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Aboriginal War Paint

Aboriginal War Paint

Seeing the paint of a warrior from a distance, especially colorful paint put a lot of fear into the heart of the enemy. The design and colors also showed a story and rank of the person wearing it.

Paint War Aboriginal

Paint is also used in today's powwows to represent the warrior. I know that for the war dance of my people, paint is often used. Sometimes they paint their whole bodies. Women usually don't wear paint, and though it is done in some tribes, I consider it poor taste for a woman to wear paint to a powwow unless she has the permission of an elder.

Message Edited... JB: I moved the video to above.

Aboriginal War Paint History & Civil Business Politics

Is there a general break down list of what the colors mean or is it based on the customs of each tribe / nation?

Paint War Aboriginal

I believe it is different for every tribe. Different colors stand for different things. The men in the video are Cherokee, and our colors represent the following:

~Red represents success and the direction East. I would say red is probably the most important color for Cherokee people, and is also the color our warriors most commonly painted themselves with.
~Black is the color of death, and represents the West. For this reason, warriors also used black paint to accent the red sometimes. In order to be successful, they must cause the death of their enemies.

These next two were probably used very little, or not at all as warrior paint for my people.

~White represented peace and happiness and purity and represents the South.
~Blue was for failure and disappointment and represents the North.

Paint War Aboriginal

What about the patterns of the paint? I have seen some faces painted in many of those colors, what story does that tell?

Also, I understand the concept of the East and West colors, but why is blue seen as failure and North? Usually North is considered positive and blue a relaxing color?

Aboriginal War Paint

Yes, there are many different patterns and I don't think I have the right to tell about what I know about them. I know a couple of guys who do our traditional dances and things, and they paint for it, but I just wouldn't feel comfortable telling what the patterns mean personally to them.

But that is one thing, the patterns are painted to the own warrior's preferance. Often the patterns reveal how brave he is, what his standing is in his tribe, how many enemies he has killed, what family or clan he represents, etc. It definitely varies. I will include some videos and pictures that will you give you a better look at the different kinds of paint.

Cherokee, NC Attractions
Cherokee, NC Movie Promotion 1
Cherokee, NC Movie Promotion 2
Warriors of Ani Kituhwa

I noticed that black is used more in these videos and photographs, rather than in the first video I posted where you see more red.

Although blue is associated with serenity and peace now, it just wasn't in the Cherokee culture. They described a troubled person as someone who feels blue, and would pray that their enemies become entirely blue before a battle. So blue definitely=bad.

I chose blue tones for my dance regalia, however. It was for personal reasons, but I'm saying that just because blue symbolizes unhappy things doesn't mean that it was a color the Cherokee never use or wear.

Aboriginal War Paint

When I was around 7 or 8 my friends would gather at my home to play cowboys and indians and I always wanted to be the indians because I could put some stripes on my face. Is that like disrespectful for Indians if you're just pretending?

Aboriginal War Paint Politics Business Civil & History

Since you were just children who didn't know any better, I wouldn't consider that very disrespectful.

Of course if you painted your face NOW and ran around playing Cowboys and Indians, that might be a little disrespectful. Just a little.

Message Edited... Persephone: It is not necessary to quote the entire post of the user above you. See Constructive Posting Policy.