Encyclopedia of North American Indians -

Encyclopedia of North American Indians

Dance

American Indian dance exists everywhere in North America and in every venue, from the most traditional and private spaces to the most public and accessible. Thousands of dancers perform every day in out-of-the-way places—not to satisfy paying audiences or patrons, but to assure the continuation of ancient lifeways, to honor deities and each other, to associate with friends and kin, and to affirm their Indian identities. Others showcase Native American dance on the stage, using the worlds of ballet and modern dance or performing abridged versions of traditional dances.

Most Indian dance events are noncommercial and succeed with nothing but word-of-mouth advertising. The best performers and leaders (or choreographers) rely on time-tested notions of space, time, music, dress, adornment, and steps to create dance events. Although many dances and ceremonies are performed regularly by Indians living on or near reservations in the United States and Canada, new contexts—like urban Indian gatherings and powwows—foster the composition, change, and continuation of dance traditions. Music and dance are frequently shared across tribal boundaries in an ever-expanding circle of tradition.

Looking at the ancient art of the Americas, it is possible to imagine many dances dating back to prehistoric times. In the fall in North America, stately dancers in feather cloaks and engraved shell jewelry perform a harvest dance. In the winter, storytellers entertain young and old alike with legends of animals who can dance, talk, and sing. In the spring, dancers celebrate the cleansing of the earth and its waterways after a long winter. In the summer, children perform animal dances and games. All these activities existed when North America was inhabited only by native peoples. Some of these dance traditions still exist today.

After European contact, many Indians were dispersed from aboriginal lands to new homelands, cities, or reservations. At the same time, Indian religious practices—the nexus for most dances—became a focus of contention. When the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and Arizona revolted in 1680 and forced the Spanish south to El Paso, they gained concessions regarding taxation, governance, and the moderation of religious persecution from the Europeans. After the revolt, native religions and dances were often practiced alongside Catholic rituals. Though the U.S. government's nineteenth-century ban on Indian religions targeted the Sun Dance and Ghost Dance in particular, it affected all other facets of native religion as well. In Canada, the government seized many beautiful ceremonial objects and much dance regalia when Northwest Coast Indian potlatches became illegal. In the twentieth century, economic necessity and a U.S. government relocation program compelled many Indians to migrate to cities. Their creative solution for surviving urban alienation has been to start powwow clubs with other Indian community members, with Plains Indian music and dance dominating regardless of the multiplicity of club members' tribal heritages.

From prehistoric evidence, early-contact drawings and paintings, and verbal descriptions from today's Indians (the keepers of tribal memory), we know something of early ceremonies, dances, and musical instruments. Dancers performed to both vocal and instrumental music, the latter featuring a variety of instruments. The musicians set the beat and marked the changes with both kettle and frame drums; hand-held rattles of gourd, rawhide, horn, and turtle shell; animal-tooth, turtle-shell, shell, and deer-hoof strung rattles worn on various parts of the dancers' bodies; conch-shell trumpets; bird-bone whistles or trumpets; cane and ceramic flutes and whistles; striking sticks; struck logs; rasps; musical bows; and other, similar instruments. The various rattles enriched the sound by underscoring important words, keeping the beat, and adding sonic layers to the texture of the music.

Many of these instruments have survived. Furthermore, some important new additions to the catalog of instruments and dance regalia have evolved, arising from the substitution of metal rattles and bells for ones formerly made of natural materials. Tin-can leg rattles, for example, have substituted for rattles made from turtle shells, and metal saltshakers have sometimes replaced the hollow-gourd rattles used in the Gourd Dance. Sequins, trade beads, plastic bones, and other mass-produced items adorn today's dance outfits.

Dance still occupies an important place within many modern Indian groups. Many traditional dances, often tied to seasonal or life-cycle events, are regionally or tribally specific; the singers usually perform in native languages, and the ceremonies unfold according to ancient calendars and belief systems. Few traditional dances offer individual freedom of expression. Rather, each dancer expresses himself or herself within the bounds of prescribed physical action. In addition to public dances, there are private and semipublic dances for curing, prayer, initiation, storytelling, performing magic, playing games, courting, hunting, and influencing nature. In performing traditional songs, dances, and rituals, the Indians of today reaffirm their ties to a living culture.

Dance forms vary because Native Americans are different not only from other peoples, but from each other as well. One finds few solos, yet many ensemble forms. Many of the latter have a leader and chorus. Some are unison groups; others, groups with featured soloists. A few include dancers with individualistic styles. Sometimes one finds multipart dances, with the dancers occupying a variety of roles. Not all Indian people dance to a drum. Often the dancers themselves, activating the rattles and bells that adorn their dance clothes, set the beat.

