| Show THE IDEA BEHIND INDIAN DANCING By KARL YOUNG Unusually large attendance last night at the recital of Indian Dances in Kingsbury Hall evidenced a deep interest in the creative and just plain Indians on the of Summer Session students and Salt Lakers in An explanation of the significance of the-various types of Indian dances which was prepared by Karl Young of the B. U. I. ANIMAL DANCES A. Buffalo Danco The movements of this dance call to mind features of the the lumbering gallop of the fleeing and the swift pursuit of the It probably has deeper Back of most hunting there is a desire to propitiate the gods to whom both Indians and their the animals they were Back in the before Indians came up on the surface of the it was understood that animals must die for the good of their superior the Indian The dancers remind the gods of this old B. Eagle Dance No animal dance is more interesting to watch than this which is never performed by more than two men at one In order to do honor to the great bird who symbolizes and fierce the Indians mimic the eagle both in his magnificent soaring flight and in his peculiarly awkward movements on the By simulating his movements closely the Indians let the eagle know that they have observed him carefully and that they regard him with profound This dance also has healing for eagles are strong enough to cure SACRED DANCES Dance of the Sprouting Corn In this as in most of the important ceremonial the miracle of fertilization is The Indian looks upon whether of plant or animal with awe and He calls upon the male element of lightning and the female thunder to hear his prayer for he calls upon the sun to warm the damp soil and bring the corn shoots He carries in his hand a spray of symbol of He stamps vigorously on the great Earth Mother to make her aware of his thoughts and his The figures of the dance are repeated again and again until the thunder clouds roll up and bring the B. Sun Dance The Sun Dance is primarily a healing Each of has Its own particular ritual for this Noticeable as are such gestures as the stroking of the sunlight into the dancer's and and perhaps the most striking feature of the Plains Indians Sun Dance is that It involves from three to five days of complete abstinence from food or drink for all who expected to dance intermittently during this whole Among the Sioux sun dances were vowed by Indians in trouble who frequently lost all their possessions in paying for the great feast attendant upon the ceremony to which hundreds of Indians were likely to m. WAR DANCES A. Shield Dance In the old days the War Dance was a entered into with all Nowadays it is danced only by Indians interested in keeping alive an old tradition whose usefulness has It may take any number of may involve pantomime of actual combat between two or more warriors with bows and arrows or lances and or it may suggest war only in that it reveals the speed and endurance and physical prowess of the individual but in any there will probably be distinctly marked phases to the The first phase will be comparatively slow and accompanied by prayerful the fast and and the there is a very rapid and noisy accentuated by a sharp bark of the war B. Fast Dance This is one of the characteristic Plains Indians war There is much strutting and exhibition of strength and physical beauty in this With all his rosettes and bustles the warrior resembles the prairie cock when he spreads his feathers to strut and The dancer Imitates the bird's dance when he pauses to vibrate all DANCES FOR AMUSEMENT A. Although the Indians tell us that this is a dance which honor to the It is quite frankly humorous in There is in it a tribute to the hardy little Indian pony that passes up the shiny automobile stuck In the sand and takes his rider safely and surely and Always the costumes which the Indians wear are surprisingly symbolic of the themes of their even though there is only one feature in the costume to suggest the In the Horse-Tail Dance it Is a life-sized tail belted onto the Indian's The dancer cavorts around with unmistakably horsy movements which upon become too robust for the white man's delicate B. Hoop Dance Indians are as fond of sheer entertainment as other and the Hoop Dance provides them with an acrobatic performance which is especially Intriguing because its feats are performed to the accompaniment of a set rhythm and V. DANCES Bear Dance This is often looked upon as a mating for at Bear Dance time in the old days men who were looking for wives wore white robes or sheets to announce their candidacy as As in all social dances the women choose their partners for this and the festivities last for a full B. Circle Dance This Is a dance in which the whole tribe It is a simple but catchy enough to fool many white It serves the purpose of our except that it has more form and is more fun to it some |
