Navajo Night Chant
The Navajo are the American Indians native to Arizona and the rest of the south west. The most sacred of all Navajo ceremonies is the Night Chant which was first performed around 1000 b.c.e. It is celebrated in late fall or early winter for 9 days.
The ceremony involves memorizing hundreds of songs, dozens of prayers and several very complicated and intricate sand paintings.
The Night Chant is lead by a trained Medicine Man (doctor-priest) who has had a long apprenticeship and learned the intricate and detailed practices that are essential to the chant. The ceremony uses techniques that shock and arose in order to scare off sicknesses and ugliness. Once disorder is gone, then order and balance are restored through song, prayer, sand painting and other aspects of the ceremony.
The Night Chant has a very large dance component. There are teams who dance about 12 times each with half-hour intervals in between. It totals more than 10 hours straight of dancing! The dance movements are a lot like the Virginia Reel, with two lines facing each other. Each of the 6 male dancers takes his female partner, dances with her to the end of the line, drops her there and then moves back to his own side.
The Iroquois are one of the largest Native American tribes in history. As you may already know the Iroquois Confederacy is made up of six Indian Nations: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora.
The Iroquois Midwinter Ceremony is in either January or February depending on the moon cycle. When the new moon appears the spiritual year begins and five days after, the ceremony starts. The celebration lasts 9 days with a lot of traditional events, as well as choosing new council members for the next year.
Each tribe celebrates a little differently. The usual custom is to first begin with a "Stirring of the Ashes" ceremony to symbolise thanks for all the blessings bestowed during the previous year. There is also a public naming event where all the children who were born that year are given their Indian names.
The two traditional Indian for this season are The Bear Dance and the Feather Dance. The Bear Dance is a dance to curing medical problems. Both men and women participate in the dance which some what resembles the actions of an actual bear.
This dance can be performed publicly or privately for a sick person to cure them of their problems and any misfortunes that have had over the past year. The Feather Dance is a more cheerful dance to bring in the new year.
One of the highlights of the Midwinter Ceremony used to be what was called The White Dog Sacrifice. It is no longer done! Instead today, instead of a dog, they use a white basket.
The Midwinter Ceremony ends with a speaker who gives a brief thanksgiving address. It is also at this time that the new council members are introduced to the crowd at the longhouse. The rest of the tribe's members are now purified and released from the burden of their dreams. And a new year is now welcomed.
The Peach Game is often played around this time to predict the success of next year's harvest of fruits and vegtables. Supposedly based off of a game played by "The Creator" and his evil brother as they competed with each other during the creation of the earth, it symbolizes the good luck that he has given to mankind.
Six peach stones (peach seeds smoothed to an oval shape) are either burnt or blackened on one side. Then they are put into a bowl and shaken. It is a game of chance a lot like dice, or flipping a coins heads or tails, and works similarly to a fortune teller. It's played in two teams and beans are used as points. The first team to loose all of their points looses the match. Men usually play against women. One clan can play against another clan. The game can go on for as long as two days! Bets are often placed also on who will win.
Hopi Soyaluna festival
The Hopi are one of the many Pueblo tribes. Their Winter Solstice festival is called the Soyaluna and is observed on December 22. Although a black Plumed Snake is the basic symbol of this ceremony it is not based on snake worship. It is one of the Hopi's most sacred ceremonies and is also called the "Prayer-Offering Ceremony" because it is a time for saying prayers for the New Year and for wishing each other prosperity and health.
The Hopi believed that on the summer solstice, when the days are the longest, that the Sun God is closest to Earth. In turn, on the winter solstice, that takes place in December the Sun God has traveled as far from the earth he can. So, in order to bring the Sun God back the warriors have a great festival.
Therefore, the whole purpose of the Soyaluna ceremony that the Hopi do still to this day, is to prevent the disappearance of the sun at the time of the year when the days are the shortest.
The preparations for the Soyaluna ceremony start by cutting pieces of cotton string and tying feathers and pinyon needles to the end. These are exchanged among friends and relatives during the day. Sometimes this is done by tying them in the recipient's hair.
The main celebration includes telling the story of the holiday. Memebers of the tribe dress as snakes, warriors, and most importantly the Sun God. They pretend that the God is leaving earth forever in darkness. The black snake symbolizes the evil influences that are driving the sun away. So the assembled chiefs make their offerings of prayer and meal to this black Plumed Snake to try to persuade him not to "swallow" the sun, like he does when there is an eclipse. The warriors must convince The Sun God to return by offering gifts, he comes and they celebrate. (A possible activity that kids can do would be to make snake puppets either out of old socks or brown paper bags.)
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