I was looking for a coloring book and found a very interesting text

J.G. Kohl, Journey around the Great Water. 1850
translation of Veshka

Watching a savage in front of a mirror is the most comical sight for a European. Vanity and self-admiration are visible in him, like in a Parisian coquette. He even surpasses her. While she changes the style of her hat and the color of her dress three or four times a year, the Indian changes the color of his face - since his attention is drawn to this part of his body - daily.
I watched three or four young Indians here and saw them every day with new coloring on faces. They belonged to the aristocracy of their band and were obvious dandies. I saw them loitering with great dignity and a very serious air, with green and yellow stripes on their noses and with tubes under their armpits, wrapped in wide blankets-cloaks. They were always together and apparently formed a clique.
Every day, when I had the opportunity, I sketched the coloring on their faces, and after some time I received a collection, the variety of which amazed me. The strange combinations that appear in a kaleidoscope can be called inexpressive in comparison with what the Indian imagination produces on his forehead, nose and cheeks. I will try to give some description, as best as words will allow.
What struck me most about their color arrangement were two things. The first thing is that they did not care about the natural division of the face into parts. And secondly, an extraordinary mixture of grace and grotesque.
At times, however, they used the natural separation created by the nose, eyes, mouth, etc. The eyes were outlined with regular colored circles. Yellow or white stripes were located harmoniously and at an equal distance from the mouth. A semicircle of green dots was drawn on the cheeks, the center of which was the ear. Sometimes the forehead was also intersected by lines running parallel to its natural contours. It always looked somewhat human, so to speak, because the basic shape of the face remained the same.
Usually, however, these regular patterns are not to the taste of the Indians. They like contrast and often divide the face into two halves, which they approach in different ways. One will be dark - say, black or blue - and the other will be quite light, yellow, bright red or white. One will be crossed with bold stripes made by five fingers, while the other will be intricately colored with thin lines applied with a brush.
This division is made by two in different ways. The dividing line sometimes runs along the nose, and the right cheek and half are plunged into darkness, and the left looks like a flower bed under the rays of the sun. At times, however, they draw a line across the nose, so that the eyes sparkle against a dark background, and everything under the nose is bright and shiny.
I have often asked if these various patterns had any meaning, but I was always assured that it was a matter of taste. They were simply fancy arabesques, similar to the embroidery of their squaws on moccasins, belts, pouches, etc.
However, there is a certain symbolism in the use of colors. Thus, red usually represents joy and fun, black - sorrow. When someone's sad demise occurs, they rub a handful of coal all over their face. If the deceased is only a distant relative, just a grid of black lines is applied to the face. They also have half-mourning, and they paint only half of their face black after a certain time.
Red is not only their joy, but also their favorite color. Basically they cover the face with a bright red color, onto which they apply other colors. For this purpose they use vermilion from China, brought to them by Indian traders. However, this red is by no means obligatory. Often the color on which other colors are applied is bright yellow, for which yellow crown is used, also purchased from traders.
They are also very partial to Prussian blue and use this color not only to paint their faces, but also as a symbol of peace on their pipes and as a shade of the sky on their graves. A very interesting fact, by the way, is that hardly any Indian distinguishes blue from green. I have seen the sky, which they depict on their graves in the form of a round arch, equally often of both colors. In the Sioux language "toya" means both green and blue, and a much-traveled Jesuit father told me that this mixture prevails among many tribes.
I was also told that different tribes have their own favorite color, and I am inclined to believe this, although I could not notice any such rule. In general, all Indians seem to take special care of their own copper skin color and enhance it with vermilion when it does not seem red enough to them.
I discovered while traveling among the Sioux that there was a certain national style of face painting. The Sioux were talking about a poor Indian who had gone crazy. And when I asked some of his compatriots who were present how his madness manifested itself, they said: “Oh, he dresses up in feathers and shells so funny, and paints his face so comically that you can die of laughter from it.” This was said to me by people so decorated with feathers, shells, green, vermillion, Prussian blue and crown yellow that I could hardly contain my smile. However, I concluded from this: there must be something generally accepted and typical about their colorful style that can easily be violated.
In addition, a little later, at the American State Fair, I was able to make a grand discovery out of my drawings. They showed a giant Indian, and although his face was painted, I insisted that his coloring was fake. I, of course, got only a general impression, and could not show in which lines the error consisted, but I was sure of it. And it was definitely confirmed that he was a pseudo-Indian, none other than an Anglo-Saxon, clumsily dressed up as a savage.

The Indian lived in inextricable connection with nature, treating it with awe and deep respect; he constantly turned in his prayers to the spirits and forces that embodied her, trying to appease and appease them. His connection with nature was both strong and fragile: on the one hand, it gave him the means to live, on the other, it constantly reminded and warned of what a vulnerable creature man is and how much less and worse he is adapted to life in the environment around him. world than other living beings near him. Therefore, it is not surprising that in art the Indian tried to express his deeply personal feelings and sensations associated with the world around him - his fears, hopes and beliefs that lived in the very depths of his soul.

The art of the Indians was deeply connected with their religious beliefs. Unfortunately, due to the destruction of the traditional way of life and old religious beliefs and traditions, the ability to both express and understand the deepest inner meaning that was contained in the works of Indian art during its heyday was lost. This meaning is today inaccessible not only to white art critics, but also to the majority of the Indians themselves. Just like art white man, Indian art today is a pleasant addition to life, and light and superficial; a kind of graceful gesture and smile sent to life. It is no longer fueled by that mighty and irresistible force and power that was provided by a direct connection with what was hidden in the depths human soul the source of the entire gamut of human feelings and passions. Only in those few places, in particular in some places in the southwest and northwest, as well as in the Arctic regions, where the traditional way of life and cultural traditions It has been possible to preserve to a large extent; examples of genuine Indian art can sometimes be glimpsed.

Another reason that Indian art as a whole remains misunderstood and underappreciated is that its works are executed in an unusual style. Westerners might have paid more attention to it and studied it more seriously if it belonged to either realism or abstractionism, since both of these styles are well known in the West. However traditional art Indians is neither realistic nor abstract. It is schematic and symbolic, and in this way it resembles art Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptian wall painting was considered fun, unusual and "amateurish" because the external design looked very simple and naive. Ancient Egyptian sculpture has received more attention from critics and specialists because it has been classified as "realistic", although it is as imbued with symbolic and religious meaning as painting. Native American art has suffered from similarly erroneous and simplistic assessments.

Indian art has never aimed to objectively reflect outside world. He was not interested in the external side of things; it was turned inward, it was concerned primarily with the echoes and manifestations of a person’s inner life: visions, revelations, cherished dreams, feelings and sensations. This fed the artist himself, and this is what he wanted to see in the object of his work. In Indian art, the aesthetic principle was not in the foreground, although this feeling was very highly developed among the Indians. His main task was to convey and express a certain mysterious, mystical meaning. Even drawings and images on clothes and household utensils have a protective and healing purpose; express a connection with a sacred guardian spirit or serve as magical symbols that are supposed to ensure good luck and prosperity. The Indian artist, like his ancient Egyptian colleague, did not strive to paint an accurate portrait of a person or an image of an animal. He was not interested in the outer shell, but in the soul and hidden inner essence of everything that surrounded him. How else can you convey and depict such a subtle and elusive thing as the soul, if not through symbols and other similar means of conveying your feelings and self-expression?

With the exception of architectural monuments, American Indians do not appear to have produced much art. We could see that the works of the ancient builders of rock settlements and mounds were not inferior to the examples of both ancient and medieval European architecture. On the other hand, nothing has been discovered in North America - at least not yet - that can be compared with the masterpieces of wall painting found at Altamira, Spain, or the equally famous examples of cave paintings at Lascaux, France. Only a few modest rock paintings have been preserved on the “house-settlements” built in the rocks, but they were made by the Navajo Indians, who appeared here many years after the creators of these unique places left these places. architectural structures. Several drawings were also found on the walls of the kivas, access to which was allowed. It is possible, of course, that a number of masterpieces of wall painting could be discovered inside kivas, in a number of pueblos, when access to outsiders is open to them; after all, a number of monuments of painting and sculpture of Ancient Egypt were also hidden from prying eyes for a long time. However, it is likely that any significant number of monuments of Indian art will never be discovered. The Indians simply did not have the inclination or desire to create them. An exception worth mentioning were the artists and woodcarvers of the Pacific Northwest. They decorated the walls of the famous "longhouses" with real masterpieces, as well as the supporting pillars of residential buildings, pillars at burial places, memorial pillars and the famous totem poles (the expression "totem pole", although often used, is a misnomer; the poles depicted not only sacred symbols; it could simply be an emblem or a distinctive tribal sign).

