The Buried Mysteries Of Native American Art | 1491: Before Columbus | Timeline

this channel is part of the history hit network stick around to find out more [Music] we are the first peoples of the americas [Music] we have been here from the beginning [Music] our ancestors navigated by the wind and stars [Music] crossing vast oceans and mountain ranges searching for new lands over thousands of years our ancestors became astronomers and architects philosophers and scientists artists and inventors [Music] we created distinct societies and built vast trade systems that covered two continents in 1492 our world was changed forever but we did not disappear [Music] today the languages and teachings of our ancestors remain and these are the untold stories of the americas before columbus [Music] the creative spirit is at the heart of every indigenous culture in the americas the artistic genius of our ancestors was evident in every aspect of life from traditional ceremonies to the creation of everyday objects our histories were carefully passed down from generation to generation through stories songs and dances perhaps the most visible reminders of our past are the works of art that our ancestors left for us through ceramic metal wood and woven materials we've discovered the very essence of our cultures before 1491. for thousands of years indigenous people have been creating tools and art from gold silver copper and bronze the technology of metallurgy in the americas before 1491 was possibly the most advanced in the world the mining and manufacturing of metals was an established technology in western south america around 2000 years ago evidence of simple gold beads was discovered near lake titicaca that dates back 4 000 years the inca are often credited with developing the metallurgy traditions in south america they were after all the dominant society when gold production was at its peak 600 years ago but the extraction and purification of metals and the creation of metal alloys was practiced by indigenous cultures in the andes a thousand years or more before the inca civilization existed gold objects were status symbol reserved for the sappa inca and the elite commoners only wore gold during religious and state ceremonies they were the most advanced civilization in the processing of metallurgy in the american continent they live in an area where the ore was abundant and with techniques that perhaps were superior to the european ones skilled artisans throughout the inca empire were conscripted to produce jewelry and ceremonial objects for the sappa inca and his extended family the artisans were often required to move from their own cities to work in the inca capital of cusco there was a cosmology an ideology identified with the metals gold was identified with the sun and silver was identified with the moon and the tumbagas which were mixtures or alloys of gold and silver and copper were identified with kind of the androgynous being of the metals such that they represented both the male and female element the heavens and the earth and a whole host of other things that were sacred to the people that worked in those metals inca goldsmiths used a variety of different smelting techniques to produce alloys there is one element more than gold or silver there is one element that the incas had in abundance mercury history hit is like netflix just for history with exclusive history documentaries covering some of the most famous people and events in history just for you from uncovering ancient neolithic cultures to the dawn of the space race history hit has hundreds of exclusive documentaries with unrivaled access to the world's best historians and it's not just documentaries either we have a network of incredible history podcasts bringing you new episodes every day sign up now for a 14-day free trial and timeline fans get fifty percent off their first three months just be sure to use the code timeline at checkout why mercury because you need mercury to basically remove impurities in the order and obtain only pure silver and pure gold and i've identified over 50 metallurgical traditions from the electrochemical plating of gold onto less precious metals all the way through to gilding processes and even the production of platinum which is among the first uses of platinum in the world these 50 traditions have often been identified with things like sheffield plating and last i recall sheffield is in england and yet we have the earlier precedence for this innovation and technology in peru like a region as rich in resources and people as the inca empire required an efficient road system for transportation many of the products used by the ruling family such as precious stones woven material and feathers were transported along this vast road system the inca empire stretched from colombia to the southern tip of chile connecting the millions of people living in this region was the great inca road a 40 000 kilometer highway that crisscrossed mountains deserts and forests the chasky was a long distance relay runner who traveled the great road to deliver packages to the rulers and the artisans who created works of art for the sapa inca's family [Music] foreign [Music] handed his packages of precious materials to the next runner at a tambo or resting house m [Music] subscribers [Music] the jewelry and other objects that the inca artisans created from gold and silver were part of a complex cultural dynamic that connected the ruling saba inca and his family to the important deities like the sun god inti although they were highly regarded in society creating the metal objects for ceremonies artisans performed their work at the pleasure of the sapa inca and the elite class perhaps we lost many other possible paths that perhaps were better perhaps we're more efficient perhaps we're more beautiful perhaps we're even like more sustainable at the peak of the inca civilization the goldsmiths and artisans were masters of metallurgy techniques and the creation of brilliant works of art oh [Music] one of mankind's greatest achievements was developing technologies to extract metals from rock this led to the invention