March 23, 2008

Native Easter celebrations

Tribes host Easter activities, celebrate springMembers of three American Indian tribes are collaborating for an Easter celebration today at Ute Mountain Recreation Center in Towaoc, Colo.

Organizers are expecting more than 100 people from the Ute Mountain Ute, Navajo and Shoshone/Cree tribes to participate in the event, which marks the beginning of spring, said Afrem Wall, a member of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe.

Although American Indian traditions typically don't observe Judeo-Christian holidays, many tribes commemorate the changing of the seasons.

"Easter comes at the beginning of spring," Wall said. "Other cultures celebrate Easter as the time when Jesus rose from the dead. In our culture, we celebrate when spring is coming."
Comment:  In some tribes, Rabbit is the trickster figure. A rabbit also symbolizes Easter. Coincidence?

1 comment:

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
In fact, in life, there are few coincidences. All human societies through time have observed the vernal equinox and commemorated the 'return or renewal of life,' ordinarily signified by births of small creatures such as birds or rabbits or others, depending on the continent, the hemisphere, or the clime. In the southern hemisphere, per exemplum, their 'spring' comes in September. The Christian Easter commemoration actually was moved from its original July observance more closely to approximate the vernal celebrations of the Pagans that had been targeted as future proselytes. For the same reasons, observances for the birth of the Christ figure were moved from May to approximate the Pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. Thus is the truly alien and assimilative nature of Christianity revealed anent the Native peoples of North America...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'