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Laughter
Keepers
Exploring
The Medicine Clown Tradition
of the Wampanoag
By Mwalim
Storyteller,
Playwright & Folklorist If all attempts to destroy
a people have been unsuccessful, can you actually say that you
have destroyed their traditions as well? Or have they merely been
suppressed? One such tradition was that of the Medicine Clown
among Northeastern Algonquin people, particularly, the Ahanaeenun
or “Laughter Keepers” of the Wampanoag Nation of eastern
Massachusetts.
Medicine Clowning is a
practice that exists among many Native American cultures, in one
form or another. In general, medicine people among native cultures
serve to provide and maintain physical, spiritual and emotional
health among their respective communities. In particular, the
clown’s focus is emotional and spiritual healing, serving as
oracles, counselors, mediators, storytellers, teachers and
tricksters. The best-known manifestations of medicine clown
practice are the Hyokas of such western native people as the Hopi.
Medicine Clowns are occasionally referred to as "sacred
clowns," which is a bit of a misnomer. Unlike post earth
based European cultures, almost all sacred and secular practices;
rituals and activities are not separated. The Ahanaeenun is a
little known tradition, with very little in the way of written
records of their existence, surviving primarily through oral
tradition and lore, with the Ahanaeenun surviving principally as
storytellers.
The Ahanaeenun is a branch
of the cultures medicine community, using humor and satire as a
means of bring social and spiritual healing to people and the
community at large. This practice in particular was suppressed
upon the landing of the early European colonists who found the
various spiritual practices of the Native people offensive, but
this one more so, believing that the practitioners were dealing in
magic, therefore making it an evil activity. Although suppressed,
the tradition was kept alive in the form of oral history and
folklore. Among the Wampanoag, storytelling primarily served as a
means of preserving the ethics and beliefs of the people through
allegorical tales of animals, people and magical beings, similar
to the fables of Aesop. This form of storytelling and the tales
produced through it, often called medicine stories have
been a staple in Wampanoag culture as long as their have been
Wampanoags.
The majority of Wampanoag
writers and historians who have documented the roots and
developments of their culture, are of the 20th and 21st
Centuries, their information being based on oral history from
elders, cross referenced with the documentation of 17th,
18th and 19th Century European writers and
historians, whose writings hold traces of the Ahanaeenun’s
existence. To date, many Wampanoag historians have over-looked the
tradition simply because they did not know what to look for in
terms of the characteristics and functions of the practice.
However, just as the language of the Wampanoag was regenerated
through the efforts of Wampanoag linguists and scholars, the
Ahanaeenun tradition has been researched and regenerated by
Wampanoag performing arts historians, folklorists and oral
historians. Before we examine the tradition and the steps taken to
preserve it, let us look at the people that it comes from.
According to archeological
evidence and oral history, the people of the Wampanoag Nation have
occupied eastern New England, from modern day Revere,
Massachusetts to Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island for over 12,000
years. Upon the arrival of the so-called Pilgrims, the nation
consisted of over 40 tribes and bands. At present less then 12
organized bands and tribes remain. During the period of 1830 to
1875, the United States of America’s Census Department deemed
over 100 Native American Nations and tribes as extinct, believing
that since the arrival of the first European settlers, they had
effectively destroyed the people and their respective cultures and
practices. Criteria for deeming a band extinct included:
1)
Whether or not the members of the community maintained
their religion, language and traditional way of life (which
was never clearly defined).
2)
The level of clear and obvious intermingling between Native
communities and Africans.
Although Wampanoag people
maintained their communities, the practice of their religion and
use of their language was rendered illegal by the European
colonists and enforced through a myriad of harsh methods. As a
result, the Wampanoag communities had adopted many of the customs
and practices of the Europeans. In addition, many Northeastern
tribal communities made it a regular practice of giving asylum to
runaway slaves and indentured servants, dating back to the first
arrival of bonded Africans in the region. Hence, the various
communities of Wampanoags throughout the territories were not
spared this administrative genocide. To this day, many government
officials believe that if Native Americans do not live as they did
500 years ago, they should be considered extinct.
One of the practices among
Native people that the Puritans found most offensive was that of
the Medicine Clown, whose activities and practices were considered
demonic. In the writings of Edward Winslow of the Plymouth Colony,
particularly his text “The Glorious Progress of the Gospel
amongst the Indians in New England” (1649) we find references to
riddlers and tricksters among the Wampanoag people
who were portrayed as individuals who got in the way of the
colonists efforts to convert the Wampanoags to Christianity. Under
the stringent rules and regulations of the Puritan’s version of
Christianity, theater and its related practices were considered an
abomination. A lingering example of the puritan attitude is the
fact that Harvard University, to this day, does not offer any form
of theater arts as a degree-granting major because theater is not
considered to be a gentleman’s profession.
