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Proper
use of the items in their medicine bags, or jish, restores
physical and mental health, offers protection against
evil, and can allay most problems that may beset humans.
As each ceremony addresses a different need, the specific
objects in the |
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medicine
bundle may vary widely. Consequently the more ceremonies
known to the Medicine Man the greater will be the contents
of his jish.
Among the most
frequent items found in the bundle of the Medicine Man are
sticklike cylinders of aragonite that are worked
down to the |
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thickness and
length of a small finger.
These objects are made of a rock called mirage stone,
which
occurs in many toned bands
of light and dark. A face is usually made on one end of
the cylinders by drilling
small holes for the
eyes and mouth |
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and filling them with black material.
The lighter stones indicate females and the darker
ones, males. Most often these rods are bound together in
pairs with multicolored wrappings of yarn and a turkey
feather. |
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These two human‑shaped stones represent the
animating forces of life and happiness as conceived in an
original world created in beauty. Properly used in
curing, they are said to restore the
patient to this original state. |
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Miniature stone carvings of Horses, Sheep, Game, and
other things also are kept in the bundles and used in a
similar manner.
The intent of these "growing stones" is not to animate the
small images but to encourage the Spirit of Life and
Creation, so that |
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the animals or
things represented will increase in good condition
for the benefit of the individual sponsoring the
ceremony.
Fetishes of this kind may be made not only of stones
such as travertine, agate, alabaster and jet, but also of
clay, cottonwood root, or even flowers mixed with meal
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made from ground beans. Although there
is a burgeoning interest among non‑Indians in fetishes
of every description, the perception of the nature of
these stone images is little understood.
Those produced by the Hopi and
Navajo do not differ materially in intent from the Fetishes of
the Zuni.
Text by Barton
Wright
Arizona Highways October 1997 |
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Editor's Note:
Fetishes are enormously popular in today’s market yet
information on who makes them, why they are made and when they
are used is not common knowledge.
Phoenix‑based Barton Wright is a former Scientific Director of
the San Diego Museum of Man and Curator of the Museum of
Northern Arizona. He has written numerous books about Indians
of the Southwest. |
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