Ceremonies of the Pomo IndiansBarrett, S. A. (Samuel Alfred)
Religion
Ceremonies of the Pomo Indians
Barrett, S. A. (Samuel Alfred)
Pomo Indians -- Social life and customs; Pomo dance
_hō´hō ke._--The hōh´ō or hō´hōwa dance, which may
be taken as a type of many of those dances which follow, lasted from
one-half to three-quarters of an hour and could be danced at any time
of year. The men were dressed as follows: The lower part of the face
(i.e., below a line running from just under the ear to a point just
under the nose) was painted black. A black band, about four fingers in
width, ran from each of the acromia to the sternum. Four similar bands
encircled each arm, two above and two below the elbow, while four such
bands were placed upon each leg. Upon the head each man wore a feather
tuft, a yellow-hammer feather forehead-band and a pair of trembler
plumes, and upon the back a feather skirt. Each dancer carried a bone
whistle also.
Each woman wore a feather tuft and the usual woman's forehead-band.
In each hand she carried a small bunch of shredded tule. These
bundles, called kato´hle (E), were made by tying together at one end
several stems, perhaps six or eight inches long, and then shredding
the loose ends with a basketry awl. This dance was a very lively one
and took its name, as did several others, from some of the words
of the song accompanying it. Part of the burden of this song is a
high-keyed "hō, hō, hō, hō ..." very rapidly spoken by the
burden-singers in unison.
The music was provided by a head singer, several burden-singers, and a
drummer. Each of the singers used a split-stick rattle.
_cō´kin ke._--The cō´kin dance was very similar, in many
respects, to the hō´hō ke. One informant said that the dress and
painting were exactly the same, except that the upper arm and thigh
bore one painted band each, instead of two as in the hō´hō ke.
_dūtū´ka ke._--The same might be said of the dūtū´ka ke
(C), or dūtū´ga xe (E). The dress of the men was identical with
that of the hō´hō-dancers. The men used no whistles. The women
wore the regular woman's forehead-band. From one to perhaps eight or
ten persons danced at once, and the dance had no stated duration. As
one informant expressed it, they simply danced until they were tired.
_ya´ya ke._--Little could be learned concerning the ya´ya dance, except
that it was danced by both men and women, and that the painting and
attire were the same as for the hō´hō. The feather skirt was
worn, but no whistle was used.
_yō´ ke._--The men decorated themselves for this dance as for the
hō´hō dance, except that there were three stripes around the arm
instead of four, and with the addition of some down scattered over
their heads and faces. Each woman had a narrow, black line running down
the chin and a similar line running out from each corner of the mouth
toward the ear. Otherwise her decorations consisted of a feather tuft
and a yellow-hammer feather forehead-band. A considerable number of men
and women sang, each keeping time with a split-stick rattle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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