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Collecting Native American
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Native
American CEREMONIAL ITEMS
Ceremonial
Clothing
See
Native American Clothing.
Prayer Pipes
Of all of the visible ceremonial items in Native American culture,
perhaps the most recognized is the Prayer Pipe. Thanks to Hollywood,
most of us know this ceremonial item as a Peace Pipe, called so
because of its use during treaty agreements.
Native American Prayer
Pipes, as the name implies, were used primarily during a time
of spiritual reflection and meditation and should be treated as
reverent pieces of worship.
Traditional piece pipes
are made from deer antlers and decorated with a variety of skin
and fur from buck, beaver, fox and feathers from different birds.
Smudge Wands
Probably best compared to the use of incense by many Christian
religions as part of a ceremonial rite, smudging has been part
of Native American ceremonies for centuries.
The smudging process involves
the burning ritual herbs as a form of purification and healing.
A Smudge Wand is a collection
of common herbs, such as sage, sweet grass and pine, bound together.
In use, one end of the
smudge wand is lit, and then the flame is blown out leaving a
smoking wand. The purifying of an object is accomplished by moving
the smoking wand in a clockwise direction around the object. To
purify a person, move the smoking wand from bottom to top, and
then front to back of that person.
Wedding Vases
Centuries old and associated with the Pueblo people, the wedding
vase is the equivalent of the wedding band.
The vase is designed with
two separate spouts, representing individual lives, and the piece
that bridges the spouts together signifies unity.
The vase is given to the
bride by the bridegroom’s parents a few weeks prior to the
wedding in a ceremony like a bridal shower. During the wedding
ceremony, the vase is filled with sacred water and given to the
bride who drinks from one spout, and her husband then drinks from
the other spout.
The vase is put in a special
place in the home and cherished by the married couple as a sign
of their commitment to each other.
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