Contrary (social role)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Contrary was a member of a Native American tribal group in North America who adopted behavior that was deliberately the opposite of other tribal members. Contraries were often found in tribes of the Great Plains and the Southwest. In the Southwest, this person came to be seen as a clown during ceremonial occasions. On the plains, this disparate behavior amounted to a cult in its own right.

[edit] Behavior of the contrary

Typically, the contrary would order his speech so that he would say the opposite of what he meant. He might also indulge in a physical display, riding his horse facing the tail, to display his unusual behavior.

[edit] See also

• Native Americans in the United States
• The film Little Big Man features a sequence in which the character, Younger Bear, became a contrary.

[edit] References

Verne F. Ray, The Contrary Behavior Pattern in American Indian Ceremonialism, Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Spring, 1945), pp. 75-113.