of bronze and iron tools and weapons and the creation of gold and silver jewelry and art [Music] the earliest manufactured gold in the world was discovered at an ancient cemetery on the western shores of the black sea more than three thousand pieces of gold jewelry and artifacts were found at this site the egyptians were among the first civilizations to mine and use gold it was an important part of the ceremonies associated with the burials of the pharaohs and their families [Music] the first evidence of metal art in the americas was found in the form of gold foil beads near lake titicaca later methods of metal extraction and processing were developed in northern peru and colombia [Music] today gold continues to be as powerful a symbol of wealth and status as it was in ancient times while story is at the core of every art form oral storytelling has preserved the cultural identity of indigenous peoples for thousands of years stories are the memories of our ancestors and through them they ensure that the values rituals knowledge and ways of life are kept alive those stories are what are held as being the foundation of an understanding of where you have come where you are and where you may go in the future every indigenous culture has a story about their origins as a people these creation stories tell us how they came to be in northwest north america a haida creation story tells of a raven discovering first people as they emerged from a clamshell on a beach the tsimshan people have a story about the origins of the killer whale a white wolf longed to tell the history of the world through song he left the land and went under seat where he transformed into a killer whale today he calls out to his wolf family who still live on the land there is a journey through a storied landscape and so as you begin to hear descriptions of this journey the people will usually say that they stopped in different places the inuit and their ancestors have lived in the arctic for thousands of years a rich storytelling tradition evolved over countless generations through the sharing of legends between elders and children [Music] we have a great camaraderie with all the other arctic peoples of the world uh because you know we were nomads like we traveled you know to alaska greenland all over the north and we all speak the same language with many different dialects so i can talk to people from alaska and institute i can talk to people from greenland and we can understand each other pretty well so we had all these stories these traditional legends and they were told right across the north as you listen to these stories you know you fall asleep to them every night and they teach you a lesson and you dream you know about these characters and and they become your heroes the most famous person that you know i can think of is a man called tibio my grandmother said kimio was born so long ago that he was the very first person the beginning of the kiddie of stories actually talks about a little boy who's also an orphan he was being bullied by all these kids in the community and his grandmother made him clothing out of young seal and she said i would like you to go down to the beach and when you get to the water's edge i would like you to take the seal skin and pull it over your head and jump into the water and go for a swim and come up right in front of all your mean friends while playing on the beach and sure enough all the mean boys were playing on the beach the little boy took the seal skin he pulled it over and said so that it fit nicely and he looked like a little seal and then he took a deep breath and he jumped into the water and he came up right in front of all the mean boys who were playing on the beach they thought he was a little seal they grabbed their kayaks and all their long skinny skin boats and they started paddling following the little seal the little sea would go down in the water and he would swim a little bit farther out and then he would come up again and then he would go down and he would swim a little bit farther out and then he would come up again and when they were way out at sea when the little seal came up he would lift up his arm and his leg and he would sing i know [Music] where's my wind i want my wind people say the weather that was on the day you were born is your very own weather and this little boy was born on a very very windy day and he was calling the weather that was on the day he was born the wind heard him and it started to come it got windier and windier and windier and before long there were huge waves in the water and the kayaks with all the mean boys were going up and down up and down in the big waves and every now and then a giant wave would come and he would trip the kayaks over and before long there was only one person left that person was killed kivio landed his kayak over on the other side of the ocean and so he started traveling trying to find his way home and while he was trying to find his way home it seems like he traveled through every part of the north because there are stories about him everywhere he traveled across this ocean and ended up on the other side in this very strange place and he got homesick so he started traveling trying to find his way home what people say about kivio is that he was the first person but he's still alive today he is so old his body is turning to stone and someday when his heart turns completely to stone that stops that will be the end of the universe in the finnish language they have a word which sounds just like evil and it means stone man so if you go back far enough and finish history you might find stories about this very same person of all the indigenous forms of art storytelling remains the most essential to the teaching of culture our relationship with others and our connection to the environment we have all these stories you know these incredible legends that teach us how to care for the young and to help the more disadvantaged people in our world and teach us how to live with each other because you know nobody survives if they don't have a structure like that they came to know something about themselves something