Religion+and+Ideology+-+Elisabeth+Walters



Cahokian Religion and Ideology  Cahokian ideology was centered around agriculture, a supernatural belief in the cosmos, and the presence of an elite group of individuals. Cahokians believed in the dual existence of an Upperworld and Underworld and in related beings such as the Mother Earth and the serpent monster commonly associated with death. Much of the art that comes out of Cahokia relates to the Green Corn Festival, a celebration of the yearly harvest and an opportunity for the elite to pursue political and social gains.

The Upper and Under Worlds

Many early American cultures placed a lot of importance in the idea of duality and Cahokians were no exception. Like the Chavin culture in South America, opposing forces were very important. In the Chavin art, we see clear divisions between black and white and male and female, and every statue has a fully detailed front and a back (Steele 2004:156). Studying Cahokian art, we find evidence that they distinguished between the natural and supernatural worlds and believed in the existence of Upper and Lower Worlds. The Upperworld was home to Mother Earth who created plant life and brought the harvest every year. The Underworld was believed to be the source of water and fertility (Emerson 1997:208-209). As birds are seen in the sky, they became closely associated with the sky and the stars. Found on the ground, the serpent was “associated with the attributes of lightning, thunder, rain, and water and with power over plants and other animals” (Emerson 1997:208-209). We find contrasting depictions between birds and serpents across Cahokia. For example, the Cahokia Bird Man Tablet features a Winged Being on one side and the crosshatching associated with serpents on the other (Power 2004:74). The Green Corn Ceremony

The Green Corn Ceremony occurred annually in the Cahokia area in correlation with the yearly harvest. These events lasted several days and were a time of spiritual and physical cleansing. Also called the Green Corn Busk, the term “busk” refers to fasting. Corn was not to be consumed until all individuals had given thanks to the higher power for the year's harvest. Large feasts and celebrations followed the fasting period. These ceremonies were designed to remind the people of the chief's semi divine status and association with other realms (Power 2004:73). The higher classes led these ceremonies and rulers were associated with mythological beings. There was also an economic aspect as figurines and ceramics were produced for, traded within, and destroyed after these ceremonies.

Remnants of Cahokian trash pits attest to the occurrence of large ceremonial events like the Green Corn Festival. Mound 51, located by the Grand Plaza, is a trench sized 56 meters long by 19 meters wide and 3 meters deep. It had been excavated and utilized by Cahokians as a trash pit (Pauketat 2004:84) and was filled layer by layer over the course of many years. Each layer was given the chance to rest and compress before a new layer was filled in. Studying the remains of insects in each layer reveals that each layer was filled with rotting compost. Found in the layers are food remains (large animal, fruit and grains), human bones, broken dishware and “ritual paraphernalia,” human bones, and burned wood (Pauketat 2004:85). Tobacco, a popular hallucinogen in this time period, has also been recovered from the site. The large amount and high density of the remains indicate that these events were large and occurred regularly. Broken pottery and food debris are remnants of large feasts, while the human remains are indicative of human sacrificial death ceremonies. Thousands of broken vessels and craft remnants suggests that they could have been produced specifically for events like these which fits well with what we know about both the Corn Festival and Cahokian trade production. There is evidence for specialized craft production orchestrated by the elite class and Pauketat considers the crafting of new objects to be a meaningful part of these gatherings (2004:85). Feasting Feasting tended to accompany ceremonial events such as funerary burials and the Green Corn Festival. It provided an excellent opportunity for economic exchange and chances for social classes to mingle. “Ritual toasting, making libations to deities, and providing large quantities of food at a public gathering carried a range of social, political, and economic ramifications.... [and] opportunities for the satisfaction of clan obligations and reaffirmation of social identity” (Jackson 2008:46). By either hosting these events or supplying the food and alcohol, elites were able to show off their wealth, while simultaneously appearing generous. Feasting was no doubt an economic activity and the idea of reciprocity would have applied to these situations. If you were the “host” at one ceremony, you would expect the favor to be returned to you the next time around. Middle classes benefited as well as the elites as they were given an opportunity to interact socially with higher classes in what Pauketat and Emerson have termed “rites of intensification” (1991:214). Annual and semiannual rites of intensification were orchestrated by the elite class and served to symbolically unite the real world with the cosmos. Pauketat and Emerson argue that because they called for the entire community to gather, there was a need for some sort of written symbolism that was understandable to everyone included. They go on to assert that this written symbolism came in the form of Ramey iconography found on the popular incised jars (Pauketat 1997:214).

Ramey Incised Jars

Ramey-Incised jars are possibly the most notable art form to come out of Cahokia. These jars were fired ceramics that often displayed a spiral motif, commonly thought to represent water and in turn “life and the continuity of life” Emerson 1991:30). These jars have long been thought of as “high status or ceremonial ware,” and recent studies have revealed that the patterns do have symbolic meaning. Chevrons, found on a majority of these jars, are symbolically tied to the birds and the sky of the upper world, while scrolls and circles seem to represent water and snakes of the underworld. As suggested above, these vessels would have served a social and economic purpose in feasting ceremonies and in fact may have been produced solely for these occasions. The idea that crafts were being produced exclusively for symbolic and ceremonial purposes indicates a high level of social stratification. These vessels were not being made for everyday use by ordinary people. Instead they were being commissioned by the elite as a means to tie in ideas of fertility and the cosmos with real-life events such as the yearly harvest (Pauketat 1997:214).

