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
During the latter years of the nineteenth century a "Messiah" cult has
been introduced among the Pomo by the Wintun of the Sacramento Valley.
In comparatively recent times the "prophets" of this cult acquired
great importance and, while the cult flourished, to a certain extent
superseded the leaders of the old ceremonies. This cult first appeared
among the Pomo at Upper Lake, then at Sulphur Bank, then at Long
Valley, and finally in the Ukiah Valley. The function of the prophet,
or dreamer, as he is commonly styled by the Indians, was to have dreams
or waking visions concerning dances and other matters in which the
people were interested. The prophets were supposed to receive through
these visions direct revelations from presiding spirits, and the people
formerly gave much credit to their teachings. They virtually formed a
priesthood which replaced the old "captains" in the direction of all
ceremonial matters.
One of the characteristic features of this cult was the painted
designs upon the interior of the dance-house. The last truly primitive
dance-house of this type in the Pomo region was photographed by the
author in 1901, 1902, and is described and illustrated elsewhere.[27]
Another important feature was the erection before the dance-house of
a pole bearing banners and streamers decorated with the particular
designs which the priest had seen in his vision.
CONCLUSION
Pomo ceremonies were in general quite simple and the ceremonial life
was characterized by an absence (1) of any fixed ceremonial season
or sequence of ceremonies, and (2) of any extensive priesthood or
secret order controlling ceremonial matters. Some of the ceremonial
performances possessed certain esoteric features, such as initiation
rites and special restrictions on the part of the uninitiated.
We note the presence of a few fairly elaborate ceremonies and a
considerable number of dances, some of which were employed as integral
parts of certain ceremonies, others as merely incidental to them. These
dances usually followed one another without any definite order or
relation, though in certain cases definite dances were prescribed as
parts of given ceremonies.
One ceremony has a definite mythological background, but this has
been lost elsewhere. No myths are told today to account for the other
performances.
In most of the dances an indefinite number of both men and women might
participate. In two dances the number of performers of each sex was
definitely prescribed. In five, only men might participate, and two
were strictly women's dances. In other words, there is patent in Pomo
ceremonies a rather thorough going democracy regarding the positions of
the sexes.
_Transmitted September 21, 1916._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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