2/03/2019

The Importance Of Native American Oil Paintings NM

By Michael Butler


Native Americans have been creating paints and sculptures for centuries. This is one of the first civilizations in America and thus their culture is rich in history and art. One of their most popular forms of expression is sculpture. Over the years there have been countless Native American oil paintings NM and sculptures uncovered by Archeologists.

The most common American sculptures are called Fetishes. These Fetishes are small carvings that are often highly decorated. They formed a crucial part of the lives of these indigenous tribes. As the most commonly took the form of animals these people believed that the small carvings took on the spirit of the animal they represented. Fetish dolls commonly take the forms of bears, eagles, rabbits, or wild horses.

These small animals were sculpted with the idea that they needed to b attractive while still serving a purpose to the person who carried them. The sculptures would be meticulously decorated with small stones, feathers, shells, and anything from nature that was beautiful. However, some Fetish sculptures were more highly decorated than others. These sculptures would be adorned in precious metals or even gemstones that the artist would specially choose.

The lands in which the Native Americans lived was rich in mineral deposits. Thus it is common to find these kinds of carvings that have been sculpted from stones like soapstone and turquoise. The rarer and difficult to find Fetishes are usually carved from marble. These small sculptures are incredible as marble was incredibly difficult to locate at that time and would have been rather expensive.

Out of all of the hundreds of different Native tribes, the Zuni tribe is believed to have produced the best Fetish carvings. Additionally, they placed more spiritual significance on these carvings than any other tribe. A core belief held by this tribe was that their sculptures were living animals that had been turned to stone. Each carving was precious because it helped to connect their world to the world of the gods.

One of the most unique characteristics of the Zuni tribe was their belief that each direction of the compass was represented by a different animal. The mountain lion represented the North, the East was represented by the wolf, the badger represented the South, and West was represented by the bear. Each one of these animals had a property that would benefit the person who carried their Fetish. Certain sculptures helped to keep danger away on a long journey while others helped to keep you healthy.

However, these fetishes were not the only sculptures created by this ancient civilization. The American race also chose to express their religion by creating busts from clay or carving them from wood. These busts would represent important figures in their history. Another popular form of creative expression took the form of large totem poles that were carved from the trunks of trees. These totems were a welcoming sign for the visitor as well as the ties and status of a home or village.

The sculptures created by Native citizens form an integral part of their rich culture. Not only are they beautifully sculpted but they also hold deep metaphysical properties.




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