Icons of Power: Feline Symbolism in the AmericasNicholas J. Saunders Icons of Power investigates why the image of the cat has been such a potent symbol in the art, religion and mythology of indigenous American cultures for three thousand years. The jaguar and the puma epitomize ideas of sacrifice, cannibalism, war, and status in a startling array of graphic and enduring images. Natural and supernatural felines inhabit a shape-shifting world of sorcery and spiritual power, revealing the shamanic nature of Amerindian world views. This pioneering collection offers a unique pan-American assessment of the feline icon through the diversity of cultural interpretations, but also striking parallels in its associations with hunters, warriors, kingship, fertility, and the sacred nature of political power. Evidence is drawn from the pre-Columbian Aztec and Maya of Mexico, Peruvian, and Panamanian civilizations, through recent pueblo and Iroquois cultures of North America, to current Amazonian and Andean societies. This well-illustrated volume is essential reading for all who are interested in the symbolic construction of animal icons, their variable meanings, and their place in a natural world conceived through the lens of culture. The cross-disciplinary approach embraces archaeology, anthropology, and art history. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 12 | |
| 20 | |
| 34 | |
| 43 | |
| 53 | |
| 77 | |
Feline symbolism and material culture in prehistoric Colombia | 122 |
Paragon or peril? The jaguar in Amazonian Indian society | 171 |
Felines patronyms and history of the Araucanians in | 203 |
anthropomorphic Pitrenstyle figurine | 209 |
Mountain Lions and Pueblo shrines in the American Southwest | 228 |
The panther in HuronWyandot and Seneca myth | 258 |
And panther tales | 265 |
Panthers distant kinsmen | 281 |
Things as They Are Now | 284 |
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American Amerindian Andean animal Anthropology anthropomorphic appear Araucanian Archaeology archeological areas artifacts associated Barbeau Bear Beast Gods Black Jaguar Bogotá bones Bororo canines carnivore carved Cashinahua Central ceramic Chavín clan claws Cochiti context Cult culture deer depicted Dillehay Dumarest Dumbarton Oaks E.P. Benson effigy ethnographic example fangs felid feline feline imagery feline symbolism figure Furst groups hallucinogenic head historical human hunter hunting Huron-Wyandot icons Indians Iroquoian jaguar Jemez killed Kogi lineages Lothrop lowland male mammal Maya Mesoamerica Mexico Mountain Lion Mountain Lion fetishes Museum myth mythical reality nguillatun Northern Iroquoian ocelot Olmec Olmec were-jaguar Panama panther man-being Parsons patronyms Pecos Pueblo Photograph pottery public ceremony puma region Reichel-Dolmatoff represent ritual San Agustín Seneca serpent shamans sherds Shipibo shrine skin smoking pipes social society species stone supernatural tail Tairona teeth Tembladera Tewa Tezcatlipoca University Press vessels Waiwai warriors Washington Yellow Jaguar York Zuni
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Page 290 - Centennial history of Erie county, New York; being its annals from the earliest recorded events to the hundredth year of American Independence.
Page 118 - Helms, MW (1995) Creations of the Rainbow Serpent: Polychrome ceramic designs from ancient Panama. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Page 53 - It is a dweller of the forests, of crags, of water; noble, princely, it is said. It is the lord, the ruler of the animals. It is cautious, wise, proud. It is not a scavenger. It is one which detests, which is nauseated by [dirty things]. It is noble, proud.