Yuchi Ceremonial Life

by Jackson, Jason Baird

• ISBN13: 9780803276284
• ISBN10: 0803276281
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr

Summary

The Yuchis are one of the least known yet most distinctive of the Native groups in the American southeast. Located in late prehistoric times in eastern Tennessee, they played an important historical role at various times during the last five centuries and in many ways served as a bridge between their southeastern neighbors and Native communities in the northeast. First noted by the de Soto expedition in the sixteenth century, the Yuchis moved several times and made many alliances over the next few centuries. The famous naturalist William Bartram visited a Yuchi town in 1775, at a time when the Yuchis had moved near and become allied with Creek communities in Georgia. This alliance had long-lasting repercussions: when the United States government forced most southeastern groups to move to Oklahoma in the early nineteenth century, the Yuchis were classified as Creeks and placed under the jurisdiction of the Creek Nation. Today, despite the existence of a separate language and their distinct history, culture, and religious traditions, the Yuchis are not recognized as a sovereign people by the Creek Nation or the United States.Jason Baird Jackson examines the significance of community ceremonies for the Yuchis today. For many Yuchis, traditional rituals remain important to their identity, and they feel an obligation to perform and renew them each year at one of three ceremonial grounds, called "Big Houses." The Big House acts as a periodic gathering place for the Yuchis, their Creator, and their ancestors. Drawing on a decade of collaborative study with tribal elders and using insights gained from ethnopoetics, Jackson captures in vivid detail the performance, impact, and motivations behind such rituals as the Stomp Dance, the Green Corn Ceremony, and the Soup Dance and discusses their continuing importance to the community.Jason Baird Jackson is an assistant professor in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University.

Author Biography

Jason Baird Jackson is an assistant professor in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations, Maps, and Tables	viii
Yuchi/Euchee: A Note on Usage	ix
A Note on Transcription	xi
Orthography	xiii
Acknowledgments	xv
1. Introduction	1	(14)
2. Yuchi History, Culture, and Society	15	(36)
3. Ceremonial Life: General Frameworks	51	(29)
4. Speaking in the Big House	80	(37)
5. Indian Football: Signaling the Creator	117	(24)
6. Stomp Dance: Reciprocity and Social Interaction	141	(30)
7. Arbor Dance: Community and Renewal	171	(35)
8. Green Corn Ceremony: Sacred Stories	206	(35)
9. Soup Dance: Men, Women, and Ancestors	241	(31)
10. Conclusion	272	(11)
Afterword	283	(2)
Appendix A. Scheduling of Yuchi Ceremonial Ground Events, 1996	285	(2)
Appendix B. Yuchi Green Corn Ceremonial Activities	287	(4)
Notes	291	(18)
References	309	(24)
Index	333