{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_47446/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_47446","id":"gutenberg_47446","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47446","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - American","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Pomo Indians -- Social life and customs","Pomo dance"],"text":"TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES\n\n  Compared to the original, some alterations were made:\n  Typos\n    -The word \"greal\" was changed to \"great\" [page 427].\n    -The word \"somewhow\" was changed to \"somehow\" [page 428].\n    -Price in List of Publications is missing in Volume 6, Edition 2.\n    A Question mark was added.\n  Readability\n    -All footnotes were moved to the end of the chapter. Because of this\n    repositioning, Footnote 10 refers to Page 414 with the phrase\n    See below, which, in this version, should be: See above.\n    -Em-dashes were added to empty spots of transliterated text for\n    clarity [page 412]. These are not in the original.\n  Consistency\n    -Inconsistencies in spelling were retained. However, The em-dash in\n    the Section Heading called Fire Eating [Page 418] was deleted to\n    make it correspond to the Table of Contents (no em-dash there!)\n    [Page 397].\n\n\n\n\n  =UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS=\n\n  =IN=\n\n  =AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY=\n\n\n  Vol. 12, No. 10, pp. 397-441, 8 text-figures       July 6, 1917\n\n\n\n\n\n  =CEREMONIES OF THE POMO INDIANS=\n\n\n\n  BY\n\n\n  S.A. BARRETT\n\n\n\n\n\n  UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS\n\n  BERKELEY\n\n\n\n\nUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS\n\nDEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY\n\n\nThe following publications dealing with archaeological and ethnological\nsubjects issued under the direction of the Department of Anthropology\nare sent in exchange for the publications of anthropological\ndepartments and museums, and for journals devoted to general\nanthropology or to archaeology and ethnology. They are for sale at the\nprices stated. Exchanges should be directed to The Exchange Department,\nUniversity Library, Berkeley, California, U.S.A. All orders and\nremittances should be addressed to the University of California Press.\n\nEuropean agent for the series in American Archaeology and Ethnology,\nClassical Philology, Education, Modern Philology, Philosophy, and\nSemitic Philology, Otto Harrassowitz, Leipzig. For the series in\nBotany, Geology, Pathology, Physiology, Zoology and also American\nArchaeology and Ethnology, R. Friedlaender & Sohn, Berlin.\n\n    AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY.--A.L. Kroeber, Editor. Prices,\n Volume 1, $4.25; Volumes 2 to 11, inclusive, $3.50 each; Volume 12 and\n following $5.00 each.\n\n               Cited as Univ. Calif. Publ. Am. Arch. Ethn.         Price\n\n  Vol. 1.  1. Life and Culture of the Hupa, by Pliny Earle\n                Goddard. Pp. 1-88; plates 1-30. September, 1903    $1.25\n           2. Hupa Texts, by Pliny Earle Goddard. Pp. 89-368.\n                March, 1904                                         3.00\n                  Index, pp. 369-378.\n  Vol. 2.  1. The Exploration of the Potter Creek Cave, by William\n                J. Sinclair. Pp. 1-27; plates 1-14. April, 1904      .40\n           2. The Languages of the Coast of California South of\n           San Francisco, by A.L. Kroeber. Pp. 29-80, with a map.\n                June, 1904                                           .60\n           3. Types of Indian Culture in California, by A.L.\n                Kroeber. Pp. 81-103. June, 1904                      .25\n           4. Basket Designs of the Indians of Northwestern\n                California, by A.L. Kroeber. Pp. 105-164; plates\n                15-21. January, 1905                                 .75\n           5. The Yokuts Language of South Central California, by\n                A.L. Kroeber. Pp. 165-377. January, 1907            2.25\n                  Index, pp. 379-392.\n  Vol. 3.  1. The Morphology of the Hupa Language, by Pliny Earle\n                Goddard. 344 pp. June, 1905                         3.50\n  Vol. 4.  1. The Earliest Historical Relations between Mexico\n                and Japan, from original documents preserved in\n                Spain and Japan, by Zelia Nuttall.\n                Pp. 1-47. April, 1906                                .50\n           2. Contribution to the Physical Anthropology of\n                California, based on collections in the Department\n                of Anthropology of the University of California,\n                and in the U.S. National Museum, by Ales Hrdlicka.\n                Pp. 49-64, with 5 tables; plates 1-10, and map.\n                June, 1906                                           .75\n           3. The Shoshonean Dialects of California, by A.L.\n                Kroeber. Pp. 65-166. February, 1907                 1.50\n           4. Indian Myths from South Central California, by A.L.\n                Kroeber. Pp. 167-250. May, 1907                      .75\n           5. The Washo Language of East Central California and\n                Nevada, by A.L. Kroeber. Pp. 251-318. September,\n                1907                                                 .75\n           6. The Religion of the Indians of California, by A.L.\n                Kroeber. Pp. 319-356. September, 1907                .50\n                  Index, pp. 357-374.\n  Vol. 5.  1. The Phonology of the Hupa Language; Part I, The\n                Individual Sounds, by Pliny Earle Goddard. Pp.\n                1-20, plates 1-8. March, 1907                        .35\n           2. Navaho Myths, Prayers and Songs, with Texts and\n                Translations, by Washington Matthews, edited by\n                Pliny Earle Goddard. Pp. 21-63. September, 1907      .75\n           3. Kato Texts, by Pliny Earle Goddard. Pp. 65-238,\n                plate 9. December, 1909                             2.50\n           4. The Material Culture of the Klamath Lake and Modoc\n                Indians of Northeastern California and Southern\n                Oregon, by S.A. Barrett. Pp. 239-292, plates\n                10-25. June, 1910                                    .75\n           5. The Chimariko Indians and Language, by Roland B.\n                Dixon. Pp. 293-380. August, 1910                    1.00\n                  Index, pp. 381-384.\n  Vol. 6.  1. The Ethno-Geography of the Pomo and Neighboring\n                Indians, by Samuel Alfred Barrett. Pp. 1-332, maps\n                1-2. February, 1908                                 3.25\n           2. The Geography and Dialects of the Miwok Indians, by\n                Samuel Alfred Barrett. Pp. 333-368, map 3.             ?\n           3. On the Evidence of the Occupation of Certain Regions\n                by the Miwok Indians, by A.L. Kroeber. Pp. 369-380.\n                Nos. 2 and 3 in one cover. February, 1908             .50\n                  Index, pp. 381-400.\n\n\n\n\nUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS\n\nIN\n\nAMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY\n\n  Vol. 12, No. 10, pp. 397-441, 8 text-figures           July 6, 1917\n\n\nCEREMONIES OF THE POMO INDIANS\n\nBY\n\nS.A. BARRETT\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                                 PAGE\n\n  Introduction                                                    397\n\n  Ceremonial organization                                         398\n\n      Officials                                                   399\n\n      General Features of the Pomo Ceremonies                     401\n\n      Invitations to Ceremonies                                   402\n\n  The Ghost or Devil Ceremony                                     403\n\n      Stephen Powers on the Ghost Dance                           404\n\n      The Ghost Ceremony Proper                                   406\n\n      Fire Eating                                                 418\n\n      The Purification Rite                                       421\n\n      Summary of the Principal Features of the Ghost Ceremony     422\n\n  The Guksu Ceremony                                              423\n\n      The Scarifying Ceremony                                     425\n\n      Stephen Powers on the Guksu Ceremony                        427\n\n      Completion of the Guksu Ceremony                            429\n\n      Treatment of Disease                                        430\n\n  Dances                                                          431\n\n      Dances in which Men and Women Participated                  433\n\n      Dances in which only Men performed                          438\n\n      Dances in which only Women performed                        439\n\n      Additional Dances                                           440\n\n  The Messiah Cult                                                440\n\n  Conclusion                                                      441\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nIt has been at least twenty years since the last of the Pomo\nceremonies was held in a truly aboriginal fashion. Elaborate ceremonies\nof a more recently introduced \"Messiah\" cult were held as late as\nperhaps fifteen years ago, but these \"Messiah\" ceremonies contain\nonly a few features common to the indigenous tribal observances.\nDances are even yet to be seen in connection with some celebrations,\nprincipally on the Fourth of July, but there now remains so little\nthat is really primitive about these that they are virtually worthless\nto the student. Information obtained through direct observation is at\npresent, therefore, impossible, and we must depend for our knowledge of\nPomo ceremonies and ceremonial organization upon the statements of the\nolder men, and particularly those concerned with such matters in former\ndays. From such sources rather full information concerning some of the\nceremonies and dances is obtainable, but, under the circumstances, it\nis impossible to secure exhaustive data concerning all of them. In\nmany instances informants recall only a few of the details of a given\nceremony or dance. Sometimes only its name is remembered. Doubtless\neven the recollection of some ceremonies and dances has been lost.\n\nDuring a residence in the Pomo region from 1892 to 1904 the existing\nvestiges of some of these Pomo ceremonies were observed whenever\npossible, but no attempt at a systematic collection of data on the\nsubject was made until 1903 and 1904, when this work was undertaken\nin conjunction with the collection of Pomo myths, as part of the\ninvestigations of the Ethnological and Archaeological Survey of\nCalifornia, maintained by the Department of Anthropology of the\nUniversity of California through the generosity of Mrs. Phoebe A.