SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTIONBureau of American EthnologyBulletin 149Symposium on Local Diversity in Iroquois CultureNo. 6. Local Diversity in Iroquois Music and DanceBy GERTRUDE P. KURATH 109 CONTENTS PAGKRitual functions 113Homogeneity and diversity 114Uniform patterns 114Deviations 116Rituals 116The Society of the Medicine Men and Mystic Animals 116Death Feast 117False-faces 118Bear Dance 120Eagle Dance 123Great Feather Dance 125Food-Spirit and Stomp Dances 126Corn Dance 126Stomp Dance 128Distribution 130Modern embroidery on ancient patterns 131Women's Shuffle Dance 132Fish Dance 133Tradition and innovation 134Geographical separation and communication 135Communal ritual 135Bibliography 136Records 137Songs used in illustration 137ILLUSTKATIONSFIGURES*1. Dance of the Society of Medicine Men and Mystic Animals 1172. False-face Dance Hg3. Bear Dance 1214. Eagle Dance 1245. Great Feather Dance 125G. Corn Dance 1277. Stomp Dance 1288. Women's Shuffle Dance 1329. Fish Dance 13310. Song scales 135 •For explanation of symbols used in figures, see page 165, this volume. Ill LOCAL DIVERSITY IN IROQUOIS MUSIC AND DANCE By Gertrude P. Kurath In Iroquois communities scattered from southern Ontario to north-ern New York State and northeastern Oklahoma, the exposure tomodernization, electricity, and work at white man's occupations con-tinues in varying degree. Allegany Seneca Reservation is bisectedby a well-traveled highway; the secluded expanse of Six NationsReserve is crisscrossed by a network of gravel roads. Yet interveningmileage and varying conditions have not severed intertribal bonds.Distance is mitigated by intermarriage and consequent visiting, and bypermanent changes of residence. Delegates come from all longhousesto Six Nations meetings, which migrate from place to place during 2months in the fall, as Deardorff has described (p. 100) . Guest singersare invited to other longhouses to accompany Feather Dance, False-face Dance, and social dances, frequently from Lower Cayuga to SourSprings (George and Joshua Buck and Avery Bill) , sometimes betweenSix Nations and Allegany (Hubert Cusick, the wanderer). Otherwanderers, like Cayuga Willie John, even uphold connections withthe Oklahoma group, including the adjacent Iroquoian Cherokee,Algonquian, and Siouan groups.What eifect have these circumstances for diffusion and local develop-ment had on ceremonial forms ? Have divergent local functions de-veloped? Do the dances and songs adhere to a uniform pattern ordo they deviate ? Can explanations be sought in religious and socialconditions ? The formulation of these questions and some answers isbased on 2 years of field work, ceremonial participation, and intensivemusical study among Allegany Seneca and at Sour Springs and Onon-daga Longhouses on Six Nations Reserve, Canada.^RITUAL FUNCTIONSThe religious functions are dependent on practical demands andhistorical factors. Functional obsolescence has everywhere shifted ^ Some 80 recordings have been transcribed by the writer from Dr. Fenton's series of1933, 1941, and 1945, comprising for the Seneca medicine men's ritual alone 100 songson 6 records. Yet many recordings are not yet available for transcription, and some cycleshave not been recorded at all. This gives an idea of the musical fecundity of the Iroquois.113 114 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 149war dances to cure, weather-control, or display. Yet everywhere thedream cult retains its ancient hold, and agricultural festivals persevere.They will continue as long as people are taken sick, or keep a plot ofground for gardening, or enjoy a sociable gathering.At all longhouses, ancestral medicine rites are performed to curespecific ailments as prescribed by the diagnosing shaman, and theyare held in the patient's home or at the communal Midwinter Festi-vals. Regularly in the spring and fall the False-faces exorcise diseasedemons and the 'ohgi'we commemorates the dead. In the cycle ofrhythmically recurrent seasonal ceremonies the chiefs at Six NationsReserve direct the Midwinter and Thanksgiving Festivals to theThree Life-giving Sisters. These observances are not cast in an ironmold, but may blend into various combinations.^ "Social dances" ofceremonial cast but sociable objective, which conclude many festaldays and the days of preaching at the Six Nations meetings, consistof food-spirit dances performed for diversion, paired dances withanimal and bird names, and several miscellaneous rounds.A prevalent sequence of invocation, celebration, and thanksgivingpatterns the structure of 10-minute dances and week-long festivals.The chief constituents are the dancers and their accompanying songs.Each longhouse follows its traditional order of events. Each socialoccasion selects the dances on the spur of the moment. Locally theprograms of spontaneous selections show a remarkable consistency.No matter what the variations, each new combination uses the age-oldforms. Each celebrant, be he in his own longhouse or that of anothertribe, immediately recognizes the forms and is completely at home.HOMOGENEITY AND DIVERSITYThe celebrant of a dance feels so much at home because of the funda-mental unity of its ritual constituents and the accepted identificationof each. UNIFORM PATTERNSGround-Plan.—In fact, the preponderance of counterclockwisecircling produces a superficial impression of sameness. Each dance iscumulative : a few leaders start circling a stove or the central singers'bench, and numbers gradually swell. Between each of the 8 to 20songs there is a brief silence with walk-around. With one exception,the participants in all rituals proceed in single file, though in a fewsocial dances they pair into double file, namely, in the Pigeon, Duck,Alligator, and Shake-the-Bush Dances. Men and women can be vari-ously grouped. All rituals place men in the lead, except in female *For a ceremonial outline of Allegany and Tonawanda Longhouses, see Fenton (1936,1941) ; for Sour Springs, see Speck (1949). No. 5] MUSIC AND DANCE'—KURATH 115dances, and trail the ladies in the wake. As a rule food-spirit dancesalternate the sexes and most social dances couple them. The so-calledFish-type lets partners change places in the middle of the song—a pat-tern which extends to several other social dances and a few rituals.Straight lines are peculiar to the former war dances and the nowobsolete Devil Dance. False-faces and Husk-faces in general performsolo, even when in an organized aggregate, although the Thumbs-upDance of the Seneca False-faces is paired. These instances are so ex-ceptional as to seem outside the pattern.Steps.