the body and unattractive
• In the past, specific groups could get tattoos
  and it was a sign of social rank
• Today anyone can get a tattoo and tattooing has
  become mainstream

20
Quiz

• Name at least two forms of body modification that
  was practiced by the Native Americans?
• What tribe was known for piercing their nasal
  septum?
• The women of the Chippewa tribe used tattoos to
  do what?
• True/False The Sun dance was a coming of age
  ritual for young men?
• The discovery of a 1600 year old women was
  important because A) she had scars of birds and
  serpents on her arms B) she had tattoos on her
  arms C both A and B

21
Answers

• Body painting, Sun dance, scarification, tattoos,
  head deformations
• Nez Perces of Washington
• To relieve a headache or tooth ache
• True
• B) she had tattoos on her arms

22
References

• Sinclair, A.T. (1908). Tattooing of the North
  American Indians. American Anthropologist, Vol.
  11, No 3. Retrieved October 10, 2008, from JSTOR
  database.
• Diver Harold E (1957). Comparative Studies of
  North American Indians. Transactions of the
  American Philosophical Society, Vol. 47, No 2.
  Retrieved October 10, 2008, from JSTOR database.
• Smith, George S (1957). American Antiquity, Vol.
  40 No 4. Retrieved October 10, 2008, from JSTOR
  database.
• University of Pennsylvania Museum. (2007).
  Examples of Body Modification. Retrieved October
  10, 2008, http//www.museum.upenn.edu/new/exhibits
  /online_exhibits/body_modification/bodmodgalleries
  .shtml
• Ramirez, Miriam. (2007, March 29). Hanging by a
  Moment Locals hooking into body modification
  trends in the Valley. The Monitor. Retrieved
  October 10, 2008, http//www.themonitor.com/onset?
  id1234templatearticle.html
• Garrett, Nancy. Siouan Language Group. Retrieved
  October 10, 2008, http//www.bigorrin.org/cherokee
  _kids.htm
• Favazza, Armando R. (1996). Bodies Under Siege.
  Google Books. Retrieved October 10, 2008,
  http//books.google.com/books?idBwQT9fdZNdgCpgP
  A12lpgPA12dq22Indians2222bodymodification
  22sourcewebots9Csu-d9wCjsigr9Md42IumqXo2tKb
  qaU-Hj1ITxUhlensaXoibook_resultresnum6ct
  resultPPA12,M2
• Ethridge, Robbie. (2002) The New Georgia
  Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 10, 2008, from
  http//www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp
  ?idh-585
• Old Picture of the day. (2007). Retrieved
  October 10, 2008, from http//old-photos.blogspot.
  com/2007/04/indian-piercing-ritual.html