Icons of Power: Feline Symbolism in the Americas

Nicholas J. Saunders

Psychology Press, 1998 - Art - 298 pages

Icons of Power investigates why the image of the cat has been such a potent symbol in the art, religion and mythology of indigenous American cultures for three thousand years.
The jaguar and the puma epitomize ideas of sacrifice, cannibalism, war, and status in a startling array of graphic and enduring images. Natural and supernatural felines inhabit a shape-shifting world of sorcery and spiritual power, revealing the shamanic nature of Amerindian world views. This pioneering collection offers a unique pan-American assessment of the feline icon through the diversity of cultural interpretations, but also striking parallels in its associations with hunters, warriors, kingship, fertility, and the sacred nature of political power. Evidence is drawn from the pre-Columbian Aztec and Maya of Mexico, Peruvian, and Panamanian civilizations, through recent pueblo and Iroquois cultures of North America, to current Amazonian and Andean societies.
This well-illustrated volume is essential reading for all who are interested in the symbolic construction of animal icons, their variable meanings, and their place in a natural world conceived through the lens of culture. The cross-disciplinary approach embraces archaeology, anthropology, and art history.

Contents

• Icons of power: 1
• The feline image: 12
• Jaguar symbolism in the Americas: 53
• A thematic approach: 77
• Feline symbolism and material culture in prehistoric Colombia: 122
• The jaguar of the backward glance: 155
• Paragon or peril? The jaguar in Amazonian Indian society: 171
• Felines patronyms and history of the Araucanians in: 203
• anthropomorphic Pitrenstyle figurine: 209
• Mountain Lions and Pueblo shrines in the American Southwest: 228
• The panther in HuronWyandot and Seneca myth: 258
• And panther tales: 265
• Panthers distant kinsmen: 281
• Things as They Are Now: 284

Popular passages

Page 290 - Centennial history of Erie county, New York; being its annals from the earliest recorded events to the hundredth year of American Independence.

About the author

Nicholas J. Saunders has held research fellowship and teaching positions in Mexico, the USA, Trinidad, Jamaica and the United Kingdom. He is currently a Visiting Fellow in the archaeology department at Southampton University.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Icons of Power: Feline Symbolism in the Americas
• Editor: Nicholas J. Saunders
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Psychology Press, 1998
• ISBN: 0415153271, 9780415153270
• Length: 298 pages
• Subjects: Art / Indigenous; Nature / Animals / Big Cats; Religion / Folk & Tribal; Religion / Indigenous / General; Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social; Social Science / Archaeology; Social Science / Folklore & Mythology