—Seven fundamental steps are built on the simple principleof placing one foot in front or to the side and bringing up the other : side or forward shuffle, called "stomp" ; step-pat ; Feather Dance type ; women's shuffle twist or enskanye step; Fish Dance type; and jump-hop-kick. A particular step adheres to each dance or group of dances,as the forward shuffle to a large majority of stomp dances. Five socialrounds use the intricate twisting Fish-type step. Any of these stepsmay be the subject of embellishment. Some may be accompanied bygestures, which are arbitrary in the Feather, Drum, Women's, War,and False-face Dances; but pantomimic in the Tutelo Four Nights'Dance.Some cycles permit the use of several successive step-types.The ga'dasot stomp changes from a forward to a side shuffle.^ FeatherDance introduces the step-pat for introductions and slow passages.More important, compound rites demand a different pattern for eachsection. Thus both the Cayuga and Onondaga Death Feast consist oftwo contrasting dances, a slow forward shuffle by the women, and latera lively sideward jump-hop-kick by both sexes.* In their completerite the False-faces first cure with their grotesque jumps and gyrationssecondly, two of them pair with two matrons in a sparring jump-hop-kick; finally they instigate a communal round, the men with a step-thump and the women with the enskanye shuffle.^Song type.—Each ceremonial type is accompanied by a specific songtype so expressive as to preclude any confusion. Iroquois music isdistinguished from that of tribes to the West by a number of charac-teristics, such as a preference for five-tone scales, for tunes centeredaround a focal note, and for certain recurrent rhythmic motifs, suchas a long and two short notes or the syncopation of a short, long, andshort. But the range, motifs, phrase lengths, tempo, vocal quality,percussion accompaniment, and structure contrast the song cycles and 'For the choreography of ga'd^Sot and explanation of method, see Kurath (1950 a, pp.120-123). Description of this dance and others is also included in Kurath (1949, 1950 b). * For a comparative outline and analysis of the Death Feast, see Fenton and Kurath(this volume). ^ For a descripition of the False-face ritual, see Fenton (1941, pp. 426-428). 116 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 149distinguish the confined shamans' medicine songs from the far-flungmodern Women's Shuffle Dances (figs. 1 and 8), the emphatic, stac-cato Bear Dance songs from the sustained Corn Dance melodies (figs.3 and 6), and the short-phrased traditional Women's Dance Songsfrom the modern compositions (fig. 8). Antiphony occurs in about20 percent of the cycles, some of it monotone, as in the Bear Dance(fig. 3), some of it melodic, as in the ga'dasot stomp (fig. 7c). Insome of the Onondaga-Cayuga Bear songs the male dancers answerthe singers on the bench. Usually the chorus answers the danceleader. Sometimes women sing, as in the Death Feast, the rite ofwomen planters, and in the Shaking-the-Bush Dance. Usually songis a male prerogative in all of the tribes.Instrumentation serves entirely as a background to the singing, ex-cept for the whistle in the Little Water Medicine ritual and the six-hole flageolette used in courting songs. The shamans manipulategourd rattles ; the singers of Corn and several other dances shake cow-horn rattles as they lead the file. Special singers play a small waterdrum for the War Dance, a large one for the Death Feast, and theycombine drum and rattle in the Dark Dance, Eagle Dance, Women'sDance, and Fish Dance. They beat turtle-shell rattles in duple timefor the False-faces, in iambic time for the Feather Dance.DEVIATIONSDeviations do not follow a set rule, yet to an extent they conformto the functional type. Thus the selected examples can be groupedaccording to rituals. Food-spirit and Stomp Dances, and Women'sand Fish Dances. These examples are arranged in the same orderand with the same numbering as the comparative illustrations. Whenadvisable for comparative purposes, the choreographies and notationsare reproduced in somewhat simplified form, and the melodies in oc-casional slight transposition. A key to the dance script can be foundin Kurath (1950 a) and Kurath (this volume, p. 165).RITUALSThe Society of the Medicine Men and Mystic Animals{Figure 1)This celebration consists at Allegany of (1) Marching Songs, (2)Messengers' Songs, (3) Throwing or Individual Songs, (4) Middle orCuring Songs, (5) Round Dance. The Canadian Onondaga versionomits part 2.' The round dance develops at all times from a seatedto a standing position to a side-shuffling stamp. A masker danceswith the sponsor, at Allegany on the fifteenth song from the end, atOnondaga on the eighth song from the end. * FentOD, 1942, pp. 25-26 ; field notes on recordings, 1941 series. No. 6] MUSIC AND DANCE—KURATH 117The samples of songs play on the same three notes in triplets andquadruplets, but each song in different combinations. Another re-current melodic type uses the triad. The two round dances in figure1 {a and b) are both sung five times, with a horizontal tremolo of 118 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. BuU. 148the men's shamanistic rite: variable order of events, uniformity ofstep, flexibility within the song type. No examples are here included,nor a ritual outline ; for these are