These two colors represented the old man and old woman who a person meets in the after life. If a person was good they met the old man who allowed them past the crystal gate and into heaven where it was always spring time. If a person was bad they met the old woman where it was always winter time.
Red Represents the old man.
Blue represents the old woman.
Now there is lesser meanings for these two colors which include:
Red represents Quiacosough (The good spirit), fire, hot, male, good, and other things of this nature.
Blue represents Tagkanysough (The evil spirt), water, cold, female, bad, and other things of this nature.
Now this does not mean women are bad or cold lol It represents two of everything.
Man and woman.
Fire and water.
Good and Evil.
Hot and Cold.
Refer to the religion section to learn about the Saponi religion as it was given by Saponi Ned Bearskin.
Now the Saponi and Mattamuskeet did not use the Eagle or Hawk feathers as other tribes did, I've been thru every document and found zero reference to it's use among our tribes, their feathers is always reffered to as Red and Blue feathers. The Saponi and Mattamuskeet rather preferred using red and blue feathers.These colors would always have to be used equally....if 4 feathers was wore then 2 would have to be blue and 2 red. If the face was painted then a equal amount of both colors would be required since the meanings behind the colors is....for balance then everything in the world needs a opposite.
The Aztecs and our tribes had alot of things in common and somethings different at the same time. However one of the Aztecs views which I think may relate to the Saponi and Mattamuskeet way of thinking....the Aztecs saw the supreme god...Creator of all things..was represented by a old man and a old woman. So using the Aztec's view we can further the meaning of the Red and Blue colors together...
when the colors are used together then you actually say your representing the great creator fully and showing the great creator respect in hopes the creator will bless you and all around you. When the Saponi and possibly even the Mattamuskeet went to war they would paint half with face red and half blue and wear red and blue blankets in a Toga fashion, which probally represented them wanting to have the favor of the great creator hoping the creator would allow them to win the war.
Other things they would do when going to war was paint a circle around each eye and sometimes paint single lines from the bottom lip to the chin possibly to appear like fangs, which is not fully understand the meaning behind it but it probally related to the Aztec's Tlaloc.
Now if you read the religion section you will see the religion was alot like the christian religion, they believed there was one great creator, and if you did wrong then you would be punished but that all sins are eventually forgiven. They even believed that the entrance to heaven was a crystal gate. We also know that they saw air animals to represent those of heaven in a certain way, and that land animals represented humans in a way....they believed that humans in the current form are not sacred enough to mingle with those of heaven....this is represented by how they believed the worest thing in the world a person could do was cook a land animal with a air animal.....doing so would anger the great creator more than anything else, the effects of doing this may even mean death to the tribe thru starvation or loss in a war by enemies. People in heaven are those who completely their trial of life enough that the great creator has allowed them to enter heaven.....humans in the current form are still trying to complete their trial of life and has not been granted the sacred right of mingling with the others in heaven.
The Saponi and Mattamuskeet also had the belief that if you killed someone (even if it's a enemy) then the family or tribe of the one you killed had the right to seek revenge thru either your death or thru you paying for the one you killed with a trade which the family or tribe felt was fair. If you had refused to offer your own life for the one you killed or if you refused to pay what the family or tribe sought then it would be grounds for war, a war in which the great creator would not have in your favor.
The Name for the Great creator was Okee, also reffered to as Mannith, both words means great creator.