Honoring our Heritage: A Tribal Connection

Tribal and third world influences are firmly entrenched in our culture, but it is unclear how many Americans are aware of the impact indigenous societies have had on the arts. If we don't acknowledge these influences we may be in danger of losing our cultural heritage. The prospect of a future Orwellian society is made all the more realistic when one realizes the lack of knowledge about our own roots. Western society has also had a large impact on the modernization of indigenous societies around the globe, and these people are in danger of losing their legacy if they accept our way of life as supreme.
Many Americans have a nominal understanding of the roots of our popular music culture. It is widely believed that “Negro Spirituals” were the basis of the blues and the blues were a precursor to rock and roll. This is true, but oversimplified. The roots of almost all popular American music forms can be traced to Africa. As Kenneth Estell states in his article, “Gospel: The Root of Popular Music,” “Gospel emerged from blues and religious spirituals and hymns,” while, “rhythm and blues drew upon gospel, electric urban blues and swing jazz to create a vibrantly modern sound,” (540). The banjo, which is used mainly in bluegrass, is a descendant of various West African string instruments (Sissoko, Stone). When slaves were brought over to the Americas from Africa they were clearly not allowed to bring any possessions, but the concept of their stringed instruments did come along with them and they made new versions out of whatever they could find. The instrument was eventually discovered by white people and with the advent of the industrial revolution, the banjo was created and brought to the masses (Sissoko, Stone). The West African influence on American music is undeniable, but other countries' music has its roots on the African continent as well.
Bob Marley has become a household name; from devout religious types to counterculture gurus, many people are aware of the man and his legacy. Jamaican music, as one could imagine, also comes from Africa, but a great deal of roots reggae is rooted in a Ugandan tradition known as Nyahbingi, which, “was centered around Muhumusa, a healing woman from Uganda who organized resistance against German colonialists,” (Rastafari music, par. 3). The Nyahbingi is a spiritual style of music in which the drums each serve a specific purpose: the thunder is likened to a bass drum, the funde keeps the “heartbeat rhythm,” and the repeater is a small drum which is seen as the carrier of the spirit (Nnamdi, sec. 3). It would be hard to argue, if not impossible, that African culture has not influenced popular music, but this is not the only art form which is a direct result of indigenous societies around the world.
Contemporary Americans get tattooed for myriad reasons, very few of which hold true to the original indigenous art form – usually it is a personal statement of style. In traditional Indian society many women get tattooed as part of premarital rituals. In her book Motiba's Tattoos, Mira Kamdar researched the meaning behind her grandmother's tattoos and found three distinct results. The first purpose was to show that she was a beautiful gift to her new husband; secondly, they were to show the family and community she came from, and finally they served to protect “her against the evil eye.” Getting tattooed because the artwork was cute was never an option for Motiba. Her tattoos served a purpose, and she carried them all her life with pride (Kamdar, p. Xviii). At the turn of the first century, the Yue people of China wore tattoos to make themselves “indistinguishable (and thus safe) from certain dangerous water creatures,” while hunting for the emperor. The Yue's tattoos use as talismans also kept them safe from dragons (Reed, 362). Being tattooed has a rich history as a tribal ritual but other tribal rituals have also made an effect on our culture.
Face painting (while similar to tattoos because of the mark left on the body) is temporary and is rooted in the costumed rituals of indigenous peoples. Fairs, carnivals, and fundraisers have booths set up charging a small fee to get butterflies, shamrocks and many other aesthetically pleasing designs painted on one's body. It is hard to say how many Americans realize the influence tribal customs have had on a seemingly simple past-time. The Xinguanos of Brazil make paints from charcoal and red clay “mixed with the oil of the pequi fruit,” with which they paint designs of jungle creatures on their bodies for special occasions and ceremonies (The March Of Time). While tribes like the Xinguanos have made an impact on the rituals of Americans, Western Society has also made an undeniable impact on the lives of tribal people the world over.