\nHearst. This information was obtained from informants of three Pomo\ndialects--Northern, Central, and Eastern. Where a native term is used\nin the following pages, therefore, the dialect is indicated by N, C, or\nE, in parentheses directly after it. The phonetic system employed is\nfully explained in \"The Ethno-Geography of the Pomo Indians.\"[1]\n\n\n\n\nCEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION\n\n\nThe ceremonial organization of the Pomo was very loose. There was\nno secret society of importance, as there was among the Maidu and\npresumably among the neighboring Wintun, and no organized priesthood\nvested with control over ceremonies. The ordinary chiefs, however (or\n\"captains,\" as they are more often called), were prominently concerned\nwith all ceremonies, and there were other officials in charge of\nparticular rites. We may begin therefore by mentioning the various\nofficials in the order of their importance.\n\n\nOFFICIALS\n\nAs has been elsewhere pointed out,[2] the social organization of the\nPomo is based primarily upon blood relationship, the blood relatives\nwho resided in a definite village grouping themselves into a political\nunit under the leadership of an hereditary \"captain.\" Usually several\nof these consanguineal units comprise a village, and their captains\nform its governing body. From among these the people elect a head\ncaptain. Not even the head captain has absolute authority, nor has\nany captain important judicial power, or power to inflict punishment.\nIn short, the function of the captain is primarily that of adviser to\nthe group. The special duties of the head captain in olden times were\nto welcome and entertain visitors from other villages, and to meet in\ncouncil with the other captains concerning matters of general public\nwelfare, and to arrange for and preside over ceremonies.\n\nWhat may be termed an honorary captainship was accorded any man who,\nthrough his wealth or his prowess as a hunter, made himself very\npopular by providing large quantities of food and numerous feasts for\nthe people. A similar honorary office, that of female captain, da\u00b4\nxalik (E), was based upon a woman's popularity, which depended in\nturn on her good-heartedness and her fame as a cook. Neither of these\nhonorary offices, however, was hereditary. In spite of the ambiguous\nnature of the office, incumbents were accorded great respect at\nceremonies and other public functions.\n\nThe other officials had duties almost, if not quite, exclusively\nconnected with ceremonies and had nothing directly to do with\ngovernmental affairs. We may recognize the fire-tenders, the head\nsingers, the chorus singers, the drummers, and the masters of\nceremonies. Such offices were considered very honorable and were,\nas a rule, hereditary. This was particularly true of the offices of\nfire-tender, head singer, and drummer, in which the succession followed\nprecisely the same rules as did the chieftainship.\n\nThe fire-tenders, called me\u00b4dze (N) and la\u00b4imoc (E), were officials\nof very great importance. Connected with each of the large,\nsemi-subterranean \"dance-houses\"[3] there were two fire-tenders,\nwho saw to all matters concerning the fire and the preparation of\nthe dance-house except actually procuring the firewood. All the men\nparticipating in the ceremony were supposed to bring wood, which\nthey placed just outside the dance-house. One of the fire-tenders\nthen carried it up and dropped it through the smoke-hole, while the\nother stacked it in ricks in the proper places within the house. As\nremuneration for their labor, they received the beads which were thrown\nat the dancers[4] by the people during the ceremony and which were\nswept up when the dance-house was cleaned.\n\nThe head singer, called ke\u00b4 kai tca (C) and ke\u00b4\u016bya (E), was a man\nof great importance in ceremonies, though he was very inconspicuous.\nIt was his duty to plan previously the proper sequence of the dances\nand songs, and it was also his duty to start all songs and to carry the\nair. The head singer had to possess a very good voice, and had to make\nit his business to know the songs for the various ceremonies. Now and\nthen he was at a loss for the proper song for a particular occasion.\nHe was allowed to consult some other singer, or, upon occasion, he\nmight ask for suggestions from the audience. Any one who knew a song\nwhich fitted the occasion might come to the head singer and sing it for\nhim in an undertone, until he caught it and was ready to lead in the\nsinging. As a rule he kept time with a split-stick rattle, or a rattle\nmade of cocoons.\n\nThe chorus or burden-singers, called skam (E), gave volume to the music\nand marked time with their split-stick rattles, hai mitamitaka (N).\nTheir usual burden was \"he, he, he, he, ...\" sung in a heavy monotone.\n\nThe drummers, called ts\u012blo\u00b4 ga\u016bk (E), ts\u012blo\u00b4 tca (C), and\nts\u012blo\u00b4 mat\u016bts\u012b (E), were always two in number, and as a rule\nthey took turns in playing the large wooden drum which was set in the\nground at the rear of the dance-house, and which was beaten by the\nstamping of the feet. The office of drummer was considered one of the\nmost important, and second only to that of fire-tender.\n\nThe master of ceremonies, called xab\u0113\u00b4 dima (E), xab\u0113\u00b4ga\u016bk\n(E), and he\u00b4l\u012bma (C), started and stopped all songs and dances by\ncertain signals. The participants in the dance usually maintained\ncertain positions, but the master of ceremonies ran about from place\nto place supervising the activities and giving directions as required.\nHis presence was absolutely necessary at all ceremonies, and without\nhim a dance could not proceed. He acted under the general direction\nof the head captain, but that official himself never served as master\nof ceremonies. Very rarely did the same individual serve as master\nof ceremonies and head singer. While as a rule the drummers and the\nsingers wore no special dress for ceremonial occasions, the masters\nof ceremonies were almost always painted and dressed according to\ndifferent requirements for each ceremony (see below). They were usually\namong the dancers who impersonated supernatural beings.\n\n\nGENERAL FEATURES OF POMO CEREMONIES\n\nA ceremony always centered about the dance-house,[5] and lasted four\nnights, or some multiple of four, beginning usually soon after sunset.\nIn the case of the \"ghost ceremony,\" which began at sunrise, the\npreceding night was spent in performing other dances. Such ceremonies\nwere made up of a varying number of dances.\n\nThere was usually no prescribed sequence, but the ceremony took the\nname of the dance which was its special feature, though this need not\nnecessarily open the ceremony. In a few instances it was recognized\nthat certain dances should be performed together.\n\nA ceremony consisted of (1) an introductory procedure, accompanied by\nmore or less ritual, such as the initiation of the children through\nthe g\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b ceremony (see below, p. 425); (2) a series of dances;\n(3) a series of speeches by officials and men of importance concerning\nthe religious life or other matters of public interest; (4) a final\npurification rite; and (5) various feasts, particularly one held in the\nmorning after the final night of the ceremony.\n\nThere were certain special ceremonies, such as the g\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b\nceremony, in which a definite opening procedure was required, but after\nthis almost any desired dance might be held at any time, day or night,\nthroughout the duration of the ceremonial period. The procedure of the\nfinal night of the ceremony was also usually fixed.\n\nThe principal ceremonies of the Pomo were:\n\nThe xahl\u016b\u00b4\u012bgax xaik\u012blgaiag\u012bba[6] (the \"ghost\" or \"devil\"\nceremony).\n\nThe kal\u012bmat\u014dt\u014d xaik\u012blgaiag\u012bba (the thunder ceremony).\n\nThe g\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b xaik\u012blgaiag\u012bba.\n\nThe da\u00b4ma xaik\u012blgaiag\u012bba.\n\n\nINVITATIONS TO CEREMONIES\n\nThe captains of the village discussed with other important men the\nquestion of holding a ceremony, just as they discussed other matters\nrelating to the general public good. Having agreed upon the date and\nother details, the head captain usually walked through the village\ndelivering an oration, as was customary upon occasions of importance,\nin which he announced to the people the decision of their captains.\nThis oration might, however, be delivered as he stood before the door\nof his own house or before the door of the dance-house.\n\nInvitations were then sent to the people of other villages to attend\nthe ceremony. This was done by means of a special invitation string.\nWormwood or willow sticks about two inches in length were tied, each\nseparately, into a short string, the number of sticks being equal,\naccording to some informants, to the number of days intervening before\nthe ceremony was to begin, usually not fewer than two or more than\neight. Other informants stated that this number was equal to these\nintervening days plus the number of days during which the ceremony was\nto be held. For instance, if a four-day ceremony was to begin four days\nhence, these being the usual numbers in both instances, eight sticks\nwere tied into the invitation string. According to another informant,\nif the number of sticks was from two to five, the guests were invited\nfor the first of two or more ceremonies. If six or more sticks were\npresent, they were to come for a later ceremony. This latter, however,\nseems to be rather improbable. To one end of the string was tied, as\nan ornament, a small section of forehead-band made of yellow-hammer\nfeathers. This string might be presented as such, but frequently it was\ntied to the end of a wand about two feet long. Its general name among\nthe Central Pomo was haidel. Before sending, it was called ha'ieb\u016b;\nafter it had been sent out, it was termed ha'idaka\u016b.\n\nA messenger took this string or wand to the captain of the village\ninvited and, if it was necessary for him to make a journey of any\nconsiderable length, he broke off a stick for each day of his journey.\nAccording to most informants, he simply delivered the string to the\nhead captain of the invited village and immediately returned home\nwith the message of acceptance from that village. According to one\ninformant, however, he remained as the guest of the head captain, and\nhimself broke a stick each day from the invitation string and finally\nconducted the visitors to the ceremony.\n\nAs a rule, visitors arrived at least one day before the ceremony\nbegan, but they never entered the village itself until the morning of\nthe first ceremonial day, making camp meanwhile at some convenient\nspot within a short distance. The visitors collected a present of a\nconsiderable number of shell beads, which was carried by their head\ncaptain as he led them into the village. Some, at least, of the younger\nmen among the visitors attired themselves in their dance costumes and\ndanced into the village, usually following a little apart from the rest\nof their people.