about relationship and responsibility and they carried that knowledge and that perspective to the next place that they journeyed to the story is mirror you know the deepest longings the deepest understandings the most profound uh thoughts if you will of a people and their guiding thoughts their thoughts that guide through generations rock art is one of the oldest art forms in the world by carving or scraping the surface of rocks with stone or bone tools indigenous people in the americas created visual stories called petroglyphs many of the images carry deep cultural meaning and provide us with a connection to our past there are many petroglyph sites that tend to be concentrated at really interesting locations on the landscape why the rock art is there is of great interest to archaeologists however we cannot fully understand these sites without considering the cultural knowledge associated with them petroglyphs had many functions to mark a trail record an important event or tell a story for me as an indigenous archaeologist i do use the science aspect of trying to find and locate sites but we can also look at our oral histories and our place names and our traditions we can come to understand landscapes from a cultural perspective and a scientific perspective but when we layer those two together we only enhance our understanding of the past the mountains haven't changed since the days of our ancestors we see paths of their travels prehistoric trails that they've taken and yes definitely the petroglyphs you know the symbols and designs that remind us of our traditional religious practices our ceremony our rituals all those things are evidence of their presence and their use of this landscape they're edged in the stone because they wanted them to survive those messages to survive they wanted those symbols designs to be recognized and utilized by the people these are messages or reminders to all our ottoman people you know to continue our way of life [Music] [Music] today we find petroglyphs in every part of the western hemisphere they offer us a glimpse into the way of life and dream worlds of our ancestors [Music] on cave walls cliff faces and rock overhangs throughout the americas indigenous people painted images that represented the world around them pictographs were drawn painted or stained on the rock's surface using organic materials like ochre and charcoal one of the oldest pictograph sites in the americas is the cave of hands site in argentina the ancestors of the people of patagonia covered the ceilings and walls with hundreds of hand prints artists filled hollow bird bones with pigment then placed their hand against the wall or ceiling by blowing the pigment through the tube the paint left the outline of a hand painted over the course of several thousand years the illustrations on the walls of this site reveal the hunting practices of the people of the region pictographs are also found throughout north america with the largest concentrations in the great lakes region the southwest and along the west coast like those in south america most of the pictographs of north america were painted with ochre ocher being very rich dark red really symbolizes life and power and it provides a way to spiritually connect with your ancestors and of course the landscape and the resources that surround you in squamish culture we refer to this as tumuth and it translates as paint the images portrayed in pictographs are more than storyboards of ancient times the ochre itself offers a valuable insight into the lives of the people who used it as paint one of the ways that i've researched tamith ochre is by doing some non-destructive analysis called x-ray fluorescence this gives me an elemental signature of the ochre so i can then go and find natural outcrops of the ochre and try and match the signature from a pictograph to a geological deposit where that material was gathered and so that gives us a little more understanding on how people use their landscape and the way they associated those paintings with what surrounds those sites one of the mysteries of rock art is its frequent similarity with artistic styles in different regions of the americas many researchers have noted that the styles and patterns of certain rock hard images are the same and early on in archaeological research many people said well maybe this was a widespread tradition or maybe it was a certain group of people who moved around really this is just a reflection of what is in the local environment and of course a shared human nature storytelling through petroglyphs and pictographs is one of the earliest forms of creative expression collectively rock art stands as a visual library of natural and human history throughout the americas before 1491 [Music] [Music] rock art is one of the earliest forms of creative expressions in human history the oldest pictographs have survived tens of thousands of years in the shelter of rocky landscapes where they were painted [Music] australia is home to more rock art than any continent on earth detailed drawings of birds wildlife and plants and pictographs found in the northern territories offer a glimpse of ancient flora and fauna in the region [Music] the ancient caves of southern france are home to a remarkable collection of rock art horses bears and bison some as large as five meters adorn the walls of these caves [Music] argentina's cave of hands was created over a span of several thousand years the illustrations on the walls of this site reveal the hunting practices of indigenous people over ten thousand years ago the artwork at pictograph sites and the detailed depictions of vegetation animals and humans make rock paintings a visual library of natural and human history around the world the art of weaving natural fibers into baskets clothing and bedding has been part of indigenous cultures in the americas for thousands of years the techniques used to create these materials vary from nation to nation iroquoian and algonquin basket makers used pounded ash bark and braided sweetgrass for their baskets the cherokee made baskets out of bundled pine needles coiled sumac and willow the