Zuni Indian free essay sample

One of the most exciting events I attended in New Mexico was the museum presentation of the Zuni tribe. Although we actually did not meet the Zuni tribe, we learned a lot about them because Dawn Kaufmann who is a guide at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture shown us in details how Zuni tribe is different from other tribes in New Mexico. In terms of their origin, Japanese migrated to the North America and those decedents had strong connection with Zuni and influenced Zuni culture. I became so fascinated by this information that I started researching the Japanese influence on Zuni culture, which might be reflected in Zuni artworks such as potteries and quilts, and other cultural connections . Nancy Yaw Davis mentioned in his book, The Zuni Enigma, that Zuni language and culture are the result of merger with a group of 13th century Japanese pilgrims because many disasters such as storms, earthquakes, floods, and drought initiated the pilgrimage (35). They crossed the ocean to the east, arrived in California, and moved on and arrived at Zuni, settling there by 1350AD. She displays considerable evidence linking Zuni and Japanese language, culture, and physiology. For instance, the Zuni language bears no resemblance to other North American languages, but exhibits similarities to old Japanese: Zuni religion bears similarities to Shinto, both of which share a high incidence of a kidney disease, and skull which remains show unusual dental features in common between Zuni and Japanese. Thanks to the great trip to New Mexico, I could encounter with possible descendants of Japanese. I focus on Zuni people, religion, and kin and clan, and find out how they live in the United States. The reservation of the Zuni Indian is located in the southwestern corner in western New Mexico and consists of approximately 12,000 people. Its area comprises of 342,046 acres, and this is high, rugged ground, with an average elevation of 7,100 feet (Leighton and Adair 6). There are no many trees to protect people from strong sun rights to protect the soils from being washed away by heavy rains and severe wind in summer or spring. There is also a tremendous daily swing in the temperature. Zuni people were initially occupied sporadically for thousands of years by nomadic hunter-gathers who were attracted by the abundant wildlife in nearby mountains and streams. The village had been established in the area by about 400AD. Many groups migrated through the area between 1130 and 1150. Gradually, in the late 1200s, many groups united with progressively larger and larger communities in western New Mexico and northern Arizona and formed today’s Pueblo (Lanmon 5). As to the people themselves, the Zuni adults seem to be short of stature and light bone. According to Nancy Yaw Davis, â€Å"the height of the men varies more than the women’s, but generally the population is short, averaging about five feet and four inches† (6). Generally speaking, both Zuni men and women are inclined to gain weight in the middle age. Some Zuni are believed to have â€Å"thrifty gene,† which was biologically adaptive in the past, making it easier for the body to store food for lean times (Leighton and Adair 6). The gene is linked to weight problems and a high incidence of diabetes. Zuni women are more likely to be obese because of bearing several children (6). The Zuni have thin faces and small facial features. They have healthy dark skin and shiny straight black hair. Every time when I saw their pictures displayed in the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, it reminded me of Asian people. The Zuni traditional costume differs from that of other Indians of the Southwest. For example, the older and more conservative women still wear their black and indigo mantas which are woven by the Hopi men and traded to the Zuni (8). The manta is a traditionally hand woven garment and is made as a gift to the bride at her marriage. The manta passes over the right shoulder and under the left arm. The traditional women’s hair style is parted in front and brushed to either side, where it is cut just below the ear on a horizontal line. The hair on the back of the scalp is gathered in a long bun, and held in place by a brightly colored cotton band. On the other hand, the men’s clothes are much less distinctive. They consist of Levis and work short, except on ceremonial occasions when the costumes are tremendously elaborated (8). According to Leighton and Adair, â€Å"Linguists classify the Zuni speech as a separate linguistic stock, distinct from that of other pueblos, and call it Zunian† (8). Zunian is considered language isolate which has no connection to other Native American language. Thus, a number of possible relationships to languages other than Native American languages have been proposed by various researchers. For example, Davis mentioned relationship between Zunian and Japanese and gave an example of Zuni veteran. He had been a prisoner of the Japanese for nearly three years during World War II and had noted some remarkable similarities between his language and Japanese: the constant-vowel pattern, the grammatical structure, and an occasional, vaguely familiar word such as yama for mountain, which is Zunian is yala (Davis122). I actually encountered with many vaguely familiar words when studying Native Americans cultures such as Kachina, Sacagawea, and Maria Montoya Martinez. Both Zunian and Japanese are unique and distinct from all the world’s languages, and I believe that there is language connection between Zuni and Japanese. Moreover, Zunian is not only the language and a way of communication; it also helps in teaching traditions to younger generations. As time progresses, the quality and amount of language spoken is affected by other languages such as English and Spanish. However, all generations can speak both Zunian and English fluently today (5). The Zunian traditionally learned from elders and parents by words of mouth. Many projects have been established to transform the knowledge communicated in spoken language to written form such as books. The language is incorporated into teaching methods in public schools and other cultural resources. For instance, the Zuni literacy program was introduced into the School District in 1989. The Zuni Public School District media centers were awarded an electronic storage to restore Zunian language from Apple as part of its Apple Library of Tomorrow Program. According to the official website of the Zuni tribe, this equipment has allowed the district to begin production of both print and electronic versions of the first bilingual