\n\nAs soon as the visitors appeared in sight, a watchman, stationed on\nthe roof of the dance-house, gave notice to the head captain, who was\ninside. He at once came out and, taking a position directly in front\nof the dance-house, delivered a short oration inviting the visitors to\nenter and making them welcome. As the visitors entered each group was\nassigned to its particular position in the dance-house, and all seated\nthemselves with their head captain, captains, fire-tenders, and other\nofficials in front. When the head captain of the host village finally\nentered the dance-house, which was not until after all the visitors\nhad taken their seats, he was called by the visiting head captain to\ntheir position. The visiting head captain then made a short speech of\npresentation and gave the beads to the host head captain, who made, in\nreturn, a second and more lengthy speech of welcome. He then took these\nbeads to his own house, and they were later divided among his people. A\npresent of equal value was returned to the visitors, either immediately\nor at some time before the close of the ceremony.\n\nThis formality of welcome over, some dance might be held at once\nor the guests and hosts might enjoy a general visit. If one of the\nsecret ceremonies was to be held, all the women and children and the\nuninitiated men retired from the dance-house before it commenced.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Present series, VI, pp. 51-54.\n\n[2] \"The Ethno-Geography of the Pomo and Neighboring Indians,\" present\nseries, VI, pp. 15-17.\n\n[3] An article by the present writer called \"Pomo Buildings,\" in the\n_Holmes Memorial Volume_, fully describes these structures, which\nwere erected especially for ceremonial purposes and which formed the\nreligious centers of Pomo villages.\n\n[4] The reason for the throwing of the beads is as follows: Pomo\ncustom prescribes a period of mourning lasting one year. If a dancer\nso far forgets his sorrow as actively to participate in a ceremony\nof this kind before the expiration of the prescribed mourning period\nafter the death of a friend or relative some atonement is required.\nIt is customary under such circumstances for some one in the audience\nto throw some loose shell-beads at the dancer, these being evidently\nintended as an offering to the spirits and having nothing directly to\ndo with the dancer himself.\n\n[5] For a description of this large semi-subterranean structure see\n\"Pomo Buildings,\" by the present author in the _Holmes Anniversary\nVolume_.\n\n[6] These words are in the Eastern Pomo dialect.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GHOST OR DEVIL CEREMONY\n\n\nThis ceremony was perhaps the most important of the four-day ceremonies\nof the Pomo. It was usually held in the spring and was witnessed only\nby properly initiated men, never by women or children. The uninitiated\nmen, as well as the women and children, were much afraid of these\ndancers and kept a very respectful distance when they entered the\nvillage. This was due to the belief that to approach closely would\nproduce serious illness.\n\nSuch esoteric ceremonies are unusual among the Pomo, though they occur\namong other California tribes. As examples might be mentioned the Hesi\nceremony among the Wintun and Maidu, especially among the Maidu, who\nhave a definite secret society.\n\n\nSTEPHEN POWERS ON THE GHOST DANCE\n\nThe ghost dance of the Pomo has been attributed by Powers[7] to a\nsecret society. In speaking of the subject of chastity among the Pomo,\nhe describes a \"devil-raising\" ceremony conducted by what he terms\na \"secret society\" which had several branches in the various Pomo\nvillages. His description of this ceremony is given from information\nobtained by him from an old resident closely connected with the Indians\nof the region in early days, and, while his assumptions and deductions\nare in many respects incorrect, it is plainly a description of the\nghost dance.\n\nAfter speaking of the \"secret society ... whose simple purpose is to\nconjure up infernal terrors and render each other assistance in keeping\ntheir women in subjection,\" Powers says:[8]\n\n Their meetings are held in an assembly-house erected especially for\n the purpose, constructed of peeled pine-poles. It is painted red,\n black, and white (wood color) on the inside in spiral stripes reaching\n from the apex to the ground. Outside it is thatched and covered with\n earth. When they are assembled in it there is a doorkeeper at the\n entrance who suffers no one to enter unless he is a regular member,\n pledged to secrecy. Even Mr. Potter, though a man held in high honor\n by them, was not allowed to enter, though they offered to initiate\n him, if he desired. They do not scruple to avow to Americans who\n are well acquainted with them, and in whose discretion they have\n confidence, that their object is simply to \"raise the devil,\" as they\n express it, with whom they pretend to hold communication; and to carry\n on other demoniacal doings, accompanied by frightful whooping and\n yelling, in order to work on the imaginations of the erring squaws, no\n whit more guilty than themselves.\n\n Once in seven years these secret woman-tamers hold a grand devil-dance\n (cha-du-el-keh), which is looked forward to by the women of the\n tribe with fear and trembling as the scourging visit of the dreadful\n Yu-ku-ku-la (the devil). As this society has its ramifications among\n the many Pomo tribes, this great dance is held one septennium in one\n valley, another in another, and so on through the circuit of the\n branch societies.\n\n Every seven years, therefore, witnesses the construction of an\n immense assembly-house which is used for this special occasion only. I\n have seen the ruins of one which was reared in Potter Valley somewhere\n about the year 1860. The pit, or cellar, which made a part of it was\n circular, sixty-three feet in diameter and about six feet deep, and\n all the enormous mass of earth excavated from it was gouged up with\n small, fire-hardened sticks and carried away in baskets by both men\n and women, chiefly men. It was about eighteen feet high in the center,\n and the roof was supported on five posts, one a center pole and four\n others standing around it, equidistant from it and the perimeter of\n the pit. Timbers from six to nine inches in diameter were laid from\n the edge of the pit to the middle posts, and from these to the center\n pole. Over these were placed grass and brush, and the whole was\n heavily covered with earth. Allowing four square feet of space to each\n person, such a structure would contain upward of seven hundred people.\n In their palmy days hundreds and even thousands of Indians attended\n one of these grand dances.\n\n When the dance is held, twenty or thirty men array themselves in\n harlequin rig and barbaric paint and put vessels of pitch on their\n heads; then they secretly go out into the surrounding mountains.\n These are to personify the devils. A herald goes up to the top of the\n assembly-house and makes a speech to the multitude. At a signal agreed\n upon in the evening the masqueraders come in from the mountains,\n with the vessels of pitch flaming on their heads, and with all the\n frightful accessories of noise, motion, and costume which the savage\n mind can devise in representation of demons. The terrified women and\n children flee for life, the men huddle them into a circle, and, on\n the principle of fighting the devil with fire, they swing blazing\n firebrands in the air, yell, whoop, and make frantic dashes at the\n marauding and bloodthirsty devils, so creating a terrific spectacle,\n and striking great fear into the hearts of the assembled hundreds\n of women, who are screaming and fainting and clinging to their\n valorous protectors. Finally the devils succeed in getting into the\n assembly-house, and the bravest of the men enter and hold a parley\n with them. As a conclusion of the whole farce, the men summon courage,\n the devils are expelled from the assembly-house, and with a prodigious\n row and racket of sham fighting are chased away into the mountains.\n\n After all these terrible doings have exercised their due effect upon\n the wanton feminine mind, another stage of the proceedings is entered\n upon. A rattlesnake was captured some days beforehand, its fangs\n were plucked out, and it was handled, stroked, fed, and tamed, so\n that it could be displayed with safety. The venerable, white-haired\n peace-chief now takes his station before the multitude, within the\n great assembly-house, with the rattlesnake before him as the visible\n incarnation of the dreadful Yukukula. Slowly and sonorously he begins,\n speaking to them of morality and feminine obedience. Then warming with\n his subject, and brandishing the horrid reptile in his hand full in\n the faces and over the heads of his shuddering auditors, with solemn\n and awful voice he warns them to beware, and threatens them with\n the dire wrath of Yukukula if they do not live lives of chastity,\n industry, and obedience, until some of the terrified squaws shriek\n aloud and fall swooning upon the ground.\n\nReferring again to the \"devil dance,\" as practiced among the Gualala,\nPowers says:[9]\n\n In the midst of the ordinary dances there comes rushing upon the\n scene an ugly apparition in the shape of a man, wearing a feather\n mantle on his back reaching from the armpits down to the mid-thighs,\n zebra-painted on his breast and legs with black stripes, bearskin\n shako on his head, and his arms stretched out at full length along a\n staff passing behind his neck. Accoutered in this harlequin rig, he\n dashes at the squaws, capering, dancing, whooping; and they and the\n children flee for life, keeping several hundred yards between him and\n themselves. If they are so unfortunate as to touch even his stick, all\n their children will perish out of hand.\n\n\nTHE GHOST CEREMONY PROPER\n\nThe dancers were of two classes, the ordinary ghost-dancers, or\n\"devils,\" called xahluigak (E), and the \"ash-devils,\" or fire-eaters,\ncalled n\u014d xahl\u016bigak (E). The former danced almost exclusively\nduring the day, and the latter at night, though these regulations were\nnot quite absolute. The ash-devils were always present at the ghost\nceremony and during the ghost dance proper they served, in a way, as\nsergeants-at-arms and as clowns.\n\nAccording to some informants, a new dance-house was especially built\nfor each ghost ceremony. Other informants did not particularly mention\nthis fact and it seems probable that in more recent times, after the\nceremonial procedure of the Pomo had become somewhat lax, this rule was\nnot observed, and the same dance-house may have been used for more than\none ghost ceremony, and for other ceremonies as well.