The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1915-11-26
0ANcr eYIzANn4N ANOlqN5

HE word dance" as applied
i'm by the Indians, has mean
ing very different from that
which II carries in our own
language. When we hear
h NI OF dancing, we think. first
GJ OF all, OF music and steps,
These features are, of
course, not lacking in aboriginal dane
ing. but they are completely over.
shadowed by other aspects OF culture
with which they are associated To
put It briefly, our dancing appears in
the same context with restaurants.
hotels, debutantes, attempts at a social
rapprochement OF the sexes. In Indian
society dancing is largely connected
with war and agriculture and the
chase. with professions, magical per-
tormances and religious observances.
in short, with the serious affairs of
life.
indian dances, as far as the steps are
concerned, are often of remarkable sim.
plicity widespread "squaw dance
found among the Shoshone. Crow and
other northwestern tribes, consists SIM
ply in the circle of dancers shutimg
the feet alternately to the left each
man in the circle standing between
two women with his right arm around
his partners shoulder or waist, or m
some cases with arms encircling a
partner on each side With short IN
~
duction of the war dance, for variety
sake, squaw dance of this type is
sometimes kept up all night, to the
supreme qualification of the perform.
ers
The tobacco dance of the Crow In
dians. is, if possible, OF even simpler
character The participants stand up
several in a row. holding sacred oh.
jccts in their hands. and alternately
tend each knee and raise or lower
each hand without al all moving from
their position. The highly popular
grass dance OF the Plains Indians is
o. more strenuous character Only
men take part. and they move about
briskly sometimes in pairs, sometimes
separately, vigorously stamping the
ground with their feet. and frequently
mimicking martial exploits
The orchestral equipment OF the In
dians is not very comprehensive. The
flute Tor liageolet) is restricted to use
in counting. For dancing, the drum
and the rattle are by far the most
iruuOrfant Instruments o1tbn,,ob n, h.,.
types were used over relatively large
area this applies. for example. TO
notched sticks rasped with other
sticks and bird.bone whistles. usually
worn suspended from the neck. The
drum varies considerably in form. On
the northwest coast the natives mere.
ly beat plank or box The Plains
Indians commonly use skin
stretched over hoop, held by strings
crossing underneath. but large |
double-headed drum suspended from
four sticks also occurs Rattles are
likewise of widely varying kind such |
as gourds containing small pebbles and
ring-shaped or globuar rawhide bags |
for which in the dance of today |
baking powder cans make favorite
substitutes, Sometimes a certain in
strument is considered distinctive of |
a particular dance, and various forms
OF costume are also considered |
badges. Thus dress comes to occupy |
in the Indian dance place of signif
icance to which there is no CORE
spondence in the dances of civilized
races. Sometimes, to be sure. the ap-
parel merely is designed to give an
appearance of picturesqueness while
in other instances lack of clothing is
sometimes compensated for by face
and body paint or by a profusion of
Tegalia held in the hand.
The Crow grass dance might be
chosen as an example of the social
type of Indian dance, the Pawnee
iruska and the Mandan buffalo won.
ems dances as representatives Of
shamanistic or religious performances,