The technology which most Americans use with ease is, or was, very foreign to many tribes in the jungles and deserts of the world. The communities of the Xingu Basin of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil now have television, and with the money many of them received from logging companies operating in the area, have purchased solar panels and satellite receivers so that they can watch soccer every week. Not all members of Xinguano society see these advances as positive though, and many are concerned that the possession of such technology may lead to jealousy and civil unrest in their communities (The March of Time). It is hard for one to imagine what it must have been like to grow up in close communion with the earth and know nothing of computers or radios and then suddenly have the fruits of over 100 years of technological advances at your fingertips; furthermore, one could imagine the destructive nature such a realization could possibly have on a simple earth-loving people.
Indigenous people throughout the Amazon, though, have taken a stand against numerous atrocities their governments have signed in to law. In 2008, the Peruvian President Alan Garcia opened up indigenous lands to development as part of a free trade agreement with the United States, and the tribesmen of the forest responded quickly through various forms of protest. Highways were blocked with human walls, power plants were raided, and national police were taken hostage by the true stewards of the Amazon rainforest (Victory, 11). Only 11 days passed before the government declared a state of emergency and the law was repealed by the Peruvian Congress (Victory, 11). If the Amazonians of Peru did not take a stand they would certainly have been in danger of losing their last threads of geographical connection with their ancestors.
Most tribal people do not own their land but are merely given a parcel with which they are allowed to live out their lifestyle, no matter how absurd the ruling class deems it to be. Throughout the cultural national parks of the Brazilian rainforest, the Xinguano people live according to the rituals of their ancestors, but recent evidence discovered by Michael Heckenberger suggests that the modern day descendants of the inhabitants of pre-Colombian Amazonia have “regressed agriculturally and current land-use practices among Amerindian groups might not reflect what they were practicing before the colonial impact,” (WinklerPrins, 255). The lifestyle of indigenous peoples in the Americas; therefore, was effected long before the modern era of globalization and technology.
The Kayapo tribe of the Xingu basin in Brazil have shown to be very resilient and adaptable to the global economy, and they have fought a valiant struggle to get official recognition of their homelands. Now that their lands are federally recognized a new struggle has begun – stopping federal and state governments from awarding development contracts to companies with no intention of developing their land sustainably. In other words, maximizing profits is at the top of the list for these organizations. An unexpected result has occurred from the threat of the Xingu basin peoples' land being developed as formerly warring tribes of the basin now work together to form alliances with local government officials and FUNAI (The Brazilian Agency for Indian Affairs) representatives. The Kayapo held a conference at which 19 of the 21 Xingu communities attended to discuss the future of their lands. It was decided that they should work together, not only among other tribes but with the Brazilian landowners with whom they share the valley, to stop the construction of hydro-electric dams and the use of pesticides by soya farmers which were polluting their fragile river system. These alliances have proved to be effective so far (Fajang-Turner, Turner, 3-6). By using modern technology to their advantage, the people of the Xingu basin have taken the first step towards sustaining their way of life, proving their resilience to adapt to the modern day challenges they face.
Around the same time the Kayapo were holding their conference, Daniel Pinchbeck was making his way deep in to the Ecuadorian Amazon to delve in to the shamanic traditions of the Secoya, an indigenous tribe known for their affinity for ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic brew often associated with serpents in Secoya legend (Pinchbeck, 44). In his book 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, Pinchbeck reflects on his stay with the Secoya:
"The Secoyas' old way of life was quickly vanishing. The adolescents of the tribe wore sneakers and Nike knockoffs. Schooled by missionaries, many of them had never participated in the ceremonies that were once an integral part of tribal life. Our guide for this journey – another Jewish ehtnobotanist obsessed with tribal life – had gotten grants to preserve aspects of Secoya culture that were quickly disappearing from memory. He took us downriver to visit a re-creation of one of the tribe's original dwellings, an oval-shaped building, one enormous room made of rainforest logs lashed together with vines, where a large family would have lived together in their old ways. Only a few of the oldest members of the tribe recalled how to make such a structure. Lying inside it, I studied the intricate lattice-like design, watched patterns of sunlight play across the ground, and heard cries of birds and distant animals. I found it one of the most harmonious and peaceful shelters I had ever entered – not a primitive hut, but an Amazonian cathedral, perfectly melding form and function. The quickly disappearing rain forest culture of the Secoya did not seem rudimentary; it possessed extraordinary subtleties and refinements (44)."