The only serious similarity between the art of the New and Old Worlds was the use of specific means of representation - pictographs, or petroglyphs. Petroglyphs are meaningful signs or symbols that are drawn, hollowed out or carved on the surface of a rock, stone, in a rock shelter or recess, as well as on the walls of caves. They are found throughout almost all of North America. Human figures, elongated and oblong, as well as feet, arms, legs and fingers are sometimes used as symbols. More common geometric shapes of various shapes (round, oval, square, triangular, trapezoidal) and their combinations, as well as amazing ensembles of uniquely depicted animals, birds, reptiles and insects or their fragments. Sometimes the petroglyphs are depicted very closely, practically reduced to a kind of large spot, and sometimes the image is single, and in a remote and hard-to-reach place.

What did the petroglyphs mean? Why were they drawn? In some cases, they may have been applied just like that, “out of nothing to do,” without any specific purpose. Some “inscriptions” were probably left by the lovers in order to express their feelings in this way. Perhaps they were left by hunters, passing the time while they waited for prey, or making notes about the trophies they had caught. Perhaps it was a memorial record of a meeting of various tribes who had gathered to make a treaty. Many signs are most likely related to hunting: this is perhaps a kind of “conspiracy” or a talisman for a successful hunt. But a number of them, quite likely, are of a purely personal nature: young people who specifically went away to retire to a deserted place and receive revelation from a guardian spirit could leave a personal sign in order to express their feelings and impressions in this way. The author of this book often climbed a hill in a valley near Carrizozo, New Mexico. At its top, on stones of volcanic origin, you can see thousands of petroglyphs of various shapes, sizes and representing a variety of plot and semantic combinations. They were inflicted 500–1000 years ago by cultural people jornada, which is a branch of culture mogollon, which, in turn, is distantly related to the Hohokam culture. While there, you experience the feeling that you are in a sacred place and standing on sacred ground, and these signs are not random doodles, but something very mysterious and important.

The fact that the North American Indian was not keen on monumental forms of art is largely due to the fact that he led a largely nomadic lifestyle. Back in to a greater extent this may be explained by his sacred fear and awe of nature, fear and reluctance to cause any damage to the living world around him. Nature was sacred to him. Even when moving from one place to another, he tried to do it in such a way as to cause as little damage to nature as possible. He tried not to leave traces, walking on the ground, literally moving “on tiptoe”; do not break a single branch, do not tear off a single leaf; removed from the face of the earth all traces of fire pits and camp sites. He tried to move like a light wind. And as we have seen, he tried to make even his grave modest and inconspicuous. Some Indians for a long time refused to use the plow offered by the white man, although they were engaged in agriculture, because they feared that the iron ploughshare, cutting into the body of mother earth, would cause her pain.

However, although the Indian was practically unfamiliar with those types of art that are considered the most significant (although a miniature work of art can be just as skillfully executed and be of the same value as a fresco), he achieved the highest in the creation of “household”, everyday things. level. Weapons, clothing, jewelry, objects for religious rituals were examples of outstanding craftsmanship. At this level the Indians North America had no equal. Moreover, unlike our society, among the Indians, artistic and creative abilities were not the preserve of only a limited circle of people. The Indians did not consider these abilities to be some kind of exceptional gift. There is every reason to believe that no matter how quickly these abilities fade and die out in our society, so widely did they develop and spread among the Indians. Almost any Indian could make a jug or other patterned item from ceramics, weave a basket, sew leather clothing, make horse harness, or paint a pattern on a battle shield or tipi tent. Most Indians had “golden” hands and “living” fingers. Their living conditions taught them this; and their constant contact and communication with the world of living nature, deities and sacred spirits, revelations and visions, magical signs and symbols was an endless source of creative inspiration.

Again, we emphasize that those examples of Indian art that can be seen today in galleries and museums do not actually represent genuine, traditional Indian art in the form in which it then existed. The Indians created masterpieces from short-lived materials: leather, wood, feathers, skins. Those samples that, despite their active exploitation and natural influence, have survived to this day, were rarely made earlier than the mid-19th century, that is, already in that era when the influence of the white man and his culture was quite noticeable. Unfortunately, very few objects from an earlier period have reached us. As soon as the Europeans appeared on the continent, they immediately began trading with the Indians, exchanging knives, hatchets, guns, glass beads, bells and bells made of brass, metal buttons, as well as brightly colored wool and cotton fabrics for furs and furs. We can say that from the middle of the 18th century. The Indians had already fallen under the influence of the fashion and taste preferences of the white man. On the one hand, the range of clothing and jewelry among the Indians expanded, and on the other, their taste, traditionally subtle and refined, became coarser during contacts with industrial civilization. A significant part of what made up those bright and lush outfits in which Indian leaders are depicted in photographs of the 19th century. and which cause us such admiration, was bought from the trading companies of white people or from white hawkers.

However, the use of mass-produced European materials was not always detrimental to Native American culture and art. Although they carried, on the one hand, an external tinsel variegation and brightness, but, on the other hand, they gave the Indians the opportunity to fully express their rich imagination and realize their craving for bright and rich color palettes, since the paints were only of natural origin and the materials that they had used before , did not have such a variety of colors as industrial ones, and were sometimes dull and faded. Of course, the influence of Europeans was not only superficial. It seriously changed the tastes, fashion and style of clothing, and the very appearance of the Indians. Before contact with whites, Indian men did not wear jackets, shirts, or outerwear in general, and most Indian women did not wear blouses. Later, Indian women fell under the spell of the clothes worn by the white military wives they saw in forts and garrisons. They began to wear silk, satin and velvet, decorate themselves with ribbons, and also wear wide skirts and capes. Today's Navajos, whose clothing tourists consider " traditional clothes Indians" actually bear very little resemblance to their fellow tribesmen who lived 200 years ago. Even the famous Navajo jewelry is generally modern, but not ancient. The Navajo Indians were taught how to make them by silversmiths from Mexico in the 50's. XIX century. Life for the Indians had changed completely since the Spaniards crossed the Rio Grande in 1540 and introduced horses, firearms, and other strange and hitherto unknown things to the native North Americans.

This, of course, did not mean that the Indians lost their traditional creative skills and abilities and stopped creating works of their own, Indian art. The Indians first saw whites four centuries ago, and their culture and the original creative skills and abilities that constantly developed on its basis are at least 30 times older.

In all five main areas of distribution of cultures that we identified on the North American continent, there is great similarity in tools and all kinds of man-made products, although the available raw materials for their manufacture varied in different areas. In the forest zone the main material was wood; on the plains - leather and skins; the tribes of the ocean coast had an abundance of sea shells and material that they received from hunting sea animals. Despite the aforementioned differences in raw materials, thanks to the spread of cultures - diffusion and trade - in all areas, even those that were not immediate neighbors, we observe similarities in the tools and works of art created there.

The term “diffusion” is used by archaeologists and anthropologists to describe the way in which material and spiritual culture spreads from one people to another. Material objects, as well as religious and cultural ideas can spread peacefully: through mixed marriages or the establishment of allied relations between different tribes and communities. They can also spread as a result of war: when weapons, clothing and personal belongings are removed from the dead; and also when they take prisoners, that is, they begin to communicate with people of a different culture, customs and traditions. There is a mutual influence, and sometimes the culture and traditions of the captives can gradually have a very serious impact on those who captured them. Another important source of cultural spread is population migration. For example, it was only through the movement of large populations from Mexico to the north that the Mexican-influenced ball courts of the southwest and the mounds that are so common in southeastern North America became possible.

