Karl May's Version of Native America

My association with 'Native' was 'Native American'. I had seen movies and read books by Karl May and had watched his movies where Pierre Brice, a French actor who played Winnetou (text is in German), the famous character from the May books.

My Introduction to Native American Designs

In August of 1978 I gave birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. Once the children were around half a year I needed something to take my mind off taking care of them while they were napping. That's when I remembered a page from a magazine I had cut out in Canada, where I had seen native american designs embroidered on a grey utility blanket.

Originally I had felt very drawn to it and now had the urge to do something with it. I sat down with graph paper and drew the design,  translating it to be used with a cross stitch. Then I bought rug canvas and thick, heavy wool and a thick sewing needle. I don't remember how long it took me to finish the project, but I am very pleased with the finished result and I have always proudly displayed it, suspended on a curtain rod from the wall.

Now it it 1998, twenty years later and again I felt drawn to this design. This time however I have recreated it with the computer using Microsoft's Image Composer.

The Mask

One day the local hardware store had a garage sale and we found that we could get only garbage can lids without the cans. Our lids seem to always crack, probably because of our climate. We bought two kinds of lids and one kind fit and the other didn't. Now hubby asked if he should throw out the useless one as it had only cost us $1. I told him to hold on as I would probably come up with an idea for a use for it.

Inspiration struck and here is the finished result my Rubbermaid garbage can lid mask. Basically I just used the lines on the lid for the features of the face. After basecoating the black lid is painted the design with Acrylic craft paints and seals it all with a coat of varnish.

The White Buffalo

There was a long time where I hardly every thought of native american things until suddenly in early 92 I was ready to learn more again. I bought the book "Buffalo Woman Comes Singing" by Brooke Medicine Eagle. I just loved the book and when in 94 a white buffalo calf was born in the USA I got goosebumps. The native story of white buffalo calf woman.

I found this posted by Raina as stationary for outlookexpress at the microsoft.public.inetexplorer.ie4.outlookexpress.stationary newsgroup.

The white buffalo was believed by the Plains Indians to be the child of the Sun God. The Indians would hang a white buffalo robe outside in the sunlight near the medicine man's teepee as an offering to the sun God.  Indian Chiefs carried a white buffalo robe into battle believing that it would shelter them from any harm.

The Cheyenne, Mandan, and Pawnee Indians worshipped the white buffalo. They believed him to be "good medicine." When a white buffalo was slaughtered, great care was taken so as not to anger the gods. Some of their medicine men used white robes in ceremonies to cure illness. The Pawnee would often keep white robes as part of their medicine bundles or would wrap the bundles in a white robe.

The most famous white buffalo of all time was born in captivity at the National Bison Range in western Montana in May of 1933. He had blue eyes, and the only normal coloring on the animal's whole body was a woolly knot of brown hair between his horns. By the time he was two years old, he was becoming a well known tourist attraction on the National Bison Range, and he had become known as "Big Medicine." In May, 1937 the white bull's mother, bred by Big Medicine, her own son, gave birth to a pure albino calf. The calf was completely white with white hoofs and pink eyes but was totally blind. At the age of six months he was shipped to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. for public display where he remained until his death in 1949. Back in Montana the calf's father, Big Medicine, developed into an extra ordinarily fine animal. Thousands of tourists came to view him every summer until his death in August, 1959 at the ripe old age of 26. Bob Scriver of Browning, Montana spent two years mounting the remains of Big Medicine for posterity. Today his figure remains as a popular tourist attraction at the Montana State Historical Society Museum in Helena, Montana.

A month after I had bought the book by Brooke Medicine Eagle I was drawn to "Woman of the Dawn" by Wabun Wind. What really intrigued me here was what it said about the book on the backflap. Her western name was "Marlise" James. Well, that is my name the way the person registered on the birth certificate. My parents taught me to write it "Marlies" and not until I got married did wefind out about the different spelling on the birth certificate.

Kokopelli

That summer I found in the reduced price bin at a local department store the book "She who remembers" by Linda Lay Shuler. I was immediately drawn into the story. What intrigued by the mention of "Rune" carving way down in the southern States and felt immediately drawn to the character of Kokopelli.

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Page created: November 21/1998
Page updated: Tuesday, May 1, 2001