As in most part of world, it is a curious mixture of Christian and pagan customs
By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com
Both,
the Winter Solstice and Christmas, are a time to look forward to what is
coming in the new year —a time when hope abounds.
Linton Weeks, is creator of The Protojournalist: an experimental storytelling project for the LURVers — Listeners, Users, Readers, Viewers — of NPR.
lweeks@npr.org "With the spread of Christianity among some Native Americans in the
early 20th century came certain Christmas rituals — trees and presents
and jolly old Santa Claus — that were folded into traditional wintertime
celebrations," Weeks said.
According to a 1909 account in the Tombstone Epitaph, members of the Gila River Indian Community
— living on reservations in Arizona — were introduced to
imported-from-Europe Christmas customs, such as St. Nicholas and
Christmas trees. "It was the first time the Indians had ever seen the
good old saint and they were highly amused and pleased."
The Yale Expositor of St. Clair County, Mich., reported on December 18, 1913 that for certain Sioux
dwelling in South Dakota, Christmas and its accoutrements came through
government-run schools. In each village, the Sioux collected funds for a
feast. One member dressed up as Kris Kringle and made speeches and
handed out presents. Native American children, the newspaper noted,
"were quick to show interest in the Christmas tree."
In a round-the-nation story, The Winchester News
from Winchester Ky., on Dec 31, 1910, wrote that the Christmas tree
"brought to their notice by the palefaces, caught their fancy and today
...forms the center of nearly all the Indian Christmas celebrations."
Large white coyote
Some Native Americans put a special spin on Christmas, incorporating traditions and tales that dated back ages. The Salish
passed down a Christmas story of a "great and good man who came among
their forefathers and performed miracles of all kinds, and on leaving
them said he would return in the form of a large white coyote," the 1910
Winchester News noted. "They say he has appeared at different times, but has not been seen now for more than 150 years."
In San Felipe Pueblo, N.M., the 1913 Expositor account
pointed out, the holiday celebration among Native Americans living
there was "a curious mixture of Christian and pagan customs."
Members
went to the old mission church in the morning, held a feast at midday
and then began "a fantastic and ceremonial dance that continues for half
a week."
Christmas is still celebrated at some of the Pueblos in many of the same ways.
Today, explains Deborah A. Jojola, Curator of Exhibitions at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
in Albuquerque – which represents the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico — "most
of the Pueblo Nations within New Mexico have seasonal cycles for
ceremonies and celebrations."
Many Pueblo communities celebrate
the harvest, she says. And the day of the patron saint of the church
and the village that "blends both native and Catholic expressions with a
single purpose — the welfare of the people."
But through the
decades, Christmas – which also combines old familiar folkways with
Catholicism — has taken on added significance. On Christmas Eve and
Christmas Day, she says, many of the Pueblos host special masses and
dances.
The Jemez Pueblo,
for example, celebrates with Buffalo Dances on Christmas Eve and early
morning on Christmas Day. The Buffalo Dancers – featuring two men and
one woman — make their way down from the nearby mesas into the Pueblo
"bringing the Spirit of Prayer, Song and Dance," Deborah says. The woman
"is said to represent Our Mother of all living things, She is young,
beautiful and full of strength. Pueblo children
She holds the utmost honor during the
four day celebration."
In Isleta Pueblo,
Deborah says, there is a winter dance held in the St. Augustine Church
after the Christmas Eve mass. Many of the festivities are for all ages.
"In virtually all ceremonies," Deborah says, "Pueblo children are
integral participants. Indian parents rarely, if ever, need a babysitter
for traditional ceremonial preparations or actual events."
The
Christmastime dancing is led by elders, but at some point – on the
fourth day of the celebration — young children are invited to dance. For
many, she says, "this is their first welcome celebration."
Leandra Lewis, travel writer notes that the now prevalent Navajo fry bread food tradition was created out of hardship and necessity according to the lore. With help from local talent Jean Milford and Brenda Houser, she reconstructs that story.
"Cultural anthropologist believe the Navajo began
arriving in the Four Corner regions of Northern Arizona, Utah, Colorado
and New Mexico, four centuries before the Spanish conquistadors rode in
from the south on horses searching for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold."
