Native American Terms – Fetish, Totem, Amulet, Talisman

Paula,
I wondered why in your web store you describe some Indian animal carvings and jewelry pieces as fetishes and others amulets or totems. Are they all the same thing? – Stuart

Stuart,
The terms fetish, amulet, totem and talisman are often used interchangeably to describe an object that provides good fortune and protects from evil. The exact meaning of any of these terms depend on the culture and location in which it is used. Briefly, here is how I see them:

Talisman

Alaskan Thunderbird Talisman by David Audette from Sitka, Alaska

A talisman is an object that is considered to possess supernatural or magical powers and is used especially to avert evils, disease, or death. A talisman is typically engraved or cut with figures or characters, constellations, planets, or other heavenly signs. It is often worn as an amulet or charm. From the Greek word “telein”, which means “to initiate into the mysteries”. The word talisman is often used synonymous with amulet.

Amulet

Turquoise and Sterling Silver Lucky Horseshoe Amulet by Navajo artist Wilbur Muskett Jr.

An amulet is a protecting charm – any object worn to bring good luck and to ward off evil, illness, and harm from supernatural powers and from other people. Amulets are typically carvings, stones (especially with naturally occurring holes), plants (such as sage, 4-leaf clover, shamrock), coins, and jewelry (crosses, horseshoes, gemstones).

Totem

Horse Totem on Horse Spirit Medicine Bag by Apache artist Cynthia Whitehawk

A totem is an object that symbolizes a person’s or a tribe’s animal guide. This could be a totem pole, an emblem or a small figurine or carving. Native American tradition holds that different animal guides come in and out of a person’s life depending on the direction that person is headed and the challenges he faces. A totem animal is the one animal that acts as the main guardian spirit and is with a person for life, both in the physical and spiritual world. Traditionally, it is the totem animal, such as an eagle, wolf, bear, horse or dragonfly, that finds the person, not the other way around.

Fetish

Bear Fetish by Zuni artist Emery Eriacho

A fetish is a sacred object used in religious ceremonies, for spiritual awakening and to communicate with and direct supernatural powers. A fetish can provide protection, promote healing and ensure success in ventures such as hunting or farming. A Native American fetish is most often a carving, usually of an animal, that has some sort of power, and is sometimes decorated with stones, shells, and feathers. A carving without power is merely a carving. A person’s own beliefs determine the difference between a fetish and a carving.

So, whether an object is a talisman, totem, amulet or fetish is up to you. Just as the beauty of an object is in the eye of the beholder, so the power of an object is in the belief of the seer or wearer.

Native American Dolls – Apache, Lakota, Navajo, No Face

Native American Dolls

Just like with dolls from any culture and time, Native American dolls serve a number of purposes and represent various values and legends. Not all dolls are made for children although some dolls are made specifically for children.

Children’s dolls were not designed to be keepsakes but to be something for the child to actively play with. Often the dolls were made out of corn husks or other organic materials such as wood. The doll would often fall apart by the time the child outgrew the doll. Even so, the dolls were adorned painstakingly with bits of cloth, fur, beads and other adornments. Dolls were used to teach children of the appropriate dress and cultural practices so girls were given cradleboards and sewing supplies with their dolls while boys were given warrior gear, bows and arrows and the like.

Other dolls such as spirit dolls and kachinas were made for a specific person, ceremony, power, totem, entity or prayer.

Spirit Dolls

Spirit dolls are ancient talismans against all negativity and evil. They embody spirits that have gone before, representing their strengths, positive energies, and beauty.

Apache artist, Cynthia Whitehawk creates various Spirit Dolls. Raven Medicine – Ravens carry great responsibility to Spirit and are the messengers of magic and healing from the universe where all knowledge waits for us. Raven also symbolizes changes in consciousness, of levels of awareness and perception. Necklace beads of sky blue turquoise, coral and sterling silver with hand painted bone raven feather pendant. She wears a genuine tiny beaded medicine bag – inside are rare Sacred Arizona Sweet Sage, Sacred Golden Tobacco, and tiny polished clear Quartz gemstones. These contents keep her energy clear, positive and powerful.

Raven Dream Keeper is keeper of the eternal flame of life, Medicine Healing Spirit, Spirit of the Bird Clans. There are several Bird Clans depending on tribal affiliation. The Cherokee Bird Clan are messengers between earth and heaven – between humans and the Creator. The Cherokee Bird Clan has 3 subdivisions: The Raven, Turtle Dove, and Eagle. The Raven, a large Crow, is governed by Crow Medicine. The Crow is the power of the unknown at work – ceremonial magic and healing. Raven Dream Keeper wears a necklace of tiny shell birds for her connectedness to the Bird Clan.