In exploring the history of
the expansion of Christianity as an organized religion, we find
that all earth-based spiritual practices have posed a threat to
the churches ambitions for exclusivity on providing emotional and
spiritual guidance. One of the recurring rhetorical tools was to
demonize the deities, spirits and clergy of a group’s practice.
For example, the horned god of Europe’s pre-Christian pantheon
became the image of the devil in the 13th Century, as
did Ellegba, the trickster god of the Yoruba in West Africa. With
this campaign, the spiritual elements of the theater and clowning
were suppressed into simply becoming a form of entertainment. With
the growth of fundamentalist forms of Christianity among the
Protestants, theater and clowning were outlawed.
With this history it would
be only natural that the Puritans would be threatened by the
spiritual practices of Native people. One such tale, which is
purported to be a true story, was often told by the late Chief Sly
Fox (Vernon Pocknett, Sr.) of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe is
“Weasel Man”. So the tale goes, many Mashpees had gathered in
the meetinghouse one Sunday to hear the gospel of a white pastor.
As the pastor preached, a weasel ran into the meetinghouse,
looking at the people and running all about the meeting. It was
not unusual for animals to wander into meeting, so nobody saw it
as unusual, until the weasel ran up to the pulpit and stood next
to the pastor. The weasel then transformed into a man. The man was
somebody that was known to the Mashpees as a medicine man who
lived off by himself in the woods. He asked the assembly if their
preacher could do that too, then changed back into a weasel and
scurried out of the meetinghouse. It was said that the pastor
quickly changed his sermon to a discussion about the demons that
exist among us. Some medicine clowns are known to be amazing
acrobats and contortionists, not unlike the Yogi’s of the Far
East. The oral history and lore of the Wampanoag also contains
many tales of shape shifters and changelings, including the fore
mentioned “Weasel Man.”
Why should we believe that
the Ahanaeenun existed? With very little in the way of
documentation to go by, a small team of Wampanoag historians, both
traditional and academic, utilized a combination of sociological
profiling and oral history to identify their clown. First, let us
consider the fact that the word exists in the Wampanoag
vocabulary. Why would the Wampanoag have a word for a person if
the person did not exist? Second, we have to consider that several
aspects of community structure bear close similarities across
Native American cultures and communities, for example, clan
systems, chiefs and chief councils, medicine people, elders
councils, warrior societies, etc. Third, we must also consider
that many western and several southern Native American cultures
have maintained a form of the medicine clown. Fourth, we must also
recognize that some form of clowning and/or theater have always
existed throughout the world, in all cultures and societies. As a
result, the hypothesis became one of: It makes sense that the
Ahanaeenun exists.
Another cross-referencing
fact is one of nature: No society can exist and thrive without a
release. All living things require a means by which to purge
themselves. Theater and clowning have historically been the means
by which societies have emotionally, and in some cases
spiritually, cleared themselves of issues and tensions. As
mentioned before, theatre and/or the clown have existed in all
societies and civilizations in one form or another. For example,
many West African cultures have traditions that are collectively
called the griot tradition, whose functions and activities
are similar to the general functions of a clown. According to Metu
Neter, by Ra Un Nefer Amen, the priests in the temples of
Memphis would enter a trance and embody the spirits of ancestors
and deities and act out tales and events from history and lore as
a healing and guidance ritual for those attending. It is believed
that this ritual was the basis for Greek theater. The Japanese
have Kabuki and Europeans had the various traditions of minstrels,
troubadours, jongleurs and jesters who served similar functions to
those noted above.
From this hypothesis, the
team examined the general profile of a clown as well as the
general profile of the medicine clowns in Native American
cultures. The term clown is Anglo-Saxon in origin,
and applies to a practice among certain members of a community who
are tricksters, riddlers, jokers as well as teachers and healers
using their antics as a means of bringing and maintaining
spiritual and emotional balance among the members of that
community. Clowns are considered the embodiment of super natural
beings and spirits who would bring blessings or curses to people
based on their words and or deeds. Not unlike the saying,
“Laughter is the best medicine,” the ability to bring
emotional relief from intense events, issues and conflicts is
viewed as a sacred activity. The emotional and spiritual healing
that came from these rituals and performances is similar to what
Aristotle referred to as the catharsis in his text The
Poetics, relating to the purpose and impact of theater in
Greek society.