Even during the time of ancient hunters in North America, there was a related interweaving of different cultures. This confirms the widespread distribution of points, blades, side scrapers and other stone tools belonging to various cultures: Clovis, Scotsbluff and Folsom. Trade was common among almost all tribes, and some specialized in it. The Moyawe traded between California and the southwest, in both directions. The Hopi were skilled middlemen in the trade of salt and hides. They also successfully distributed red ocher, used for rubbing the body, including during religious ceremonies, which was mined by their neighbors, the Havasupai, in the secluded and hidden crevices of the Grand Canyon.

It is likely that there was active trade in non-durable materials, as well as food products. It could be dried meat, cornmeal and various delicacies. For example, we know that the Hohokam people exported salt and cotton. But naturally, more information about trade operations is provided to us by the discovered tools made of durable materials such as stone and metal. More than 10,000 years ago, flint from the Elibates mines in Texas was actively spreading to other areas, and flint from Flint Ridge in Ohio was carried to the Atlantic coast and Florida. Obsidian, both black and shiny, was in great demand. It was mined only in a few places in the southwest, and from there it was delivered to areas located thousands of kilometers from the place of extraction. We could already see how in great demand used catlinite mined in Minnesota, from which “peace pipes” were made.

When a tribe became wealthy, and especially when it began to lead a sedentary lifestyle and build exquisite and expensive houses, it had the opportunity to buy luxury goods. The people of the Hopewell culture, one of the most vibrant ancient Indian cultures, needed huge amount very expensive materials to ensure the ostentatiously luxurious and “spendthrift” lifestyle that they led, not to mention the equally expensive ceremonies for the funeral of the dead, including the construction of giant burial mounds. From Alabama they brought jade; from the Appalachian Mountains region - mica plates and quartz crystals; from Michigan and Ontario - pieces of wrought copper and wrought silver. In addition, the people of the Hopewell culture also imported one of the most sought-after goods on the continent at that time: sea shells.

Shells and beads

The Cochise people of what is now Arizona brought sea shells from the Pacific coast 5,000 years ago. Their direct descendants - the people of the Hohokam culture - acquired from the fishermen of distant California a complete set of a wide variety of shells: cardium, olivela and other varieties. The shells were especially attractive due to their unusual, original shape and color; they seemed to contain within themselves the mystery and vastness of the ocean depths. Hohokam artists used large clam shells to paint designs on; they were the first in the world to use the method of etching engraving, at least three centuries earlier than it began to be used in Europe. A layer of resin was applied to the raised parts of the shell, and acid was applied to the open part, which was obtained from fermented saguaro juice.

In the rock houses and pueblos of the southwest, rings, pendants, and amulets are still carved from shells, following the traditions of the Hohokam people. Pueblo jewelers, especially the Zuni, decorate their jewelry with pearls, coral, and abalone; and during ceremonies and holidays you can hear the sound of trumpets made from the shells of a giant mollusk, which were pulled out of the ocean depths several centuries ago. The people who built maunds in the southeastern regions also played trumpets made from giant clam shells and drank their “black drink” from bowls made of engraved shells. Gastropod shells were used to make engraved necklaces that were worn on the chests of priests and tribal leaders.

Smaller shells such as columella, cowrie and marginella were used to make decorations for capes, headdresses, belts and anklets; In the north of the Plains, it became fashionable to use a jagged shell - dentalium - not only as decoration, but also as a means of payment. This shell was used for a long time as money by the Hoopa Indians and other tribes of central California, who acquired it on Vancouver Island, located far to the north.

Each sink had a clearly fixed price depending on its size.

The most famous example of the use of beads both as decoration and as a means of payment is wampum, which was used by the Iroquoian and Algonquian tribes.

Wampum consisted of numerous discs or tubes of shells of white, light brown, purple and lavender colors; they were all carefully crafted and polished and joined together in the form of a belt. They were used during important rituals; in particular, wampum was passed around along with a peace pipe as a symbol of friendship and reconciliation. The English and Dutch settlers very quickly got their bearings and started producing and selling wampum. The factory for their production operated in New Jersey until the First World War. Today, wampum is a staple Indian decoration; it is either worn alone or placed between rows of beads or turquoise, coral and other stones.

The Indians have been able to skillfully make beads from shells and stones since ancient times; The beads were carefully cut out of the shell, drilled, and polished. Making beads by hand was a very labor-intensive task, and the Indians were very impressed by European beads made in an industrial way: both in quantity and in a rich variety of colors. As a result, the entire style of Indian clothing changed. Columbus wrote in his log that when he first came ashore and offered purple glass beads to the Indians, “they grabbed them and immediately put them around their necks.” During the 16th–17th centuries. white traders - Spaniards, French, English and Russians - sold the Indians many large and large glass beads of the most different types. Most of them were very skillful work of glassblowers in Spain, France, England, Holland, Sweden, and Venice. The products were given such memorable names as “Padre”, “Cornaline d'Aleppo”, “Sun” and “Chevron”. Today they are in the same demand among collectors as they were then among the Indians.

Due to the large size of the beads, the items were mainly used as necklaces. When smaller beads—“Pony Beads” (so named because white traders carried bags of them on ponies) and “Grain Beads”—appeared in 1750, the Indians began sewing them onto clothing or making products with beads on weaving machines. machine. Soon, decoration with beads practically replaced the decoration of products with porcupine quills or quills. IN modern era The greatest success in the southwest was the turquoise-colored Hubble beads made in the 1920s. XX century in Czechoslovakia. It was sold to the Navajo Indians at a trade fair in Arizona and was such a success that the Indians traded it for pieces of real turquoise. Over time, different places developed their own styles of bead decoration, differing both in color and in patterns, which were either geometric shapes various forms and combinations, or a unique natural landscape. Decorations were applied to clothing, curtains and household utensils using various methods: on the Plains and adjacent plateaus to the northwest - with a lazy stitch; in the northwest - speckled; Iroquoian tribes used relief decoration and printing; net embroidery and openwork stitching were used in California and the southeastern Great Basin; in the south of the prairies they made braided folds; The Chippewa, Winnebago and other tribes of the Great Lakes region used a small loom for this purpose. Patterns of exceptional beauty and quality are still made today on Indian reservations in the states of Idaho, North Dakota, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona.

Although decorations with porcupine quills and feathers have given way to beads, they still remain in fashion among a number of tribes. Today, the eagle, hawk and other birds, whose plumage was used in combat and other headdresses from hanging rows of feathers, are protected by the state. White traders began to use ostrich feathers, painted in bright colors; and, if necessary, turkey feathers. At religious festivals and ceremonies in the pueblos of the Rio Grande, you will see many people wearing feathered hats, masks, and ceremonial robes, holding prayer sticks. The porcupine has also now become a rare animal. Nowadays, the exquisite patterns and decorations made from its quills are no longer applied to clothing and household items in the northeastern states and northern Plains, where the animal was once found in abundance. The Iroquois, Huron, Ottawa, Chippewa and Winnebago, as well as the Sioux, Arapaho and Cheyenne, specialized in such decorations. The 12.5 cm long porcupine quills were soaked in soapy water to make them pliable and then applied to the material by folding, stitching or wrapping. Often decorations made of beads and porcupine quills were applied simultaneously: the smooth, polished quills well shaded the areas covered with beads. In addition to beads and porcupine quills, hair was used for artistic decoration in weaving; it was also used in embroidery, weaving and knitting. As we noted in the first chapter, people of culture Anasazi they cut off the hair of the dead and used it for jewelry and also for weaving nets. In addition, horsehair and dog hair were often used, and on the Plains, elk and bison hair.

In the third chapter we talked about the methods of obtaining leather for making clothing and for other purposes; and earlier attention was drawn to the fact that bone, deer antler and horns of other animals have been the main raw materials for the production of things necessary for man since the time when the first ancient hunters obtained meat, skins and tusks of mammoths and mastodons. We also talked about stone tools on flakes, which the first hunters knew how to make long before the 20th century. BC e.