analysed elsewhere in this volume.The report below is based on the Onondaga song version recordedby Fenton from Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Jamieson. A study of photo-^stats from Joe Williams' Cayuga version, prepared by Dr. MariusBarbeau,^ shows individual interpretations even of the same begin-ning songs, and considerable difference of choice, order, and render-ing in later songs. Likewise, its sequel, Carry-out-the-Kettle, alwaysopens with the same chant and repeats some of the same melodies inthe three versions recorded b}^ Fenton ; yet the selections differ whensung by Joe Logan, Onondaga ; James White, Onondaga ; and Free-man Gibson, Seneca-Cayuga. The jump-kick can be varied. It doesnot interpret the song ]Dattern of J.AB AB, nor the drum tremoloin the opening and repetition.The Death Feast songs combine their typically Iroquois featureswith a number of characteristics that are either uncommon or non-existent in other Iroquois cycles—the syncopated drumbeat, succes-sion of quarter notes, semitones, and pulsating phrase-endings.These features characterize certain songs of tribes coresident at SixNations Reserve, namely, the Delaware Skin-beating Dance and theTutelo Four Nights' Dance and Spirit Adoption Ceremony. Per-sonal observations have been confirmed by Herzog's transcriptions ofTutelo music (Speck and Herzog, 1942, pp. 91-108) , notably the FourNights' Dance (Nos. 7 and 8) as to drum and quarter notes, the SpiritAdoption (Nos. 9, 11, 12, 18) as to quarter notes and pulsation, andNos. 9 and 19 as to semitones. Again, many of the Tutelo scales couldpass as Iroquoian, particularly those listed by Herzog under I and II(p. 107) ; and the Bean Dance songs recall Iroquois Corn Dance songs,especially the introductory chant and call (No. 20). This suggestsmusical interassimiliation in both directions during the two centuriesof Tutelo coresidence, but conclusive proof is contingent on the record-ing and study of the complete Four Nights' Dance and other cycles.False-faces{Figure 2)Fenton's field notes on recordings show slight local differences inthe order of events in this ritual: At Six Nations longhouses, (1)Marching Songs, (2) Wooden False-faces, (3) Thumbs-up pairingwith matrons (not recorded), (4) Husk-faces, (5) Doorkeeper's RoundDance; at Allegany, (1) Marching Songs, (2) Wooden False-faces,(3) Thumbs-up, (4) Round Dance, (5) Husk-faces. In addition to » Recorded by Marius Barbeau In August 1949 ; transcribed by Margaret Sargent andMarius Barbeau. \ro. 6] MUSIC AND DANCE^—KURATH 119' :his complete ceremony, the maskers can renew obligations at Mid-winter, on the day of medicine rites. This always opens at SourSprings with the Doorkeeper's Round Dance (at least, on the observedoccasions) , and features several masked dances for different sponsors. J =156 Figure 2.—False-face Dance.In the course of their exorcisms, the maskers emit unearthly groansand improvise crawls, distorted straddling jump-hops, and angularpostures. They shake their turtle-shell rattles or knock them on thedoor or floor, in spasmodic reinforcement of the singer's insistenthammering. The dissonant chants are not identical at Six Nationsand Allegany ; yet both descend from a play on a semitone interval toa reiterated monotone, a fourth below the highest note. Frequentlythe monotone is flattened. Each song can be repeated as often as de-sired and immediately comiected with the next tune by a series of callsand an unbroken rattle-beat. The illustrations are drawn from therecordings by Chancey J. John of Allegany and by the Six NationsCayuga, Joshua (Billy) Buck, whom the writer has heard at SourSprings. Buck is a Seneca from Tonawanda Reservation, by anOnondaga-Tutelo father from Six Nations Reserve. His version isas eclectic as his heritage, for it includes New York Seneca songs aswell as a collection from the several Canadian longhouses. The Sen- 120 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 149 eca texts identify certain Seneca songs. The False-face song 2,a isOnondaga-Cayuga, the two round dances (figs. 2c and 2c?) are Seneca.Buck's first Doorkeeper's song (2c) matches Chancey's first Door-keeper song (2c) as to text; Buck's fourth one (2c?) matches 2e in therecurrent iambic rhythmic motif and curious relationship of voice andrattle-beat. These do not synchronize but run parallel in the approxi-mate ratio of four to three, except for the synchronization in part Bof 2c.Prototypes for these texts were sought in Jesse Cornplanter's ver-sion, which is available in manuscript but not in recording. Similar-ities occur, but not identities. As might be expected, the patronmasker, called the "great defender" shagodyoweh'gowa, receives re-peated appeals.(a)x[ : aba'b :] x—hoi; yaa'o gagonhsiyogowa.The great good mask,he'e he he'e'e, he'e hogonsayondii ; hoi, hoi, hoi. (Buck, S N R.)has a smiling face.(&)aj[ : A A' :] x—hoi ; he'e dehaskayondye'a, he'e he dehaskayondy'a ; hoi,They (the False-faces) are coming in.hoi. (C.J.John, S.)(c) X AB AB X—hoi; saypnkiyadonyang sagodoyowehgowa'sQ'Q (Seneca)They stir us, the great False-faces,he' he'e; hayohoo hayohoo, hahaa hayoho; he'e he; hoi. (Buck.)(d) xABB AB X—hoi; sagodyoweh hodigwenyp eygkiya'dageha'False-faces they can help us.hayo ho'o he'e hee yo'oho ho; hoi. (Buck).(e) X ^ A A X—ODfh negi gsagoya'donyangg shagodyowehgowahane',Now you our bodies stir, O great False-face.hai yoho haiyoho, hai hehe; hoi, hoi. (J. John.)Texts of Jesse Cornplanfer, Tonatoanda Seneca.—oneh negi o'djggwaya ? de'ihene' shagodjowehgowa'aha' ; hai he he.Now it is our bodies move with rhythm, Great False-face,esagoya"* donyanoho shagodjowehgowaha'a ; haiyo'o, hai he'he.He will move her body about in the dance, the great False-face.Bear Dance{Figure S)The Bear and Buffalo Societies can enact their propitiatory curesat special ceremonies or at Midwinter, just as the False-face Societies.On the latter occasion they may carry out the whole process of cure,or they may limit themselves to the communal round or "songs only."The full sequence is : Invocation by song and tobacco-offering to the bear spirit andtreatment of the seated patient.