NATIVE AMERICAN RED PAINT

RED PAINT WAS USED FOR GOOD LUCK AND MEDICINE FOR AT LEAST 10,000 YEARS TO PSYCHOLOGICALLY PREPARE FOR WAR AS WELL AS FOR VISUAL PURPOSES. THE COMPOSITION OF RED PAINT IS CHARCOAL , OCHER, AND RED CLAY. SOME OTHER MATERIAL PIGMENTS MIGHT BE BIRD DUNG, PLANT LEAVES, AND FRUITS, MIXED WITH ANIMAL FAT. OBJIBWA WAR DANCERS WORE RED PAINT. OTHERS WORE THE PAINT TO FRIGHTEN ENEMIES WHO THEY WERE BATTLING WITH. THEY PAINTED VARIOUS SHAPES, OFTEN STRIPS, CIRCLES AND TRIANGLES. SINCE RED OCHER WAS AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA IT WAS THE MOST USED COLOR FOR BODY PAINT. SOME SAY THAT USING BODY PAINT IS WHY SOME PEOPLE CALL INDIANS REDSKINS. ONCE EUROPEANS OPENED TRADING POSTS THEY USED DIFFERENT COLORS.

KARL GRONING STUDIED WHY INDIANS USE PAINTS OF DIFFERENT COLORS. THE COMBINATION OF PAINT AND COLOR WAS IMPORTANT TO THE INDIVIDUAL WHO VIEWED IT AS THEIR MEDICINE OR PERSONAL SPIRIT. THE BLACKFEET WARRIORS WHO HAD PERFORMED HEROICALLY PAINTED BLACK ON THEIR FACES. THE TETON SIOUX USED BLACK FOR VICTORY AND WHITE FOR MOURNING.

DURING WAR THE CATAWBAS OF THE SOUTHEAST PAINTED ONE EYE BLACK IN A CIRCLE AND THE OTHER ONE IN A WHITE CIRCLE. THE FLORIDA SEMINOLES USE RED PAINT TO SIGNIFY BLOOD AND GREEN PAINT NEAR THEIR EYES TO HELP THEM SEE BETTER AT NIGHT. YELLOW PAINT IS THE COLOR OF DEATH AND MEANS A MAN HAS LIVED HIS LIFE AND WILL FIGHT TO THE FINISH.

TRIBAL ELDERS WORE DIFFERENT PAINTS THAN THEIR INFERIORS. THE ASSINIBOINE PAINTED THEIR FACES RED AND BLACK BUTTE CHIEF PAINTED HIS FACE YELLOW. DIFFERENT TRIBES HAD DIFFERENT GENDER RULES ABOUT PAINTING THEMSELVES. SEMINOLE WOMEN IN FLORIDA WERE FORBIDDEN TO USE FACE PAINT. THEIR NEIGHBORS TIMIUCANS ALLOWED BOTH SEXES TO USE BODY PAINT. PAINT IS ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT INDIANS. GEORGE CATLAN, THE PAINTER OF AMERICAN PORTRAITS, DETAILED FACE PAINTING OF 48 TRIBES IN 500 PORTRAITS IN THE 1800'S.

PAINT MARKINGS ON THE FACE MAY SERVE AS A STATUS SYMBOL. FOR EXAMPLE, LAKOTA MEN DREW 2 BLACK LINES ON THEIR RIGHT CHEEK FOR A WAR PARTY. IF HE HAD ONE BLACK STRIPE ON HIS RIGHT CHEEK HE WAS MARSHALL OF A CAMP ACCORDING TO THEIR HISTORIC CORE WRITINGS.

MUSCOGEE LEADERS USED FACE PAINTING TO SEPARATE THEMSELVES FROM OTHER LEADERS. A PEACE TIME LEADER WOULD PAINT HIS FACE BLACK. MANY NATIVE AMERICANS BELIEVED PIGMENTS COULD ENHANCE THEIR INNER POWERS. MOHAVE MEN USED RED PAINT FOR SPIRITUAL DANCES WITH SHAMANS. RED REPRESENTED BLOOD, A LIFE FORCE.

SEMINOLES HEADING INTO BATTLE USED YELLOW FACE PAINT. YELLOW MEANT A PERSON WAS READY TO DIE. IN SOUTH CATAWBA WARRIORS HAD A FEARSOME REPUTATION AND AN APPEARANCE - THEY WORE A PONYTAIL WITH WAR PAINT ON ONE EYE IN A BLACK CIRCLE, THE OTHER IN A WHITE CIRCLE AND THE REST OF THEIR FACE WAS PAINTED BLACK. SOME OF THEIR ENEMIES MUST HAVE DIED FROM SHEER FREIGHT. THESE TRADITIONS ARE ALIVE AND ARE EVOLVING THROUGH TIME.

ED STINE