SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 1;\,*S ^ BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY "^'^ *'* ' lU BULLETIN 187 IROQUOIS MUSIC AND DANCE: CEREMONIAL ARTS OF TWO SENECA LONGHOUSES By GERTRUDE P. KURATH U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1964 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing OflSce Washington D.C.. 20402 - Price $1.50 (Paper) LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, B.C., March 30, 1962. Sir: I have the honor to submit the accompanying manuscript, entitled "Iroquois Music and Dance: Ceremonial Arts of Two Seneca Longhouses," by Gertrude P. Kurath, and to recommend that it be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Very respectfully yours, Frank H. H. Roberts, Jr., Director. Dr. Leonard Carmichael, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. \ CONTENTS PAGE Foreword xi The investigations xi The longhouses xiii Niawe _. xv Linguistic note xvi Pakt 1. Description and analysis 1 Introduction \ The longhouse and the people \ The study of the songs and dances 2 The dance cycles 4 Rituals addressed to the Creator 4 Great Feather Dance 4 Thanksgiving or drum dance 5 Individual chants of men 5 Rituals addressed to the midpantheon g Ashes stirring g Eagle Dance g Striking-the-stick (Pole) Dance 7 War Dance or Thunder Rite g Scalping Dance g Shamanistic cures addressed in part to animal spirits 9 False Face Company g Husk Faces or Bushy Heads 10 Medicine Company or Society of Shamans H Buffalo Society Dance songs 12 Bear Society Dance songs I3 Women's medicine societies 13 Dark Dance I3 Quavering 14 Changing-a-rib I5 Feast for the Dead I5 Rituals and dances addressed to the Food Spirits Ig Society of women planters Ig Women's ShufHe Dance Ig Corn Dance Ig Stomp or Trotting Dance I9 Hand-in-hand or Linking-arms Dance 20 Social Dances—stomp type 21 Shake-the-pumpkin or Shaking-the-jug 21 Garters Dance 21 Passenger Pigeon or Dove Dance 22 Duck Dance or Song 22 Shaking-the-bush or Naked Dance 22 Robin Dance . 23 in MITSSOiiai APR|,r^T^ ^ m\\\%mi 3 igg^: IV CONTENTS Part 1. Description and analysis—Continued The dance cycles—Continued page Social Dances—fish type 23 Fish Dance . 23 Raccoon Dance 24 Chicken Dance 25 Sharpen-a-stick 25 Choose-a-partner 25 Miscellany of songs not adequately recorded at Coldspring, but in Tonawanda series 25 Fishing 25 Cherokee Dance 25 Grinding-an-arrow 25 Knee-rattle and Devil Dance 25 Alligator 26 Marriage Dance 26 Musical analysis 27 The material 27 Performance 27 Instruments 27 Singing 27 Method of study 28 Transcription 28 Comparative procedure 29 Nucleus and development 29 TonaUty 29 Weighted scales 29 Focus 32 Composite scales 33 Progressions—intervals 33 Range or compass 34 Summary 35 Tempo 36 Rhythmic figures 36 Instruments 36 Melodies 37 Meter 40 Structure 40 Nuclear construction 40 Consecutive construction 42 Distribution 42 Manipulation 43 One or two themes 43 Pattern analysis 44 Contours 44 Types of antiphony 45 Interlonghouse variation and personal creativity 46 Summary 49 Choreographic analysis 50 Performance 50 The setting 50 Participation 50 CONTENTS V Part 1. Description and analysis—Continued Choreographic analysis—Continued page Methods of study 51 Transcription 51 Comparative procedure 51 Ground plans 51 Rounds 52 Straight lines 54 Distribution 54 Steps 56 Walk 56 Side stomp 56 Forward stomp 56 Pat-step or step-pat 56 False Face round 56 Fish Dance step 56 Feather Dance step 57 Drum Dance step 57 Women's Feather Dance step 57 Women's Shuffle 57 Jump-kick 57 Crouching hop 57 Body action 57 Relationship of action to music 58 Function and form 60 Choreographic and musical grouping 60 Time dimension 61 The relation of musical patterns to present ritual functions 62 Physiology and psychology of performance 63 Ecologj^ and mime 65 Mammals 65 Buffalo 65 Bear 66 Birds 67 Eagle 67 Duck 68 Passenger pigeon 69 Robin 69 Fish 69 Functional change 70 Artistry 71 Focus 71 Interaction 71 Structuralism 71 Tradition and flexibility 72 Solemnity and gaiety 72 Realism and stylization 72 Appendix 73 Singers and their longhouses and dates of recording 73 Names of dances and rites 73 Bibliography 75 VI CONTENTS PAGE Part 2. Songs and texts of coldspring longhouse 101 Texts 101 Dance script 101 Rituals addressed to the Creator 101 Rituals addressed to the Midpantheon 103 Shamanistic cures 103 Women's Medicine Societies 110 Rituals addressed to the Food Spirits 111 Social dances—Stomp type 112 Social dances —Fish type 112 Part 3. Songs and texts of tonawanda longhouse 193 Rituals addressed to the Creator 193 Rituals addressed to the Midpantheon 193 Shamanistic cures 193 Women's Medicine Societies 195 Rituals addressed to the Food Spirits 195 Social dances—Stomp type 196 Social dances—Fish type 196 Miscellan y of songs 196 Tables 1. Dance function and musical characteristics 41 2. Dance function and choreography 55 . ILLUSTRATIONS Plates (All plates follow page 260) 1. Fanny Stevens, a Faithkeeper, and Chauncey Johnny John, a singer. 