\n\nIn this ceremony the dancers impersonated the spirits of the dead, as\nis indicated by the speech of the chief devil-dancer made just before\ndisrobing.[10] The dance is said to have had its origin in mythical\ntimes when the birds and mammals had human attributes. The Pomo account\nis as follows:\n\n Hawk, the captain of a village, was killed by Vulture. After being\n absent from the village for some time Hawk suddenly returned, came\n into the dance-house, and sat down in front of the center pole, at its\n foot. A ceremony was about to begin, and the people noticed nothing\n out of the ordinary about Hawk and were perfectly willing to allow him\n to participate in the dancing. Meadowlark, however, noticed an odor\n about Hawk which showed that he had just returned from the realm of\n the dead. With his characteristic garrulity, he commenced to chatter\n about the improprieties of mortals dancing with dead people. Hawk was\n a chief and one of an important family and felt especially offended\n at these reflections upon him and left at once, never again returning\n to the village. According to one version of the myth, Meadowlark had,\n in those days, a long tail like most other birds. His action upon\n this occasion, however, so enraged the other members of the village\n that some one struck at him with a fire poker which happened to be\n near at hand. Meadowlark was able to dodge the blow, but the poker\n clipped off a large part of his tail. He has, therefore, had only a\n stub of a tail since that day. The people then fell to discussing what\n could be done to atone in some way for this insult to Hawk. A number\n of men immediately went out into the woods and dressed themselves as\n the devil-dancers now do, returning to the village to personate the\n spirits of the departed. From this mythical source has descended the\n present-day ghost or devil ceremony.\n\nThe ceremony was directly under the supervision of the chief\n\"g\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b doctor,\" and it was he who safeguarded the ghost-dance\nparaphernalia during the long interval between ceremonies. The\nghost-dancers and the ash-devils were actually assisted in dressing by\nthe g\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b doctors.\n\nThe dress of the ghost-dancer proper was quite elaborate. Each\nghost-dancer repaired to some secluded place in the woods or brush,\npreferably back in the hills about the village, where he dressed.\nThis going into seclusion to dress is called ts\u016bma\u00b4kabek in the\nEastern Pomo dialect. He first rubbed his body with chewed angelica\nroot, at the same time making a prayer for long life, good health,\nand prosperity for himself, his fellow dancers, and the people of the\nvillage. He also made a prayer to a certain supernatural being[11] to\nlend him a striped skin. He next painted his body with white, red, and\nblack paints. A man might paint his body entirely one color. The upper\nhalf of the body might be of one color, while the lower half was of\nanother. The same difference in color might obtain between the right\nand the left sides, and bands and stripes might also be freely used.\n\nBefore finally finishing the painting of the face and arms, however,\nthe remainder of the attire was put on. This included, for the head,\n(1) a head-net with which to confine the hair; (2) a down-filled\nhead-net; (3) a feather tuft on top of the head; (4) a yellow-hammer\nquill forehead-band fastened at the top of the forehead, passing back\nthrough the parted feather-tuft and hanging down the back; and (5) a\nfillet of pepperwood leaves. The remainder of the costume consisted\nof a short girdle of pepperwood branches worn about the waist and, if\ndesired, a similar adornment about the neck.\n\nThe ash-devils, or fire-eaters, dressed more simply. According to some\ninformants, they were entirely nude except for a coat of blue paint.\nAccording to others, their attire was somewhat more elaborate. The face\nwas painted red, black, or white, two colors never being used together.\nThe legs were painted white, then scratched with the fingernails so as\nto remove some of the paint and produce longitudinal stripes. The hair\nwas bound up with the usual head-net into which a single black feather\nwas inserted,[12] or a feather tuft was attached to it. As a screen\nor mask before the face, the dancer also wore a fringe of green twigs\nfurther to disguise his identity. Otherwise he was completely naked.\n\nWhen everything was in readiness in the village, the head captain sent\nout a messenger to notify the dancers. When the latter were ready to\nenter the village, a small fire was built in the hills to give notice\nof the fact. They made their first entry just about daybreak on the\nfirst day. A crier, who was always one of the captains or a fire-tender\ndetailed to this duty, took his position on the roof of the dance-house\njust below the smoke-hole, where he gave the ghost call \"y\u0113 ...\"\nfour times. At once answering calls were heard from the ghost-dancers\nin their several locations, for they had scattered to a number of\ndifferent places, each man by himself, or in groups of not more than\ntwo or three individuals. The ghost response was a loud \"wa\u016b wa\u00b4i,\"\nrepeated four times. If the ghost-dancers were sufficiently close\ntogether, this was given by their leader only. The crier continued his\ncalling until one or more of the dancers appeared on the outskirts of\nthe village. They came running in,[13] each carrying in his hands two\nbunches of grass or twigs a foot or so in length,[14] behind which he\nat times pretended to hide. Each suddenly stopped as he came in sight\nof the dance-house and stood for a moment with outstretched arms.\nThereupon the crier shouted, \"\u014d, \u014d, \u014d, \u014d,\" after which he delivered an\ninvocation to the ghost-dancers, asking them to come running into the\nvillage bringing health and happiness to the people. This invocation\nwas as follows:\n\n      nap\u014d\u00b4            | p\u016btsa\u00b4l      | g\u012bwa\u00b4l\u0113\n      village          | healthy      | run to\n\n      ma\u00b4yawala        | kale p\u016btsa\u00b4l | g\u012bwa\u00b4l\u0113\n      girls            | healthy      | run to\n\n      x\u0101\u00b4xalik         | p\u016btsa\u00b4l      | g\u012bwa\u00b4l\u0113\n      chiefs           | healthy      | run to\n\n      da\u00b4xalik         | p\u016btsa\u00b4l      | g\u012bwa\u00b4l\u0113\n      chieftainesses   | healthy      | run to\n\n      kawi\u00b4k           | p\u016btsa\u00b4l      | g\u012bwa\u00b4l\u0113\n      children         | healthy      | run to\n\nThen, according to one informant, all the people who were assembled in\nthe dance-house shouted, while the drummer beat rapidly for a minute or\ntwo. The head singers took their cocoon rattles and intoned a song as\nthey marched outside to meet the dancers. After singing outside for a\nshort time, they re-entered the dance-house.\n\nThe dancers then came running in, making a loud noise produced by a\nvoiced expulsion of breath through the relaxed but closed lips, \"b\u016b\n...\" and ran to a point about one hundred yards directly in front of\nthe dance-house door (see fig. 1). While the dancers were running into\nthe village, the singers sang the following song:\n\n      y\u014dh\u012bya\u00b4, y\u014dh\u012bya\u00b4, y\u014dh\u012bya\u00b4,\n      y\u014dh\u012bya\u00b4, y\u014dh\u012bya\u00b4, y\u014dh\u012bya\u00b4,\n      y\u014dh\u012bk\u014dl\u012b k\u014dl\u0113, y\u014dh\u012bk\u014dl\u012b k\u014dl\u0113.\n      (Repeat indefinitely.)\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 1 Fig. 2\n\nFig. 1--Paths of the ghost-dancers as they enter the village, and their\nceremonial course before the dance-house.\n\nFig. 2--Positions taken and course traveled by ghost-dancers in\napproaching dance-house.]\n\nMeantime the crier and the dancers continued their respective cries.\nThe head ghost-dancer always dressed at a place north (i.e., in the\nrear) of the dance-house, so that in entering the village he ran past\nthe dance-house to take up his position. Here he bowed very low, and\nquickly dropped his arms with the bunches of grass above mentioned,\nat the same time crying \"w\u0113....\" He then trotted perhaps twenty\nfeet in one direction, where he repeated this motion and cry, and\nthen to a point an equal distance in the opposite direction from his\ncentral position, repeating the same motion and cry there. This he\ndid four times, finally stopping in the middle of the forty-foot line\nthus blocked out, and directly in front of the dance-house door. The\nnext dancer to enter the village might come from any direction. He\nran toward the head dancer and crossed, if possible, in front of him,\nthough if necessary he passed behind him. In this case the head dancer\nturned around so as to face the runner. The newcomer began to pass\nback and forth along the line, making the motions and cries as above\ndescribed. He then took up his position at one side or the other of\nthe chief dancer. These dancers were at liberty to laugh, talk, and\nplay at will. Frequently they performed various comical antics, such as\npretending to be stung by wasps, and doctoring one another.\n\nThe crier continued his calls until finally the leader of the dancers\nwalked along a zigzag path to a position about one-quarter of the\ndistance between the line of dancers and the dance-house (see fig. 2).\nHere he halted and cried \"wu\u012b\u00b4 ...\" after which the crier at the\ndance-house called all the initiated men of the village to assemble.\n\nThere was a fixed restriction against the presence of the uninitiated\nin this assembly. One informant maintained that the ceremony, as held\nin his locality (the coast of the Central Pomo area), required that\nfour posts be set up, each at a distance of several yards from the\ndance-house, as is shown in figures 1 and 2, the imaginary lines from\npost to post forming an inclosure for the dance-house and its immediate\nvicinity, within which none but the initiated dared venture.\n\nThe singers and others officially concerned with the dance came from\nwithin the dance-house and formed two lines, one on each side of the\nouter door of the tunnel, as indicated by the small crosses in figure\n2. As the crier gave his call, the initiates answered with a cry of\n\"ye ...\" after which they formed these two lines between which the\nghost-dancers must pass to enter the dance-house.\n\nAt the outer ends of these lines were two masters of ceremonies\nwho directed the ceremony from this point on to its close. They\nfirst chased each of the dancers[15] as he came to enter the house,\nreturning each time to the heads of the two lines, there to await the\narrival of the next dancer. These masters of ceremonies were called\nxahl\u016b\u00b4\u012bgak k\u00e4ldaiya\u016b (E) or masa\u00b4n k\u00e4ldaiya\u016b (E), and were\nentirely nude except for a head-net and a feather tuft on their heads.