It should be danced in perfect time to the music, responding as the grass rises to the motion of the wind. This dance is an expression of the harmony of the universe. Men's Traditional Acting out feats of bravery through dance, dancers use story telling movements. The Southern, or Straight Traditional dancers, wear a ribbon-skirted outfit with beadwork pieces of hide and a red roach headdress of porcupine quills or horsehair. They assume a dignity of movement.
Northern dancers imitate animals with side to side movements of their heads.
Typically, they wear buckskin, one bustle, leggins, a breast plate of bone, and a roach headdress. The dancers often use mirrors to reflect back what is given. Even with the slow tempo, the rhythm must be in harmony with the drum. Try to interpret each motion and compare the different ways dancers imitate the eagle or the porcupine. Although observed on the northern circuit in the mid-and late 1980s, the Gourd Dance emanates from Oklahoma tribes and originated with the Kiowa Gourd Clan, a warrior society.