2. Albert Jones, a singer, with horn rattle. Two water drums on ground. 3. Chiefs and singers at Green Corn Festival. Photographs by W. N. Fenton. Figures (Designed by author) PART 1. DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS PAGE 1 Scales 79 2. Scales 80 3. Scales 81 4. Rhythmic figures 82 5. Rhythmic figures 83 6. Rhythmic figures 84 7. Rhythmic figures 85 8. Rhythmic figures 86 9. Rhji;hmic figures 87 1 0. Contours 88 11. Rounds: One sex 89 12. Rounds: Sexes segregated 90 13. Rounds: Sexes alternate 91 14. Rounds: Paired, double file 92 15. Rounds: Side twist, double stomp type 93 16. Feather dance 94 17. Fish dance type 95 18. Straight lines _ 96 19. Stick figures of False Faces and Wasase War dancers 97 20. Steps : Stomp and fish types 98 21. Steps: Women's, men's 99 22. Jumps and kicks, and musical symbols 100 PART 2. SONGS AND TEXTS OF COLDSPRING LONGHOUSE (*=With dance script excerpts) RITUALS ADDRESSED TO THE CREATOR NUMBER OF SONGS PAGE 23-27. Great Feather Dance* 34 113-117 28-30. Drum Dance 15 + 6 118-120 31. Adonwe 6 121 RITUALS ADDRESSED TO THE MIDPANTHEON 32-35. Eagle Dance 18 122-125 36. Sun Rite (Striking-the-stick) 4 126 37-38. War Dance (Wasase) 7 127-128 38. Scalp Dance 2 128 VIII ILLUSTRATIONS PART 2. SONGS AND TEXTS OF COLDSPRING LONGHOUSE>— Con. SHAMANISTIC CURES NUMBER OF SONGS PAGE 39-40. False Face Dance* 20 129-131 41. Husk Face Dance 3 131 42-48. Hadi'idos* 64 132-138 49-50. Buffalo Dance 9 + 6 139-140 51-52. Bear Dance* 11 141-142 women's medicine societies 53-59. Dark Dance 16 + 34 + 24-__ 143-149 60-62. Quavering* 34 150-152 63-68. Changing-a-rib 42 163-158 RITUALS ADDRESSED TO THE FOOD SPIRITS 69-70. Towisas 9 + 2 159-160 70-71. Old Enskanye 5 + 9 160-161 72-75. Enskanyegowa 27 162-165 76-77. New Women's Shuffle* 7 166-167 78-79. Corn Dance* 6 168-169 79-82. Hand-in-Hand Dance 3 + 13 169-172 SOCIAL DANCES STOMP TYPE 83-85. Trotting Dance* 12 + 3 173-175 rShake-the-pumpkin 2 + 2 176 iGtirters Dance 2 176 87. Pigeon Dance* 3 177 88. Duck Dance* 1 178 89-90. Shaking-a-bush* 7 179-180 91-92. Robin Dance* 6+1 181-182 SOCIAL DANCES FISH TYPE 93. Fish Dance* 7 183 94-96. Raccoon Dance* 18 184-186 97. Chicken Dance* 8 187 98. Sharpen-a-stick 8 188 99. Choose-a-partner 7 189 100. Fish, Raccoon, Sharpen-a-stick, 1933 9 190 101. Marriage Dance 8 191 PART 3. SONGS AND TEXTS OF TONAWANDA LONGHOUSE RITUALS ADDRESSED TO THE CREATOR 102. Feather Dance 7 197 103-104. Drum Dance 13 + 2 198-199 105. Adonw? 5 200 RITUALS ADDRESSED TO THE MIDPANTHEON 106. Dawn Song 4 201 107-108. Eagle Dance 10 202-203 109. Sun Rite 3 204 110-111. War Dance 8 206 ILLUSTRATIONS IX PART 3. SONGS AND TEXTS OF TONAWANDA LONGHOUSE—Con. SHAMANISTIC CURES NUMBER OP SONGS PAGE 112-115. FalseFaces 13 + 6 + 6 207-210 114-115. Husk Faces 2 + 2 210 116. Yeidos 5 211 117-118. Buffalo Dance 3 + 5 212-213 119-121. Bear Dance 5 + 6 214-216 women's medicine societies 122-123. DarkDance 6 217-218 124-125. Quavering 9 + 4 219-220 126-130. Changing-a-rib 18 221-225 131-133. Ohgiwe and Carry-out-the-kettle 13 226-228 RITUALS ADDRESSED TO THE FOOD SPIRITS 134-135. OldEnskanye 10+1 229-230 136. Women's Food Dance (enskanyegowa) 5 231 137-138. New Enskanye 8 232-233 139-140. Corn Dance 9 + 2 234-235 141-144. Hand-in-hand Dance 9 + 11 236-2S9 SOCIAL DANCES STOMP TYPE 145. Trotting Dance 6 240 146-147. Garters Dance 8 241-242 148-149. Pigeon Dance 6 243-244 149. Duck Dance 1 244 150-151. Shaking-a-bush 6 245-246 152. Robin Dance 3 247 SOCIAL DANCES FISH TYPE 153. Fish Dance—Old 6 248 154. Raccoon Dance 4 249 155. Chicken Dance 5 250 156. Sharpen-a-stick 3 + 2 251 157. Choose-a-partner 5 252 MISCELLANY 158. Alligator Dance 1 253 158. Fishing 2 253 159. Knee-rattle Dance 4 254 fGrind-an-arrow 2 255 160. "IDelaware Skin Beating Dance 3 255 161. Devil Dance 6 256 162. Story Songs 2 257 162-163. Moccasin Game 8 257-258 164. Show Songs 5 259 FOREWORD The music in this volume includes only a segment of recorded Iroquois songs.