THE KOSHARI: MEDICINE MEN OF LAUGHTER

By Michael Hice

At San Geronimo feast day, Taos Pueblo, five men with bodies painted in black and white stripes dashed through the crowd. They wore moccasins, loincloths and black and white striped head gear. Spectators laughed and avoided the clowns as they darted among the throng. The painted men poked fun at everyone - pointed and laughed, pulled pigtails, grabbed purses and chased each other in circles. Parents consoled children who ran and squealed when one of the clowns teased and chased them.

The clowns picked out a pretty young woman, surrounded and bowed to her, kissing the ground as if she were a queen. Blushing with embarrassment, she cringed yet giggled. In an egalitarian society like the Pueblos, such treatment is the reversal of typical behavior. Fawning over individuals is not done. This kind of reversal in behavior is part of the clown's job.

Then one clown ran into the middle of the plaza carrying a small watermelon. The others pursued. The first clown tossed the melon to another, and a game of pseudo football ensued. Onlookers gasped each time the melon arched from hand to hand until the intended receiver missed.

The watermelon fell to the ground and scattered into several pieces across the center of the plaza. The comics rushed in to grab what they considered the most succulent piece. Squabbling over a large juicy chunk, the five plopped down to devour the melon. Their full attention was diverted to slurping the messy fruit.

Suddenly, they jumped up and began to spit watermelon seeds at bystanders, who squealed and ducked. After tiring of that, the clowns turned to the thirty-foot greased pole planted in the ground on the west side of the plaza. Tied at the top of the pole was a net through which spectators could see a freshly sacrificed lamb, a variety of melons and other delicacies. To the hilarity of the crowd, the pudgy clowns took turns attempting to climb the pole, seeking its reward. While the mob roared with laughter, the clowns poked fun at each other's chubbiness, and then grabbed athletic young men from the crowd, encouraging them to climb the pole. Eventually, one succeeded in retrieving the net with its contents. This entertainment was staged by Pueblo sacred clowns, commonly know as kosharis, - paiyakyamu in Hopi. While most visitors to the Pueblos observe them as buffoons, relegating them to mere foolishness is a tragic misjudgment of the sacred clown's importance in Native American societies.

Nowhere is the role of the jokester more developed than in the sacred clown among the Pueblo cultures of New Mexico. Though aspects, including the name, vary from pueblo to pueblo, surprising similarities exist among these sacred personas of the pueblos along the northern Rio Grande and Laguna and Zuni Pueblos to the west.

The familiar image of the koshari is that of a man painted with broad horizontal black and white stripes. On his head he wears a black and white striped skullcap from which horn-like projections sprout corn husks. Often these horns are his actual hair bound up with husks. He wears a loincloth and dark-colored bands around his arms and legs. His powder-white face is painted with black circles around his eyes and mouth. The watermelon is a favorite prop.

Varying tales are told concerning the koshari's origin. Most include important elements such as the sun, Corn Mother, cornmeal, the power of fertilization and life-giving rain. All are elements essential to the survival, prosperity and happiness of the people. Thus, the clown is both adored and feared. Pueblo hierarchy allots him a revered position.

Throughout the Indian's contact with Europeans, the persecution of these sacred clowns has caused them to withdraw and create a secrecy around their ritual purpose. Few tribal members discuss them. Beyond perusing anthropological papers, understanding the Koshari's role in Pueblo life require an examination of the universal clown.

The concept of a ceremonial clown goes back to Egypt around 3000 B.C. and appeared in many world cultures through history. The clown comes in a variety of forms. In Medieval times, jesters offered humor as well as disguised lessons to the royal courts of Europe. For Northwest Coast Indian tribes, the Raven represented the trickster, for California and American Southwest tribes, it was the Coyote. Mid-century children recognized this image in the cartoon character, an animated form of this jokester. Hollywood brought us Charlie Chaplin, and one of the most recognizable forms of the character in Anglo culture is Red Skelton's "The Tramp" Ð the hobo Ð a homeless character that never seems to do anything right.

One early school of Greek philosophy characterized man as the "laughing animal." Pueblo clowns certainly substantiate that definition. Their antics inevitably result in side-splitting laughter. Some myths claim the clown's principle role is to relieve the burden and stress of daily life-a function that is clear. The clown creates a communal laughter, in Pueblo society a joke often understood only by member of the community. Visitors often crumple with laughter not realizing the joke is on them. Such wit proves the clown's superior cleverness.

Few comedians can match the wit and energy of such famous kosharis as Agapito of San Ildefonso. In the 1930s and `40s he is said to have entertained people for five solid hours. Dancers even gave way to this monumental talent that could entertain for such a long time with no props, except unsuspecting humans pulled form his audience.

Humor is the primary attribute of the trickster. On the other hand, turning the world upside down, the clown inverts and reverses normal behavior. Such contrasting behavior demonstrates how the citizens of any given society tend to operate- as seen in the kosharis' strange idolization and teasing of the young tourist beauty at Taos, mimicking the way the Anglos put beauty on a pedestal.

Two clowns' parody of tourists, one of them photographing an Indian who poses Hollywood style, magnifies the frequent absurdity of our behavior in the face of unfamiliar situations. The magic lies in the results of tumultuous fun for everyone.

A koshari might pantomime a bully, a white woman seeing an Indian for the first time, an Indian lounging in front of his TV or a child throwing a tantrum; he exists beyond moral and social codes established by society, ridiculing event eh most sacred. His buffoonery may be child-like or adult, but always reveals, exposing us in ways unacceptable for others. By operating outside normal rules, clowns keep people in line and provide discipline when needed. Ironically, their outlandish exploits mirror society's moral values.

Kosharis are a highly valued clan among the Pueblos. One is not born into the clan or elected. Instead, becoming a member "comes to one," like a calling. A koshari holds a semi-religious position, honored as a powerful member of the community. All those maligned class clowns who had a natural humor, wit and persistently subverted the teacher's will come to mind. Perhaps they too were following a calling - airing the foolishness of our ways.

Michael Hice is Editor-in-Chief of Indian Artist magazine, as well as a freelance writer.

Published in SANTA FEAN August 1998, Vol. 26 No. 7