Metal products

Metal tools appeared in the north American Indians with the same delay as their fellow hunters in Europe. By this time, they had already been used in other areas, which were a kind of “cultural hotbed” and sent cultural impulses throughout the world. The only exception was copper products. In North America, people knew how to work with copper during the spread of early Copper Age cultures during archaic period; The main copper centers were Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. In those infinitely distant times - in the V-III centuries. BC e. - talented craftsmen from the Great Lakes region were already making, perhaps before anyone else in the world, copper arrowheads and spears, as well as knives and axes. Later people of the Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippi cultures, especially those of the latter culture who practiced the Southern cult of the dead, made excellent copper jewelry in the form of plates and dishes, as well as pendants and applied jewelry. The famous decorative, ornate copper dishes that were arrogantly destroyed during the potlatch mentioned were made from sheets of hammered copper. However, despite these achievements, copper processing was carried out in a primitive way. The smelting was unknown; copper was mined from the purest ore veins, then flattened with a hammer, and when it reached a sufficiently soft and pliable state, sheets were cut into the required shape. The design was engraved directly onto them using cutters made of stone or bone. Copper was cold processed; sometimes it was probably heated over a fire before hammering began. The use of casting molds made of stone or clay was completely unknown. Other metals, such as atmospheric iron, lead and silver, were processed in the same cold way as copper, although few products were made from these metals.

When the Europeans taught the Indians simpler and more reliable methods of producing silver, the passion for silver jewelry simply overwhelmed the entire Indian community. The Europeans sold silver sheets to the Indians, or they made sheets themselves using silver bars and coins obtained in trade from the Europeans. By 1800, the Iroquoian Lakes and Plains tribes were making their own silver brooches, buttons, earrings, pendants, combs, buckles, necklaces, and wrist and anklets. At first, the products completely copied English, Canadian and American designs. Soon the Indians began to buy German silver, which was not actually silver, but an alloy of zinc, nickel and copper. It was cheaper compared to pure silver, which allowed the Indians not only to increase the production of silver products, but also to make them according to their own, original design - this concerned both the type of product and its artistic processing.

Silver products owe their popularity in the southwestern regions to the nomadic tribes of the Plains, who were the link between these regions and the sedentary northwest. Almost immediately, silversmiths from Mexico appeared here and taught the Indians “sand casting” using molds made of tuff and pumice. The Mexicans also demonstrated their style of silversmithing - Spanish and Spanish Colonial. These styles were quickly and well adopted by the Navajo, who began to brilliantly apply them in their own original interpretation. Today, more than a century later, Navajo silver jewelry represents one of the finest achievements of modern American art; The traditions of the Navajo and their neighbors, the Zuni and Hopi, are being worthily developed, with whom they once shared the secrets of their craft.

Famous belts concho and typical Navajo bracelets are the creation of Plains craftsmen; and the shape of the beads and buttons used by the Navajo, the silver decorations for saddles and harnesses, and the “pumpkin necklace,” which resembles a wreath of blossoming pumpkin flowers, are borrowed from the Spaniards. The necklace is shaped like a clasp on the helmet of a Spanish cavalryman from the time of Cortez; he also had Naya - a talisman-amulet in the shape of an inverted crescent, which the rider hung on the chest of his horse, his faithful battle friend. For the Spaniards, a similar talisman was inspired by the coat of arms of the Moors during the capture of Spain by the Arab Caliphate; The Moors' coat of arms was in the shape of a crescent.

Typically, Navajo silver items were made from a single piece of metal and were quite large and massive, and if they were studded with pieces of turquoise, they looked even more impressive. Zuni jewelry was modest and petite in comparison. They are mainly represented by elegantly executed graceful images of birds, butterflies, insects and mythological creatures, skillfully composed of black amber, coral, garnet and small pieces of turquoise; Each product is an amazing multi-colored mosaic that attracts and delights the eye. The Zuni are also recognized masters of inlay and the application of miniature grooves and recesses to products. As for the Hopi, the products of their craftsmen resemble those of the Zuni craftsmen in miniature and graceful; However, the Hopi rarely use colored stones, and their silver products are engraved with motifs reminiscent of the patterns on the ceramic products of the same tribe. The Hopi often use the "overlay" technique: two sheets of silver are soldered together, with the lower one blackened by adding sulfur; In this way, the product provides contrast - the light and dark layers of silver mutually shade each other.

The Navajos, Zunis, and Hopis never had the opportunity to mine their own silver, even during the true silver boom in the southwest. The point was not only and not so much in technical difficulties, but in the fact that the whites had long laid their paw on all the subsoil and mineral deposits. Initially, Navajo jewelers used Mexican pesos and American dollars as raw materials, and when they were prohibited from doing so, they began to buy bars and bars from resellers. Today they buy both silver and turquoise from merchants, who in turn source them from Asia, the Middle East and Mexico. Very often, the turquoise in today's jewelry is a fake: in fact, it is not turquoise, but a “cocktail” of vitreous mass and colored glass. Now very little real turquoise is mined in the southwest, but its quality, alas, is low; 12–15 main deposits of this area, from where it was previously mined, have now been depleted, but the quality of turquoise was remarkable, and it was immediately noticed by an experienced, trained eye. Unfortunately, the vast majority of today's "Navajo jewelry" has nothing to do with the Indians at all, but is produced en masse in Japan and Taiwan, and also by white dealers in Albuquerque or Los Angeles.

The Indians themselves, naturally, did not lower the quality of their products, much less stoop to fakes; they were forced to watch how a pack of swindlers and crooks shamelessly took advantage of the high demand for these products created by the efforts of Navajo craftsmen, actually devaluing the market for the Indians and discrediting the products themselves. Over the past centuries, this sad picture has become familiar to Indians.

Basket weaving, ceramics and weaving

Basket weaving and pottery making were the activities where the creative genius of the American Indian was perhaps most evident. It is this area of ​​Indian art, as well as weaving, which we will focus on a little later, that can serve as a measure of how refined, deep, and open to beauty the soul of the Indian was. The white man did not use spearheads or arrowheads; feathers, sea shells, animal bone and horns, buffalo hides, tipis, tomahawks and totem poles meant little in his life. However, every day he has to use baskets, pottery and a variety of vessels and containers, and also cover his bed with blankets. Therefore, he can compare these things of his daily use with those that surround the Indian. And if he is honest with himself, he will be forced to admit that the things that the Indian uses are not only no worse, but in many ways more convenient, more useful, and more attractive in appearance.

In the field of basket weaving and pottery production, the Indians had no equal; to a large extent this is still true. It is interesting to note that basket weaving is considered more complex than ceramic production, and therefore seems to be “younger” in age. It is known, however, that at least 10,000 years ago, in the arid regions of the "desert culture" West, from Oregon to Arizona, ancient hunters were able to make wicker and ring-shaped baskets, as well as sandals and hunting traps and traps using the same technique. At the same time, the first ceramic products appeared in America, according to the dating of archaeological finds, only around 2000 BC. e., that is, 6000 years after the Indians mastered the art of basket weaving.

Oddly enough, ceramics first appeared and spread not in the southwest, which was the leader of various kinds of cultural achievements and innovations compared to other regions and where agriculture had been known for 1000 years, but in the southeast forest zone, where agriculture didn't know yet. In the southwest, pottery did not appear until about 500–300 BC. BC e. But the creative impulse in both areas came from ancient Mexico, which throughout history had a higher level of culture compared to areas located to the north. Again, it should be borne in mind that at that time there was no border between Central and North America, there was no dividing line, preventing people from crossing the Rio Grande; they moved calmly, carrying with them their belongings, customs and traditions.