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 3--Course of each ghost-dancer entering\ndance-house.]\n\nThe chief ghost-dancer entered the house backwards and started towards\nthe drum, passing, however, on the west or wrong side of the fire.\nBefore he had gone very far, he stopped and groped around with one\nfoot, as if to find his way, and finally inquired which way he should\ngo. Ghost-dancers used the same words in speaking that ordinary people\ndid, except that they inverted their statements and reversed the\nmeanings of words. In this case the spectators replied, \"You must go on\nthe west side,\"[16] meaning, of course, that the dancer was expected\nactually to go down the east side of the dance-house. He then reversed\nhis direction, as is shown in figure 3, and circled four times about\nthe fire, finally passing to a position in front of the center pole.\nThe spectators meanwhile constantly called out to each dancer to pass\ndown the \"east\" side of the house.\n\nWhen the dancer entered through the tunnel, the spectators all cried,\n\"ye\u00b4-ye.\" He at first advanced very slowly backwards until he reached\nthe point at which he inquired his way. As soon as he received this\ndirection he sprang up and ran the prescribed four times around the\nfire and finally reached the foot of the center pole, making meanwhile\nthe same \"b\u016b ...\" noise which he had made upon entering the village.\nHe here awaited the arrival of the other dancers, who went through the\nsame succession of movements.\n\nThe chief ghost-dancer, upon arriving in front of the center pole,\nsaid, \"mam\u016ble\u00b4\" (E), to which the spectators replied, \"heh\u0113\u00b4....\"\nThen he made a short speech in a more or less archaic language. Its\npurport was: \"I do not come to do any one harm, but rather to take all\nsickness away and to make everybody strong.\"\n\n  habad\u016btk\u012bya  gahn\u016b  k\u016bd\u012b\u00b4  p\u016btsa\u00b4lwal  gakba\n            -      -  good            -      -\n\n  ga\u00b4kalik  gaba       da\u00b4kalik  gaba, ka\u00b4ln\u012bne\n  chiefs       - chieftainesses   rich   people\n\n  gaba  b\u0113kal  s\u012bma  bexba  gahn\u016b  cama  \u012bh\u012bwala\n     -      -     -      -      -     -        -\n\nHe next marked off, according to one informant, two or three places\non the east side of the floor, saying that he and his followers would\ndance there. This was contrary to the usual procedure in dances, for\nthe regular dancing area in front of the center pole was always used.\nAs a matter of fact, the ghost dance itself was actually performed in\nthe usual area also, but this indicating of another area, and this\nannouncement, are only other evidences that the spirits must always do\nthings differently from mortals. In fact, the whole dress and conduct\nof these dancers, their reversal of terms of direction, their groping\ntheir way, etc., typify the conduct of the spirits of the departed, who\nfind everything strange when they return to the realm of mortals.\n\nThroughout the entire ceremony, and especially during the time that\nthe ghost-dancers were entering, the spectators were obliged to use\ngreat care not to obstruct their passage in any way, or otherwise to\ninterfere with them, else they were likely to be very roughly handled\nby the dancers.\n\nAs the last ghost-dancer entered the tunnel leading into the\ndance-house, the men in the two lines outside cried \"y\u016bh\u0113\u00b4\" four\ntimes, after which they entered and took up their positions.\n\nThe above described entry of the dancers was according to the regular\nprocedure. However, these dancers, especially the ash-devils, were\nprivileged to perform many comical antics, and it not infrequently\nhappened that one or more of them would run up on to the roof of the\ndance-house and dive through the smoke-hole. In fact, this was one of\nthe usual modes of deception practiced in this ceremony. A special net,\ncko\u00b4l tabi\u016b k\u00e4le hai (N), was stretched about two feet below the\nsmoke-hole to catch the dancer. A special post was set in the ground\nbeside this net for the dancer to slide down. He would then go through\nthe usual series of movements, running four times around the fire.\nAfter this he usually took up a position at one of the posts near the\ndoor, there to levy tribute upon the spectators. This tribute might be\nin the form of firewood, tobacco, or other commodities.\n\nThe music for this ceremony was provided by a drummer, two chief\nsingers, and a number of burden-singers. The ghost-dancers sometimes\nsang a kind of burden of their own while dancing. This was simply \"h\u012b,\nh\u012b, h\u012b, h\u012b,\" etc., in a very high key. The chief singers were provided\nwith cocoon rattles. These and the drum were the only instruments used.\nThe dancers carried no whistles, although these were ordinarily used by\nperformers in other dances. The burden-singers also used no split-stick\nrattles, but clapped their hands instead in time to their singing.\n\nAfter the performers had in this way entered the dance-house, the chief\nghost-dancer called to the singers to start. The drummer then jumped\nupon the drum, crying \"h\u016btsaiya\u00b4h\u012b\u012b\" (E).[17] With the first\ncry of the drummer, the chief singers sounded their rattles. After an\ninterval of perhaps a minute, the drummer repeated his jump and call.\nThe song started and the dance began.\n\nThe song as given by one of the informants is as follows:\n\n      y\u014dh\u012bya\u00b4 y\u014dh\u012bya\u00b4, y\u014dh\u012bya\u00b4 y\u014dh\u012bya\u00b4,\n      k\u016bl\u012b k\u016bl\u0113 k\u016bl\u0113 ....\n      k\u016bl\u012b k\u016bl\u0113 k\u016bl\u0113 ....\n      h\u016btsaiya\u00b4 h\u016btsaiya\u00b4\n      h\u012b\u012b ....\n      (Repeat indefinitely.)\n\nThe two masters of ceremonies took up their respective positions at\nA and C (fig. 3) and danced back and forth along the lines AB and\nCD. In starting the movement, they stood with hands outstretched\nand bent their bodies sidewise toward the drum as they shouted\n\"h\u016btsaiya\u00b4h\u012b\u012b.\" They then ran rapidly sidewise to the opposite\nends of their respective courses, where they repeated the same bending,\nthis time in the opposite direction. When they had gone back and forth\nover these courses and had returned to their original positions for\nthe fourth time, they again shouted as at first. This particular set\nof the dance was repeated four times, thus completing this part. After\nany such part had ended, it occasionally happened that one dancer\nwould continue his steps just as though the music were in full swing.\nUltimately one of his fellow-dancers would strike him lightly to call\nhis attention to the fact that the dance was over, and he also would\nstop.\n\nFour such parts completed the first division of the dance. After this\nthe masters of ceremonies advanced toward the ghost-dancers, motioning\nthem back toward the center pole with the palms of their hands turned\noutward and held in front of them, while they said \"hahy\u016b\u00b4,\nhahy\u016b\u00b4\" (repeated indefinitely).\n\nThe singers, masters of ceremonies, and the drummer then seated\nthemselves or stood a short distance away from the drum, and the\nghost-dancers proceeded with their ceremonial disrobing.\n\nThe chief ghost-dancer proceeded from the foot of the center pole by a\npath, as is indicated in figure 4, leading around the center pole and\nfire and back to the east side of the drum, which the ghost-dancers\nterm c\u016bna\u00b4 bilat (E), literally \"canoe worn out.\" Upon his arrival\nat the drum the chief ghost-dancer made a speech in which he said\nthat he and his fellows \"had come from the hollow stems of the grass,\ncrawling like snakes,\" to visit the people.\n\n      katsa\u00b4 m\u016b_t_\u014d\u00b4lai | waha bad\u016b_t_\u00b4ki\u016b (E)\n      grass  hollow     | travel like a snake\n\nHe told them that he had come for their good and with no evil motives,\nthat he had come to bring them good health and happiness, not sickness\nand misfortune. With a cry of \"m\u0113 ...\" he then jumped across the\ndrum to its west side. The spectators cried \"m\u012b\u00b4bax b\u014d\u00b4w\u014dwa\"\n(E), literally \"go on your west side,\" indicating the west side of the\ndrum, according to the ghost-dancers' inverted method of speech. In\ncompliance with this instruction, the chief ghost-dancer jumped across\nthe drum, after which he sometimes felt around with his foot as if in\nsearch of something. Thus he jumped back and forth four times across\nthe drum. He had really been in search of the drum all the time and had\nfeigned his inability to find it. He finally, however, jumped upon it\nand stamped rapidly for a minute or so to indicate his satisfaction.\nThroughout this whole performance the singers and others near the drum\ncontinually cried \"h\u014d ... h\u014d ...\" etc. While standing on the\ndrum, the chief ghost-dancer faced toward the wall, thus bringing his\nback toward the fire. Frequently he made some comic observation to\nthose near by,[18] and from time to time turned his head toward the\nright so as almost to face the fire, the while he made the peculiar\nnoise, \"b\u016b ...\" characteristic of this dance. Meanwhile he turned\nhis head slowly, first to the right and then to the left, until he had\ndone this four times in each direction.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 4--Ghost-dancer's course in disrobing.]\n\nHe next took the brush or grass, which he had throughout the ceremony\nbeen carrying in his hands, first in his left hand and passed it\ndownward over the right side of his body until he had passed it down\nand up four times. He then took it in his right hand and passed it in\nthe same manner over his left side. He next took part of it again in\neach hand and passed both hands back and forth sidewise over his legs\nwhile standing in a bent posture, until he had done this also four\ntimes. The brush or grass was then placed upon the ground.\n\nHe next took off the girdle of twigs about his waist and dropped it to\nthe ground, usually without ceremony, though if he chose he might pass\nthis through the same series of motions as the twigs carried in his\nhand. He next took off his entire head-gear at once. This he held in\nhis left hand and passed from his right shoulder up over his head four\ntimes, repeating the same motions with the right hand on the left side.\nHe then placed this with the other paraphernalia on the ground.\n\nHe next left the drum and went directly back to the foot of the center\npole, where he rejoined the rest of the ghost-dancers. The remaining\ndancers went, one by one, or in small groups, and performed exactly\nthe same ceremony as that just described. When all had disrobed, each\ntook his costume and retired to the woods or brush, redressed himself,\nendeavoring to change his painting to one as different as possible from\nthat which he wore before. Later the same performance was repeated:\nthe calling by the crier, entry of the dancers, series of dances, and\nceremonial disrobing.