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Powamu - Hopi Ritual

  Native American Religious Action: A Performance Approach to Religion By Sam Gill   The Question: Is there a difference between spiritualism and religion? What is it?  And if there is a difference, how does one affect the other? Can you be religious without being spiritual?   Dr. Gill was fortunate enough to be able to witness portions of Powamu, a Hopi ritual that initiates children of a Hopi village into their Religious lives.  The kiva which is a room about 60 feet in diameter is sometimes used to provide space inside the earth for important ceremonial rituals.  Powamu is a celebration of the return of the kachinas (Hopi gods) to the Hopi Mesas.  This ritual is done once every few years in February at the time of the Powamu (bean dance) when beans are “planted and forced by the heat in the kivas to sprout early.  The bean sprouting and the ceremonial events turn the attention of the Hopi toward the upcoming growing season.” (88)   Children around the age of 10 are dressed in th
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Notes on "Indian"

  SAM GILL: Columbus = invented America according to Edmundo O’Gorman – 15th century beliefs thre was no basis for speculating even the possible existence of a continent separate from Orbis Terrarum. One cannot discover what one cannot imagine as a possibility. Los Indios/Indians/Native Americans =  A term used at the time to refer to all peoples east of the Indus River = translates in English as ‘the Indians’.  Indians = common terminology used in the early 16th century Christian world to designate peoples of the Far East. Native Americans =  a term that will free us from the blinding tyranny of our old term “Indian”. Peoples native to America. Sepulveda = Juan Gines de Sepulveda, Renaissace Scholar, portrayed negative image, believed in encomiendaro – permitted colonists to use natives for theirown profit – goal was to have them be Christianized. Las Casas = Bartolome de Las Casas = Dominican, spent 45 years in New World. Believed they were nobel people developed in arts, language,
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Definition of Mesoamerican Ballgame

  According to Fray Diego Durán's description of the Mesoamerican ballgame as it was played by the Aztecs, it seems to have been a combination of handball and volleyball. Opposing teams faced each other across a center line and volleyed the rubber ball back and forth. They could use only their hips, buttocks and knees to hit the ball (although elbows and forearms may have been allowed in other versions). If it struck the ground, a point was scored for the other team. Ballplayers used pads and thick clothing to protect themselves from both the hard rubber ball and contact with the ground, which was inevitable given the limitations of what part of the body could make contact with the ball. They also wore leather belts called "yokes" which were often fitted with wood or stone pieces that could be used to keep the ball in play. The ball could be played on the carom off the walls, and if it happened to pass through one of the stone hoops located high above, the game was over.
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