Eventually, the art of basket weaving reached a higher level in the southwest than in the southeast or any other region. However, all the Indian tribes of North America were fluent in this art. They made baskets for storage, for carrying loads, and for cooking. The baskets were both small and huge; both round and square; with hinges and handles. Basket-box, basket-sieve, basket for grinding, basket for washing corn and acorns, basket for beating seeds, basket-satchel, basket-trap for birds and fish, basket-hat, mat, cradle and cradle, baskets for holidays ceremonies, baskets for use during weddings and funerals - all this was skillfully made by the Indians. Pits for storing food were covered with branches, twigs and narrow strips of bark; This gave me the idea to weave mats. The entrances to caves and houses were covered with mats and wicker curtains to prevent dust from flying in and heat from escaping. The bodies of the dead were also wrapped in them. The baskets were woven so tightly that they could carry food, seeds and water. In baskets they cooked food in boiling water, washed and dyed clothes, and also cooked tisvin - Indian beer and other similar alcoholic drinks. A wide variety of materials were used for weaving: in the southwest, in particular, reeds, beargrass, willow and sumac were used; in the southeast - reed, oak, plant roots and bark; in the northeast - sweet grass, hardwood, cedar and linden; on the Plains - hazel and buffalo grass; in California and the northwest - spruce, cedar, cherry bark and "Indian grass." Almost any available natural material it could be steamed, dyed and made sufficiently pliable and easy to weave.

The products themselves were as varied as the materials from which they were made. There were three main ways of working with raw materials and making finished products: weaving, braiding and coiling. The products were distinguished by a remarkable variety of both shape and design. The images represented either geometric figures and their combinations, or were associated with human or natural motifs. Finished goods often decorated with bells, feathers, shells, deerskin fringe, beads, porcupine quills, or other decorations. The wild and rich imagination of the Indian, his inexhaustibly deep and bright inner world fully reflected in those wonderful works of art, which were and are the wickerwork he made. To this day, baskets of highly artistic quality are made by the Pueblos, Apaches and Navajos, and especially by the Pima and Papago Indians living in Arizona. These baskets are expensive because they require a lot of effort and time to make. They are made for creative self-expression, as well as for museums and those tourists who have high artistic taste and know how to appreciate beauty. If a Pima or Papago Indian needs some kind of container for personal use, today it is easier for him to buy a metal product in a store. Classic baskets date back to that era in the development of mankind, including the Indians, when they attached greater importance to the purpose and quality of things than they do now.

In the western and southwestern regions, the technique of weaving and rings was common; in the east the products were “braided”. Various techniques were also used in the manufacture of ceramics. In the west and southwest, products were made by laying one ring-shaped layer of clay on top of another, while in the east and southeast the clay was smoothed inside or outside a jar, which served as a mold or template. The potter's wheel was unknown. Ceramics have not become as widespread as wickerwork; in many areas, including California and the northwest, it was not produced at all, but was used only for baskets and other wickerwork.

Ceramic products in the main areas of their distribution - in the southwest and in the east - were similar both in form and in general design. In terms of types and shapes of products, Indian pottery was much more conservative compared to wickerwork. The originality was mainly distinguished by the designs and patterns on ceramic products, although people of the Hopewell, Mississippi and Southern cult of the dead cultures made products in the form of human and animal figures; today this tradition is continued by the Pueblo Indians. The design was made in paint or engraved using cutters made of bone and stone; or it was stamped using fingers, cord, as well as wooden seals and dies. The modest number of types and shapes of products was fully compensated by the rich and multi-colored coloring: white, brown, red and yellow paints, together and separately, were applied using brushes, rag rags or tufts of fur. The paints were applied to the wet surface of the product before heat treatment over a diluted fire. A stable black tint was achieved by charring over a low, closed flame. After firing, products of selected quality were polished with a special device made of bone or stone or rubbed with a damp cloth to give them a satiny shine and brightness. To make the finished product especially sparkling and sparkling, clay was sometimes mixed with colored sand or mica particles.

The best examples of today's Native American pottery are made in the Southwest. It is thanks to the creative efforts of the Indians living here that over the past 50 years we have seen a revival and a real surge of interest in both ceramic products and other hand-made creations of Indian craftsmen. Of course, not all pueblos of the southwest make pottery. In some places, the skills of this art have already been lost, in others the focus is on the more profitable production of jewelry, and in some places they make simple products only for home use. The highest quality products are made in the pueblos of San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, San Juan, Acoma and Zia. It was in San Ildefonso that the outstanding ceramicists Maria and Julio Martinez created their remarkable examples in 1919, in which a design made with matte black paint was applied to a polished black surface. Julio Martinez broke the tradition that pottery was made only by women.

Twelve years later, a resident of the same pueblo, Rosalie Aguiar, began making famous products with inlaid designs. Other tribes of the southwest who have preserved traditions of pottery production include the Hopi, who produce, albeit in limited quantities, jars of amazing quality, and the Maricopa, who make wonderful vases and magnificent blood-red high-necked jars.

In 1900, a brilliant Indian woman named Nampeyo began making ceramics in the spirit of the ancient traditions of the Hopi Indians. However, the Hopi today are not only known for their pottery and silver jewelry; They are primarily famous for their dolls - “kachinas”. The art of carving these figures, ranging from 7.5 to 45 cm in height, from a piece of cottonwood is not ancient; They have owned it for less than a hundred years. These dolls began to be made in order to help children remember the 250 deities in male and female guise that the “kachins” portray. But if the figurines themselves are not ancient, then the sacred spirits they depict, living in the mountains of northern Arizona and coming to Hopi villages every winter, certainly are. One such village, Oraibi, located on the Hopi Sord Mesa Hills, is probably the oldest continuously inhabited site in the United States.

“Kachinas” were made like this: a layer of white kaolin was applied to the base, and a brightly colored pattern and multi-colored feather decorations were applied on top. The doll's arms, legs, head, headdress, as well as the objects with which it was depicted, were made separately and then carefully glued to the base. These original figurines are a wonderful example of miniature art. Since these are not cult objects but ordinary images, it is not considered unethical to buy them. And visitors happily purchase these charming little masterpieces depicting a deity or an Indian disguised as him performing a ritual dance during a religious holiday.

The Hopi Indians now number less than 6,000; best works Pueblo Indian art is created by artists from a half-dozen communities of fewer than 5,000 people. The largest Indian tribe in the southwest are the Navajo, numbering about 80,000 people. They are passable “basket makers”, indifferent to ceramics and, of course, outstanding craftsmen in the production of hand-made silver items. However, special mention should be made of one area in which they have demonstrated a truly inimitable and distinctive style over the past few centuries: weaving.

Weaving has been known in North America since ancient times. People of the Adena and Hopewell cultures made textiles 2,000 years ago, and the art soon spread to California and the Great Plains region. Products at that time were made by hand, without a loom. The techniques used include knitting, tambour embroidery, loop embroidery, mesh embroidery, folding, twisting and other needlework methods. The undisputed leaders in this area were the Indians of the northwestern part of the Pacific coast, especially the Chilkat, who lived on far north, on the border between Alaska and Canada. The Chilkat, an offshoot of the Tlingit, made ceremonial shirts, as well as blankets, bedspreads and the famous capes, using a mixture of pieces of cedar bark and mountain goat hair, dyed white, yellow, blue and black. These products are in great demand among collectors and collectors of examples of artistic folk art. Like the Selish in northern California, who made woolen blankets and bedspreads of very high quality, the Chilkat began to use a rudimentary weaving frame, which they worked on by hand.

The real loom came into use only in the southwest. Here the Hopi achieved great success in weaving; it also gained some popularity among the Pueblo Indians. But it was the Navajos who provided technical progress in this area: starting with a simple belt loom, in which one end was attached to the weaver's belt and the other was fastened around a tree or one of the support posts of the dwelling, they improved it into a complex vertical loom. It is possible that the place of its invention was the American Southwest. At first, plant fibers and animal wool were used as raw materials; then they began to use cotton thread, and from 1600 onwards - sheep's wool, which became available after the Spanish settlers who came to New Mexico brought flocks of sheep with them. Today, the area's premier weavers are the Navajos, who learned the art from the Pueblo people in 1700. They make blankets and throws in bold designs and colors in a number of locations across the vast area of ​​the Navajo Reservation. Among the places famous for their craftsmen are Chinle, Nazlini, Klageto, Ti-No-Po, Lukachukai, Ganado, Wide Ruins and two dozen others.

