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"The Origin of the Fireball Game" (1988/89) by Ramona Peters

Title

"The Origin of the Fireball Game" (1988/89) by Ramona Peters

Description

Wampanoag artist Ramona Peters wrote this piece for a flyer distributed at the Mashpee powwow in 1988 and 1989. Powwow flyers have been an important source of Mashpee Wampanoag writing and self-representation. This piece, signed "Nosapocket," speaks to the antiquity of the fireball game and to its continued existence. Peters addresses a dual audience of Mashpee Wampanoag people and non-Native visitors to the powwow.

Fireball is a healing ceremony, intensely beautiful and spiritual as it is performed and observed. The fireball itself was once made of deerskin; in modern times it is made of cotton sheeting inside of chicken wire soaked in clean motor oil for one year. When the players enter the field they have already done a prayer, for example for a sick community member. The fireball ceremony is not supposed to be photographed.

Ramona Peters is an artist, a community leader, spiritual leader and current Tribal Historic Preservation Officer.

Creator

Peters, Ramona

Source

Mashpee Wampanoag People of the First Light Annual Pow-Wow, July 1-3, 1989

Date

1988-89

Contributor

Indigenous Resources Collaborative
Siobhan Senier

Rights

Ramona Peters. Used with permission.

Language

English

Type

Document

Format

pdf

Date Created

June 2016

Identifier

DV-350

Geolocation

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