I would love to invite you to a small exhibition of my paintings and illustrations inspired by Shoshone Native American Myths and Legends which is presented in
Mérida English Library
Calle 53 #524 x 66 y 68, Centro, Mérida, Yucátan
from March 1st to April 11th 2016
Open: Monday - Saturday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Monday Evenings: 6:30 - 9:30 pm, Wednesdays until 5 pm
you are invited to MEL Night - Great opportunity to see the Shoshone Myths Exhibition while enjoying the snacks and the cash bar in the MEL garden.
Admission is free and drink tickets can be purchased at the front desk.
All are welcome!!!
Admission is free and drink tickets can be purchased at the front desk.
All are welcome!!!
The exhibition is just installed! Waiting for your coming...
Inspired by Shoshone Native American Myths
My first step in creating these paintings was to enter a selective call from Argo, a Czech publisher house seeking a Design / illustrator for a book about Shoshone's Myths. My submission was not selected but the subject matter inspired me to continue to explore this theme.The first small black and white and 2 colors pieces, are the samples I submitted following the publisher’s criteria and technical parameters. The rejection of my design gave me the freedom to use more colors and techniques. The big incentive for the style of expression I chose to use was the North Americans rock drawings and petroglyphs, which are basically found in all native art. This expression allows us the liberty to discard the already ingrained convention in the modern artist of the 19th century who adhered to the accepted styles.Shoshone Myths were the first American legends I have ever read. The Native Americans tales are quite different from their European counterparts. Coming from Europe, where I was born and raised, made it quite hard to understand them. But it was a challenge to get closer to the culture of the continent, which became my new home. I was reading and rereading the fables, thinking about the meaning and finally I realized, that they are not fairy tales telling stories. They are full of symbols and analogies. The Shoshone nation, transmitted their narrative heritage for hundred years. They understood, that the “word” is not perfect and can’t express the complete reality. Their “stories” are “pictures”, metaphorical, allegorical. In the same tenor as the North Americans rock drawings and petroglyphs that I have studied, in particular the fascinating Coso Range rock drawings and Great Basin prehistoric rock Art.
Their legends are allegorical images of the environmental observation showing us their perception of the world and the life priorities so different from the Europeans which have affected thinking in our modern world. For us, with our present values, it is not easy for us to understand them but they are the gateway to the ancient’s periods when people lived in harmony with the nature and relating to animals on the same footing as themselves. We have a lot to learn from them.
This topic beckons me. I’m planning to return to study more about this continent, its culture, history and art heritage, which I just touched on as a means of artistic expression.
More about my illustrations and the graphic design concept of the Shoshone Myths and Legends book you can find on: http://marketaloman.blogspot.mx
The Shoshone
The Shoshone (also spelled Shoshoni) are Native Americans of the Great Basin region, and south and east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Shoshoneans are distributed widely from Southern California, Death Valley and Mono Lake, through Utah to Western Colorado. Sacajawea, the woman who guided the Lewis and Clark expedition, was a Utah Shoshone.The Shoshone were largely farmers and hunters. They have a culture rich in family values and tradition, and parents and grandparents bestow the oral history of their ancestors to their children. As with most other Native American groups, the Shoshone have ritual dances to express their gratitude to the earth for planting the seeds in the autumn, and the harvest in the spring.
The Shoshone lived in extended family groups in which cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles and in-laws all banded together. They migrated through valleys and areas large enough to sustain their encampments with hunting and gathering resources. At certain times during the year such as harvest time, many tribes would join together to sing and dance, although there was no central organization throughout the Shoshone nation. Each of the Shoshone villages managed its own affairs internally, by tribal council, governed by village elders and generally a head chieftain. Varying in size and shape, the larger villages were generally fortified well to protect against an enemy attack, and they had populations up to and over 1,000, and spanned from one to ten acres (40,000 m²). They practiced agriculture and produced crops such as wheat, squash, corn, pumpkins, and barley. The typical village had 50 to 400 people organized in tipis. Villages were abandoned every few decades as the nearby forest grew thin and so they would migrate into more fertile areas.
Storytelling is a popular part of entertainment in many Native American societies. This stood also true for the Shoshone. Stories would recount their origins and would retell the deeds of heroes long gone. There are also many Shoshone legends about sacred animals including possums, raccoons, turtles, birds, chipmunks, and wolves.
The Shoshone Mythology
In Shoshone beliefs, the archetypal deities appear as visionary beings who bring blessings and receive love. Shamans would receive visions in their dreams and lead the people to different areas on the map, dwelling where the spirit beings told them to. A vast collection of myths defines the relationships between man and nature and plants and animals. Man depended on the blessings of the gods, who in turn depended on prayers and ceremonies.In Shoshone mythology, the Coyote brought them to the lands of the Great Basin. Two Shoshone women gave Coyote a basket by two native women coated with pine pitch to make it waterproof. Coyote was supposed to carry this basket to the Great Basin, and was warned against opening the lid. However, his curious nature overcame him, and when he opened the lid, some of the beings inside jumped out and ran away, which is how they say their ancestors came to dwell in the land of the Great Basin.