\n\nOn the first day this entire series of dances was repeated four times\nin all--at about 5 a.m., 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 5 p.m., respectively.\nAfter the ceremonial disrobing at the end of the fourth series, the\nghost-dancers left their suits in the dance-house and repaired to the\nriver or lake to swim, after which they returned to the dance-house.\nDuring the other three days of the ceremony they might appear any\ndesired number of times during the day.\n\nThe dancers were forbidden to eat or drink on any particular day as\nlong as the dance continued, but as soon as they had gone down to swim\nthis restriction was removed.\n\nAs a rule, fire-eating and fire-handling were only incidental\nto the ghost dance proper. However, if occasion arose, the\nghost-dancers themselves might handle fire, though they could not\neat it. This privilege was especially reserved to the ash-devils,\nn\u014d' xahl\u016b\u012bgak (E). In case something was done to offend\nthe ghost-dancers, such as an inadequate provision of wood or some\ninattention on the part of the officials, they might attempt to show\ntheir displeasure by throwing fire about the dance-house. It then\nbecame the duty of the two fire-tenders to hold sticks of wood across\nthe fire. This operated as a taboo to the ghost-dancers, who were\nprevented from touching the fire. If there were any of the ash-devils\npresent, even though not regularly participating in this particular\nceremony, they at once brought their special bird-shaped staffs,\nwhich served as their badges of authority,[19] and gave them absolute\ncontrol over the entire assemblage, including even the head captain.\nThis caused the fire-tenders to remove their restriction, and the\nghost-dancers were then privileged to do as they wished as long as they\nwere under the patronage of the ash-devils.\n\nWhile serving, during the regular ghost dance, as messengers,\nsergeants-at-arms, and collectors of fines, the ash-devils were called\nkatsa\u00b4tala (E), and were the special clowns who performed all manner\nof antics in their endeavors to provoke an outward expression of mirth\nfrom some unfortunate spectator. Should he so forget himself as to\nlaugh or even smile at the antics, one of these katsa\u00b4tala ran at him\nwith his wand and levied tribute in the form of a payment of beads or\nsome other commodity, or imposed a penalty requiring the offender to\nbring wood or water for the dancers. Furthermore, if some one of the\ndancers should see a spectator in possession of something desirable, he\nsent one of these katsa\u00b4tala with his wand to this spectator to demand\nthe desired article. The spectator must then bring it to the foot of\nthe center pole and deposit it for the dancers.\n\nIn order to provoke the spectators to mirth, these katsa\u00b4tala did many\nodd things and made themselves as grotesque as possible. For instance,\none of them would prop his eyelids open with small wooden pegs (an\naction called \u016b\u00b4\u012bbatak (E)), or he would hold his mouth open and\nstretch it out of shape (an action called kats\u012b\u00b4da batak (E)), or he\nwould fill his cheeks very full and puff them out with grass (called\nkawe\u00b4ts kale (E)).\n\nThese ash-devils never actually danced in the ghost dance proper, but\naccompanied the regular ghost-dancers when they appeared. The intervals\nbetween dances were filled and greatly enlivened by their antics, and\nit was during these intervals that they made good their name by rolling\nin the ashes of the fire, and by sometimes throwing live coals about,\nand \"eating\" them.\n\nFrom time to time during the \"rests,\" or ceremonial pauses, one of\nthese katsa\u00b4tala would seize a cocoon rattle, run four times about\nthe fire and center pole, and throw the rattle at the chief singer,\ncalling upon him for a song. This must be at once forthcoming, and the\nghost dance itself was then resumed. If some one in the audience wished\nto have the singing and dancing resumed, he threw a cocoon rattle at\none of the fire-tenders, who passed it to one of the katsa\u00b4tala, who\nthen ran about the fire and presented it to the chief singer as just\ndescribed.\n\nSongs were sometimes sung independently and unaccompanied by dancing.\nThis was especially the case in what may be termed singing contests.\nUpon receiving the rattle, a singer was obliged at once to sing some\nsong. He then passed the rattle to another singer, who did likewise.\nThus each of the renowned singers was given an opportunity to prove his\nmerit. Each man's song was accompanied by a parade of the performers,\nwhich carried the party, including the singer, four times around the\ndancing area.\n\n\nFIRE EATING\n\nFire-eating was restricted, as above stated, to the ash-devils, and,\nwhile sometimes practiced during intermissions in the regular ghost\ndance, it was usually held as a separate ceremony in the evening and\nwas preceded by a short dance.\n\nThe dress of the ash-devils consisted of a coat of paint and a very\nsimple headdress.[20] In addition, however, they carried special\nceremonial staffs called t\u014da b\u012bla\u00b4t (E), kasa\u00b4\u016bsa\u016ba (E),\nand kasa\u00b4Isala (E). To one end of this ceremonial staff was fixed the\nhead of a crane. Grass was used to stuff the neck part, bits of abalone\n(_Haliotis_) shell made the eyes, and bluejay feathers were made into a\ntopknot. It was permissible to use wands of slightly different forms,\nbut all were crooked in some way, and the crane-headed staff was the\nrecognized variety.\n\nWhen this special ceremony commenced, the ash-devils became supreme\nand took precedence over everybody. A guard was posted at the foot of\nthe side post to the east of the door, and no one was permitted to\nleave the dance-house after the ceremony had begun except upon payment\nof a certain sum of what was termed upon this occasion \"bead money\"\n(cata\u00b4ne (E)). As a matter of fact, two or three stems of rush, from\nfour to six feet in length, were bound together and were given to the\nguard as payment. He took this \"money\" and hung it on the wall near\nthe drum, after having danced a few quick steps upon the drum with it\nin his hands. These rushes were legal tender during this ceremony; and\nif the dancers asked a favor of any one else in the dance-house they\npaid him for the service in this same legal tender. Their authority was\nespecially shown by their use of the crane-head wands, which no one\nelse was permitted to touch. They could be handled only after a long\nfast involving complete abstinence from water and from meat or grease\nin any form.\n\nAs soon as the ash-devils entered the dance-house absolute silence\nfell upon all. Except the ash-devils, no one, not excepting the head\ncaptain, was permitted to speak during the ceremony. The rule was that\nthe ash-devils themselves must consult one another in low tones.\n\nImmediately upon entering the dance-house the main group of ash-devils\ntook up a position at the foot of the center pole and, in case some one\nof the spectators did not almost immediately start a song for their\ndance, they might jump into the fire and begin to throw brands and live\ncoals about among the spectators. This drastic action quickly called\nforth a protest, and some one volunteered to sing.\n\nThe actual dancing lasted for perhaps half an hour, after which the\nash-devils sat down and began to \"eat fire,\" jump into it, and perform\nother miraculous feats with it. They, to all appearances, actually\npicked up live coals, which they called b\u016b (E), and devoured them,\npreferring the coals of manzanita wood, as these were the strongest\nand hottest. This term b\u016b is translated by the Pomo as \"potatoes,\"\na term applied to the many species of bulbs and corms formerly an\nimportant part of their food supply. The word for coals is masi\u00b4k (E).\n\nDuring the progress of the dancing a fire-tender had been preparing\nthe fire for the special benefit of the ash-devils, and had selected a\nconsiderable quantity of live coals, which he had piled at one side of\nthe main fire. Suddenly one of the fire-dancers put his hand into these\ncoals and scattered them out over the dancing floor. Then he pretended\nto be burned and danced about as if in pain. Finally, however, he\nstruck the center pole with his hand and evinced great satisfaction,\nfor to him the center pole was as cold water. During this fire-eating\nceremony many other feats were performed, such as catching with the\nmouth a live coal which had been thrown into the air, then running\nback to the drum and dancing upon it. The dancer usually turned toward\nthe audience, opened his mouth, and exhaled his breath in such a way\nas to cause the coal to glow between his teeth or farther back in his\nmouth. Such comical antics would in ordinary life provoke an outburst\nof merriment, but the rules of the ceremony absolutely forbade a sound\nof any kind, mirthful or otherwise, from the audience, and if the rule\nwere violated a fine was exacted.\n\nDuring this ceremony, and apparently as an initiation of novices,\nlittle boys were thrown by the ash-devils back and forth a number of\ntimes through the blaze of a large fire.\n\nFinally, after about half an hour of this eating and handling of\nfire, the ash-devils formed at the drum and danced over a course such\nas that shown in figure 5. This was repeated four times, and as each\ndancer stepped upon the drum he danced a few short, quick steps, as\ndid the regular drummer in producing music for an ordinary dance. Upon\ncompleting this cycle of four, the dancers reversed their direction and\ntraveled over the same course four times. They next passed over the\ncourse represented in figure 6, stopping at the four points marked I,\nwhere each dancer waved his wand, which he held with both hands, above\nand in front of his head in such a manner as to describe with it a\nsemicircle, while the spectators cried \"hee\u00b4....\"\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 5 Fig. 6\n\nFig. 5--Course in first part of final fire dance. Fig. 6--Course in\nsecond part of final fire dance.]\n\nThe dancers then returned to the drum, removed their head-dresses and\nnets, and danced back and forth four times along the line indicated\nin figure 7. At the end of each journey along this line, the dancers\nblew their breath forcibly through their lips and waved their hands\nfrom their mouths. At the end of this cycle they sat down and became\nordinary persons[21] once more. The spectators were then permitted\nto do as they wished. They could resume their normal ways, including\nsmoking, which had been prohibited because the fire and everything\npertaining to it belonged exclusively to the fire-dancers during this\nceremony.