Glossary
Active participation
This concept highlights that Indigenous American art is not passively viewed but requires the audience to engage with it through rituals, ceremonies, or daily use, making them integral to its purpose.
Example:
The intricate designs on a woven textile were not just decorative; they were meant to be felt and understood as part of an active participation in cultural storytelling.
Audience Participation
The involvement of viewers or community members in the experience of the artwork, often through ceremonies, dances, or daily interaction, rather than just passive observation.
Example:
During the Sun Dance, the community's singing and dancing around the central pole exemplified audience participation, making the ceremony a collective artistic and spiritual experience.
Aztec Empire
A powerful Mesoamerican empire centered in Tenochtitlan, known for its military expansion, complex religious practices including human sacrifice, and monumental architecture like the Templo Mayor.
Example:
The vast market of Tlatelolco, a key part of the Aztec Empire, showcased the immense trade and economic power of their civilization.
Bloodletting
A ritual practice common in Mesoamerican cultures, particularly among the Maya, where individuals (often rulers or elites) would intentionally draw their own blood as an offering to the gods to maintain cosmic order or legitimize power.
Example:
Lady Xook's famous lintel from Yaxchilán depicts her performing a bloodletting ritual, pulling a thorned rope through her tongue to conjure a vision serpent.
Central Andes
The mountainous region along the western coast of South America, encompassing areas of modern-day Peru and Bolivia, home to ancient civilizations like the Chavín and Inca.
Example:
The challenging terrain of the Central Andes led to the development of innovative agricultural techniques like terracing by its ancient inhabitants.
Chavín Culture
An early pre-Inca civilization in the Central Andes, known for its distinctive art style featuring stylized animals and supernatural beings, and its influential ceremonial center at Chavín de Huántar.
Example:
The intricate relief carvings on the Old Temple at Chavín de Huántar are characteristic of the unique iconography of the Chavín Culture.
Chavín de Huántar
A major ceremonial and pilgrimage center of the Chavín culture in the northern highlands of Peru, featuring complex stone architecture, hidden galleries, and the iconic Lanzón stela.
Example:
Pilgrims would navigate the dark, labyrinthine passages of Chavín de Huántar to encounter the Lanzón, a sacred stone sculpture believed to embody a powerful deity.
Community as Audience
The general populace who were the primary viewers and participants in Indigenous art, though some sacred ceremonies might be restricted to specific groups like priests or nobles.
Example:
The vibrant murals adorning the public plaza served the entire community as audience, conveying shared myths and historical narratives.
Cultural Significance
Every piece of Indigenous American art is deeply embedded in the traditions, spiritual beliefs, and natural forces of its originating culture, serving to preserve heritage and pay homage.
Example:
The detailed carvings on a totem pole held immense cultural significance, narrating ancestral stories and clan histories for generations.
Functionality
Indigenous American art often serves a practical or ritualistic purpose, with its power believed to increase the more it is used. Art is seen as a verb, not just a noun.
Example:
A finely crafted ceramic vessel, while beautiful, was primarily valued for its functionality in holding sacred liquids during important community feasts.
Inca Empire
The largest pre-Columbian empire in the Americas, located in the Central Andes, renowned for its sophisticated road system, advanced stonework, terraced agriculture, and centralized administration.
Example:
The precise, mortarless stonework of the fortress of Sacsayhuaman demonstrates the unparalleled engineering skill of the Inca Empire.
Interconnectedness
The concept that all elements within Indigenous American art—patrons, art objects, rituals, and audience—are deeply linked and form a holistic cultural ecosystem.
Example:
The interconnectedness of the Mayan cosmos was reflected in their art, where human figures, deities, and natural elements were often interwoven in complex narratives.
Life force
In Indigenous American art, 'life force' refers to the spiritual energy or power believed to be contained within and transferred by artworks, making them active entities rather than mere representations.
Example:
A ceremonial mask, when worn during a ritual, was thought to embody and transfer the life force of the spirit it depicted to the dancer and the community.
Machu Picchu
An ancient Inca citadel located high in the Andes Mountains of Peru, known for its impressive dry-stone architecture, terraced fields, and strategic location, believed to be a royal estate or sacred site.
Example:
The breathtaking views and harmonious integration of architecture with the natural landscape at Machu Picchu exemplify Inca ingenuity and reverence for nature.
Mayan Civilization
A prominent Mesoamerican civilization known for its sophisticated hieroglyphic writing system, advanced mathematics, complex calendar, and impressive architecture including stepped pyramids and stelae.
Example:
The intricate carvings on the stelae at Copán provide detailed records of the rulers and significant events of the Mayan Civilization.
Mesoamerica
A historical and cultural region spanning from central Mexico through Central America, home to advanced pre-Columbian civilizations like the Maya and Aztec, known for shared cultural traits such as calendars, pyramids, and maize agriculture.
Example:
The ancient city of Teotihuacan, with its massive pyramids and urban planning, is a prime example of the sophisticated civilizations that flourished in Mesoamerica.
Patrons
Individuals or groups who commission or support the creation of art, often influencing its subject matter, scale, and materials.
Example:
Wealthy merchants often acted as patrons, commissioning elaborate textiles to display their status and connections within the community.
Power Dynamics
The ways in which art reflects and reinforces social hierarchies, political authority, and control within a society, often through scale, materials, or restricted access.
Example:
The monumental size of the Olmec colossal heads clearly communicated the power dynamics of their rulers, dominating the landscape and asserting authority.
Ritual
A prescribed set of actions, often ceremonial and symbolic, performed in a specific order, frequently involving art objects to connect with spiritual beliefs or reinforce social structures.
Example:
The elaborate feather headdress was donned by the shaman as part of a healing ritual, invoking ancestral spirits to aid the sick.
Rulers as Patrons
Kings and leaders who commissioned large-scale artworks, such as monumental architecture or elaborate regalia, to demonstrate their power, wealth, and divine favor.
Example:
The Aztec emperor, as a ruler as patron, ordered the construction of the massive Templo Mayor to assert his empire's dominance and religious authority.
Stelae
Upright stone slabs or pillars, often carved with relief sculptures and hieroglyphic inscriptions, used by Mesoamerican cultures like the Maya to commemorate rulers, historical events, or religious narratives.
Example:
The Maya erected numerous stelae in their city plazas, each one a public record celebrating the achievements and divine lineage of their kings.
Templo Mayor
The main temple of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, dedicated to the gods Huitzilopochtli (war and sun) and Tlaloc (rain and agriculture), and a central site for rituals including human sacrifice.
Example:
Excavations at the Templo Mayor have revealed layers of offerings and structures, illustrating centuries of Aztec religious devotion and imperial growth.
Tenochtitlan
The capital city of the Aztec Empire, built on an island in Lake Texcoco, known for its sophisticated urban planning, causeways, canals, and monumental structures like the Templo Mayor.
Example:
The Spanish conquistadors were astonished by the grandeur and organization of Tenochtitlan, a city that rivaled European capitals in size and complexity.
Wearable Art
Art objects designed to be worn on the body, often for ceremonial purposes, which actively engage the wearer and transform their identity or convey status during rituals.
Example:
The intricate beaded wearable art of a bandolier bag was not just an accessory but a statement of tribal identity and personal achievement.