Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-04-06
The Deer Dance
BY Mrs. f.. l.. ROsenberger-An Ac-
count of Sacred Ceremony by the
Chaminta Indians.

In spite of the fact that the wind
blew cold and the snow clouds were
gathering the preparations for the
Deer dance went on in the pueblo.
The young men We're adjoining their
head dresses and decorating their
bons.
BY night all was in readiness.
Before daylight the next morning
the dancers, twenty-five in number
| donned their attire and stole out to
the hills south of the town to await
the sound of the tom tom.
Three dancing places had been pre-
pared.
They consisted of narrow trails
about seyelity-five feet long These
trails had been swept clean of snow
! and were marked at the head and foot
| by small pine tree.
! Just as daylight began to break,
and faint pink tinge in the sky. the
drummer stationed himself midway
! between the pine trees marking the
| first dancing position.
| Wound around his head was a gor-
geous purple silk handkerchief. His
| Shney black braids were tipped with
green worsted loops and bows. About
! his middle, worn in the manner of a
sash, was a wooden blanket woven IN
Indian designs of many colofs. On his
feet were beaded moccasins.
His left hand held the tom tom sup
ported by strong sapling stripped of
its branches. In his right hand was
the gourd-like instrument used for
sounding the tom-tom.
For q moment he stood silently
looking skyward as if invoking the
aid of some mysterious spirit Then,
with flourish, he began the meas
ured beat which was to call the deer
frors their hiding places.
AS the first reverberations broke the
stillnes the lights began to CLEAN in
the houses, and from the hills came
the PARKWAY chant of the approaching
dancers.
Following the magic trail of the
sacred sereeant, down the hill side,
through the new fallen snow, they ran
into the pueblo.
Still chanting, they settled into their
places, the leader, more gorgeously ar
rayed than the others, standing lit
tie TO the right.
On their heads were yellow war
bonnets made of the needles of the
Yucca plant, At each side. toward
the top. was fastened a large, many
tipped deer antler Small downy
feathers were tied to the tips of the
antlers. Down the back of head and
neck was a fall of eagle feathers.
The hands, but not the faces of
the dancers were whitened; their
knitted leggings. fitting skin-tight.
were white, their moccasins beaded
and topped with badger fur
Just below the left knee each wore
band of sleighbells iauntily fash
toned with flowing ribbon steamers.
In the left hand each carried
wand tipped with eagle feathers and
in the right a gourd shaped rattle
made of skin which contained dried
peas or beans, All through the dance
these rattles kent time with the tom
tom and the chant of the dancers.
After dancing at each of the APP
pointed places the dancers. entered
one of the houses and enjoyed a
breakfast which had been prepared
by the women of the pueblo.
The dance then went on continu-
ously until o'clock.
All through the ceremony two of
the tribe dressed as hunters and bear
ing bows and quivers of arrows, crept
about in the manner of hunters, some
times aiming from behind the little
pine trees, sometimes from an mag
mary ambush. towards the deer ant
lers, swaying on the heads of the
chanting Redmen. They were the
mighty men of the tribe. out Staying,
that the hungary ones at home might
have meat.
At o'clock one pistol shot broke
up the dance. the women rushed from
their hiding places and grabbed the
dancers who were then Toasted and |
given piece of meat
VI. It'll
continued in the belief that some day
the call to the deer will be answered
from the Businesses of the distant
mountains.
Some day the troublesome white
man with his schools and sanitation
will vanish. Again the deer and buff
falo will roam the forest and plain,
and the Red man, once more master,
will kill and eat at his pleasure.