Shoshone hold the wolf in great respect, as the creator god. The coyote, however, as a trickster was avoided. Shoshone tales tell of Coyote’s resentment against Wolf. In one tale, Coyote tried to trick Wolf, who had the power to bring the dead back to life. Coyote told Wolf that he should not bring the dead back to life because there would be no more room on the earth for everyone, expecting this to cause the Shoshone to hate Wolf. However, the trick was reversed, as Coyote’s son died and Wolf did not revive him. The Shoshone people say that was how death came to their lands, and the experience of sorrow when someone dies. They continue to admire Wolf’s power and wisdom, despite this.
Important Shoshone Mythological Figures
Issa/Wolf: Creator and culture hero of Shoshone mythology. Like other figures from the Shoshone mythic age, Wolf is usually represented as a man, but sometimes takes on the literal form of a wolf.
Coyote: Wolf’s younger brother, Coyote is a trickster figure. Though he often assists his brother and sometimes even does good deeds for the people, Coyotes behavior is so irresponsible and frivolous that he is constantly getting himself and those around him into trouble.
Nimerigar: A violent race of magical little people who were said to kill and eat people.
Water Babies: Mysterious and dangerous water spirits from the mythology of the Shoshone and other Western Indian tribes. They inhabit springs and ponds, and are usually described as water fairies who lead humans to a watery grave by mimicking the sounds of crying babies at night. Sometimes they are said to kill babies and take their place as changelings in order to attack their unsuspecting mothers. Water babies and their eerie cries are considered an omen of death in many Shsohone communities.
The Origin of the People
Western Shoshoni Myths:Panamint Valley
The earth was covered with water. The water dried up quickly. At this time the birds and animals were men.
Coyote was walking along the Panamint Mountains, when he saw a very beautiful woman who had very white skin. Her name was pabon’ posiats, “tan louse.” She was carrying a jug of water. Coyote followed her, and when he came up to her, he said, “I am very thirsty. Give me a drink of water.” She pointed to a place (about one-half a mile away) and told him to go over there, and she would give him a drink. Coyote did so. When she came up to him, she again pointed to a distant place and told him to go there. In this way she continued to put him off until they reached her home.
The girl lived with her mother. The mother said to her, “Where did you get him?” Coyote went to some water and started to drink. While he was drinking the girl tried to strike him several times, but Coyote dodged each time. Then she said to him, “You go into the house,” pointing to a big hole in the house. Coyote went in, and saw many bows and arrows around the walls of the house.
During the night Coyote’s advances toward the women were frustrated... In the morning Coyote asked the woman who owned the bows and arrows. She told him to take them and to hunt some ducks. That day Coyote killed ducks and caught fish, which he brought back to the house.
In the evening the women cooked the ducks. They ate some and disposed of some...
That night Coyote made advances to both the girl and her mother... By morning the girl’s belly was large. She began to bear children, putting them into a large basketry water jug. She told Coyote that they were his babies. When Coyote was ready to leave, the girl said to him, “Carry the babies in the jug. These babies will cry for water, but you must be careful. If you give them water, open the stopper only a little or they will get out.” She showed him how to give them water.
Coyote started out carrying the jug, which was very heavy. As he went along, the babies cried, “I want water. I am dry!” Coyote said, “They are thirsty; maybe they will die.” Coyote opened the jug, and the babies all ran out. They went in all directions. 10 The boys fought among themselves with bows and arrows. These people became the different Indian tribes.
Coyote was walking along the Panamint Mountains, when he saw a very beautiful woman who had very white skin. Her name was pabon’ posiats, “tan louse.” She was carrying a jug of water. Coyote followed her, and when he came up to her, he said, “I am very thirsty. Give me a drink of water.” She pointed to a place (about one-half a mile away) and told him to go over there, and she would give him a drink. Coyote did so. When she came up to him, she again pointed to a distant place and told him to go there. In this way she continued to put him off until they reached her home.
The girl lived with her mother. The mother said to her, “Where did you get him?” Coyote went to some water and started to drink. While he was drinking the girl tried to strike him several times, but Coyote dodged each time. Then she said to him, “You go into the house,” pointing to a big hole in the house. Coyote went in, and saw many bows and arrows around the walls of the house.
During the night Coyote’s advances toward the women were frustrated... In the morning Coyote asked the woman who owned the bows and arrows. She told him to take them and to hunt some ducks. That day Coyote killed ducks and caught fish, which he brought back to the house.
In the evening the women cooked the ducks. They ate some and disposed of some...
That night Coyote made advances to both the girl and her mother... By morning the girl’s belly was large. She began to bear children, putting them into a large basketry water jug. She told Coyote that they were his babies. When Coyote was ready to leave, the girl said to him, “Carry the babies in the jug. These babies will cry for water, but you must be careful. If you give them water, open the stopper only a little or they will get out.” She showed him how to give them water.
Coyote started out carrying the jug, which was very heavy. As he went along, the babies cried, “I want water. I am dry!” Coyote said, “They are thirsty; maybe they will die.” Coyote opened the jug, and the babies all ran out. They went in all directions. 10 The boys fought among themselves with bows and arrows. These people became the different Indian tribes.
Ne newe. Ne sumpana'ih newe natekwinappeh.
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