anishinabe and danne made birchbark baskets in northern california maidu women developed basket weaving to a high art form their baskets were so tightly woven they could be used to carry water and cook food in many indigenous cultures skilled basket makers blended dyes and a variety of materials to weave their baskets some things were decorated with beautiful geometric designs and you could tell that somebody took the time to make those patterns to make it beautiful in the pacific northwest cedar bark roots and grasses were the materials used to make a wide range of woven products there's traditional basketry that goes on all the way from alaska all the way down the coast and there are some similarities and there's you know a lot of differences as well you know from tribe to tribe the new channels and macaw nations were among the finest basket weavers in the americas when the 400 year old ozet village site was discovered long buried beneath a mudslide it gave contemporary weavers a rare look at the traditional forms of weaving of the macaw people underneath the mud was whole houses filled with everything a person needed in those days to survive and so you could see you know how advanced and the knowledge was that these folks had in the things that they made for the macaw as with other indigenous peoples the art of weaving wasn't limited to making baskets they had mats that could be folded up and then rolled up and stored capes to keep you warm rain hats to keep the rain off baskets to store your fish and your ceremonial items and beautifully made to they were artfully created both men and women in those eras had to make their own items some of the turndowns and weaves are very complicated and you think man how did somebody you know come up with how to execute making a knob top hat and keeping it at a certain pitch gathering all these different materials and learning how to create a weed to make these things who figured it out how to pull bark from the tree and take the outer bark off and to pound it make it really really soft enough to make a diaper for a baby [Music] the materials used in basketry depended on the natural resources available in each territory for the new channel and the macaw of the northwest cedar proved to be the ideal material for weaving with the cedar tree there was cedar boughs that were used for making auwitz baskets which are packed baskets in in our language people would use them to carry heavy heavy loads such as firewood or clams and things like that then the cedar root was used as the tension weavers that go around the basket and then also cedar bark or what we call pizza just a cedar tree alone was utilized for everything basketry with its many forms styles and distinct patterns provides insight into the resources cultures and traditions of indigenous peoples throughout the north american continent while the earliest pottery was used for cooking over the centuries the technology evolved into an art form the distinct materials designs and colors used in pottery provides clues to the cultural origins of its maker the earliest pottery in the americas was produced in the lower amazon basin about 7 500 years ago around 6 000 years ago pottery emerged in other regions of south america the people of north america began their own pottery traditions about 4 thousand years ago in the american southwest pottery played a utilitarian and spiritual role the pueblo developed traditions for molding firing and decorating clay artists use brushes made from yucca leaves to paint their pottery they also use tools to create designs on the wet clay after firing the pottery smooth stones were rubbed over the surface to create a polished finish just as stories were woven into baskets capes and blankets story was part of each piece of pottery we have representations of buffalo of deer of turkeys of all of the different animals that are part of our landscape and you see an ecological tapestry that tapestry of interrelationship of connection to plants to animals to the natural forces of the world those things that sustain the people through time through generations there's a whole process that that parallels the creative process in that every stage of the creation of a pot becomes a a way to meditate and to think about some of those ideas those primal ideas that are part of our stories uh relationship to the land in terms of leaving offerings and thanking the earth mother for her gift of clay to uh thinking about the kinds of designs and symbols that one will place on one's pottery represent which is another stage of thinking and learning about the story and learning through the story uh to the actual you know creation of the pot the polishing of the pod the firing of the pot and then finally the gifting of the pot all of which in many ways incorporate indigenous core values of of respect responsibility of relationship these are the principles these are the essences of thought that still remain as being the thread that holds us together the community is the holder of culture language tradition and so through time the community becomes the real vessel that you try to sustain [Music] ancient peoples in every part of the world developed pottery traditions the earliest pieces were bowls and pots used for storage and cooking later clay was molded into ceremonial items masks pipes and even musical instruments the first pottery makers in japan coiled ropes of clay to form round bowls after smoothing the surface with tools they baked the clay in fire pits to produce ceramic pots that could be used for cooking [Music] the oldest pottery tradition in the world had its origins in southeast china their pots and bowls were made from clay mixed with ground quartz sand and feldspar [Music] the earliest potters in the americas lived in the lower amazon basin they made red and black clay pots often decorated with paint that were used to store and cook food while the first pottery in the world was used for cooking over the centuries the technology evolved into an art form as well as an important expression of cultural identity [Music] masks have been a part of indigenous culture in the