Raven Spirit Doll by Apache artist Cynthia Whitehawk

Grandmother Medicine – Grandmother Shaman guides with the ancient wisdom and practical knowledge, ever the kindest of souls, ever the most helpful, a quieting and soothing presence. Her medicine bag is adorned with coral and turquoise. It contains a rich mixture of smudging herbs and resin, sage and golden tobacco with tiny clear quartz stones.The carved tiny shell birds represent the ancient following of the Bird Clan. The gourd represents the vessels made from gourd, gourds which carried water and food for life. She wears a beaded talisman/amulet which is a carved turquoise bear, silver beads and penn shell heishi.

Crystal Keeper Medicine Woman  – Her necklaces are quartz and silver beads and large natural quartz points. She wears a tiny medicine bag beaded with quartz and silver beads. The bag contains Sacred Sweet Sage, Sacred Golden Tobacco, and tiny polished clear Quartz gemstones. These contents keep her energy clear, positive and powerful.

Grandmother Shaman: Gourd Dance Clan  – Her necklace is of sky blue and coral red old glass beads, silver and a tiny gourd, which represents the rattle made from a gourd in the Gourd Dance Clan.

The Gourd Dance was given to the Kiowa in the 1700s by a red wolf when the Kiowa inhabited the Black Hills and Devils Tower area of South Dakota and Wyoming. The dance was a gift to the Kiowa people and the songs and dances were performed by a specific society until the 1930s – with a good wolf howl at the end of each song in tribute to the red wolf. Thankfullly, before the tradition was lost, some Kiowa elders revived the Gourd Dance in the mid 1950s and officially formed the Gourd Dance Clan.

The No Face Doll

The No Face doll has its origin in the corn-growing Northeastern tribes as the dolls were traditionally made of cornhusks, with darkened corn silk for the hair.

As legend has it, Corn Spirit, sustainer of life, asked the Creator for more ways to help her people. The Creator formed dolls from her husks, giving the dolls a beautiful face. When the children of the Iroquois pass the dolls from village to village and from child to child, her beauty was proclaimed so often that the corn husk doll became very vain. The Creator disapproved of such behavior and so told the doll that if she was going to continue being part of the culture, she would need to develop humility.

The doll agreed but couldn’t help but admire her own reflection in a creek.  The all-seeing Creator, sent a giant screech owl down from the sky to snatch the doll’s reflection from the water. She could no longer see her face or bask in her superior beauty.

Lakota No Face Doll by Diane Tells His Name

So when a Northeast Native American mother gives a doll to her child, it is usually a doll with no face and the mother tells the child the legend of the Corn-Husk doll. Native Americans want their children to value the unique gifts that the Creator has given to each of them, but not to view themselves as superior to another, or to overemphasize physical appearance at the expense of  spiritual and community values.

Read more about Corn and Corn Maidens on our blog.

Lakota No Face Dolls

Similar to the Northeaster tribes, the Plains tribes often use No Face dolls to instill humility in their children.

Since the Great Plains tribe members’ own clothing was often elaborately covered with intricate beadwork, so were the dolls. Lakota Dolls are beautifully adorned and depending on the activity they represent, they can be outfitted with various equipment and items such as baskets, cradleboards or knives and hunting tools.

Beauty of Autumn No Face Lakota Doll by Diane Tells His Name

Lakota Dolls are traditionally made from buckskin. The bodies are stuffed with cattail fluff or buffalo hair.

The hair is usually horse hair or buffalo hair.

Why do Native American dolls have long hair? As legend has it, when you die, if you don’t hear your name called, you can’t cross over to the other side. So, just in case you don’t hear your name when it is called, if you have long hair, someone on the other side can grab your long hair and pull you over.

Navajo Dolls

Meant to resemble Navajo Men and Women in ordinary dress, Navajo dolls are meant to be played with or collected.

Navajo Dolls by Loretta Wood, Navajo aritst

Navajo women are usually outfitted in a cloth dress or skirt and top and embellished with jewelry made of turquoise, silver and shell.

The dress is traditionally made of velvet, cotton or muslin embellished with rick rack trim and cinched with a woven or embroidered sash.

Necklaces are often sewn right onto the dress. Earrings are often beaded loop earrings

Large Vintage Navajo Doll

Men appear in traditional muslin pants, bright colored shirt (often velvet) and a cinched sash like belt.

Hair for the dolls is often made of  mohair, wool or yarn.

The hands are often made of leather. The face is fabric and the facial features are painted on.

Navajo dolls might just be standing or they could be involved in an activity from everyday life such as weaving, cooking, or sewing.

What fun it was to put together this doll article for my first real post back at it !!