(I) Round Dance, first by the patient and conductors, later bythe community. A waddling shuffle expresses ursine clumsiness, andthe voices puff hoarse and abrupt phrases. The first dance songs of theSix Nations and Allegany cycles use the same rhythmic motifs and the No. 6] MUSIC AND DANCE^—KURATH 121 122 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 14fsame scale (except for the lowest note in Logan's song) ; but they effectdifferent combinations. The texts also differ, Logan using words.J'ohnn}^ John uttering nonsense syllables : (I) AAB AB A—yhwejiag^hf (ga) niy(?nta'a'a:he'e ne'e'e wiyoho (Oa.).On earth ripened fruits (berries) are beautiful.AB B' A—hayo hahiyo ; hiyoho hahiyo hiyobo haiyo ; hiyolio hahiyo hiyoho'o ; haiyoho hiyo ; i'i haiyen. (S.)(II) After awhile the dancers grunt and blow, and commence toanswer the singers or their leader antiphonall}'. The two examplesillustrate a solo by the singer, followed by antiphony between thedancers. The Seneca reiterate "hahiyo" on a single note, along witha steady forward waddle : the Onondaga and Cayuga echo "yohiyohiyo," first with a forward stamp, then with a shift to a higher note anda sideward waddle, finally back to the original note and the forwardshuffle.AA A'A'. Bx—yonehe, ponehe, gaya ( howi ) yo ; yohiyo hiyo, etc. (Oa.).AAB ABB Cx—ganQhiyo howane; yahi'ihi: hahiyo hiyo, etc. (S.)(III) Pairing by members of the same sex, to distinctive songs withan alternately accented drumbeat : AAB AB X—wehayonendi wehayonendi hayonene ;weheyonemli hayonendi hayonene. Hui.Every second dancer faces about, thus taking a partner, men andwomen segregated. On part A alternate dancers thus stomp back-ward. During B all execute the "therapeutic" step, the jump-hop- 1 kick, which terminates other curative rites. On repetition of the song,partners change places as in Fish Dance (fig. 9) and in B the jump-hop is resumed and emphasized by terminal stamping and thumping.This entire section is omitted at Allegany.Joe Logan has adopted several Seneca songs from Seneca membersof his longhouse. These can readily be identified by their texts. Oneof these is virtually identical with Chancey's song 9, reproduced asSeneca III. The form and text are : AAB AB X—ha' oon^h jigwiiye', e'e; hai y^h.So now strip the bushes (of berries).A subtle yet significant melodic change in the Onondaga version isindicated in parentheses. Namely, during B the melody is built on thefirst, second, and fourth notes of the scale, instead of the original first,third, and fifth or minor triad. This distinction holds good for theentire cycle. Wliereas Logan does not use the triad at all, Chanceyuses it in six songs, one of them illustrated as II.This triad scale predominates in the Cherokee songs of yona, thebear. These excerpts are from an aural transcription from DaveLawsey's singing at Qualla Reservation. Note the similarity of textC to Seneca II, and the similarity of rhythm in C to Onondaga II A. No. 6] MUSIC AND DANCE^—KUEATH 123During the rise in the antiphony, the Cherokee dancers turn sidewardlike the Onondaga-Cayuga. During the entire dance they clomp ina counterclockwise circle, which finally winds into a spiral (see ground-plan) . Men and women alternate in the line and cap the climax withthe "bear hug" and other manifestations of obscene buffoonery. Allritual significance has faded in the process of Christianization (Gil-bert, 1943, pp. 257-268) . Cherokee texts—x wi'ihi : — (A) wihe wihe (antiphony); {B) hai da'e hahiya ; {C) ganyhiya, ganyhiya;hi.The Iroquois Buffalo Dance progresses through a similar sequence,with a similar curtailment among the Seneca, but its shuffle movessideward with bovine butting and bellowing. The Onondaga andCayuga use no antiphony and the Seneca only a brief terminal re-sponse. Other details of a nonchoreographic and nonmusical naturedifferentiate these versions. Eagle Dance{Figure ^)The Dew Eagle, possibly related to the Central Algonquian thun-derbird, brings communal health to Iroquois Midwinter worshipers.Its excellence depends on the grace and skill of the four young menwho line up in front of the singers. They lunge and tremble andshiver rattles and wands in extended arms, while the chanters vibratethe drum and horn rattle. Experts can pick up objects from thefloor with their teeth. During the regular drumbeat {B) they hopacross the room in a deep crouch and accompany the final drum flour-ish with a knee twist from side to side. Both drumbeat and groundplan vary somewhat, whereas some of the same songs are commonto the Onondaga and Seneca. One of these similar songs is reproducedin figure 4 : A AH A B—[ : hanig(?nd ) .' = »"• _a. J i! iL_i! i i i Lac^U Panes -^—^ V n i ; J n i Xncca VFigure 4.—Eagle Dance. notes, and end with eighths. The apparently insignificant substitu-tion of the initial eighth notes changes the pattern from a taperingone to a symmetrical one.The Eagle Dance is included in the Sour Springs Midwinter medi-cine rites, but rarely, despite its attractiveness—perhaps once to fiveperformances of Bear Dance. It is unique in longhouse choreog-raphy, without introducing any sense of clash or discord. Thesetwo factors, its rarity and uniqueness, lend support to historial the-ories of introduction from the Great Plains (Fenton, n. d.). Thewriter has not observed the Plains Calumet Dance, but is acquaintedwith the Fox-Winnebago Pipe Dance. A brief comparison may ex-plain the acceptance.