As oracles and counselors,
community members would consult clowns to help put concerns and
issues into perspective. One such activity would be dream
interpretation: the analysis of people’s dreams, as well as
their own visions, as a means of understanding the present and the
future. It was also used as a method of detecting issues that
might be damaging to the persons emotional and spiritual
well-being. This is similar to the services provided by clergy and
mental health professionals who counsel those with issues and
concerns that are impacting their emotional and spiritual
well-being.
Another principle function of
the clown is mediator, providing assistance in conflict
resolution. A clown’s ritual for conflict resolution is similar
to a theater or storytelling performance in the round, where the
community would assemble in the round, particularly including the
parties who were having or causing the conflict. If there is a
social conflict in a given community, or between different
communities (tribes, nations, etc.) the clowns will bring the
community together for a session to address the conflict. Using a
forum similar to theater, the clowns will act out the situation or
events, using humor and satire to ridicule the situation until
they have everybody
laughing about it. Once the laughter has begun, they can actually
address the conflict directly and guide the community and/or
parties towards resolving it. This is not unlike the traveling
theater companies in Europe who would venture from village to
village, town to town often presenting plays and performances that
would address and often satirize the policies, attitudes, behavior
and activities of those who ruled and/or administered over the
land.
Medicine Clowns also
provided advising and counsel to sachems (chiefs) and clan
leaders. Ironically, clowns and jesters also provided services to
the rulers of Ancient Europe, using their antics and jokes to
investigate and reveal the acts of enemies and traitors to the
rulers. As storytellers and tricksters, medicine clowns are among
the wise people of the community, capable of memorizing thousands
of years of history and hundreds of tales. In many Native American
cultures, tales are the keys to the traditional philosophy and
ethics of a community. According to Traces of a Hidden
Tradition in Masonry and Mediaeval Mysticism, by Isabel
Cooper-Oakley, it was the troubadours that preserved hundreds and
thousands of years of history and arcane wisdom in their songs and
tales. Likewise is said about the role of griots in the book The
African Diaspora: African Origins and New World Identities,
edited by Isidore Okpewho, Carole Boyce Davies, and Ali A. Mazrui.
According to the lore of
various Native American cultures, including the Hopi, Cherokee,
Apache, Navajo and Cheyenne people, medicine clowns were also
often viewed as shape-shifters and changelings. Among some
medicine clown traditions, clowns did things backwards, such as
walking, dressing and speech (e.g., saying goodbye, for hello or
vice versa, etc.) the belief being that doing things backwards
would help to correct problems caused by the deeds of regular
people.
Some contemporary examples
of Hyoka’s activities include: A Hyoka in New Mexico hosted a
sweat lodge (A purification ritual similar to a steam bath, using
hot rocks and water). As the other attendees entered wearing
shorts or loincloths, the Hyoka sat in the lodge wearing heavy
wool pants, a winter snorkel coat and a scarf. As the others sat
in the lodge sweating, he sat there huddled up and shivering. At
the 2002 Sundance Gathering of Nations, a Hyoka attended, but
instead of dressing in traditional Hyoka garb and giving tobacco
to the elders, as tradition dictates, one Hyoka wore a barrel with
suspenders and handed out candy.
In the lore and oral history
of the Wampanoag, tales and legends of tricksters abound,
including people and events that are documented in Wampanoag
history. While not documented in such an official capacity as
Ahanaeenun, their actions and behaviors fit the profile of what an
Ahanaeenun would do: addressing and resolving conflicts with humor
and satire, providing counsel to people in need of guidance and
serving as storytellers. Another common characteristic among those
who would be considered of the Ahanaeenun is that they are often
very intelligent people who are often considered odd and/or
peculiar to their contemporaries.
Some examples would include:
The legendary medicine man of the Wampanoag people during the
1920’s and ‘30’s, Robert James seemed able to communicate
with animals and plants. There was also Harold Tobey, who on a
dare was able to bring a sudden rainstorm to Boston’s Government
Center in 1973 through prayer. Another legendary medicine person
of the Wampanoag people is Granny Squanit, is said to have lived
during the 18th Century and was a tiny woman, whose
moccasin prints resembled rabbit foot prints in the dirt. Known
for her advanced knowledge of herbs and spiritual matters as well
as her quick temper and favor of seclusion, Granny’s legend
among the Wampanoag people became one used to scare poorly behaved
children, who were told that they would be magically carried off
in the night by her. One
keeper of the Granny Squanit tales is Joan Avant-Tavares, a
Mashpee Wampanoag elder and the Beaver Clan mother. A favorite
activity of Mashpee children on Halloween is to walk through the
woods in the Noisy Hole Road area of Mashpee (The location of
Granny’s home) where they are greeted by Mrs. Tavares, dressed
as Granny.