The art of weaving is practiced by Navajo women. But the art of sand drawings is already the prerogative of men. The execution of such drawings fell within the competence of the shaman, since they had not only religious, but also healing purposes. The patient sat down on the ground, and while reading prayers and singing chants, the shaman began to draw a picture around him in the sand. As the drawing was completed, the disease was supposed to go into it, and the deities depicted in the drawing were supposed to show their miraculous powers. Then, at sunset, the drawing was erased from the face of the earth, and the disease was supposed to disappear with it. Sand painting was common among the Navajos, Papagos, Apaches, and Pueblos; although it must be said that the term "sand drawing" or "sand drawing" is inaccurate and misleading. Only the base on which the design is applied consists of sand; the design itself is applied not with colored paints, but with colored materials crushed into powder: plants, charcoal and pollen, which are skillfully poured in a thin stream between the fingers onto the sand. To complete such a drawing, precision, patience and endurance, and exceptional memory were required, since it was necessary to accurately reproduce the traditional drawing provided for in the ritual in the sand, and solely from memory.

Painting

In the field of painting, as in jewelry, basketry, and pottery, the southwest region was at the forefront of the Indian Renaissance that has been observed in recent times. His leadership was due in part to the fact that the people of the area avoided the destruction of their way of life and culture that the East and West Coast tribes faced, as well as the complete removal and removal from their homelands that the Plains and Southeast Indians experienced. The Indians of the southwest went through humiliation and poverty and periods of bitter exile and exile; but on the whole they managed to remain on the lands of their ancestors and were able to maintain a certain continuity of lifestyle and culture.

In general, in the United States there are a lot of artists of various schools and directions; but this is such a big country that between different cultural centers there is a very weak connection; The existence and fruitful work of exceptionally gifted and talented artists may be unknown in the distant New York and Los Angeles areas. These two cities are not the same cultural centers as London, Paris and Rome are in their respective countries. For this reason, the existence in the southwest of a unique school of Indian artists, if not ignored, did not play a role comparable to the talents represented in it. In a smaller country, such an original movement would certainly receive immediate and long-term recognition. For half a century, Native American artists of the southwest created remarkable work full of vibrant originality. Interest in them, as well as in Indian literature, gives hope for the increasing role of Indian art in the entire American culture.

Shortly after the end of World War I, a small group of white artists, scientists, and residents of Santa Fe and the surrounding area created a movement called the Santa Fe Movement. They set out to introduce the world to that powerful creative potential which the Indians possessed. As a result of their efforts, the Academy of Indian Fine Arts was created in 1923. She helped artists in every possible way, organized exhibitions, and eventually Santa Fe became one of the most important centers of fine art in the United States, equally important for both Indian and white artists.

Surprisingly, the cradle of modern Indian art was San Ildefonso, a small Pueblo settlement where the star of the famous ceramics masters Julio and Maria Martinez was rising at that time. Even today, San Ildefonso is one of the smallest pueblos; its population is only 300 people. Even more surprising is that the founder of the movement to revive Indian art is considered to be Crescencio Martinez, the cousin of Maria Martinez. Crescentio (Abode of the Elk) was one of the young Indian artists who, at the beginning of the 20th century. experimented with water paints following the example of white painters. In 1910, he was already working very fruitfully and attracted the attention of the organizers of the Santa Fe movement. Unfortunately, he died untimely from the Spanish flu during the epidemic; this happened in 1918, when he was only 18 years old. But his initiative was continued; soon 20 young artists were working in San Ildefonso; Together with talented potters, they worked fruitfully in these little Athens on the banks of the Rio Grande.

Their creative impulse spread to the surrounding pueblos and eventually reached the Apaches and Navajos, drawing them into this “creative fever.” In San Ildefonso itself, another famous artist appeared - it was Crescenzio’s nephew named Ava Tsire (Alfonso Roybal); he was the son of a famous potter and had Navajo blood in his veins. Of the other outstanding artists of the period of the real surge of creative energy observed in the 20-30s. XX century, we can name the Tao Indians Chiu Ta and Eva Mirabal from the Taos pueblo, Ma Pe Wee from the Zia pueblo, Rufina Vigil from Tesuque, To Powe from San Juan and the Hopi Indian Fred Kaboti. At the same time, a whole galaxy of artists from the Navajo tribe, known for their ability to quickly assimilate and original, original processing, emerged creative ideas; Here are the names of the most prominent of them: Keats Begay, Sybil Yazzie, Ha So De, Quincy Tahoma and Ned Nota. Speaking of Apaches, Alan Houser should be mentioned. And as if to top it all off, at the same time, the Plains created its own art school Kiowa financial support white enthusiasts; George Kibone is considered the founder of this school. And the Sioux Indian artist Oscar Howie influenced the development of all Indian fine arts.

Today Indian fine arts is one of the fastest and wildest growing branches on the tree of American sculpture and painting. The modern Indian artist is close to abstract and semi-abstract motifs, which are well known to him from traditional Indian patterns on leather items made of beads and porcupine quills, as well as on ceramics. Showing a growing interest in their past, Native American artists are trying to rethink the mysterious geometric images on ancient ceramics and find new creative approaches and solutions based on them. They study such directions in contemporary art, like realism and perspective, in order to find your own original style based on them. They try to combine realism with fantasy motifs inspired by nature, placing them in a limited two-dimensional space, which once again evokes an analogy with the art of Ancient Egypt. Since ancient times, Indian artists used bright, pure, translucent paints, often only the main components of the color scheme, while adhering to individual color symbolism. Therefore, if, in the opinion of a white person, he sees only an ordinary pattern, then the Indian looking at the picture penetrates much deeper into it and tries to perceive the true message coming from the artist who created the picture.

There is no place for dark tones in the Indian artist's palette. He does not use shadows and light and shadow distribution (what is called the play of light and shadow). You feel the spaciousness, purity of the surrounding world and nature, the ebullient energy of movement. In his works one can feel the vast expanses of the American continent, which greatly contrasts with the gloomy, closed and cramped atmosphere emanating from the paintings of many European artists. The works of the Indian artist can probably be compared, albeit only in mood, with the life-affirming and endlessly open paintings of the Impressionists. Moreover, these paintings are distinguished by deep spiritual content. They only seem naive: they contain deep impulses from traditional religious beliefs.

IN recent years Native American artists successfully experimented with the abstract movement of modern art, combining it with those abstract motifs, or at least that can seem so, that are present in basketry and ceramics, as well as similar motifs of religious signs and symbols. The Indians also showed abilities in the field of sculpture; they successfully completed extensive frescoes that flow into each other and once again proved that in almost any form of modern art their talent and imagination can be in demand and in any of them they can show their originality.

It can be concluded that, despite the general decline of traditional forms of Indian art (although there are a number of very important exceptions to this trend), the Indians not only have not squandered their creative potential and have not lost their creative abilities, but are also trying more and more actively apply them, including in new, yet untraditional directions. As the Indian people enter the 21st century. with hope and ever-increasing energy, there will be a growing interest not only in individual Indian artists, but also in Indians in general; to their spirit, to their attitude towards life and way of life. In turn, the art of the white man will only be enriched by absorbing the bright and unique originality of Indian art and the entire Indian culture.

Painting

In the field of painting, as in jewelry, basketry, and pottery, the southwest region was at the forefront of the Indian Renaissance that has been observed in recent times. His leadership was due in part to the fact that the people of the area avoided the destruction of their way of life and culture that the East and West Coast tribes faced, as well as the complete removal and removal from their homelands that the Plains and Southeast Indians experienced. The Indians of the southwest went through humiliation and poverty and periods of bitter exile and exile; but on the whole they managed to remain on the lands of their ancestors and were able to maintain a certain continuity of lifestyle and culture.