\n\n\nTHE PURIFICATION RITE\n\nDuring the first three days and nights of the ghost ceremony, either\nthe ghost dance itself or some other dance associated with it might\nbe held. On the fourth night it was necessary that the entire night\nbe spent in dancing, and near dawn there occurred a purification\nrite accompanied by special songs. Every ceremonial object about the\ndance-house, whether it had been used during the preceding days or\nnot, had to undergo this purification, and in case the owner of such\na ceremonial object was not present, some near relative performed the\nceremony with it.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 7--Course in third part of final fire dance.]\n\nJust before sunrise each dancer, holding up his personal ceremonial\nparaphernalia in his right hand, danced back and forth in time to the\nsongs. He danced four times looking toward each of the six cardinal\ndirections in the following order: east, north, west, south, up, down.\nAll the ceremonial objects were then hung up in the dance-house and\nlater stored away secretly by the chief G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b doctor.\n\nThe ceremony ended during the following forenoon with a grand feast,\nwhich differed materially from other feasts held at times during the\nceremony, in that each separate class of individuals dined by itself in\nthe order of rank--captains, fire-tenders, singers, drummers, masters\nof ceremonies, ash-devils, ghost-dancers, and spectators. The food\nserved to each class was, however, of the same kind and quality.\n\nCertain restrictions were imposed upon the dancers after the ceremony\nwas over. The regular ghost-dancers were not allowed to eat meat for\neight days. Those who wore the chaplet of twigs upon the head were\nobliged to abstain from meat for four days. The G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b doctor\nwho assisted a dancer in dressing might ask him for some article, such\nas a powerful poison. This had to be given the G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b and, in\nthat case, the dancer was forced to abstain from meat for eight days.\nA dancer who wore certain kinds of feather ornaments abstained from\nmeat for a month. The chief G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b doctor, who knew all about\nthe ghost dance and who was called y\u014d\u00b4mta bate (E), was compelled\nto abstain from meat for several months. It was his duty to care for\nthe ceremonial paraphernalia between dances. This had to be carefully\nhidden away in some lonely spot where no one could find it except this\nchief G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b doctor and his two or three assistants.\n\nWhenever any one of these individuals ate meat or fish for the first\ntime after this period of restriction had expired he was enjoined to\nsay a short prayer over it.\n\n\nSUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL FEATURES OF THE GHOST CEREMONY\n\nThe following are the most characteristic features of the ghost or\ndevil ceremony:\n\n1. The ceremony is supposed to have had its origin in mythical times\nand to have been instituted as an atonement for an offense against the\ndead.\n\n2. It lasted four days, ending with an all-night dance, and, on the\nmorning of the fifth day, a purification rite followed by a feast in\nwhich each class of individuals dined by itself.\n\n3. The participants were several ghost-or devil-dancers personating\nthe spirits of the departed and accompanied frequently, though not\nalways, by one or more ash-devils or ash-ghosts, who filled the double\noffice of clown and sergeant-at-arms, and who usually performed their\nspecial fire dance and fire-eating ceremony.\n\n4. The officials particularly concerned with the ceremony were two\nhead singers, an indefinite number of burden-singers, a drummer, two\nfire-tenders, and two masters of ceremonies. The village captains\nretained their full authority in this ceremony except when the\nash-devils were performing.\n\n5. The audience consisted of initiated men only, and silence was the\nrule. Any exhibition of mirth was absolutely prohibited under penalty.\n\n6. The attire of the ghost-dancer consisted of several pieces of\nheadgear, supplemented in some cases by a chaplet of leaves, a girdle,\nand sometimes a neck-ring of leaves. The body was otherwise nude except\nfor very elaborate painting in black, white, and red. The dancers\ndressed secretly in the woods and came to the village carrying bunches\nof grass or twigs in their hands, behind which they at times pretended\nto hide.\n\n7. The ash-devils wore only a simple head-dress and a coat of paint.\n\n8. The special crane-head shaped wand of the ash-devil gave him\nabsolute authority.\n\n9. The dancers entered the village at the call of a crier stationed on\ntop of the dance-house, performed an elaborate ceremony in front of the\ndance-house, and finally entered it backwards, groping their way, using\nan inverted style of speech, and in every other manner showing that the\nspirits of the departed were unaccustomed to the ways of mortals.\n\n10. The dancing was elaborate and was characterized by the occurrence\nof movements in cycles of four, followed by an elaborate ceremonial\ndisrobing at the drum, and then by swimming.\n\n11. During the fire dance the ash-devils initiated novices.\n\n12. The dancers were subject to certain restrictions for varying\nperiods of time following the ceremony.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[7] Contr. N.A. Ethn., III, 158-160, 1877.\n\n[8] _Loc. cit._\n\n[9] _Op. cit._, pp. 193-194.\n\n[10] See below, p. 414.\n\n[11] The exact identity of this supernatural being could not be\ndetermined from informants.\n\n[12] According to one informant, two feathers instead of one were worn\nby these dancers. These were placed so that they projected laterally\nfrom the forehead.\n\n[13] One informant stated that each dancer was ablaze on his back,\nhead, and arms, and that smoke issued from his mouth. This accords with\nPower's statements, quoted above.\n\n[14] According to one informant, some of these dancers carried stones,\nlong sticks, or even snakes with which to frighten the spectators.\nNote also Power's reference to the use of the rattlesnake in the ghost\ndance, quoted above.\n\n[15] Two or three dancers sometimes came together.\n\n[16] Mibax b\u014dl mal\u012bdai (E).\n\n[17] This expression was said by informants to be untranslatable,\nsimply an expression used to start the song. This jumping upon the drum\nand calling by the drummer were called tehe\u00b4sba (E).\n\n[18] Compare below, p. 419.\n\n[19] See below, p. 418.\n\n[20] See below, p. 420.\n\n[21] According to the above information, which was obtained from an\nEastern Pomo informant, the fire-dancers evidently did not make an\nattempt to hide their identity. However, a Central Pomo informant\nwas very specific in his statements that the dancers of his locality\nwere more particular in this respect, and instead of remaining in the\ndance-house after the ceremony they ran out and returned to their\nrespective places of seclusion, there to dress in daily attire and\nreturn to the village.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GUKSU CEREMONY\n\n\nG\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b or k\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b, as he is called in the different Pomo\ndialects, was a supernatural being living at the end of the world\ntoward the south, one of six supernatural beings living at the ends of\nthe world in the six cardinal directions. The term is also applied to a\nlarge mosquito-like insect, called locally \"gallinipper.\"\n\nToward the east lived Ca\u00b4lnis, the only one of these deities who was\nassociated especially with G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b in the ceremonies of the Pomo.\n\nToward the north lived S\u016b\u00b4\u016bpadax (whirlwind).\n\nToward the west lived Xa\u00b4-mat\u016b\u00b4ts\u012b (water-occupation). The\nconnection is here very readily seen when we know that the territory\nof the Pomo reached to the Pacific Ocean, and that this great body of\nwater formed an important element in certain phases of their mythology.\nIt was only toward the west that the world was supposed by the Pomo to\nbe bounded by water.\n\nAbove lived Kal\u012b\u00b4-mat\u016bts\u012b (sky-occupation).\n\nBelow lived Ka\u00b4i-mat\u016b\u00b4ts\u012b (earth-occupation).\n\nSome of these terms really referred to groups of several deities each.\nThe deities of all six quarters were particularly concerned with\nmedicine practices. Healing was, however, especially the province of\nthe G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016bs, and the Pomo medicine-men, or \"doctors,\" made their\nprayers particularly to them, although all the remaining deities of the\ncardinal points were invoked.\n\nNothing very definite seems to be known concerning the places of abode\nor manners of living of most of these deities. Each was supposed to\ndwell, at his own \"end of the world,\" in a sweat-house or dance-house\nof one kind or another. Each was also supposed to be distinctly\nmalevolent at times and to be a man-killer unless properly placated.\nUnder the proper circumstances they were regarded as benevolent, as was\nindicated by the prayers of the medicine-men invoking the aid of these\ndeities in curing the sick.\n\nConcerning the personal appearance of G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b and Ca\u00b4lnis, more\nwas known than of the others. G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b himself was said to be of\nabout normal human size and his most characteristic feature was a\nvery long, large, sharp, red nose. He was usually very good natured.\nCa\u00b4lnis, on the other hand, while resembling G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b in most\nrespects except that of the abnormal nose, was at all times a testy\nindividual, and in the G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b ceremony his impersonator pursued\npeople and tripped them up.\n\nG\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b was impersonated by a number of dancers, while only a\nsingle one represented Ca\u00b4lnis. Those personating G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b were\ndressed as follows: They painted their entire bodies black, according\nto some informants; according to others, with horizontal red, white,\nand black stripes. The feet were painted black and the under side of\nthe chin and the sides of the face were painted white. On their heads\nthey wore either a \"big-head\" headdress (a very bulky type of feather\nbonnet) or a large feather tuft on top of the head, and a yellow-hammer\nfeather forehead-band. The large nose of G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b was represented\nby one made of feathers and of such a size as completely to cover\nthe nose and mouth of the dancer. When painted red, this was said to\nrepresent very well this characteristic of the deity as he existed in\nthe imagination of the Indians. The connection with the proboscis of\nthe gallinipper is especially apt. Each G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b-dancer carried a\ncak\u014d\u00b4ik (E), or staff, about two inches in diameter and from six\nto eight feet in length, on the top of which was a feather tuft. The\nG\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b-dancer, being supposedly a supernatural being, never\nspoke. The only sound made by him throughout this ceremony was produced\nby his whistle.