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拍品專文
The unusually elaborate decoration of these leggings indicates both the high status of their owner and a ceremonial connection. The symbols should be interpreted as a whole. The key to unlocking their meaning lies in the rainbow symbols, for the word rainbow, no'nono, also means fishline, snare or trap, (Petter, 1915, p. 883). It is thought to be the means whereby symbols are used, for example, in the Sun Dance, reflecting the central meaning of that ceremony: that it represents a pound (Coleman field notes). This is also the symbolism underlying the decoration of these leggings.
The cuff of each legging represents the corral into which the buffalo were driven, while the vertical panels represent the drive lanes. Thunder and lightning, represented by the red designs, fill the drive lanes, helping to drive the prey into the pounds. The slits in the cuff represent the entrance to the pound. The Yellow Messenger comes from Thunder, to announce that the ceremonial hunt will be a success, and to drink the blood of the victims. Both the sound of Thunder and the hoofbeats of the animals are represented by the bells, arranged in rows like tracks (Nagy, 1994, p. 42). The bells substitute for the more usual dots painted between stripes in Cheyenne horse and lodge husband (Coleman 1999). There are ten bells and stripes on each legging, representing the ten 28-day moons of a woman's gestation period: fertility--new--life being the most important result of a successful ceremony.
Within the cuff-corrals, Thunder's arrows/the whirlwinds help kill the impounded animals/enemies. The Morning Star also represents the Medicine Lance (pole with a cross-piece) planted in the center of every Cheyenne pound, the symbol of Thunder's power to destory and replenish (cf. Schlesier, 1987, pp. 56, 58). The hapless buffalo are represented by the diamond-shaped grasshopper symbols--four symbols in all, representing buffalo converging from the four directions, followed by four Thunder Beings.
This syntagma of meaning, central to the Sun Dance, is also assigned to the other important communal rites, the Massaum (Animal Dance), and the Buffalo Rite. But the timing of each rite is determined by a different star. The Massaum ceremony is determined by the heliacal rising of the Blue Star--Rigel--which descends from the sky to conduct the sacred hunt on the fifth day of the ceremony (Schlesier, 1987, p. 122). As the Morning Star symbols on the cuffs of the leggings are blue, it follows that the Massaum in particular is respected.
These leggings were worn by the Sacred Woman (Ehyophstah, Yellow-haired Woman), who played the most central role of the Massaum. Through her, the spirits of the animals are controlled, so that they willingly go to their sacrifice. While almost certainly expressly created for the woman's use during that ceremony, she would have been entitled to wear them on any important subsequent occasion as an emblem of her status. The configuration of the leggings is distinctive to the Cheyenne and Suhtai; the panoply of symbols indicates that they were used in one of the great communal rites; the specific symbolism indicates that they were intended for the Massaum.
Winfield Coleman March 13, 2000
The cuff of each legging represents the corral into which the buffalo were driven, while the vertical panels represent the drive lanes. Thunder and lightning, represented by the red designs, fill the drive lanes, helping to drive the prey into the pounds. The slits in the cuff represent the entrance to the pound. The Yellow Messenger comes from Thunder, to announce that the ceremonial hunt will be a success, and to drink the blood of the victims. Both the sound of Thunder and the hoofbeats of the animals are represented by the bells, arranged in rows like tracks (Nagy, 1994, p. 42). The bells substitute for the more usual dots painted between stripes in Cheyenne horse and lodge husband (Coleman 1999). There are ten bells and stripes on each legging, representing the ten 28-day moons of a woman's gestation period: fertility--new--life being the most important result of a successful ceremony.
Within the cuff-corrals, Thunder's arrows/the whirlwinds help kill the impounded animals/enemies. The Morning Star also represents the Medicine Lance (pole with a cross-piece) planted in the center of every Cheyenne pound, the symbol of Thunder's power to destory and replenish (cf. Schlesier, 1987, pp. 56, 58). The hapless buffalo are represented by the diamond-shaped grasshopper symbols--four symbols in all, representing buffalo converging from the four directions, followed by four Thunder Beings.
This syntagma of meaning, central to the Sun Dance, is also assigned to the other important communal rites, the Massaum (Animal Dance), and the Buffalo Rite. But the timing of each rite is determined by a different star. The Massaum ceremony is determined by the heliacal rising of the Blue Star--Rigel--which descends from the sky to conduct the sacred hunt on the fifth day of the ceremony (Schlesier, 1987, p. 122). As the Morning Star symbols on the cuffs of the leggings are blue, it follows that the Massaum in particular is respected.
These leggings were worn by the Sacred Woman (Ehyophstah, Yellow-haired Woman), who played the most central role of the Massaum. Through her, the spirits of the animals are controlled, so that they willingly go to their sacrifice. While almost certainly expressly created for the woman's use during that ceremony, she would have been entitled to wear them on any important subsequent occasion as an emblem of her status. The configuration of the leggings is distinctive to the Cheyenne and Suhtai; the panoply of symbols indicates that they were used in one of the great communal rites; the specific symbolism indicates that they were intended for the Massaum.
Winfield Coleman March 13, 2000