The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-10-20
Indian Dance e $ Taught In
 Schools
Rx CARALINE CRAWFORD

A BEAUTIFUL young Danish girl "A is teaching our children Tn the
 public schools the spirit of the American Indians and their dances. Her name is Eileen Glane and she Is blond and slender with light in her blue eyes which might interpret the spirit of the widest of the wild among the great Indian chiefs. It seems odd that a little girl from the other side of the Atlantic should come here to tell our children of the first dwellers on this soil, but when you have seen Miss Glane and she has told you that she lived in Arizona and Omaha for over a year just to study the Indians character and mode of living you Will understand the choice of the board o1 education.
 .'From my earliest childhood l have loved the red Indians" said Miss Glane in her studio at No. 92 Barrow streets, land in this youthful admira- tion do not think was different from other children, for no other race has eyer held such a place in the minds Of the children of the world as the color
  dren love to play Indians,' they love to dress up in beads and feathers and to give the wild cries of the first savage men,
 tWhen I lived out west the psychol- ogy of the American Indian simply amazed me Here you find a race with an the natural, simple qualities of primitive mankind. Their art expressed s,. kIz.- fhplr basketwork shows traces indicating connection with the art of Egypt. Their great love and reverence for nature and for all that is beautiful, true and great is especially evident in all their religious rituals and dances.
 Is'These dances, of which many are allegories and other dedicatiOns or sup plications to the Great Spirit, are always performed with a great solemn intensity which is inspiring. You feel the dancer is wholly aware of his mission to carry the spiritual meaning attached to the dance to his spectators. He never loses control over his movements although reaching expressions of the highest ex- altation.''
 In speaking of the Indians most characteristic dances which she intends to portary to the American school chill dren this fall, Miss Glane said:
 ''One of the Indians most beautiful and representative dances is the eagle dance. This is supposed to be dance to initiate youth into manhood. It rep resents strength and courage. In this dance the Indians spread their hands out like wings and make all sorts of odd and fantastic movements representing flight.
 'tThe squaws have dance which they call the blanket dance. This is dance of gratitude for the blanket-a domestic dance, which represents their love of home and fire side.
 '"The deer dance is one of the In- dians' great religious dances. They walk about cautiously at first to rep resent the deer going through the snow with q crunching, slow movement, as though breaking through ice and snow. Then they depict the speed of the deer. later the wolves who pursue it, and then, after a series of howls, they pray that the deer may be saved from all harm and that they too may be spared in the same gracious way"
 Apart from the symbolic and spec tacular side, Miss Glane feels that the Indian dances have deep psychological interest.
 T feel that they have been the me- dium for the Indian, conscious or sub conscious, on which to base a philos- ophy of patience and kindness, which is needed more than anything else by the primitive race in their losing bat tie of existence" she concluded.