Zuni-English Dictionary. The crucial part of the Zuni social structure is the Zuni religion. Zuni, even those who claims to be Christian, still practice their native religion. The Zuni religious and ceremonial system consists of numerous cult groups. The cult with the greatest connection of powerful knowledge is that of the Rain Priests, the Ashiwanni. There are twelve such priests, among whom four are more sacred than others. These four are equated with the cardinal directions and the Priest of the North rules all. All the political and religious power concentrate in the hands of these priests The religious structure consists of five other groups in addition to that of the Rain Priests such as the cult of Sun, Katchina, Katchina Priests, War Gods, and Beast Gods. For example, the cult of Sun is led by the Pekwin which is one of the most holy priests, and it is his duty to watch the sun. He sets up the altars for ceremonies and initiates new priests. The sun is thought of as the source of all life, and the devout Zuni greets each morning with prayer. This is the smallest cult and has no female members (Cheek, â€Å"The Zuni Religion†). Moreover, the cult of the Katchina contains six esoteric kiva societies, each of which is associated with a direction, animal and color. Most dances in Zuni are performed by these kivas and every Zuni male belongs to one of these six kiva groups (Cheek, â€Å"The Zuni Religion†). There are three primary series of Kachina dances at Zuni: one held for a period of three months after the winter solstice, the second for the three months after the summer solstice, and the third during the Shalako. One of the most famous of the Kachina dances, Shalako, is held every December to celebrate the end of the year and the beginning of the New Year and to bless all of the houses erected during in Pueblo during the year. It is the culmination of forty-nine day ceremonial for which preparations have required a full year. Five to eight houses have to be remodeled or newly built in preparation for the dancers (Cheek, â€Å"The Zuni Religion†). There should be eight new houses. The next emphasis will be upon kin and clans. Kinship systems address how a society perpetuates itself through prescribed marriage patterns, and then with the long-term investment of civilizing the babies born. Aspects of the social organization of a culture are reflected through kin terms that connote those systems (Davis 148). The expectant mother and her spouse are restricted in their behavior. All potential factors that they think harmful to the fetus must be avoided at all costs. For example, the wife may not look upon a dead person; her husband may not hunt for wild animals. If the woman mixes different kinds of meat dishes at the same meal, she will have twins. According to Leighton and Adair, twins are considered as bad luck (60). Thus care is taken to avoid giving birth to them. If a male child is wanted, boys of the household are permitted to present in the room during delivery, whereas girls may be there if a female child is desired. They are not permitted to see the actual act of birth, however, which is screened from them by blankets held up around the mother. At birth, a midwife who is a member of one of the curing societies is called in to assist with the delivery. There are four or five such women in the village, who deliver children according to traditional ways (61). Soon after birth the newborn child, if a boy, is symbolically initiated into the ritual life of the village by one of the women from the father’s household. She touches the child and thereby pledges him to the kiva of her husband (Cheek, â€Å"The Zuni Religion†). In addition, she cuts the navel cord and daubs it with raw fat and unbaked bread dough. Leighton and Adair mentioned that: When the cord dries up and falls off the navel is treated by rubbing it with dirt from the doorstep. This dirt will keep the navel shut, as it has been trod on by so many feet. Compulsive magic determines the disposal of the cord: that of a girl is buried under a grinding stone, where she must spend many hours grinding corn as a mature woman; that of a boy is buried in the corn field, where he must till the crops. (62) The new born child is nursed with breast milk right after the bed has been prepared, and is allowed to suck even if mother’s milk has not yet come. If the milk does not run for several days, a woman from the mother’s household who has a nursing child acts as a nurse until the mother can take over. The child is protected from witches from the first day of his life. Turquoise and flint are placed in the cradle for protection. Some parents will not leave a baby alone on a room for fear that a witch might steal it and induct the infant into witch society (63). As the children grow up they are require to do various chores around the house. One of the first tasks assigned to both boys and girls is to carry wood for the stove and fireplace. During these years of growing up, the girls are trained to help their mothers while the boys learn to be farmers and stockmen. In the earlier days the girls started to learn to make pottery when they were about fourteen years old (66). There are two stages of initiation for a boy. When a boy is about five to nine years old, he is whipped by the Kachinas with yucca whips as a rite of exorcism. When he is twelve to fourteen, he goes through his second initiation. He is whipped again, but this time he is allowed to see the Kachinas unmasked and dance with them. He is told the secrets of the kiva and gives ceremonial status (Cheek, â€Å"The Zuni Religion†). A man’s identity is significant through his father’s side with kiva groups, medicine societies, and Kachina societies, which cut across household clan affiliation (Davis 150). This thick organizational complexity does not seem to apply to women. As the child gets on to adolescence, the Zuni parents of the present day have greater disciplinary problems, especially with girls. At Zuni there is no puberty ceremony for the girls, as there is in many North American Indians tribes (Leighton and Adair 74). Even within the family no fuss is made over girls on this occasion; they are neither excluded from society nor surrounded by taboo as are Indian girls elsewhere. Premarital sex for girls before marriage is condemned, but there is a double standard of morality and the boys are expected to have sexual experience before marriage (75). If a girl and a boy decide to marry, he goes to her house and obtains the permission from her father. The Zuni people seem rich in relatives and matrilineal society but men also have strong connection with society.