americas for thousands of years some of the earliest masks were carved in ivory by the dorset people later inuit of the arctic used masks for storytelling and ceremonies the hopi and pueblo cultures used kachina masks in traditional dance ceremonies in northwest north america artists carve intricate masks from cedar you and alder using distinct form lines that can be seen on five thousand-year-old petroglyphs west coast nations created masks depicting humans animals and supernatural beings for ceremonies called potlatches the families who host potlatches bring out their masks songs and dances to record their family lineage display wealth and honor a birth marriage or death carver started their training as young boys often learning from an uncle or grandfather when the apprenticeship was completed they would spend their lives carving masks and poles for their family and community a mask can be a very powerful thing amongst our people a mask means so much more than just an art piece for our people even today but especially before contact it means connections to our stories we don't just make it up and and carve any old mass that we want we have to have that right in order to wear that mask the masks are created in order to retell origin stories and old stories and it's a way of of bringing those old legends to life in our in our ceremonies in the light of a big house reflective properties are really crucial and so we like to decorate our masks and frontlets with reflective shell in order to cast light back to the viewer and for us light you know in the darkness of the of the winter months light is so important and that reflection has a has a spiritual quality to it presented together at potlatches carved masks dances and songs told stories owned by the host families and we believe that our our ancestors were able to take off their animal clothes and they were human underneath and so there's a time of transformation when they can go back and forth between being a human or animal creature we create masks in order to tell those stories while potlatch has bonded families and communities through ceremony they also played a central role in establishing relationships with neighboring nations during the winter time is when we held our most important ceremonies when we invite other villages to come to our communities to witness our dances and listen to the songs that are owned by the host family we invite other people to witness what we have to show and share and they validate the ownership of those rights and prerogatives by attending potlatches or winter ceremonials [Music] one of the most important things that that we create to this day are items that are used in ceremonial contexts reminds us of our role in the community a role that's continued through countless generations and connects us to the artists that we're creating the exact same pieces it connects us to those same people that did the exact same thing for the exact same reason when we see one of our masks being used in the big house or one of our frontlets being danced it shows that connection to the past and connection to our culture and and really gives us as artists a reason for for being and it's about that connection to culture and place and our ancestors [Music] totem poles are wooden monuments created by artists in many nations in the northwest they were raised in prominent locations like the entrance to a big house or along the shoreline to a village animal crests and supernatural beings carved on the poles represented the stories that belong to a family when we look at totem poles it's often telling those same stories as well because you look at them and you see those same animals and sometimes you'll see the human ancestor figure depicted as well so it's showing that pre-history for our people the very first histories during the time of transformation it's about that connection to culture and place and our ancestors [Music] art sculpted from stone wood clay and fiber are reminders of the artistic genius of our ancestors but art was not the only cultural expression of indigenous peoples before 1491. ancient peoples in every part of the world use masks for rituals celebrations and storytelling the earliest evidence of masks can be found in rock paintings that date back more than 30 000 years the oldest masks in the world were discovered in the judean hills near jerusalem they were created at a time when agriculture was first developing in mesopotamia and people were establishing permanent towns throughout the region maisini was an important center of power and trade in ancient greece some of the earliest gold masks from this area were found in burials of people who had high social status in the community [Music] the earliest masks in the arctic were made of ivory by the dorset peoples later the inuit made and used masks for storytelling and ceremonies [Music] masks continue to be used throughout the world in traditional ceremonies that honor ancestors and preserve cultures music dance and storytelling are a part of every nation in the americas these diverse cultural expressions bring us together through sacred ceremonies and community celebrations in many ways art is the expression of indigenous people's relationship with the natural and spirit worlds we have come to know our ancestors on a deeper level through their artistic traditions before 1491. passed down from generation to generation these traditions continue in our communities to this day [Music] foreign

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

Views: 82,216

Keywords: Ancient techniques, Animal paintings, Art documentation, Artifacts before, Community traditions, Craftsmanship, Cultural expression, Cultural representation, Historical context, Historical traditions, History exploration, Indigenous perspectives, Native American artifacts, Native American heritage, Native American mythology, Timeline - World History Documentaries, Traditional aesthetics, Traditional art forms, Traditional artwork, Traditional practices, Tribal art forms

Id: i3GcC0wVTTA

Length: 46min 40sec (2800 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 31 2022