A girl is crouching behind a table and the camera pans out to reveal a CGI velociraptor slowly approaching her direction. However, the visuals themselves is not what creates the tension that this iconic Jurassic Park scene is known for. The entire experience of the scene is what really touches the audience, it’s the unmistakable silence that catches our attention. It’s that silence that draws one in, the kitchen utensils clattering unusually loudly that makes our hearts beat faster, and the frantic violin crescendo causing our anxiety to sky rocket. It is the entire experience that causes the audience to walk out of the theater with adrenaline still rushing throughout their body. Similarly, Native American art has its own experience attached
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“To the traditional Indigenous Kwakwakewakw, [their] carvings and representations are not just art objects or paintings. They are alive: they teach, they reveal knowledge of the past” (Sewid-Smith, 16 Interpreting Cultural Symbols of the People from the Shore). Visual objects are never unaccompanied, each piece is always presented in ceremony with a song, dance, or story that displays the inspirations and motivations of its creation. However, “non-Indigenous art [is] ‘mute…it [does not] tell one’s history or story’” (Sewid-Smith, 16 Interpreting Cultural Symbols of the People from the Shore). When just seen, we cannot feel the full experience that is Native art – art is not the individual piece, but rather an entire ritual. An example of the interconnections of art is the importance placed on name. The ownership of a name in Western society is far from what we know as “art”, this lack of understanding is what made it so easy for Western boarding schools to simply replace Native names with common colonial names. However, the impact of that replacement goes much deeper as “an ancestral name… was one of the most valuable forms of wealth that a person could own…families often saved for years to put on a ceremonial naming” (Miller/Pavel 36). To place a piece of art on display …show more content…
During the potlatch ban, Native artwork greatly declined as there was no process of ritual to “baptize” new totems or new art pieces to become at’óow’s, objects made “through ceremonial use and dedication” (Dauenhauer 26, Tlingit At.óow: Traditions and Concepts). Such decline indicates just how intertwined ceremonies are to Native art. Furthermore, the ceremonies themselves become art as certain rituals become vital to societal progression. “Ceremonies and rituals offer validation by allowing [them] to acknowledge and honor one another in a culturally accepted manner” (Miller/Pavel 32). Such acknowledgement was important in keeping unity within a Native community, but also to show respect to surrounding communities by honoring their history and stories. Ceremonies were also important in that they were tangible displays and celebration of an internal change. “When a rite of passage is lacking in a society, it leaves unfulfilled the ancient drive to take one’s place within the social hierarchy. The unchanneled energy of the youth is then prone to develop into dysfunctional behaviors such as juvenile delinquency, gangs, cults, antisocial behavior, and substance abuse” (Miller/Pavel 36). Within such “rite of passage,” Native masks would be used to physically display change from a youth to a full-fledged member of society, a parallel
“To the traditional Indigenous Kwakwakewakw, [their] carvings and representations are not just art objects or paintings. They are alive: they teach, they reveal knowledge of the past” (Sewid-Smith, 16 Interpreting Cultural Symbols of the People from the Shore). Visual objects are never unaccompanied, each piece is always presented in ceremony with a song, dance, or story that displays the inspirations and motivations of its creation. However, “non-Indigenous art [is] ‘mute…it [does not] tell one’s history or story’” (Sewid-Smith, 16 Interpreting Cultural Symbols of the People from the Shore). When just seen, we cannot feel the full experience that is Native art – art is not the individual piece, but rather an entire ritual. An example of the interconnections of art is the importance placed on name. The ownership of a name in Western society is far from what we know as “art”, this lack of understanding is what made it so easy for Western boarding schools to simply replace Native names with common colonial names. However, the impact of that replacement goes much deeper as “an ancestral name… was one of the most valuable forms of wealth that a person could own…families often saved for years to put on a ceremonial naming” (Miller/Pavel 36). To place a piece of art on display …show more content…
During the potlatch ban, Native artwork greatly declined as there was no process of ritual to “baptize” new totems or new art pieces to become at’óow’s, objects made “through ceremonial use and dedication” (Dauenhauer 26, Tlingit At.óow: Traditions and Concepts). Such decline indicates just how intertwined ceremonies are to Native art. Furthermore, the ceremonies themselves become art as certain rituals become vital to societal progression. “Ceremonies and rituals offer validation by allowing [them] to acknowledge and honor one another in a culturally accepted manner” (Miller/Pavel 32). Such acknowledgement was important in keeping unity within a Native community, but also to show respect to surrounding communities by honoring their history and stories. Ceremonies were also important in that they were tangible displays and celebration of an internal change. “When a rite of passage is lacking in a society, it leaves unfulfilled the ancient drive to take one’s place within the social hierarchy. The unchanneled energy of the youth is then prone to develop into dysfunctional behaviors such as juvenile delinquency, gangs, cults, antisocial behavior, and substance abuse” (Miller/Pavel 36). Within such “rite of passage,” Native masks would be used to physically display change from a youth to a full-fledged member of society, a parallel