Indian dance is not particularly acrobatic. It is in fact somewhat restrained, with the dancers staying close to the earth, for practical as well as philosophical reasons. Dancers usually take small steps—because of space, the number of participants, or the need to conserve their strength in order to dance for long periods of time (sometimes all day or night). Some dancers mimic animals or birds, or the work of hunting, fishing, planting, harvesting, and preparing food, or other occupations, or warfare. The largest motions are in the torso and head, with very few twists of the dancer's body. Feet, when they are extended, act as a unit with the legs, and hands with the arms. Small movements of the forearms and wrists occur when the dancer shakes an implement such as a rattle, stick, or branch. Some expressions in dance require crouching or bent-over postures, which do not usually lend themselves to quick movements. Although individual expression can be a part of most North American Plains dances, Pueblo dances require unison and strict rules of motion, broken up from time to time by the relatively free movements of the clowns. The Hoop Dance, a modern "show dance" of many tribes, is one of the most individual; it features a dancer's manipulation of a dozen or more hoops over and around his or her torso, legs, and arms to form a variety of geometric shapes.

Frequently the directions of the dances, the words that accompany the music, the number of repetitions of a dance sequence, the choice and manufacture of instruments, the dress and bodily adornment, and the interactions of performers are symbolic in nature and cannot be properly appreciated unless the observer is familiar with the community's beliefs. Indeed, in Indian life the dance is inextricably bound to the belief systems and the music, and the belief systems and the music can hardly exist without the dance.

With American Indian dance, unlike most Euro-American classical and folk dance, it is often not possible to predict certain elements: the exact length of a dance, the number of beats before a turn, the number of dancers required, the exact time of the performance, or even whether a rehearsal will be held. Although many Indian communities offer songs and dances from ancient times, even some of these older ceremonies require new compositions each season—such as the Turtle Dance (Okushare), Cloud Dance (Pongonshare), and Basket Dance (Tunshare) of San Juan Pueblo. Though the ancient standards and beliefs are upheld, new words and tunes appear within that framework, and each season the dancers must rehearse anew with the singers.

Other forms—like the Stomp Dance of the Cherokees, Creeks, Yuchis, and other tribes that formerly inhabited the southeastern United States—offer infinite variation within a set framework. No two Stomp Dances would ever be identical. The song/dance leader begins with a standardized introduction, with the chorus echoing him in call-and-response fashion. Then he chooses from among the many songs in his repertoire, stringing them together in a cycle. Each song and each section in the song vary in length and number of beats from time to time, whether because of inspiration, the introduction of words, or individual artistry. Since the dancers, singers, and instrumentalists (women dancers wearing turtle-shell leg rattles) all dance with and follow the leader, the improvisatory style is exhilarating, not problematic. The leader gives a hand signal for a subtle change of beat, the dancers slow or stop, and all make the transition to the next song, sometimes marking it with a group shout.

In the early stages of ethnographic research, many researchers sought out the oldest dancers and singers, hoping to find "pure" art forms. In this search for purity, researchers ignored the fact that Indian people have the creativity and ability to change their music and dance over time. Although the repetition of ancient songs, dances, and ceremonies is necessary to maintain social, religious, and curing ceremonies, the creation and performance of new songs and dances is equally necessary to ensure sustained interest and continuity. It is commendable to reenact a dance from the nineteenth century about a war expedition, but it is equally important to compose new songs and dances for modern events, as some Oklahoma Kiowas have done for the 1991 Operation Desert Storm.

New dances and genres continue to arise, with new words, melodies, steps, and regalia. For example, the women's Fancy-Shawl and Jingle-Dress competitions feature many innovations, particularly in freedom of movement. The contemporary revival of many Indian dances has also fostered a healthy controversy over authenticity of versions; proper instrumentation and dress; suitable venues; ownership of songs, dances, and ceremonies; and even whether some dances should be revived at all.

In the future, social dances will likely survive, but less communal and more specialized dances—ceremonial dances and curing ceremonies—may not outlast their specialist practitioners. If people continue to live out of the mainstream in rural pockets, native people will persevere in carrying on their language, music, dance, and ceremonies. If community life disintegrates further because of economic or political necessity, music and dance may also perish.

The value of Indian dances to the peoples who created them and still use them cannot be overestimated. The importance of American Indian dance is found not only in its impact on modern society, but also in the traditions and values it expresses to and for Indian peoples. Native peoples' relationships to their creators, to their fellow humans, and to nature are what American Indian dance really celebrates.





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