In general, in the United States there are a lot of artists of various schools and directions; but it is such a large country that there is very little communication between the various cultural centers; The existence and fruitful work of exceptionally gifted and talented artists may be unknown in the distant New York and Los Angeles areas. These two cities are not the same cultural centers as London, Paris and Rome are in their respective countries. For this reason, the existence in the southwest of a unique school of Indian artists, if not ignored, did not play a role comparable to the talents represented in it. In a smaller country, such an original movement would certainly receive immediate and long-term recognition. For half a century, Native American artists of the southwest created remarkable work full of vibrant originality. Interest in them, as well as in Indian literature, gives hope for the increasing role of Indian art in the entire American culture.

Shortly after the end of World War I, a small group of white artists, scientists, and residents of Santa Fe and the surrounding area created a movement called the Santa Fe Movement. They set out to introduce the world to the powerful creative potential that the Indians possessed. As a result of their efforts, the Academy of Indian Fine Arts was created in 1923. She helped artists in every possible way, organized exhibitions, and eventually Santa Fe became one of the most important centers of fine art in the United States, equally important for both Indian and white artists.

Surprisingly, the cradle of modern Indian art was San Ildefonso, a small Pueblo settlement where the star of the famous ceramics masters Julio and Maria Martinez was rising at that time. Even today, San Ildefonso is one of the smallest pueblos; its population is only 300 people. Even more surprising is that the founder of the movement to revive Indian art is considered to be Crescencio Martinez, the cousin of Maria Martinez. Crescentio (Abode of the Elk) was one of the young Indian artists who, at the beginning of the 20th century. experimented with water paints following the example of white painters. In 1910, he was already working very fruitfully and attracted the attention of the organizers of the Santa Fe movement. Unfortunately, he died untimely from the Spanish flu during the epidemic; this happened in 1918, when he was only 18 years old. But his initiative was continued; soon 20 young artists were working in San Ildefonso; Together with talented potters, they worked fruitfully in these little Athens on the banks of the Rio Grande.

Their creative impulse spread to the surrounding pueblos and eventually reached the Apaches and Navajos, drawing them into this “creative fever.” In San Ildefonso itself, another famous artist appeared - it was Crescenzio’s nephew named Ava Tsire (Alfonso Roybal); he was the son of a famous potter and had Navajo blood in his veins. Of the other outstanding artists of the period of the real surge of creative energy observed in the 20-30s. XX century, we can name the Tao Indians Chiu Ta and Eva Mirabal from the Taos pueblo, Ma Pe Wee from the Zia pueblo, Rufina Vigil from Tesuque, To Powe from San Juan and the Hopi Indian Fred Kaboti. At the same time, a whole galaxy of artists from the Navajo tribe emerged, known for their ability to quickly assimilate and original, original processing of creative ideas; Here are the names of the most prominent of them: Keats Begay, Sybil Yazzie, Ha So De, Quincy Tahoma and Ned Nota. Speaking of Apaches, Alan Houser should be mentioned. And as if to top it off, at the same time, the Kiowa’s own art school was created on the Plains with the financial support of white enthusiasts; George Kibone is considered the founder of this school. And the Sioux Indian artist Oscar Howie influenced the development of all Indian fine arts.

Today, Native American art is one of the fastest and most vigorously growing branches on the tree of American sculpture and painting. The modern Indian artist is close to abstract and semi-abstract motifs, which are well known to him from traditional Indian patterns on leather items made of beads and porcupine quills, as well as on ceramics. Showing a growing interest in their past, Native American artists are trying to rethink the mysterious geometric images on ancient ceramics and find new creative approaches and solutions based on them. They study such trends in modern art as realism and perspective in order to find their own original style based on them. They try to combine realism with fantasy motifs inspired by nature, placing them in a limited two-dimensional space, which once again evokes an analogy with the art of Ancient Egypt. Since ancient times, Indian artists used bright, pure, translucent paints, often only the main components of the color scheme, while adhering to individual color symbolism. Therefore, if, in the opinion of a white person, he sees only an ordinary pattern, then the Indian looking at the picture penetrates much deeper into it and tries to perceive the true message coming from the artist who created the picture.

There is no place for dark tones in the Indian artist's palette. He does not use shadows and light and shadow distribution (what is called the play of light and shadow). You feel the spaciousness, purity of the surrounding world and nature, the ebullient energy of movement. In his works one can feel the vast expanses of the American continent, which greatly contrasts with the gloomy, closed and cramped atmosphere emanating from the paintings of many European artists. The works of the Indian artist can probably be compared, albeit only in mood, with the life-affirming and endlessly open paintings of the Impressionists. Moreover, these paintings are distinguished by deep spiritual content. They only seem naive: they contain deep impulses from traditional religious beliefs.

In recent years, Native American artists have successfully experimented with the abstract movement of modern art, combining it with those abstract motifs, or at least seemingly so, found in basketry and ceramics, as well as similar motifs of religious signs and symbols. The Indians also showed abilities in the field of sculpture; they successfully completed extensive frescoes that flow into each other and once again proved that in almost any form of modern art their talent and imagination can be in demand and in any of them they can show their originality.

It can be concluded that, despite the general decline of traditional forms of Indian art (although there are a number of very important exceptions to this trend), the Indians not only have not squandered their creative potential and have not lost their creative abilities, but are also trying more and more actively apply them, including in new, yet untraditional directions. As the Indian people enter the 21st century. with hope and ever-increasing energy, there will be a growing interest not only in individual Indian artists, but also in Indians in general; to their spirit, to their attitude towards life and way of life. In turn, the art of the white man will only be enriched by absorbing the bright and unique originality of Indian art and the entire Indian culture.

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From ancient art The custom of geometrizing plant and animal forms in ornament has been preserved. There is an ornament similar to the Greek meander. Particularly interesting are the carved totem poles made from a single tree trunk. The geometrization of their pictorial elements is so strong that in the process of adaptation to the volumetric shape of the pillar, individual parts are separated from each other, the natural connection is disrupted, and a new layout arises, associated with the mythological ideas of the “world tree”. In such images, the eyes of a fish or bird may appear on the fins or tail, and the beak on the back. In Brazil, drawings of American Indians were studied by the famous anthropologist C. Lévi-Strauss. He explored the techniques of simultaneous images and "X-rays".

The Indians masterfully mastered wood processing techniques. They had drills, adzes, stone axes, woodworking and other tools. They knew how to saw boards and cut figured sculptures. They made houses, canoes, work tools, sculptures, and totem poles from wood. Tlingit art is distinguished by two more features: multi-figuredness - the mechanical connection of different images in one object, and polyeikonicity - the flow, sometimes encrypted, hidden by the master, smooth transition of one image to another.

Living in the rainy and foggy climate of the sea coast, the Tlingits made special capes from grass fibers and cedar bast, which resembled ponchos. They served as a reliable shelter from the rain. The works of monumental art included rock paintings, paintings on the walls of houses, totem poles. The images on the pillars are created in a style called bilateral (two-sided). The Indians of North America used the so-called skeletal style to apply drawings on ritual objects, ceramics, and also when creating rock paintings. In the field of painting, as in jewelry, basketry, and pottery, the southwest region was at the forefront of the Indian Renaissance that has been observed in recent times. His leadership was due in part to the fact that the people of the area avoided the destruction of their way of life and culture that the East and West Coast tribes faced, as well as the complete removal and removal from their homelands that the Plains and Southeast Indians experienced. The Indians of the southwest went through humiliation and poverty and periods of bitter exile and exile; but on the whole they managed to remain on the lands of their ancestors and were able to maintain a certain continuity of lifestyle and culture. In a smaller country, such an original movement would certainly receive immediate and long-term recognition. For half a century, Native American artists of the southwest created remarkable work full of vibrant originality. Interest in them, as well as in Indian literature, gives hope for the increasing role of Indian art in the entire American culture.

Shortly after the end of World War I, a small group of white artists, scientists, and residents of Santa Fe and the surrounding area created a movement called the Santa Fe Movement. They set out to introduce the world to the powerful creative potential that the Indians possessed. As a result of their efforts, the Academy of Indian Fine Arts was created in 1923. She helped artists in every possible way, organized exhibitions, and eventually Santa Fe became one of the most important centers of fine art in the United States, equally important for both Indian and white artists.