^The Fox Pipe Dance songs resemble some of the Eagle Dance songsboth as to tonality and motifs ; they consist of a chant with tremoloand a song with regular beat. These call forth a low dip and ahopping cross-over by two opposing dance contestants. The choreog-raphy differs from the Iroquoian by the smaller number of partici-pants, and by the variable nature of the steps—a sway or kneel ratherthan a lunge, a war-dance jump-hop rather than a crouching hop.The paraphernalia is the same, that is, a small gourd rattle in theright hand and a feathered wand in the left.The Eagle Dance is not an utter stranger. The motions, it is true,have no other equivalent, but the longways formation has survived in •The Cherokee Eagle Dance will not be drawn into the discussion because of Its differ-ences. See Gilbert (1943, pp. 257-268) and Mason (1944, pp. 175-179) ; Kurath, MS. No. 6] MUSIC AND DANCE^—KURATH 125 at least one dance, the wa^eno^e\ Strike-the-Stick, an ancient Iroquoiswar dance and present-day Sun Rite and Midwinter Cure Dance.Two lines of men and women, formerly only of men, dance erect inplace, meet, recede, and cross over, then repeat all. This follows the^AB ^B form of songs which otherwise do not closely resemble thoseof the Eagle Dance. The Seneca rendering by Henry Redeye con-tains a tonality related to that of the Eagle Dance 3 (see scales, tig. 10) , except for the lower maintone in the former. In general, the EagleDance five-tone scales find many counterparts in other cycles, as theOnondaga Bear song III. The introductory chant to a tremolo isalso a familiar device. Thus various pre-existent features encouragedadaptation.The Seneca adaptation appears more closely modeled on the Foxtype, being simply a duplication of the pairing. The Canadian ver-sion, on the other hand, stretches this out into a line, without theopposition of either Calumet or Strike-the-Stick. This Sun Rite isclearly not the prototype, but a contributing factor in acceptance.This acceptance is more complete among the Seneca and thus possiblyprior to the Canadian borrowing.Great Feather Dance{Figure 5)The Feather and Drum Dances are not curative rites but returnthanks to the Creator for all benefits. The Feather Dance occurs atevery one of the seasonal festivals. Both cycles owe their kaleido-scope of movement to inspirations of the moment. The older menmay adhere to the fundamental two-step brush, but younger leadersadd extra heel bumps, raise their knees, pivot, sway, and whoop inecstasy. Some wave their arms wing fashion, another charges infencing style, still another saws sharply from side to side. The in-Feather OaJ = 112-160 J =120 A 1 J f /, 1 .f ./_/ ? .b | ?-.^{^ UJ L I i I i I; L I 1 I Li' ," I 1 "TTTliLf..ti n ; j—y; < .r ,.f . , r .)_; / J '160 FiGUBE 5.—Great Feather Dance. 126 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 149finite possibilities know no tribal bounds. Great dance personalitiesarise in every Iroquois community in each generation. AlleganySeneca Amos Johnny John and his son, Kichard Johnny John, be-come as animated as Onondaga Bill Johnson or Cayuga Ezekiel Hilland Russell Johnson or Seneca Huron Miller or the late Chief LymanJohnson of Tonawanda. The excitement is confined to the men, forthe women inconspicuously glide sideward in the wake of their gyrat-ing warriors. Despite the circular progression, gesticulation placesthese two dances in a class by themselves. Historically, they prob-ably belong to the War Dance cycle.Likewise, the chants are strongly differentiated from those of othercycles. They frequently use five-tone scales or monotone, but pre-dominantly focus thirds on a central note (see fig. 10). Thesethey combine into rhapsodic units, which end on short-clipped breath-ing pauses or long sustained notes. James White's voice quavers onthese final notes ; Chancey Johnny John's and Hubert Cusick's voicespulsate rhythmically. As further differentiation, the Onondaga songsemphasize the highest note (fifth of the scale) somewhat, whereas theSeneca version favors a frequency of low notes, on the first of thescale. The Onondaga-Cayuga cycle is further distinguished by theinclusion of "slow" songs where the turtle rattle holds a steady meas-ured beat. These incisive songs provide a respite from the break-neck speed. They recur in the same form in every Six Nations FeatherDance.The two examples of typical fast songs show the originality withina family relationship and the flexible pattern of alternately dupleand iambic rattle-beat. They always start with introductory crieswhich are answered by the singers and dancers, and they end with anechoing call (fig. 5, last line). Both texts express the same funda-mental idea in different words.(a) X A A' X—yoho: gahendiyonehe ahw^jagwegghg deyaw^hayfndQ. (JamesWhite, Oa.)Beautiful meadows all over the world bloom profusely.{b) X A A' X—yohf'dzage wadoni djghe'figp; he; hehf. (Chancey J. John, S.)On earth it grows our life (supporters) [food].FOOD-SPIRIT AND STOMP DANCESCom Dance(Figure 6)The corn spirit, together with her sisters, beans and squash, is hon-ored at food-spirit festivals and on the last night of Midwinter. Theleader invokes her with vibrant chants, as he shakes a cow-horn rattleand stomps along the circular course. Cayuga men follow him aheadof the women. Each of the Onondaga women hooks her left arm ina male partner's right, with the small fry in a single-file queue. On No. 6] MUSIC AND DANCE^—KtJRATH 127 O. O- O- O ^ VV \t\i'^ C tve\oiUc \^ / /f II I/ ^\ \ X \•v.- ^ - " y \ ^ \ /Sent c a i . t O I- o- V\^ \z ^a s \r « > I UJ 1 ! ^:t*=t^. o * «nf>-.f. .n r^ >>>-r IJ i i Tl U I : ill U M \ W M'Figure 6.—Corn Dance. 