In the past few decades, Indian art has been available to the mainstream under the supervision of Western science and art history. For the sake of cultural survival and identity, countless Native artists, curators, critics, and writers have objected to these often wrongful and discriminating art histories and scientific classifications. Indian artists are re-writing their history from Native perspective, and as a result, the misrepresentation of Indian art has begun to be recognized by those working in contemporary art galleries and museums. Today many contemporary spaces support and give control of exhibitions to those who share in the Native perspective. However, these changes did not take place overnight; this was an exhausting battle for many contemporary First Nations artists and curators. Native reality is best understood through the trickster, who has always been known to First Nations people through oral traditions, and who is best described as a creator that is constantly transforming and shape-shifting. In using trickster strategies, Native artists are able to deconstruct and reconstruct ideas about Native people and their culture. According to many Native artists, this new discourse, called the “trickster shift,” has been around since the beginning, seeded in oral traditions, and it requires the Native perspective to decode these trickster undertakings properly. / xi, 161 leaves ; 29 cm.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-89).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1978. / Title from title page screen, viewed Jan. 20, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Harold Gregor (chair), Jonathan Reyman, Ken Holder, Harold Boyd, Fred Mills. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-170) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 615-644). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-89). Also available online.

Thesis (Doctoral)--Friedrich Wilhelms-Universität, 1933. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 26-27).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 615-644). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Il est de coutume de présenter Caṇḍeśa comme l’un des Nāyānar, ces saints śivaïtes du sud de l’Inde. Cependant, ilest le seul parmi ceux-ci à posséder un templion près du sanctuaire principal dans les grands temples à Śiva (Tanjavur,Gaṇgaikōṇḍacōḷapuram, Darasuram, Tribhūvanam). Caṇḍeśa est d’ailleurs considéré comme un assesseur (sanscrit.parivāradevatā) depuis le IXème siècle. Le but de cette étude est de montrer l’évolution de son iconographie du VIIIème siècle,moment où apparaissent ses premières représentations, jusqu’à la chute au XIIIème siècle de la dynastie Cōḷa qui anotablement encouragé son culte. Les sources textuelles nous apprennent que Caṇḍa, est, dans le Mahābhārata, l’un des centhuit noms de Śiva. Son origine est donc très ancienne. Parmi les tâches que Caṇḍeśa remplit on précisera qu’il est chargé dunirmālya, les restes du culte. D’autre part les inscriptions le mentionnent comme ayant la charge des biens du temple. Il a également une place dans le culte quotidien à Śiva. Ces prérogatives diverses expliquent les différentes formes iconographiques du jeune bhākta. Si à Bhairavakoṇḍa il apparaît comme un gardien, la période Pallava le montrera souvent dans le cadre d’une Caṇḍeśānugrahamūrti. À partir du IXème siècle, il prend place dans une petite chapelle située au nord-est du temple. Dans ces structures il est souvent figuré à deux bras, tenant la hachette dans une main, l’autre formant le gested’invitation au don (sanscrit. āhūyavarada mudrā). Sa popularité grandissant, des représentations à quatre bras et plusieursfaces sont apparues. Enfin, il a un rôle important dans les fêtes religieuses, pour lesquelles on a fabriqué des effigies en bronzele représentant. / It is commonly admitted that Caṇḍeśa is one of the 63 śaivite South Indian saints, usually known as the Nāyānar. Butamong them, he enjoys a special place as he is the only one to whom a shrine is dedicated in very important temples such asTanjavur, Gaṇgaikōṇḍacōḷapuram, Darasuram, Tribhūvanam. In fact he was considered a parivāradevatā since the Cōḷaperiod. This study attempts to analyze the evolution of Candesa’s Images and the development of his different iconographicaltypes, from his appearance during the Pallava period (VIIIth century) until the XIIIth century. Textual sources help to determinethe personality of the young bhākta. The fact that Caṇḍa is mentioned as a name of Śiva in the Mahābhārata reveals that hisroots are very ancient. Archaeological and textual evidence shows that he was in charge of the nirmālya, the remains of thesacred offerings to Śiva. Cōḷa inscriptions mentioned him as «ādidāsa », the first devotee. He was recognized as an importantdeity of the South Indian pantheon during the medieval period. To fulfil his duties, Caṇḍeśa took several forms. During the earlyperiod of his evolution he could be considered as a watchman, as in Bhairavakoṇḍa, where he sits at the cave temple’sentrance. A little later, another iconographical form, the Caṇḍeśānugrahamūrti, showed how he was chosen and deified by Śiva.To take care of the sacrificial remains, shrines of Caṇḍeśa were built near Śiva temples (at the North-East corner). Inside hischapel, Caṇḍeśa was often represented as a two-armed deity holding the hatchet with one hand, forming the āhūyavaradamudrā with the other. As he grew popular his iconography was enriched by four-armed and many-headed sculptures. At thesame time bronze images were cast so that he was honoured to take part in several temple festivals.

This thesis is concerned with a problem in the interpretation of non-western art: the iconography of the raven rattle, a carved ritual object of widespread distribution on the Northwest Coast of North America. Iconographic analysis (after Panofsky) involves identifying cultural themes and concepts associated with artistic motifs. Because of the relative scarcity of recorded primary sources of interpretation, the method adopted in this analysis has been to infer meanings from relevant cultural contexts and data. Relevant data have been judged to be museum notes, ethnographies, and myths and relevant contexts, the ceremonies in which the rattle was used. The problem has been to identify the individual motifs appearing on the rattle with associated themes and concepts, and, because the rattle is a complex image, to interpret their interrelationship within the context in which the rattle was used: initiation ceremonies presided over by chiefs. For the dominant motifs on the rattle I have argued the following interpretations: 1. The "reclining figure motif" on the back of the rattle represents the guardian spirit quest, in which the reclining figure is the novice, the protruding tongue stands for the passage of power, and the animal at the other end of the tongue identifies the source of power. 2. The "raven" at the head of the rattle refers to the origin of daylight, an event of key significance in Northwest Coast cosmology. 3. The creature on the belly of the rattle represents a trapped, wealth-bringing, supernatural, sea monster. These interpretations subsume the more specific identifications that have been made by ethnographers and informants of the objects on the rattle. Within the context in which the raven rattle was used, I have suggested that the interpretations relate to each other as follows: the origin of daylight marks the beginning of the social and natural order, of the guardian spirit quest, and of reciprocity. The sea monster on the belly is a symbol of controlled supernatural power and wealth — or the fruits of the successful quest. The relationship of these associations to the chiefs who used the rattle, is that the chief was both wealth-bringer to his tribe and had access to the "controlled use of supernatural power. This he exerted on behalf of the social order in initiation ceremonies. These conclusions indicate that the raven rattle was a significantly general symbol whose thematic referents were assumptions basic to Northwest Coast culture. In reaching these conclusions, the utility of the iconographic approach, as adapted and applied to an analysis of images in Northwest Coast art, has been demonstrated. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate