Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1888-09-26
AN INDIAN DANCE.
Description of an Entertainment Given b,
the Hurons OF Canada

Description of an Entertainment Given By
the Hurons OF Canada
The Indians at Betshiamits, Canada, ana
at Moisie honored me with an exhibition Of
their national dances, says writer in Hdr-
per's Mdgdz ne. The ballroom was bare
log-house, dimly lighted by lamp on high
shelf. A great shadow covered the tawny
faces just under the beams of the ceiling,
and fell aslant the circle of men, squaws and
children squattlng on the floor in front of
those standing about the walls. An aged
couple and some dogs occupied bed in one
corner, along with a number of babies done
up in rolls and corded against the wall
The old woman gave the dogs and her hus-
band to drink from a saucepan, and the old
man often lay back on the pillows with one
leg across the other to finger his toes. Now
and then squaw picked her way among
the crouching figures on the floor to the
bed, hauling out her roll of baby, and gave
1T TO suck. The women wore their national
caps OF black and red, but the men pre-
sented more variety, wearing felt hats or
red handkerchiefs that fioated about their
shoulders, or letting their long, black,
straight, greasy hair whip up and down on
their cheeks. The band consisted of drum
like common sieve, hung from the ceiling
by string in front of the drummer-singer
His score was very simple, and yet the low
notes of the voice, at fifth and a fourth
below the drum, were quite effective with a
somber color suited to the shadowy, fantas-
tic scene.
The first set was like all the rest in gen.
eral form; number of men came out Of
the crowd, and began following one another
around the stove near the center of the
room. Their steps consisted in advancing
one foot, ducking, by bending the knees,
then sliding back the advanced foot nearly
to the other one. Their chief motion was,
therefore, duch lg, as if the entire company
In unison had trodden upon one another's
corns; and although they took three steps
forward on each foot, yet by drawing this
back, they advanced but an inch or two in
each measure, and their legs, like those of
dancing-jack, seemed to be jointed only at
the knees. The keeping Of time was in the
ducking, for there was no stamping. After
number of rounds thus in single file about
the stove they retired, and some of the
squaws came reluctantly out to perform
They danced as the men did, ducking, how
ever, still more suddenly, and advancing
still less at each step. They were extreme
ly funny, Notwithstanding their great de-
corum, their rather heavy figures, erect
and rigid as statues, with downcast eyes
and shy turn of the head, bobbed up and
down with overpowering solemnity. They
soon gave place to the men again. A young
Huron Indian now took the drum,
and sang a more spirited and varied
air to enliven the dance. The men
closed up the file, forming con-
tinuous circle of ducking figures. Their
steps were longer and freer, and they be-
gan moving their arms about, and grunt-
ing: "Hel hel he" AS the drumming
quickened, they increased their grotesque
contortions and their shouting; here and
there man turned about TO face his neigh
Dor, and the two carried on with the duck
ing an extravagant pantomime, portraying
the hunt or the war; the music rose in the
most frantic crescendos and savage dis
cords; the actors, bounding about, bent
over and tore the scalps from their pros
trate victims, while yells and groans filed
the air 1t was the ancient war-dance,
lacking only the lurid fire on the plumes
and bloody tomahawks of the naked, paint
ed SayageS.