128 SYIMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. BuU. 149the repetition of each song the Onondaga turn toward the center fora few measures. The Seneca men and women, in alternate array,follow a serpentine course when the leader is Albert Jones, the Chero-kee dance enthusiast.Albert is the singer of the antiphonal chant in figure 6. To his "hoyowine" Chancey responds with a brief "weha." A shorter ver-sion of this same tune has been recorded by Cayuga George Buck inhis Com Dance cycle and by Cayuga Willie Jolm as an OklahomaStomp song (fig. Id). Willie John, of course, brought it from Okla-homa. George Buck learned the Corn Dance from Jesse Cornplanterof Tonawanda, originally from Cattaraugus. Chancey migrated fromCattaraugus to Allegany and taught the songs to his musical progeny.Despite the possible common origin, the Seneca and Cayuga-Onondagarepertoires are not exact replicas, beyond the introductory chant anda few key songs. Stomp Dance{Figure 1)The various features of the Corn Dance pertain to the large problemof the so-called Stomp Dance. This ambiguous term refers in thefirst place to a large class of dances which plod along a countersunwisecourse with a rapid, springy, stamping shuffle, like the Bear and CornDances. Specifically it applies to an antiphonal follow-the-leadercircuit called ga'da'sot (S.) or ga'da'trot (C.) or ga'da'tseta (Oa.)This former Warriors' Standing Quiver Dance (Fenton, 1942, pp. 30-32) is now a ceremonial ice breaker and draws large numbers of men,women, and children into its ranks. At Sour Springs it usually segre-gates the sexes; at Onondaga and Allegany it alternates them, as inthe Corn Dance. Its simple and insistent tramping calls forth eventhe most unskilled. Without any instrumental accompaniment, fourCherokee Corn FiQUEE 7.—Stomp Dances. No. 6] MUSIC AND DANCE^—KURATH 129men start chugging around the fire, now a stove, and toss aroundmonotone syllables— wiho, wii; weha, loeha; hahe, hahe; ha'a'a,hcChcCa; haheya, haheya; HUI, hui. They emerge into the center ofthe longhouse and swing into ingenious melodic antiphony, with a risein part B and a simultaneous side-shuffle (fig. 1c) (Kurath, 1949 and1950 a). This pristine form swells steadily in numbers, excitement,and melodic complication. The vocal chorus works itself into whim-sical echoing. The sideward shift intensifies into staggering towardthe center ; at Sour Springs, into echoing counterrhythms of stamps,kicks, and jumps. Clowns stray into the center singly or cluster intothrees and fours, till suddenly the leader calls a halt.This nuclear form retains its simplicity in the food-spirit dancesfor the beans (Hand-in-Hand) and squash (Shake-the-Jug). Butthe core is molded into the varying patterns of the social stomp dances.The devices include : (1) The meander already noted in the Corn, Cherokee, and Okla-homa Stomp Dances.(2) The double file. The Pigeon, Shake-the-Bush, and DuckDances pair members of the same sex ; Alligator Dance couples themas in the Onondaga Corn Dance.(3) Progressive pairing and cross-over during the song repetition.Garters or Knee-rattle and Shake-the-Bush Dances cross like BearDance III, whereas the Duck Dance joins the mens' arms into archesfor the ladies' passage.(4) Pivoting of the girl by the boy, during a wild cry. Only in therarely performed Alligator Dance does the male thus lift the femaleclear of the ground. Formerly at Allegany the girl went on to thenext boy, like the fickle woman in real life.A century ago Morgan (1851, pp. 278-279) already observed theseas well-established dances; he even labeled the Knee-rattle Dance asobsolete. He may have meant Alligator with his Passing Dance.^Nevertheless, they do not enjoy the prestige of the food-spirit roundsand ga'da'sot, and they are confined to social occasions. The Shake-the-Bush Dance is fairly common at Sour Springs, where it is usuallyembellished with the "therapeutic" step. The Alligator is rare inSour Springs and taboo at Allegany. Aside from any possible "moral" objections, the significance of this nonmiraetic dance isimpaired by the total absence of alligators in the area.This entire class is musically homogeneous, in the incomplete five-tone scales and typically Iroquoian rhythmic motifs; though eachsong has its own tempo and phrase development. Some but not allare antiphonal. Squash Dance songs always add a long terminalmonotone response, and the Squash and Bean Dances attach a briefsa'da'sot. 130 SYMPOSroM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 149DistributionThe stomp enjoys a wide dissemination. Formerly it prevailedamong the Eastern Algonquian as well as the Iroquois. Recently ithas spread like wildfire among Oklahoma tribes.The Cherohee.—Two brief sojourns at Qualla Reservation providedthe writer with the musical and choreographic fragments of Iroquoispattern. As sung by Dave Lawsey of Painttown, Bear Dance, oryona, starts with monotone antiphony and a shift of pitch and di-rection as at Six Nations (fig. 3). In the course of their counter-clockwise waddle, the alternating men and women claw the air likebears. They end up in a tight spiral.According to Carl Standing Deer (Awigadoga'), the mixedFriendship Stomp and men's Ballgame Conjuring Dance start offwith monotone responses of hohe, hohe; hoheho, hoheho; hohoya,hohoya; anali', isa'. The Stomp, or dilsti, resembles ga'da'sot in themelodic themes, shift of pitch and sideturn, and general climacticdevelopment. In addition, the chorus plays follow-the-leader withthe first dancer's improvisatory gestures. During his statement, heraises his arms, points, or puts his hand to his ear ; during the chorus,the whole line imitates him. He feints postures and leads the groupastray by a change of direction, he dictates pairing and cross-overs,he winds and unwinds spirals and meanders, and finally he calls out, ^^stiyu (dance hard)," for a grand finish of double-time stomping andlow-crouched kicks.^Some of the dances are in double file. As at Onondaga Longhouse,the women dance parallel to their partners in the Corn Dance (seludilskusti). But they cross to the inside of the circle on repetition ofthe song and enact the sowing of corn and the hoeing. Their tortoise-shell knee-rattles keep time with the special singer's gourd rattle andhis chant on the three basic triad notes of the scale (fig. 7a). Com-monly the circling ends in meanders, like those of the Stomp, Snake,and Ant Dances. The Pigeon and Quail Dances divide their doublecircle into two diverging and merging smaller circles. This figurehas not been found in surviving dances of the northern Iroquois(Mason, 1944, pp. 163 and 173-175).Eastern tribes.