Dance Fans

Ceremonial Objects~

During tribal ceremonies, many different objects were used. Dance fans richly decorated and were used to accentuate the dancers hand gestures. Prayer wheels were used, as in Tibetan society, to invoke blessing and send healing thoughts. (Some very similar objects with special markings have been found and identified as gambling wheels.)



Many types of ceremonial jewelry have been discovered and historians have determined that the materials that are used may have caused the curious markings on the necks of the celebrants, previous thought to be scarification patterns of a secret society.



Talking sticks have historically been used in counsel circles; the staff is handed from person to person, and the individual holding it has the attention of the tribe and can speak his or her mind. (Legend has it President Teddy Roosevelt eventually coined the phrase "Speak softly and carry a big stick" after speaking with some counsel members through an inexperienced translator.) War clubs were occasionally used during counsel circles when the privilege of the talking stick was overused.

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