Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/861

* MAN. 767 MAN. are ceremonial wailings of invocatory or depre- catory character; thus the Australian natives manifest little individual grief over the death of a clan-fellow, but at intervals chosen members of the group wail in rude concert; in the Seri tribe the death of a matron is mourned by re- peated nocturnal wailings; and numerous primi- tive tribes maintain classes of mourners to pla- cate the manes or otherwise appeal to the powers by grewsome renditions in concert. In Eastern Jlexico vocalization accompanies the divinatory dances and games, the performers chanting or singing in a falsetto voice simulating the lan- guage of the tutelaries; among the Eskimo tlie angekok (or 'medicine man') communes with his nature deities in a broken falsetto speech or chant, perhaps in archaic terms. The falsetto chant throws light on the mortuaiy wailing; in both the voice is changed in order the better to reach the comprehension and favor of the mystical potencies. The primitive renditions may be far from musical, indeed are sometimes purposely discordant ; yet under the mimetic instinct there i-i a tendency toward harmonious attunement which is strengthened when voices and instru- ments are used in concert. In the development of music, the initial stage is that of rhythm, usually expressed by drum and rattle; in the next instrumental and vocal rhythms are so superposed as to produce melody; the third stage is that of melodious instruments and voices and the combination of melodies in harmony; while the final stage is the modern one of blending har- monies in symphony or antiphony. Both the gaming devices and the musical in- >truments of primitive men commonly bear em- blematic markings designed to connote and in- voke the tutelaries to which the devices are consecrated; though incidentally they may serve to identify the objects with their human owners or custodians. Similar emblematic devices oc- cur on other artifacts ; the stone axe of ilexico and the tomahawk and calumet of the Northern Amerinds bear animal symbols; among the Eski- mo emblematic inscriptions abound on weapons and implements and reveal a real artistic sense; among the plains tribes inscriptions on skins and bark are common, some of these being emble- matic and others historical or calendric. and thus forming the germ of writing. In like manner primitive tribesmen are given to markings on trees, rocks, and other natural objects ; these may be range records, yet are commonly totemic. while the petroglyphs of treeless regions may also I'lord episodes of tribal or family interest ■ npture of quarry, victorious battle, etc.). The petroglyphs are strikingly similar wherever found; those of Arizona, Chile. Australia, and Africa represent human figures or hands and, animal forms on like scales and in similarly battered lines supplemented by simple paints, so that the glj-phic groups are almost indis- tinguishable save by the totems of local animals. Related graphic devices are those of face-paint- ing, tattooing, and scarification. In the Seri tribe face-painting is confined to females, who are deemed the sole blood-carriers for the clans; and it is the solemn duty of each matron (par- ticularly the Elderwoman. i.e. the seeress and vicar of the tutelary) to see that the daughters and girl children of the clan are properly em- blazoned, and that the paint is promptly renewed when worn off or wasbed awav. The devices are emblems of the respective clan tutelaries — Gray Pelican, Red Pelican (a mythical bird), Green Turtle, Rattlesnake, etc. According to the lights of the lowly believers, the figures are perpetual invocations to the highest potencies recognized by the tribe; and the original application, and in some measure each renewal, is a sacrament. Yet the patterns and colors are not absolutely fixed, some latitude being permitted, especially to the nubile maiden or to the young matron for her- self and her first girl child; and in this way spon- taneity arises and aesthetic faculty develops. Among many tribes the painting extends to males and to the body, and early in patriarcliy the de- vices are especially allotted to warriors and largely denied to women, who in that stage tend to become chattels or slaves. Still higher in cul- ture the emblems are introduced in costumery or emblazoned on shields, through which the art matures in heraldry. In various regions the primitive face-painting is supplemented by tat- tooing. Various tribesmen tattoo their totemic sj-mbol on the breast as a shield or on the arm as a token of strength; and some aborigines of Eastern Xorth America tattooed invocative symbols on the back as a protection against un- seen enemies, while they relied on their own prowess to repulse the foe in front. In the elaborate tattooing of the ilaori in Xew Zea- land and of various Pacific islanders there are clear indications that the devices were primarily totemic and akin in purpose to those of the American aborigines, with a wider latitude for individual taste. Closely related to tattooing is scarification of the body and limbs. In the ilandan tribe of the ilissouri, permanent scars were produced in the terrible torture attending initiation into the warrior class, and thencefor- ward stood as tangible insignia of courage and fortitude; among the Papago the legs of youths were scarred longitudinally in mimicry of thorn scratches, fir.st (through the inverted reasoning of primitive thought) to give them speed and en- durance in footracing, and then to remain as evi- dence of these qualities. It may be questionable whether personal emblazonment preceded emble- matic inscription on artifacts (as the example of the Seri would indicate), or whether in certain districts the inscription of emblems prepared the way for face-painting and tattooing; the essential facts are that both were ceremonial and collec- tive, and that spontaneity and individuality were introduced slowly as the arts advanced and ex- tended to the ever-multiplying possessions of advancing culture — the sacramental decoration of basketry, the emblematic embellishment of l)ottery, the symbolic ornamentation of woven fabrics, etc., which merged with the conventions of early historical times and thus opened the way for arbitrary characters on the one hand and for the free idealization of modern art on the other. In primitive life concepts of color and form were long symbolic. Among the Pueblo tribes, as shown by Gushing, colors were colirdinated with the points of the compass in a Cult of the Quar- ters, were adored or worshiped in the divinatory ceremonies, and were thereby not merely mem- orized, but woven into the very fibre of habitual thought; so that when used in painting and in the planting of sacred seeds they were used as invocations to powers believed to control the destinies of men. Initially the assignment of colors was mimetic, as when dawn-color was as-