—The Penobscot Leading Dance combined the shufflewith antiphony, and multiplied the double line into foursomes andintermittent cross-overs (Speck, 1940, pp. 165 and 275, 277-283).The Snake Dance, yane'ha, wove a serpentine path. Creek and Yuchisongs show a greater prevalence of antiphony than do the Iroquois(Speck, 1909, pp. 63 ff.; 1911, pp. 126 ff. and 162 ff.). The choreog-raphies do not seem to correspond exactly to those of the longhouse.Alligators are, for instance, represented by a realistic wobble, similar » See Mason (1944, pp. 169-173) for a lively description. No. 6] MUSIC AND DANCE^—KURATH 131to that of the Seminole. But snake enactments are always serpentine,down to the Everglades. And prancing men echo their leader fromMaine to Florida.^"Oklahoma tribes,—The Eastern Stomp has been wholeheartedlyaccepted by the Delaware (Speck, 1937, pp. 26, 96), Shawnee (Voege-lin, 1942, p. 468), Osage, Comanche, Sauk and Fox, and has spread tothe Fox of Iowa and their Winnebago friends in Wisconsin. Thedelightful Fox Snake Dance is modeled on the Cherokee dilsti : thechorus answers the leader with whimsical calls and gestures, andfollow him in all sorts of spirals and meanders. In Oklahoma thetortoise-shell knee rattle still jingles under the skirts of the leadingwomen, or else it has been replaced by hoofs of small milk tins.^^In this dissemination, did the longhouse receive or lend? Theanswer demands a summary of shared and extraneous features. Com-mon elements are antiphony, the step, the counterclockwise communalround, usually in single, sometimes in double file, the cross-over.Cherokee antiphonal gestures have carried over to the Western tribesbut not to the longhouse. The meander is prevalent in the westernStomp and Snake Dances, but among the Iroquois it is confined to thefrankly introduced Cherokee and Oklahoma Stomps and to the CornDance of the southerly located Allegany Seneca. The therapeuticstep of Six Nations Reserve has not been noted among the Cherokee ; it differs from the stiyu kick.In view of the nuclear position of the stomp-type dance among theIroquois, it would be as reasonable to assume that the Cherokee bor-rowed this form and added postures, as that the Iroquois borrowedit and omitted the gestures. Though we may here have a completeabsorption from "way back," a blend of southern antiphony and theancient ritual type, it is more likely that the Iroquois shared thesefeatures with the great Eastern Woodlands area and developed theirown variations, minus postures and meanders. The intrinsic rela-tionship facilitated the acceptance of this natural convolution of thesingle line into the Allegany Corn Dance. And as to the Corn Dancesong in the Oklahoma Stomp Dance, here we evidently have a giftfrom the Seneca of Cowskin Reservation to the eclectic array of melo-dies, as in the spiral we have a gift from the Cherokee.MODERN EMBROIDERY ON ANCIENT PATTERNSWhereas the stomp-type dance encourages inventiveness only instep improvisations, the Women's ShufiUe Dance and Fish Dancetypes allow melodic creativeness. The old type is modeled on ancientpatterns in ever new combinations ; the modern type combines daringwith a traditional core. " Semlnoles at the Cherokee school have taught some of their songs to Qualla natives.Incidentally, the Seminoles at one time had an Alligator Dance."Kurath, 1950 b, article on rattles, dance; see also Voegelin (1942, p. 468). 132 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. Bull. 149WomerCs Bhu-j^e Dance(Figure 8)Women represent corn on all ritual and social occasions. Theydedicate their special dance to this spirit, symbolically in the GreatShuffle Dance (enskanye goowa) and in the Oldtime Women's Dance(enskanye gainQgai'ygka'), playfully in the modern type. Theytwist their feet in the same saw-foot sideward progression, withoutachieving uniformity. Inexpert dancers jumble the foot-twinings.Experts embellish them with demure arm swings and hand twists. Inthese variations they do not heed the elaborate interplay of voice andpercussion. J = 96=(I2A X* .» -«. eskdnye- old - S-C . ri wFiQUBE 8.—Women's Shuffle Dance.For all Women's Shuffle Dances, six to eight singers plus severalsmall boys sit face to face on two benches (Fenton, 1942, pp. 33-34).They invariably start on the highest note and maintain a strident "throwing" of the voice. The drummer always states the theme andthe chorus takes it up, repeating each song and gradually acceleratingtill the final cry. In the old type the form varies from AAA'A' tovarious combinations of AABAB. The drum plays an accenteddouble beat from beginnig to end. At times Joe Williams starts withan introductory tremolo. In the new type, the fundamental AABABform is elaborated by subthemes. Voices and sound effects combineby the following formula : Figure 8c : Aab—soloist ; even drum, rattle, and heel bumping.a—chorus ; drum and rattle tremolo, even heel bumping.b Bcb—chorus; even instrumental beat.Aa—chorus ; drum and rattle tremolo, even heel bumping.b Bcb—chorus ; uniform instrumental beat.Both ritual types follow similar precepts of scale and motif limita-tions (figs. 8a and 86). The Great Shuffle Dance is distinguished byintroductory songs to the corn. Chancey Johnny John precedes his 17dance songs with 14 such chants for men and later for mixed voices. No. 6] MUSIC AND DANCE^—KURATH 133Willie John of Sour Springs has taken some of these dance songs intohis old-time cycle (fig. 8a). But as a rule the extensive repertoireshows few repeats, even in the 12 available recordings. Each produc-tive singer produces new ones and teaches them during practice ses-sions in private homes and at Six Nations meetings. Though eachartist prefers his own inventions, James White of Onondaga Long-house has recorded songs composed by Chief David Jack of Six Na-tions Reserve and disseminated them in the Canadian longhouses,Allegany, and Cattaraugus."Except for corn references in the ritual introductions, the textsare burden syllables, with interpolated meaningful words.Figure 8 : a. AABBx—we'e yoging, we'e yoginp; weha'yoging yoho. (C. J. John, S.)6. (Not reproduced in entirety)—heyagoni ; heyahewe; yoha yohayoha'ahege; yoho. (Willie John, C.)c. X Aab Aab Bcb Acb Bcb x—heya yo'o; gwaiwanegen wase';Brand New ; heyadesontas gagongwedasee' ; ga' enawiya' ; So pay attention young girls (and enjoy It) ;heya he hai heho ; heho heho noheho ; heya hai.