Native American Clowns

By: Carly Le Blanc

10/8/07

In reading Native American Religions by Sam Gill, I was struck by the “Clowns” section. Clowns in our culture are in circuses to provide us with comic relief. In Native American religions clowns often engage in crude behavior, “even sexually explicit and taboo.” Based on that description, any Native American clown in an American circus would be arrested within moments. The clowns are much more than jesters, they provide social commentary for the community and display the nature of the world through their antics. The forces of creation and destruction, which is and is not profane or taboo, are all demonstrated by clowns. By “polluting” the community by acting out a taboo, the significance of the sacred order of the world is increased. I was really interested by the “Humor turns to Fear” portion because I think emulates a basic human tendency. Gill talks about an outsider observing clown behavior that was picked up from his seat, shaken, and put on the ground. I’m sure that all the members of the community found it humorous but to the outsider it was probably a traumatic event. This is a lesson we all learned growing up, through hitting our friends or pulling pranks. Things are funny until it happens to you. Gill discusses the importance of this fear because it is what separates the Native American clown from a simple entertainer.