"When the Spanish arrived the Navajo’s farmed and raised
livestock, primarily sheep. From the 1600 until the 1850, the Spanish
settlers living along the Rio Grande and the Navajo’s in the Four
Corners area raided each other. They took sheep, horses and people.".
"When the American troops arrived in New Mexico in 1846,
they agreed to protect the Spanish settlers from the Navajo raiders in
exchange for the support of the new American government. U.S. Army
soldiers began rides into Navajo country to punish Navajos. They took
sheep from Navajos and returned them to the Spanish, irrespective of any
facts that the livestock were stolen, Lewis said.
Kit Carson
"In late 1800s, the United States Army built Fort
Defiance, near present day Window Rock. American Indian scout Kit
Carson was called in, and troops were dispatched. They killed all the
livestock, poisoned water wells, burned the crops and the homes of the
Navajo people," she said.
In 1863, approximately 8,000 starving Navajos were
rounded up, imprisoned and forced to walk 300 miles from Arizona to Fort
Sumner, New Mexico. They were herded onto a 40 square mile government
tract their new home. For four years, they suffered hunger, sickness,
death and gross government mismanagement. A treaty was signed in 1868,
and some 7,000 survivors returned home to the Four Corners area."
"During their years in concentration camps, the Navajos
were issued poor quality rations and government commodities when
available. The woman prisoners were issued iron pots for cooking food.
At home, their diet was lean hunted meats and bread made in mud ovens.
Frying was a new concept," according to Lewis' account.
"When they returned home to their land, now reservations,
the United States government provided an abundance of wheat flour and
lard as part of the commodities program. The Navajo woman found a way to
use the issued wheat and lard, two main ingredients in fry bread," she explains.
Navajo taco
Today fry bread is considered a food of inter-tribal
unity and it’s available at all Indian Pow-Wow’s. The dough is a
variation of flour used in tortillas. Blue Bird is the preferred flour.
Shortening, salt, water and baking powder are the other ingredients to
create tasty Navajo fry bread.
According to Jean Milford and Brenda Houser who provided
the recipe for the Painted Desert Oasis, Navajo taco, if you are in
Navajo-land at a gathering or visiting a Navajo family and are offered
fry bread or other traditional food, please partake. The food is given
with great thought and love. Show respect, even if you just finished a
meal, accept the food from the family who offered their hospitality.
In addition, the holidays are a time of giving and this is not a foreign concept to Native cultures. All throughout the year, many Native American cultures celebrate special occasions and events with giveaways.
Such generosity in Native cultures is a sign of a giving heart, with
spiritual as well as social value. So, the concept of holiday giving
easily coincides with traditional Native American beliefs, explains Murray Lee of the Partnership of Native Americans, a nonprofit organization committed to championing hope for a brighter
future for Native Americans living on remote, isolated and impoverished
reservations.
"Winter Solstice and Christmas is also a time
when our organization is focusing on services for those that perhaps
need a little boost of hope and cheer. In addition to providing services
such as winter fuel for Elders to heat their homes, staple foods for
senior centers and Thanksgiving meals for Elders and their
families, each year we help brighten the holidays for tens of thousands
of Native Americans through our Holiday gift and meal programs. Native
children, teens, families and Elders alike enjoy the gifts and the
opportunity to celebrate the holiday season in the same ways as other
Americans,"
Saturnalia
Floyd Looks for Buffalo Hand notes Christmas is not the only celebration held around this time of year.
December 25 was a significant date for various early cultures. The
ancient Babylonians believed the son of the queen of heaven was born on
December 25. The Egyptians celebrated the birth of the son of the
fertility goddess Isis on the same date, while ancient Arabs contended
that the moon was born on December 24. The Romans celebrated Saturnalia,
a feast named for Saturn, god of agriculture, on December 21.
Floyd Looks for Buffalo Hand is a self-described Oglala Sioux spiritual interpreter
from Pine Ridge, South Dakota. The full-blooded grandson of Chief Red
Cloud and a direct descendant of the Crazy Horse Band, he has spent the
last 28 years teaching Indian spirituality and spreading the messages of
the White Buffalo Calf Lady to all four directions of the world.
He identifies that Christmas
wasn't always celebrated in the US the way it is today.
