Zuni Fetishes
Frank Hamilton Crushing; Introduction by Tom Bahti
- KC Publications 1994
- 43 p
2 Copies in file Master list item #: 1
File location is in the New Mexico file Cabinet
Zuni Fetishes - This is probably not the place to ponder the shortcomings of our own white American society which leads so many of its members to seek the amulets and charms of cultures other than their own for the purpose of "warding off evil and "bringing good luck". Nevertheless, aside from a serious interest by collectors, it is this very phenomena that has prompted to a great extent the reprinting of this article on Zuni fetishes! by Frank H. Cushing. The use of fetishes by Indians dates from pre-Columbian times: but their use is probably as prevalent today as it was in the past, for man's desire to control those forces beyond his immediate power has not lessened. | All tribes in the Southwest make and use fetishes but the pueblo Indians have developed them to the greatest degree. Of the pueblo tribes the Zuni have the reputation for being the most skillful at carving them. For this reason the Zunis are looked to as a source for personal charms and amulets by members of other tribes. The Navajos, for example, will barter for the figures of horses, cattle, sheep or goats to keep their herds and flocks free from disease and to insure their propagation. Small cylindrical pieces carved from banded calcite are also purchased for use as prayer sticks. Fetishes may be of almost any form or material. The mili, a representation of the "Breath of Life" as given by Awonawilona, the Supreme Being of the Zunis, is a perfect ear of corn, filled with the seeds of sacred plants, wrapped in buckskin and set in a base of basketry and covered with the feathers of various birds. Ettone, a fetish of the Rain Priests which symbolizes Mother Earth, rain and all of the life-giving forces upon which man depends, consists of short sections of painted reed filled with seeds and water (One contains a live toad) and wrap...
Indian Jewelry Mythology Amulets and charms Zuni Indians