The Dream Hunt (Na'vi name: Uniltaron) is a rite of passage, in which Na'vi seek their spirit animal. This highly spiritual ceremony is practiced by the Omatikaya clan, although it is unknown if other clans practice it.
Description[]
Jake being painted to prepare for the rite.
The Dream Hunt is required for a Na'vi to be considered an adult clan member. The initiate Na'vi is painted in order to prepare. The Na'vi is taken to a holy place by the clan leaders and some other clan members for support, as this is a communal event.
During a chemically induced trance caused by the sting of a scorpion-like arachnoid (kept in a stone jar) and swallowing a glow worm, the clan members express themselves musically as the spirit moves. The two psychoactive venom of both small creatures causes great pain to the initiate and they experience near-death, and subsequently a dream.
If the initiate survives this traumatic experience, they tell their vision to the clan leaders who believe that the vision involves prophetic wisdom by Eywa. After, a festival is held where the Na'vi will re-enact the vision with feasting and dancing to celebrate the "reborn" graduate.
Uniltaron songs are especially interesting. While under the chemically induced effects that mark the Dream Hunt, a Na'vi may utilize any kind of expression: standard social song structures, imitations of domestic cascading vocal style, children's songs from deep in their memories, wildly improvised songs or chants. The only type of songs not heard in this context are personal songs and the ritual songs of mourning.
Cummerbund[]
Neteyam wearing a cummerbund around his torso.
Those who complete their Dream Hunts are rewarded with a cummerbund to show around their torso.[1] Jake Sully is first seen wearing the cummerbund at the Tree of Voices. Neteyam also wears a cummerbund as well.
Avatar (Deleted Material)[]
In the original script, Jake Sully was to undergo the Dream Hunt, calling it the final stage of becoming a man. Jake was torn by the idea but resolved because he wanted to be with Neytiri and the clan. Grace Augustine attempted to talk Jake out of it because the Na'vi themselves sometimes die in the vision quests, as the venom takes one to the edge of death, and they did not know what the psychoactive alkaloid in the worm would do in an avatar brain.
Possibly Eywa in the Dream Hunt.
Mo'at and Eytukan assisted with the Dream Hunt. Mo'at also purifies Jake with smoke from burning herbs. In his vision, Jake saw his fingers becoming tendril and his legs becoming roots, as if he was transforming into a tree. He then saw himself on a floating mountain cliff and saw himself covered by the Great Leonopteryx's shadow. He found himself flying over Pandora, seeing the forests on fire. Jake then awakened from his vision. Mo'at asked Jake if he had seen his spirit animal, but Jake did not immediately tell the clan anything.
Although some basic CGI for this scene was created, it was omitted from the final film because James Cameron felt it was not important enough to the overall story which had a long enough running time as it was.
Trivia[]
Jake's vision in The Next Shadow.
- Jake presumably went through the Dream Hunt off-screen. It was adapted into James Cameron's Avatar: The Na'vi Quest and shown in the film's deleted material, and Jake also wears the cummberbund.
- In his vision, Jake sees a burned forest. This can foreshadow either the destruction of the Hometree, or the RDA's return to Pandora seen in Avatar: The Way of Water.
- In Avatar: The Next Shadow, Jake is put into a coma after being poisoned. He sees the forests of Pandora on fire as well. While it is similar to the Dream Hunt due to the theme of Jake confronting himself being accepted into the clan, his vision in The Next Shadow relates more to Jake's own fear of hurting the Na'vi and his loved ones.
- The rite is similar to the real-world Ayahuasca practiced by some South American indigenous peoples, using a brewed drink.
References[]
- ↑ Avatar: The Way of Water: The Visual Dictionary Lo'ak's biography