Pinchbeck paints a tragic picture of a once great tribe of people being diminished by globalization. But his purpose there was to partake in ayahuasca rituals, where they would ingest it and spend the whole evening being carried “into a magical reality.” The shamans of the Secoya would sing songs to the spirits who danced about them “while under the influence of their medicine,”(Pinchbeck, 44). The ramblings of rainforest mystics have often been dismissed by popular culture, left to the courageous few who seek to unravel their mysteries.
Shamanism; however, is not secluded to the Amazon, or to sub-Saharan Africa or indigenous tribes. There has been an emergence of many new forms of shamanism within the United States and the modern “civilized” world. Modern shamanism takes one form in the field of holistic medicine, essentially realizing the shamanic view of balance as being central to healing most ailments mental and physical. In Gerhard Mayer's article “The Figure of the Shaman as a Modern Myth,” he suggests that new age shamans also serve as social critics because of their ability to confront “society with uncomfortable truths,”(77). It could be easily ascertained, assuming Mayer's view, that people from all walks of life could fill this role as shaman, including but not limited to: artists, actors, musicians, social workers and volunteer organizations. Traditional shamans fulfill many purposes within their communities as social moderators, using mind-altering substances with their tribesmen and acting as guides on their inter-dimensional forays. In this aspect, techno disc jockeys can be viewed as neoshamans, guiding rave participants through their quest for a state of ecstasy with the changing of “sounds and rhythms.” Of course MDMA, or ecstasy, is a vital part of their collective experience. Mayer argues that the dance floor becomes a spiritual place where “the boundaries between performer and audience dissolve,” (81). The techno-music scene is yet another cultural phenomenon which is not only influenced by tribal rituals but also parallels many shamanic traditions.
All around the globe there are mystical locales which harken back to an age of magic and myth. Places like Stonehenge, Macchu Picchu and the Mayan temples of Central America should serve as a reminder of our collective global culture, and the undercurrent of thought in art and rituals which makes us all more alike than we would like to admit. Many artists have perceived this connection and striven to bring it to life in their work, and they should be applauded for straying from convention, for their battle is a noble one. In their artistic wanderings they have stumbled upon the essence of our shared humanity and brought it in to focus. The earth suddenly seems like a much less cruel place when viewed through the scope of interconnectedness, for we all share the same essence.

Works Cited

Fajang-Turner, Vanessa, Terrence Turner. “Political Innovation and Inter-Ethnic Alliance: Kayapo Resistance to the Developmentalist State.” Anthropology Today. 22.5 (Oct 2006): 3-10. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Pikes Peak Comm. College. 1 July 2009 .
Kamdar, Mira. Motiba's Tattoos: A Granddaughter's Journey into her Indian Family's Past. New York: Public Affairs, 2000.
Mayer, Gerhard. “The Figure of the Shaman as a Modern Myth: Some Reflections on the Attractiveness of Shamanism in Modern Societies.” The Pomegranate 10.1 (2008): 70-103. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Pikes Peak Comm. College. 3 July 2009
Nnamdi, Bektemba. “Nyahbingi Music.” Rhythmweb.com. 2003. Eric Stuer. 26 June 2009 .
Pinchbeck, Daniel. 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. New York : Jeremy Tarcher/Penguin, 2006.
Reed, Carrie E. “Tattoo in Early China.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 120.3 (July-Sep 2000): 360-77. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Pikes Peak Comm. College. 2 July 2009 .
Sissoko, Mansa, Jayme Stone. “Bringing the Banjo from 'Africa To Appalachia'.” All Things Considered. Natl. Public Radio. St. Paul. 12 Oct. 2008.
“The March of Time.” Geographical (Campion Interactive Publishing) 79.11 (Nov 2007): 24-33. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Pikes Peak Comm. College. 26 June 2009 .
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WinklerPrins, Antoinette M.G.A. “The Ecology of Power: Culture, Place, and Personhood in the Southern Amazon, A.D., 1000-2000.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 98.1 (Mar 2008): 254-57. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Pikes Peak Comm. College. 2 July 2009 .