Week #2

The animal shaped mounds found in Wisconsin differ greatly from the animal paintings in the Lascaux caves. The animal paintings and carvings in the Lascaux caves do not seem to symbolize much of their religion, if they had one. Very few ideas can be inferred from them. All that is evident from them is that perhaps these were the animals they encountered in their daily lives. They could also have been the animals that endangered their existence as is depicted in the drawing of the bull attacking the stick man. They could also have been or the animals they hunted in order to survive. A possible function for them was probably to pass on stories of what happened to some of the members of that group of people. It is impossible to conclude that these drawings had any spiritual meanings however. Perhaps they only show a glimpse of their culture, which revolved around animals since they probably relied on them in order to survive.

In contrast, the animal shaped mounds are symbolic of the culture of the Native Americans. Different mounds represent the upperworld (sky), the earth (lowerworld), and water (lowerworld), each corresponding to different animal shaped mounds. This shows that they had some kind of religion and culture. For example, they believed that harmony with nature was important. Therefore, they where there were bird mounds, there were a few panthers, representing the lower world. They also had beliefs associated with the different animal shaped mounds. The water spirits, for instance, lived in the water, capable of harming but also blessing only if they offered it something. In addition, because different animals represented certain clans, they felt motivated to maintain some kind of balance as well since they represented opposing animals (i.e. bird and lizard). Thus, their mounds (symbols) provided them with an explanation for life that motivated (moods and motivations) them to apply their beliefs to their lives by performing certain acts (religious behaviors). They have meanings unlike the animal paintings in the caves of Lauscaux.

The animals associated with sports team are very different from the animal paintings in the caves and the animal shaped mounds. In sports, they serve as symbols that represent a particular team similar to how one animal represented a tribe. Neither the public nor the teams worship them. Although they serve no spiritual purpose, they may motivate their region to support them since sports involves competition. However, some people may express intense zeal toward their favorite team. Unlike the mounds, they do not provide an explanation for their existence. Sports symbols and animal shaped mounds served different purposes and had different meanings.