Ceremonial Leader Research Articles

The Role of Providers in Mental Health Services Offered to American-Indian Youths

The Role of Providers in Mental Health Services Offered to American-Indian Youths

Ritual Knowledge in Hopi Tradition

Ritual knowledge and practice are essential to the Hopi cultural identity. All members of the Hopi community possess some form of ritual knowledge acquired by initiation into one or more ritual societies. Leaders of these societies, well the Kikmongwi (Village Chief), Tsa'akmongwi (Crier Chief), clan leaders, and ceremonial leaders, possess the most detailed ritual knowledge and are responsible for its activation within the customary practice. They are referred to collectively wimmomngwit, and are chosen to fulfill their roles usually within their lineage and clan because of their standing, qualities, and skills. The possession of ritual knowledge is associated with serious duties to perform traditional social and religious festivities that are as recurrent they are constant with their sanctified timing during the course of the year' Preparation for ritual activity involves a lifetime training, including not only initiations and learning the details of the ritual, but also inculcation of ethical values and practice of ethical behavior according to the teachings of Hopiv6tskwani.2 A wimmongwi is expected to be the ideal person. First of all, he should be qa hovariwta, which means pure of heart, morally correct. On a ceremonial level, this state of being can make a ceremony effective and bring rain, which ensures fertility and fruition; on an individual level, it can bring long life, which is a symbol of personal fulfillment. A wimmongwi is expected to be one who is humble while performing office-okiw'unangwa'ytaqa. An illustrative example from the Hopi Dictionary/ Hopiikwa Lavuytutuveni states, Uu 'okiw'unangwa naanan 'i'vo tuyqawvaqw yokvani, which means, If your humble heart prevails in all directions, it will rain.3 He also has to be calm and patient (paas unangwa'yta)

The Hako: Song, Pipe and Unity in a Pawnee Calumet Ceremony

One of the more complex and widespread rituals practiced by Native American groups focused on the calumet, a sacred pipe with a feathered shaft. The Calumet Ceremony was a powerful ritual through which members of another tribe were adopted. It also promoted social unity within tribes and facilitated contact and trade between them. Perhaps the most detailed description of a Calumet Ceremony was recorded near the turn of the century by ethnographer Alice C. Fletcher. Fletcher witnessed the Hako, a version of the Calumet Ceremony practiced by the Chaui clan of the Pawnee. With the invaluable assistance of Tahirussawichi, a Pawnee Ku'rahus or ceremonial leader, and renowned Indian scholar James R. Murie, himself a Pawnee, the author describes in marvelous detail the intricate rhythm and structure of the ceremony. Each song of the Hako is transcribed, translated, interpreted by the Pawnee Ku'rahus, and later analyzed by the author. Fletcher concludes that the Hako promised longevity, fertility, and prosperity to individuals and worked to insure friendship and peace between clans and tribes. The Hako, was originally published in 1904. Helen Myers, an associate professor of music at Trinity College and the ethnomusicology editor of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.