THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA

MAYA

The Maya are a people of Guatemala and Mexico. They believe in different divinities such as Chac the rain god, Kukulkan and Ek Chuah. Their life is based around the belief that a god created the sky, the earth and the day. Long ago, they were very interested in music, played wind and percussion instruments and their melodies accompanied dances and rites. In Mayan cities there are pyramids, observatories, and above all squares for every event: ceremonies, commercial exchange, etc. Mayan sculpture can be divided into two types. The first includes the stars and full round sculpture, while the second includes architectural sculptures such as architraves and paintings inside the buildings. The technique used is bas-relief. Wooden sculptures are very rare. Mayan painting is widespread and well-known, both through frescos and through ceramics. In the frescos the figure most often painted is Chac the rain god. In the post-classical period new architectural elements appeared. In fact, thanks to the use of columns, the squat structure of the buildings was reduced.

HAIDA

The Haida are a population of North America. They still preserve somatic characteristics that recall Polinesia. They were fishermen and tobacco farmers. Each group was separated according to the social class: nobles, commoners and slaves. Their houses have a square form and are made of wood. On the front external wall there are totem poles decorated with grotesque designs. Tattoos and body painting are both important and common. They use labial plates. They were skilled and important in the working of wood. Most of their production was linked to ceremonies in which spoons, weapons, amulets, bowls and baskets were made. Their decorations depict animals which are visibly deformed, and the internal parts of animals, like vertebrae and ribs, can often be seen in the designs. The secret societies, inside which masks and sticks were made, are also known and documented.

ARUAK

The Aruak are a native population that lives in Southern America. They represent the Amazonian culture and tribes. They can be found in Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil.

GUARANI

The Guaranì are an ethnic population of Southern America. Apart from the Guarinì, among the most important tribes are the Tapè, the Apapocuva and the Guayakì. The Guaranì are the inhabitants of the forest. They have a very complex traditional culture and are organized in great patriarchal families. They lived in rectangular huts big enough only for one family. They believed in reincarnation. The principal divinities were Nandevurucu, or the Great Father, and Nandecy, Our Mother. The shaman performed his duties as a doctor. The labial plate was very diffused. The Guaranì were farmers. They cultivated corn, tobacco and sugar cane. The handicraft production of ceramics, cloth and skins were very important. The urns decorated by them with red geometric designs on a white background or vice versa are well known.

FUEGIANS

Before becoming extinct, the Fuegian population lived in the Tierra del Fuego and included the archaic groups of the south and the west and the Ona of the east. The two ethnicities had different somatic characteristics; the Ona were stronger, taller, with an elongated face, while the archaic tribes were smaller in stature, with a wide face and reddish-coloured skin. With regards to dress, the Fuegians always wore very short clothes or were naked. They covered themselves only with rough slippers and a fur cloak in winter. The archaic tribes lived on fishing and molluscs. They lived in houses made from simple branches. The Ona lived on hunting and on gathering mushrooms and molluscs. The families were patrilineal and women enjoyed a liberty of sorts. As far as religion was concerned, they believed in a supreme being.

SIOUX

The Sioux are an ethnic group of North America. The Sioux were hunters and corn farmers. Later their passion for horses brought them to the western grasslands of the Mississippi where they started to hunt bison. The families were of a matrilocal type and were gathered in clans headed by the elders. Their houses consisted of simple, poor huts made with branches. In the tribes, the shaman had an important role. The Sioux found all they needed in the bison, so much so that people spoke of a bison culture. With the skin of this animal were made clothes, trousers for men, shoes and also cribs for children. They threw the typical stone axe in battle with which they struck their enemies. The Sioux wore a crown-like headdress made of eagle feathers; the more feathers they had, the more they were important.

Guido Bissanti