Subject: RE: baidarka frames painted red
From: Chuck Holst (CHUCK@MULTITECH.COM)
Date: Mon Feb 19 2001 - 17:19:39 EST
Red is the color of blood, which is found only in living things. Many
prehistoric peoples painted their dead with red ochre, possibly to make them
live again in the afterworld. It might also be that red is the most easily
obtained pigment after black. Why is red the traditional color for American
barns? Could it be the Olmec influence? :-)
Chuck Holst
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter A. Chopelas [mailto:pac@premier1.net]
Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2001 5:56 PM
To: 'baidarka@lists.intelenet.net'
Subject: baidarka frames painted red
<snip>
But the item in the article that struck me was that both cultures used
cinnabar, a red pigment, to decorated ceremonial objects. There has been
much speculation as why native kayak builders always painted their frames
red and this may explain it. Or this could be coincidence, but there may
be some cultural influence since native Alaskans are genetically Asian and
they may have similar cultural roots.
David Zimmarly had asked the tribal elder Dick Bunion, during the building
of the Hooper bay kayak project, why he painted the frame red. He said "I
do not know, we have always done it that way".
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