Native American Clowns

Native American tribes (also known as First Nations) are actually many different cultures. So, there are different types of Native American clowns.

The Cheyenne tribe has Contrary clowns. They would walk about the camp on their hands, ride horses backwards, shoot arrows back over their shoulder, and do many other things wrong. When they came to a stream, they would take off one moccasin, and then hold up the bare leg as they hopped through the water. In time of battle, they would revert to doing things the normal way. The other tribes feared the Contraries the most, because they were the most skilled warriors. Contrary clowns are shown in the movie Little Big Man.

The Hopi tribe has several different clown characters. Their appearance is the easiest to find because they are depicted in Kachina dolls. They all paint their bodies. The Koshari or Hano clowns paint their body and face in black and white horizontal stripes. Their costume is a loincloth and a striped hat with two tall thin horns. The Koyemsi (mudhead) clowns wear a spherical felt mask with gourds attached to make it lumpy. Then they paint their bodies and the mask with red clay. The junction between the mask and their body is hidden by a bandana, called a ruff, tied around their neck. They frequently wear a skirt, although they sometimes wear a loincloth and other times pants & shirt. Pictures of these characters can be found in books about Kachinas. Barton Wright wrote two of the best. They are Hopi Kachinas - The Complete Guide to Collecting Kachina Dolls, and Clowns of the Hopi - Tradition Keepers and Delight Makers.

From Bruce Johnson's Native America Clowns article

To read the rest of the article http://www.charliethejugglingclown.com/native.htm