In 2000, under the guidance
of the Mashpee Wampanoag Elder’s Council, a handful of Wampanoag
storytellers, oral historians, singers and dancers, formed the
Wampanoag Medicine Clown Society or the “Ahanaeenunash”. Until
this time there has been no known organization or order of
Medicine Clowns among the Wampanoag. However, after conducting the
research into the practices and existence of clowns in the
community a strong need of an organized effort to preserve and
continue the tradition was recognized. Of course, with the
documentation of the tradition (much of which is not available to
the general public) also came recognition of the activities,
objectives and practices of the contemporary Ahanaeenun. Such
contemporary issues included community, lifestyle, and language.
In 1870, the Mashpee
territory was taken by the commonwealth of Massachusetts and
incorporated as a town. Up until the mid 1970s, tribal members ran
the town government and it’s various departments. As the fastest
growing town in Barnstable County, Mashpee Wampanoags now account
for less then 15% of the total town population. In spite of this,
the Mashpees have maintained a community with traditional tribal
leadership, including a Satchem, Satchem’s council, elder’s
council, clan system and medicine people. The Medicine Clown
Society, as tradition dictates, is accountable to the elder’s
council. The society consists of about ten principle members who
were approved by the elders. The society also has several
apprentices, selected by the society members and approved by the
elders as well.
All contemporary Wampanoag
people speak English, with a small number currently studying the
Wampanoag language under the instruction of Wampanoag Linguist,
Jessie “Little Doe” Fermino. All members of the Ahanaeenunash
are required to study the language, recognizing that preserving
the traditional aspects of the practice would require a working
knowledge of the language that the practice existed in. Such
things as the principles and rituals of the society for example
are written in phonetic Wampanoag and cannot be translated into
English.
With the influence of
European society and culture, the division of the sacred and the
secular has worked its way into the world of the Medicine Clown as
well, with their work dividing into public activities and those
activities limited to tribal community and closed rituals. Public
activities include such things as storytelling and “clownings.”
Clownings are public pranks with a message.
Some examples of recent
clownings include:
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A group of clowns, dressed in traditional Wampanoag
regalia, entering a supermarket that was built on traditional
hunting grounds and proceeding to hunt for food with bows and
arrows (suction cup tips) in the meat, frozen food and canned good
sections and claimed the food under aboriginal hunting rights (All
food hunted for was paid for prior to the stunt).
¨
A group of clowns were asked to come to a
multicultural festival and sing “authentic” Wampanoag songs.
The group arrived with their drum and proceeded to sing songs in a
Native fashion, but the lyrics were by Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye and
Bob Marley. Traditional dances were also augmented with
break-dance moves. They also stated that the songs were authentic
because all of the singers were on a tribal roll under the
Wampanoag Nation.
With the introduction of
technology and the written word, the tools of the Ahanaeenun have
also increased. Contemporary Ahanaeenun are exploring such avenues
as the Internet, interactive software, film and video production
and the publishing of books and documents as a means of conducting
their work and developing a self-sustaining mechanism for their
order’s activities. Ahanaeenun are also actively engaged in
developing a form of performance that will incorporate both
traditional Ahanaeenun styles of storytelling and conventional
theater. The works produced through these means would in no way
exploit the traditions of the practice, but provide the public
with examples of the contemporary arts and culture of the
Wampanoag.
In spite of several hundred
years of the impact of European based American culture, Wampanoag
people have succeeded in maintaining their culture and traditions,
using aspects and tools of the impacting culture to preserve many
traditions and restore others. Although many traditions have been
suppressed, they have not been completely destroyed and there is
enough information, through conventional academic means as well as
traditional oral histories of the people to allow those traditions
to resurface and thrive. While these traditions must be restored
in their historic context, their ability to continue requires an
understanding of how to put them in context of the contemporary
society and world. In this particular case, we have explored how a
clown tradition that was suppressed has been restored and
reactivated by members of the community and culture. While the
tradition has been altered, due to the impact of other cultures,
it must be recognized that all cultures and their respective
traditions have been altered due to similar contact. Either way
among the original people of Massachusetts, the Ahanaeenun still
exist and still labor to maintain the spiritual and emotional
well-being of their community in a modern society.
Mwalim is a Historian of
performing arts traditions, folklorist and keeper of the Wampanoag
Medicine clown tradition
mwalim@gmail.com
/ http://www.mwalim.com /
http://www.myspace.com/mwalim7
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