"In fact, the
Puritans of Massachusetts banned any observance of Christmas, and anyone
caught observing the holiday had to pay a fine. Connecticut had a law
forbidding the celebration of Christmas and the baking of mincemeat
pies. A few of the earliest settlers did celebrate Christmas, but it was
far from a common holiday in the colonial era," he says.
"Before
the Civil War, the North and South were divided on the issue of
Christmas. Most Northerners thought it was a sinful display, while
Southerners saw it as an important social occasion. The first three
states to make Christmas a legal holiday were in the South: Alabama in
1836, Louisiana and Arkansas in 1838. It did not become a US National
holiday until 1870."
Christmas celebrations and
traditions, as most of us in the U.S. celebrate them today, became more
common in America during the mid-1800s. The introduction of Christmas
services in Sunday schools reduced religious opposition to a secular
festival, as opposed to a somber religious day, while the Charles
Dickens novel A Christmas Carol popularized the holiday as a family
event, and women's magazines promoted the ideas of decorating for this
holiday.
Some scholars suspect that Christians chose to
celebrate Christ's birth on December 25 to make it easier to convert
the pagan tribes. Referring to Jesus as the “light of the world” also
fit with existing pagan beliefs about the birth of the sun. The ancient
“return of the sun” philosophy had been replaced by the “coming of the
son” message of Christianity.
Winter Solstice
"Many Native Americans in
North America, and Aboriginal groups elsewhere in the world, as well as
other pagan religions such as Wicca, did observe a celebration near
Christmas time, called the Winter Solstice. The Winter Solstice is the
longest night of the year and falls on December 21-22 and was celebrated
in the Americas long before European influence arrived. Different
Indian tribes associate different beliefs and rituals with it," says Looks for Buffalo Hand.
For
example, the Hopi tribal celebrations are dedicated to giving aid and
direction to the sun which is ready to return and give strength to new
life. Their ceremony is called Soyal. It lasts for 20 days and includes
prayer stick making, purification, rituals, and a concluding rabbit
hunt, feast and blessings.
Looks for Buffalo Hand describes Huron tradition.
"Their first Christmas Carol was written by a Jesuit
missionary priest, Fr Jean de Brebeuf, around 1640-41. The Hurons built
a small chapel of fir trees and bark in honor of the manger at
Bethlehem. This became the 'stable' where Jesus was born. Some Hurons
traveled as much as two days to be there for the Christmas celebration.
The
animals at the manger were the Fox, the Buffalo and the Bear. The
Hurons also made a traditional tent of skins and their nativity figures
were all dressed as native Americans. This Huron Carol, originally
written in the Huron language and later translated to French, has become
a well known and much loved carol today.
Sinter Klaas
The
American version of St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus originally came from
the Dutch version called Sinter Klaas. This tradition was brought with
the Dutch people who settled Amsterdam, New York. The Dutch settlers
have also influenced the modern tradition of gifting.
Our modern
day version of how Santa Claus should look comes from the Christmas poem
A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore. Written for his children
in 1823, the family poem was later published for the general public and
included what became the now famous picture of Santa Claus by Thomas
Nast.
Countless legends are told about the Patron Saint of Giving
known as St. Nicholas. He has been the patron saint of Russia, Moscow,
Greece, children, sailors, prisoners, bakers, pawnbrokers, shopkeepers
and wolves.
"His gift-giving role in Christmas rites probably comes
from his fame as the friend of children. This Christmas legend tells us
that he also used to give anonymous donations of gold coins to persons
in need. His cult spread in Europe and Christmas presents were
distributed on December 6th when the celebration of St. Nicholas took
place," says Looks for Buffalo Hand.
According to these legends, St. Nicholas was born in the
city of Patara, and traveled to Palestine and Egypt when he was young.
He was later imprisoned by the Emperor Diocletian, but was later
released by the more humanitarian Emperor Constantine. He attended the
first council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. St Nicholas reportedly died about
350 AD.
The relics of St.Nicholas are in the basilica of St.
Nicola, in Bari, Italy (they were stolen from Myra in 1087 AD). For this
reason he is sometimes known as St.Nicholas of Bari.
Within both Western and Eastern Christian Churches similar mythology exists.