Native American Spirit Dolls

Spirit dolls are ancient talismans against all negativity and evil. They embody spirits that have gone before, representing their strengths, positive energies, and beauty.

Here are some examples of specific Apache Spirit Dolls by celebrated artist Cynthia Whitehawk and what they represent.

Raven Medicine – Ravens carry great responsibility to Spirit and are the messengers of magic and healing from the universe where all knowledge waits for us. Raven also symbolizes changes in consciousness, of levels of awareness and perception.

Raven Shaman Spirit Doll (below)

 

Raven Shaman Spirit Doll

Necklace beads of sky blue turquoise, coral and sterling silver with hand painted bone raven feather pendant. She wears a genuine tiny beaded medicine bag – inside are rare Sacred Arizona Sweet Sage, Sacred Golden Tobacco, and tiny polished clear Quartz gemstones. These contents keep her energy clear, positive and powerful.

Raven Dream Keeper (below) is keeper of the eternal flame of life, Medicine Healing Spirit, Spirit of the Bird Clans

There are several Bird Clans depending on tribal affiliation. The Cherokee Bird Clan are messengers between earth and heaven – between humans and the Creator. The Cherokee Bird Clan has 3 subdivisions: The Raven, Turtle Dove, and Eagle. The Raven, a large Crow, is governed by Crow Medicine. The Crow is the power of the unknown at work – ceremonial magic and healing.

Raven Dream Keeper wear a necklace of tiny shell birds for her connectedness to the Bird Clan.

 

Raven Dream Keeper Bird Clan

Grandmother Medicine – Grandmother Shaman guides with the ancient wisdom and practical knowledge, ever the kindest of souls, ever the most helpful, a quieting and soothing presence. Her medicine bag is adorned with coral and turquoise. It contains a rich mixture of smudging herbs and resin, sage and golden tobacco with tiny clear quartz stones.

Grandmother Spirit Keeper – Bird Clan (below)

 

Grandmother Spirit Keeper Bird Clan

The carved tiny shell birds represent the ancient following of the Bird Clan. The gourd represents the vessels made from gourd, gourds which carried water and food for life. She wears a beaded talisman/amulet which is a carved turquoise bear, silver beads and penn shell heishi.

Crystal Keeper Medicine Woman (below)

 

Crystal Keeper Medicine Woman

Her necklaces are quartz and silver beads and large natural quartz points. She wears a tiny medicine bag beaded with quartz and silver beads. The bag contains Sacred Sweet Sage, Sacred Golden Tobacco, and tiny polished clear Quartz gemstones. These contents keep her energy clear, positive and powerful.

Grandmother Shaman: Gourd Dance Clan (below)

 

Grandmother Shaman Gourd Dance Clan

Her necklace is of sky blue and coral red old glass beads, silver and a tiny gourd, which represents the rattle made from a gourd in the Gourd Dance Clan.

The Gourd Dance was given to the Kiowa in the 1700s by a red wolf when the Kiowa inhabited the Black Hills and Devils Tower area of South Dakota and Wyoming.

The dance was a gift to the Kiowa people and the songs and dances were performed by a specific society until the 1930s – with a good wolf howl at the end of each song in tribute to the red wolf.

Thankfullly, before the tradition was lost, some Kiowa elders revived the Gourd Dance in the mid 1950s and officially formed the Gourd Dance Clan.

Help – Attached Spirit From Haunted House Follows Me

Hello Paula,

I have an attached spirit  that followed me from a haunted house that is very stubborn do you have anything that will help get rid of it asap?

Thanks Sabrina

Dear Sabrina,

Oh dear. First of all, I hope you are not frightened. Some people are frightened of spirits and others enjoy interacting with spirits. I hope, whatever your circumstance, that you are not afraid of what you are experiencing.

Secondly, I have no knowledge or first hand experience with haunted houses or attached spirits. I didn’t even know what an attached spirit is – I had to google it to learn the prevailing definition:

An attached spirit is when an earthbound spirit is attracted to a living person and then begins to “hang out” with the living person.

Also, I want you to know that I am not a spiritual adviser.

With all that said, I’ve heard of people carrying or wearing an object so that the stubborn attached spirit is attracted to and absorbed by the item. Then the item can be ceremonially buried. That is one idea. Here, for example, is:

Raven Spirit Doll by Cynthia Whitehawk, Apache

Turtle Spirit by Alan Monroe, Oglala Lakota

Broadface Kachina by Loretta Multine, Navajo/Hopi

Another would be smudging to purify the space around you and your surroundings (car, home, workplace). You can read about smudging to see if that is something for you.

Best of luck Sabrina and be safe !