(Johua and George Buck, C.)Fish Dance{Figure 9)This important social couple dance has extended its popularity toinclusion in the Midwinter medicine rites. It differs from enskanyein function and ground plan, but resembles it in structure, percussive ^* Fi5h-0ld-C FiGUBE 9.—Fish Dance.pattern, and relation of old to new types. The two samples fromthe huge repertoires use burden syllables : Figure 9 : a. AABABx—wenoyanee weno'oyane wengyane; wenpyane yo'o wengyaye;henoyane wenoyane; yo'ho. (George Buck and EdStyres, 0.)b. AAB ABx—wengye heya; wengye'e'heya; we gayowe heya; wengye heya;wengye'e' heya; gaygwe wengye; heya ho. (Buck andStyres.) *• Annoancement on recording. 134 SYMPOSIUM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. B. Bull. 149Fish Dance songs strike a golden mean in the less conservative oldtype and less rhapsodic modern scales than found in enskanye. Atable for both cycles can best isolate the innovations and point theconformities. The compositions suggest Sioux models, but they alsohave prototypes in the individual songs of three Iroquois ceremonies,the archaic chants of the Women's Society of Planters, the less con-servative men's thanksgiving chants, and the individual songs of theshamans' curing rite. Chancey's curing solo (Ic) plunges down 12notes of the scale, yet preserves the core of the archaic scale and sequen-tially repeats one simple theme. The scales on figure 10 link thisceremonial composition with the bold sociable enskanye of today. No. 6] MUSIC AND DANCE—KURATH 135 0*c s 136 SYMPOSroM ON IROQUOIS CULTURE [B. A. E. BuU. 149to all ; yet the planning and conducting is in the hands of a chosengroup of male and female officials, the hono'ndiont.^^ Distinction isdetermined by ability. Any gifted musician may be called upon asaccompanist, according to his repertoire. Any gifted dancer candisplay his virtuosity. Yet never will the most erratic genius inventa tune or a step that is out of place. Never will the community adopta pattern that clashes with the native pattern, such as the Siouanclockwise circle ^* or the white man's squares. The conservative yetdemocratic ritual system frames adoptions and inventions.BIBLIOGRAPHYFenton, William N.1936. An outline of Seneca ceremonies at Coldspring Longhouse. Yale Univ.I^bl. in Anthrop., No. 9.1940. Masked medicine societies of the Iroquois. Ann. Rep. SmithsonianInst, for 1940, pp. 397-429.1941. Tonawanda Longhouse ceremonies: Ninety years after Lewis HenryMorgan. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 128, Anthrop. Pap., No. 15.1942. Songs from the Iroquois Longhouse : Program notes for an albumof American Indian music from the eastern woodlands. Smith-sonian Inst. Publ. 3691.1948. Seneca songs from Coldspring Longhouse. Library of Congress MusicDivision, Recording Laboratory (Program Notes to) Album 17.n. d. The Seneca Eagle Dance. (MS., Dissertation Yale Univ., 1937.)Gilbert, William H.1943. The Eastern Cherokee. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 133, Anthrop. Pap.,No. 23, pp. 169-413.KuBATH, Gertrude P.1949. Dance terms in Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend. Vol.1. Maria Leach, ed. New York.1950 a. A new method in dance notation. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 52, No. 1,pp. 120-123.1950 b. Dance terms in Dictionary of Folklore. Vol. 2. Maria Leach, ed.New Yoi'k.Mason, Bernard S.1944. Dances and stories of the American Indian. New York.Morgan, Lewis H.1901. The League of the Hode'nosaunee, or Iroquois. 1 vol., H. M. Lloyd,ed. (1st ed., 1851.) New York.Speck, Frank G.1909. Ethnology of the Yuchi Indians. Univ. Mus., Univ. Pa., Anthrop. Publ.,vol. 1, pp. 1-154. Phidadelphia.1911. Ceremonial songs of the Creek and Yuchi Indians. Univ. Pa., An-throp. Publ. Mus., vol. 1, pp. 155-245.1937. Oklahoma Delaware ceremonies, feasts, and dances. Mem. Amer.Phil. Soc, No. 7. Philadelphia.1940. Penobscot Man. Univ. Pa. Press. Philadelphia.1949. Midwinter rites of the Cayuga Long House. Univ. Pa. Press. Phila-delphia. ^' For an example, see Death Feast, this volume.^ Eurath, 1950 b, round dances. No. 6] MUSIC AND DANCE—KURATH 137Speck, Fbank G., and Herzog, Geokge.1942. The Tutelo spirit adoption ceremony. Pennsylvania Hist. Comm.Harrisburg.VOEQELIN, ErMINIE W.1942. Shawnee musical instruments. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 44, No. 3, pp.462-475. RECORDSFenton, William N.1942. Songs from the Iroquois Longhouse. Folk music of the United States,Album VI. Librai-y of Congress.1948. Seneca songs from Coldspring Longhouse. Folk music of the UnitedStates, Album XVII. Library of Congress.SONGS USED IN ILLUSTItcVTION ^^Figure 1 : a—L. C, 1941, 37A, song 23 (see I. L., 2B).6—L. C, 1941, 54A, song 32.c—L. C, 1941, 51B, song 7.Figure 2 : o—L. C, 1941, lOA, dance 3 (see I. L., 3A, dance 3 ; c, d—lOB, 1, 4).6—L. C, 1941, 42A, song 3 ; e-42A, 9.Figure 3a—L. C, 1941, 24B-25B, songs 4, 10, 14.6—L. C, 1941, 48B, songs 3, 9, 11 (see C. L. 5A).Figure 4Oa.—L. C, 1941, 24A, song 15 (see L L., 4B).S.—L. C, 1941, 56B, song 12.Figure 5o—L. C, 1945, 5A, song 12.6—L. C, 1941, 40B, song 19 (see L L., lA).Figure 6—L. C, 1945, 25B, 2 (S.) ; similar to L. C, 1941, 16B, song 2, I. L., 3B, 2.Figure 7a—Recorded by ear.&—Recorded by ear.c—L. C, 1941, SB, song 3 (see L L., 5B, 3) . d and e—L. C, 1945, 22B, songs 3 and 4.Figure 8 ; a—L. C, 1941, 44B, Songs 21 and 23.6—L. C, 1945, 21B, song 2 ; similar to 1941, 44B, song 24.Figure 9a—L. C, 1945, 13A, song 2.6—L. C, 1945, 12A, song 2. 5= Numbers refer to private and published collections. L. C.= Library of Congress;I. L.= Songs from Iroquois Longhouse; C. L.= Seneca songs from Coldspring Longhouse;Oa.= Onondaga ; S.= Seneca.