Handsome Fellow
And
there is a mysterious fellow whom I have been told about on several
occasions. He is a handsome brave who wears white buckskins, and brings
gifts to Indian children. His name, appropriately is 'Handsome Fellow'.
Other gift bringers come at different times of the year, often in the
summertime, but the gift bringing element is always a part of the
American Indian culture, whatever the occasion is for a gathering.
There
was a real native American man in the 1800s, who was an important
leader and warrior in the Creek tribe. His Indian name was Chief
Hobbythacco, which means Handsome Fellow. Chiefs in native American
cultures were often the beneficiaries of many gifts. According to the
traditions of native Americans, the chief would then share these gifts
with others of the tribe who were less fortunate.
Handsome Fellow,
Fanni Mico, and later, White Lieutenant, were leaders of a Creek
settlement named Okfuskee and were deeply involved in Creek-British
diplomatic relations throughout the colonial period. Chief Hobbythacco
(Handsome Fellow) had often supported the English, but at the outbreak
of the Cherokee war, he decided to support the Cherokees. He lead an
attack on a group of English traders in Georgia and thirteen of the
traders were killed during the fighting.
"Traditional
American Indians are raised to respect the Christian Star and the birth
of the first Indian Spiritual Leader. He was a Star Person and Avatar.
His name was Jesus. He was a Hebrew, a Red Man. He received his
education from the wilderness. John the Baptist, Moses, and other
excellent teachers that came before Jesus provided an educational
foundation with the Holistic Method.""Everyday is our Christmas.
Every meal is our Christmas. At every meal we take a little portion of
the food we are eating, and we offer it to the spirit world on behalf of
the four legged, and the winged, and the two legged. We pray--not the
way most Christians pray-- but we thank the Grandfathers, the Spirit,
and the Guardian Angel."
Roving Angel
"The Indian Culture is actually grounded
in the traditions of a Roving Angel. The life-ways of Roving Angels are
actually the way Indian People live. They hold out their hands and help
the sick and the needy. They feed and clothe the poor. We have high
respect for the avatar because we believe that it is in giving that we
receive."
"We are taught as Traditional children that we have
abundance. The Creator has given us everything: the water, the air we
breathe, the earth as our flesh, and our energy force: our heart. We are
thankful every day. We pray early in the morning, before sunrise, to
the morning star, and the evening star. We pray for our relatives who
are in the universe that someday they will come. We also pray that the
Great Spirit's son will live again." "To the Indian People Christmas is
everyday and they don't believe in taking without asking. Herbs are
prayed over before being gathered by asking the plant for permission to
take some cuttings. An offer of tobacco is made to the plant in
gratitude. We do not pull the herb out by its roots, but cut the plant
even with the surface of the earth, so that another generation will be
born its place."
"It is really important that these ways never be
lost. And to this day we feed the elders, we feed the family on
Christmas day, we honor Saint Nicholas. We explain to the little
children that to receive a gift is to enjoy it, and when the enjoyment
is gone, they are pass it on to the another child, so that they, too,
can enjoy it. If a child gets a doll, that doll will change hands about
eight times in a year, from one child to another."
"Everyday is
Christmas in Indian Country. Daily living is centered around the spirit
of giving and walking the Red Road. Walking the Red Road means making
everything you do a spiritual act. If your neighbor, John Running Deer,
needs a potato masher; and you have one that you are not using, you
offer him yours in the spirit of giving. It doesn't matter if it is
Christmas or not."
"If neighbors or strangers stop over to visit
at your house, we offer them dinner. We bring out the T-Bone steak, not
the cabbage. If we don't have enough, we send someone in the family out
to get some more and mention nothing of the inconvenience to our guests.
The more one gives, the more spiritual we become. The Christ
Consciousness, the same spirit of giving that is present at Christmas,
is present everyday in Indian Country."
Christmas Dances
"Many
Tribes, including the Laguna Indians, many of whom accepted
Christianity some 400 years ago, have the custom of a dance on Christmas
Eve or Christmas, where gifts are offered at the Manger. There are many
representations of gifts brought to braves in the fields by the great
Thunderbird; or scenes with the wise men being replaced by the chiefs
representing the great Nations,"says Looks for Buffalo Hand.
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