Figurines Cahokian figurines are agriculturally themed and so were important to the Green Corn Festival. Cahokian figurines were made of a soft, red colored stone known as “flint-clay” or “fire clay” and mostly date to the Stirling phase. The majority of figurines depict the female body and were associated with the themes of agriculture and fertility (Power 2004:74). The Birger and Keller figurines were found at the BBB Motor Site. The Birger figurine portrays a crouched female holding a hoe in her right hand and resting her left hand on a feline-headed serpent. The serpent's body transforms into vines holding gourds which then wrap themselves around the woman's figure (Power 2004:74). The Keller figurine features a female kneeling in front of a basket. Now broken, there was once a plant stalk rising from the base, coming up through her right hand, and attaching to the her head (Emerson 1997:211). Nearby, the Sponnemann site contained several destroyed figurines. Two reconstructed figurines depict females in similar agricultural settings, while a third depicts a female covered with rattlesnakes. Although these figurines may have been produced throughout the year, it seems that they served a specific purpose at the Green Corn Ceremony as hundreds of figurines have been found purposely destroyed. The female form showcased in these various settings has long been accepted to represent the Mother Earth or Corn Mother who controls the yearly harvest and is celebrated during the Green Corn Festival. She was thought to be the creator of people as well as plants and when accompanied by the serpent, commonly thought to be in charge of death, the pair represented the Upper and Underworlds and by extension, life and death. Beaded Bird Burial

Mound 72, perhaps the most notable excavation site at Cahokia, is an extensive multiple burial complete with grave goods. There are both individual and multiple burials with sacrificial victims. The first layer contains individuals laid out in pairs accompanied by decorative shell-bead accessories, while the next two pits are filled entirely with executed women. Mound 72 suggests the possibility of elite individuals whose deaths required large ceremonial burials. The "beaded burial" pit contains a forty year old man surrounded by attendees and Cahokian riches such as mica crystals from the Appalachian mountains, copper tubes, chunkey stones, strands of mussel-shell beads, and over 800 arrows (Pauketat 2004:91). The individual had been laid onto a falcon-shaped beaded-shell cape, an indcator that this man was not only an elite, but a ruler. In Cahokia, bird iconography was a symbol of the heavens and this man would have ruled with the authority of the gods. Woodhenges Woodhenges were an essential part of Cahokian architecture. They were intended as sacred areas formed like cosmograms with correlations between the equinox and solstice positions (Hall 2004:99). There were at least six woodhenges at Cahokia that were rebuilt multiple times and although the size of the circle changed each time, the number of posts always remained a multiple of twelve, a correlation between the positioning of the posts and the horizon arc (Hall 2004:99). Their calendrical purpose was to time the planting and harvesting of food and annual ceremonies. In addition to their role as solar calendars, these woodhenges would have served as community function areas to the elite of Cahokia, comparable to other similar early American structures that were built as a part of mourning process for religious leaders (Hall 2004:99). The final stonehenge built at Cahokia was located near Mound 72, supporting the idea that these structures played an integral role in death rituals and perhaps signified a belief in the hereafter. Pauketat (2004:94) suggests that the construction of woodhenges also went hand in hand with increased social stratification because the construction called for the demolishment of residences. This caused Cahokia to expand as individuals lost their homes and had to move to new uninhabited areas. It is easy to believe that those who relocated were lower on the social scale than those who remained in their homes towards the center of the complex.

Conclusion Cahokians believed in an Upper and Lower World. The revered Mother Earth figure brought the yearly harvest and was celebrated during the annual Green Corn Festival. Festivals and ceremonies provided an opportunity for the elite to pursue political and social gains through feasting and the trading of pottery and figurines. Large woodhenges were built as sacred areas, but were also used to plan the planting and harvesting of food. Elaborate burials with human sacrifices, evidence of feasting, along with a specialized craft trade indicate a society with considerable social stratification.

References Cited

 Dalan, Rinita A. 1997. // The Construction of Mississippian Cahokia //. In Cahokia domination and ideology in the Mississippian world. Timothy R. Pauketat, and Thomas E. Emerson, eds. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.  Emerson, Thomas E., and R. Barry Lewis. 1991. // Cahokia and the hinterlands: middle Mississippian cultures of the Midwest //. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Emerson, Thomas E. 1997. // Cahokia and the archaeology of power //. Tuscaloosa, Ala: University of Alabama Press.

Hall, Robert L. 2004. The Cahokia Site and its People. // Hero, hawk, and open hand: American Indian art of the ancient Midwest and South. // Townsend, Richard F., Robert V. Sharp, and Garrick Alan Bailey, eds. Pp. 93-104. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago.

Pauketat, Timothy R. 1994. // The ascent of chiefs: Cahokia and Mississippian politics in Native North America //. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.

Pauketat, Timothy R., and Thomas E. Emerson. 1997. // Cahokia domination and ideology in the Mississippian world //. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Pauketat, Timothy R. 2004. // Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians //. Case studies in early societies, 6. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

Power, S. C. 2004. // Early art of the southeastern Indians: Feathered serpents & winged beings //. Athens: University of Georgia Press.

Steele, Paul R., and Catherine J. Allen. 2004. // Handbook of Inca mythology //. Handbooks of world mythology. Santa Barbara, California.

Images Cahokia Woodhenge I http://www.jqjacobs.net/blog/images/cahokia_woodhenge2.jpg

Cahokia Birdman Tablet http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3273/2561162995_c6f908cdec.jpg

Corn http://blogs.timesunion.com/eatlocal/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/corn_ear.jpg

Ramey Incised Vessel http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/cahokia.html

Birger Figurine http://www.suppressedhistories.net/Gallery/mississippia.html

Beaded Burial  http://riverweb.cet.uiuc.edu/prehistory/archives/images/society/ptscty55aclr2.jpg

Cahokia Woodhenge II http://www.valdostamuseum.org/hamsmith/CahokiaWoodhenge.gif

Cahokia Landscape http://www.viewpoints.com/images/review/2007/161/13/1181500177-96915_full.jpg