Surprisingly, the cradle of modern Indian art was San Ildefonso, a small Pueblo settlement where the star of the famous ceramics masters Julio and Maria Martinez was rising at that time. Even today, San Ildefonso is one of the smallest pueblos; its population is only 300 people. Even more surprising is that the founder of the movement to revive Indian art is considered to be Crescencio Martinez, the cousin of Maria Martinez. Crescentio (Abode of the Elk) was one of the young Indian artists who, at the beginning of the 20th century. experimented with water paints following the example of white painters. In 1910, he was already working very fruitfully and attracted the attention of the organizers of the Santa Fe movement. Unfortunately, he died untimely from the Spanish flu during the epidemic; this happened in 1918, when he was only 18 years old. But his initiative was continued; soon 20 young artists were working in San Ildefonso; Together with talented potters, they worked fruitfully in these little Athens on the banks of the Rio Grande.

Their creative impulse spread to the surrounding pueblos and eventually reached the Apaches and Navajos, drawing them into this “creative fever.” In San Ildefonso itself, another famous artist appeared - it was Crescenzio’s nephew named Ava Tsire (Alfonso Roybal); he was the son of a famous potter and had Navajo blood in his veins. Of the other outstanding masters of art from the period of the real surge of creative energy observed in the 20-30s. XX century, we can name the Tao Indians Chiu Ta and Eva Mirabal from the Taos pueblo, Ma Pe Wee from the Zia pueblo, Rufina Vigil from Tesuque, To Powe from San Juan and the Hopi Indian Fred Kaboti. At the same time, a whole galaxy of artists from the Navajo tribe emerged, known for their ability to quickly assimilate and original, original processing of creative ideas; Here are the names of the most prominent of them: Keats Begay, Sybil Yazzie, Ha So De, Quincy Tahoma and Ned Nota. Speaking of Apaches, Alan Houser should be mentioned. And as if to top it off, at the same time, the Kiowa’s own art school was created on the Plains with the financial support of white enthusiasts; George Kibone is considered the founder of this school. And the Sioux Indian artist Oscar Howie influenced the development of all Indian fine arts.

Today, Native American art is one of the fastest and most vigorously growing branches on the tree of American sculpture and painting.

The modern Indian artist is close to abstract and semi-abstract motifs, which are well known to him from traditional Indian patterns on leather items made of beads and porcupine quills, as well as on ceramics. Showing a growing interest in their past, Native American artists are trying to rethink the mysterious geometric images on ancient ceramics and find new creative approaches and solutions based on them. They study such trends in modern art as realism and perspective in order to find their own original style based on them. They try to combine realism with fantasy motifs inspired by nature, placing them in a limited two-dimensional space, which once again evokes an analogy with the art of Ancient Egypt. Since ancient times, Indian artists used bright, pure, translucent paints, often only the main components of the color scheme, while adhering to individual color symbolism. Therefore, if, in the opinion of a white person, he sees only an ordinary pattern, then the Indian looking at the picture penetrates much deeper into it and tries to perceive the true message coming from the artist who created the picture.

There is no place for dark tones in the Indian artist's palette. He does not use shadows and light and shadow distribution (what is called the play of light and shadow). You feel the spaciousness, purity of the surrounding world and nature, the ebullient energy of movement. In his works one can feel the vast expanses of the American continent, which greatly contrasts with the gloomy, closed and cramped atmosphere emanating from the paintings of many European artists. The works of the Indian artist can probably be compared, albeit only in mood, with the life-affirming and endlessly open paintings of the Impressionists. Moreover, these paintings are distinguished by deep spiritual content. They only seem naive: they contain deep impulses from traditional religious beliefs.

In recent years, Native American artists have successfully experimented with the abstract movement of modern art, combining it with those abstract motifs, or at least seemingly so, found in basketry and ceramics, as well as similar motifs of religious signs and symbols. The Indians also showed abilities in the field of sculpture; they successfully completed extensive frescoes that flow into each other and once again proved that in almost any form of modern art their talent and imagination can be in demand and in any of them they can show their originality.

Indian art is an aesthetics focused on details; even seemingly simple paintings and engravings can contain the deepest inner meaning and carry the hidden intention of the author. The original art of the Indians in a number of countries (USA, Canada, Uruguay, Argentina, etc.) has practically died out; in other countries (Mexico, Bolivia, Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador, etc.) it became the basis folk art colonial period and modern times.

art mythology Indian ornament

A variety of North American Indian household utensils, made of wood or stone, are also decorated with the heads of animals or people, or have the distorted shape of living creatures. Such utensils include festive masks, the fantastic grimaces of which indicate the inclination of the imagination of this people towards the terrible; this also includes gray clay pipes with distorted figures of animals depicted on them, similar to those found in Melanesia; but first of all, pots used for food and fat, as well as drinking cups in the shape of animals or people, belong to this type of work. Animals (birds) often hold other animals or even tiny people in their teeth (beaks). The animal either stands on its feet, with its back hollowed out in the form of a shuttle, or lies on its back, and then the role of the vessel itself is played by the hollowed belly. In Berlin there is a drinking cup in the form of a human figure with sunken eyes and crooked legs.

Fine art and ornamentation of North American Indians.

The images on the plane of these peoples are generally more crude and inept than their plastic works. The paintings on an Indian buffalo tent (Berlin Folklore Museum) depict a hunt by three tribes, but the scene is disjointed and unfinished. However, some animals are drawn so vividly that they involuntarily remind us of the proximity of the Eskimos.

In the art of North American Indians, ornamentation is of the greatest importance: this is the most developed eye ornamentation in the whole world, the symbolism of which, closely associated with religious ideas, immediately amazes everyone. The heads of animals and people, no matter how stylized they are and how they are turned into linear figures, are distinguished by much greater spontaneity than the ornamentation of the Rarotonga-Tubuaya group. The eyes of these heads - a particularly prominent part of the entire ornamentation - appear in it in abundance. In their motive, as Schurz explained in detail, they are nothing more than a shortened form of the head from which they originated. The heads themselves are only reduced forms of entire figures of animals and people, which were originally depicted and were supposed to represent the ranks of ancestors. Eyes look at us from everywhere: from walls and weapons, from clothes and pipes, from seats and bedspreads. As one can judge from the leader’s chair (Berlin Museum of Ethnic History), the raven, considered by the northwestern Indians to be the embodiment of the creator of the world, the sun and the eyes, constantly repeating and strangely combined, form the basis of a rich system of red-blue-black-yellow ornamentation. A convincing example of the predominance of the eye in ornamentation is an Indian blanket located in the same museum (Fig. 54); there is something similar to it in the Bremen Museum.

Rice. 54 – Indian bedspread ornamented with eyes.

Indian rock paintings in California

Not leaving yet Western America, let's turn south to California. Here we immediately come across numerous drawings scratched on rocks, found in many places in America, and throwing a ray of light on the culture of the civilized Indians who lived at the time of the European invasion. The Californian "petroglyphs" and the Northern Argentine "kolchakvi" cover stones and rocks in the same way as the Swedish Hällristningar and their predecessors, dimples and marks on the so-called "chug stones". But whereas in prehistoric Swedish drawings on stones a pictorial, pictographic character predominates, in American images of this kind the written, ideographic character prevails, which is also noticeable in other Indian drawings.

But along with these drawings on rocks, such as figurative writing in California, there are also real paintings of battles and hunting, painted in black, white, red and yellow earthen colors and in some places covering large areas of rocks, on the rocks, under their overhangs and at the entrances to caves. The animals in these images are not nearly as natural and alive as the animals in similar paintings of the Bushmen. People are presented mostly from the front, with their arms raised up, but clumsily, in the form of silhouettes. It is curious that some figures are painted half black, half red, and this coloring is done either along, as, for example, in the cave of San Borgita and under the canopy of the San Juan rock, or across, as in Palmarito, on the eastern slope of the Sierra -de San Francisco. The connection between the figures awkwardly placed next to each other has to be guessed for the most part. Leon Dicke lists at least thirty places in Baja California where similar images were found.

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