\n\nThe Ca\u00b4lnis-dancer was painted entirely black and carried a black staff\nvery much like that of the G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b, except that it was somewhat\nshorter and bore no feathers. On his head he wore an ordinary feather\ncape so drawn together that it formed an immense feather topknot which\nnormally fell in all directions over his head. This was held in place\nby means of skewers passing through a headnet. Another point in which\nthese two dancers differed was that while the G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b-dancer was\nprovided with a double bone whistle the Ca\u00b4lnis-dancer had none.\n\nThe G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b ceremony itself, called g\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b xaikilga\n(E), gaxa\u00b4gaxa\u016b xaixilga (E), k\u016bks\u016b haitcila\u016b (C), and\ndjaka\u00b4djaka\u016b (N), lasted for six days, during the first and the last\ntwo of which there was celebrated the special ceremony called gaxa\u00b4gaxa\n(E), in which the children of the village were scarified.\n\n\nTHE SCARIFYING CEREMONY\n\nTwo or three days before the time appointed for the scarifying ceremony\nthe men of the village went into the woods and cut a pole, perhaps\nfrom thirty to forty feet in length, which they trimmed and peeled\npreparatory to its erection. A hole a foot or two deep and large enough\nto receive the pole was dug directly in front of, and a short distance\nfrom, the dance-house.\n\nOn the morning of the first ceremonial day a considerable number of\nmen went out from the village dressed in a special ceremonial attire.\nThis consisted of a body-painting either of black stripes or spots (no\nparticular number being prescribed), and of a head decoration composed\nof a headnet, a down headnet, two trembler plumes, a yellow-hammer,\nfeather forehead-band, and a small feather tuft.\n\nThey brought in the pole to the area directly in front of the\ndance-house, and here the following ceremony was performed: To the\nupper end of the pole a streamer was attached. The fastest runner\namong the participants took the end of this streamer, and the other\nmen, arranged usually in the order of their ability as runners,\ngrasped the pole at different points down to its butt. Behind this\nline certain women who participated formed a second line. The pole was\nthen carried, at the top speed of the runners, four times around in a\ncontra-clockwise direction, the pivotal point being the hole in which\nthe pole was to rest, and over which its base was held. As they ran the\nrunners swayed the pole up and down, and the women threw upon the men\nhandfuls of a small, parched, black seed called g\u0113he\u00b4 (E).\n\nUpon the completion of the fourth round some one of the runners shouted\nloudly \"ha ... \u016b ...\" and at this signal all lifted the pole\nvertically into place in the hole. The call was repeated as the pole\nwas about half way up. When in place, the pole was fixed by tramping\nearth and stones about it.\n\nWithin a few minutes after the erection of the pole the\nG\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b-dancers appeared and stopped about two or three hundred\nyards away from the dance-house. Some of the men had been attempting to\nclimb the pole, both men and women meanwhile throwing at them balls,\ngala\u00b4l (E), of uncooked meal made of a certain grass seed.\n\nAs the G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b-dancers appeared in the distance the climbing\nceased, and the children who were to be initiated were collected about\nthe base of the pole. Boys who were to be thus initiated were called\ny\u014d\u00b4mta (E), while girls were called masa\u00b4nta (E). They ranged in\nage from perhaps five to ten years. The dancers proceeded to the foot\nof the pole, took the children in hand, and performed the following\nceremony, the object of which was to secure for the children good\nhealth and to make them grow rapidly. The children were first made to\nlie down upon the ground and were covered with blankets. Then, under\nthe supervision of the dancers, each child had two cuts made with a\nbroken shell across the small of its back and about an inch apart.\nThe cutting was done by the gaxa\u00b4 xale (E), an old man selected for\nthe purpose by the people of the village on account of his long life,\ngood health, and particularly his good heartedness. This was one of\nthe most important phases of the initiation, and upon it depended the\neffect upon the life of the child. The children were in each case\ncovered completely with the blanket and were not permitted, under any\nconsideration, to look up during this part of the ceremony. They might\nmake any outcry they pleased, but if they attempted to look up from\nthe ground they were threatened and even beaten with the staffs of the\ndancers. The cutting was done quite deeply, so that blood was always\ndrawn. The children were also prohibited from looking up into a tree\nfrom under its branches until after these scarifications had completely\nhealed, else the tree would bear no fruit.\n\nThe entire assemblage next entered the dance-house, the dancers going\ndirectly to their positions in the rear without the preliminary\nceremony of entry which was required in most other ceremonies. The\nchildren were made to lie on the floor and were again covered with\ntheir blankets. The dancers then performed for their benefit, making\na great deal of fun both of the children and of the scarification\nceremony. They danced thus for a short time, then went on the west\nside of the fire, where they turned their heads slowly to the left\nfour times, after which the people cried \"ya....\" The dancers then ran\nout and into the brush, where they took off and left their dancing\nparaphernalia. This ceremonial leaving of the dance-house was supposed\nto remove all illness from the village, the dancers taking it with\nthem as they went out. The spirits which they represented supposedly\nreturned at that time to their supernatural home at the south end of\nthe world.\n\nAnother feature of the initiation in the G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b ceremony is\ndescribed by a Central Pomo informant, who says that young men were\ninitiated by being ceremonially shot with the bow and arrow.\n\n\nSTEPHEN POWERS ON THE GUKSU CEREMONY\n\nPowers describes what he terms a \"spear dance\" among the Gallinomero\n(which evidently refers to this same ceremony), as follows:[22]\n\n First they all unite, men and squaws together, in a pleasant dance,\n accompanied by a chant, while a chorister keeps time by beating on his\n hand with a split stick. In addition to their finest deerskin chemises\n and strings of beads, the squaws wear large puffs of yellowhammers'\n down over their eyes. The men have mantles of buzzards', hawks', or\n eagles' tail-feathers, reaching from the armpits down to the thighs,\n and circular headdresses of the same material, besides their usual\n breech-clouts of rawhide, and are painted in front with terrific\n splendor. They dance in two circles, the squaws in the outside one;\n the men leaping up and down as usual, and the squaws simply swaying\n their bodies and waving their handkerchiefs in a lackadaisical manner.\n Occasionally an Indian will shoot away through the interior of the\n circle and caper like a harlequin for a considerable space of time,\n but he always returns to his place in front of his partner.\n\n After this is over, the coward or clown is provided with a long, sharp\n stick, and he and his prompter take their places in the ring ready for\n performances. A woman as nearly nude as barbaric modesty will permit\n is placed in the center, squatting on the ground. Then some Indian\n intones a chant, which he sings alone, and the sport, such as it is,\n begins. At the bidding of the prompter, the coward makes a furious\n sally in one direction, and with his spear stabs the empty air. Then\n he dashes back in the opposite direction and slashes into the air\n again. Next he runs some other way and stabs again. Now perhaps he\n makes a feint to pierce the woman. Thus the prompter keeps him chasing\n backward and forward, spearing the thin air toward every point of the\n compass, or making passes at the woman, until nearly tired out, and\n the patience of the American spectators is exhausted, and they begin\n to think the whole affair will terminate in \"mere dumb show.\" But\n finally, at a word from the prompter, the spearman makes a tremendous\n run at the woman and stabs her in the umbilicus. She falls over on\n the ground, quivering in every limb, and the blood jets forth in a\n purple stream. The Indians all rush around her quickly and hustle her\n away to another place, where they commence laying her out for the\n funeral pyre, but huddle around her so thickly all the while that\n the Americans cannot approach to see what is done. Thus they mystify\n matters and hold some powwow over her for a considerable space of\n time, when she somehow mysteriously revives, recovers her feet, goes\n away to her wigwam, encircled by a bevy of her companions, dons her\n robe, and appears in the circle as well as ever, despite that terrible\n spear-thrust.\n\n Men who have witnessed this performance tell me the first time they\n saw it they would have taken their oaths that the woman was stabbed\n unto death, so perfect was the illusion. Although this travesty of\n gladiatorial combat is intended merely for amusement, yet all the\n Indians, these stoics of the woods, gaze upon it with profound and\n passionless gravity. If they laugh at all it is only after it is all\n over, and at the mystification of the Americans.\n\nReferring to another phase of the same dance, as practiced in another\ndivision of the Pomo, Powers says:\n\n Their fashion of the spear dance is different from the Gallinomero.\n The man who is to be slain stands behind a screen of hazel boughs\n with his face visible through an aperture; and the spearman, after\n the usual protracted dashing about and making of feints, strikes him\n in the face through the hole in the screen. He is then carried off,\n revives, etc.[23]\n\nThe novices who were thus shot were called tc\u014d\u00b4ktc\u014dk (C)\n[plural tc\u014d\u00b4ktc\u014dkau], and the person who did the shooting,\nat the direction of the head captain, was called yo\u00b4mta (C). The\ninformant did not state just where the shooting was performed and was\nnot explicit as to its exact nature, but it appears probable that it\noccurred in the dance-house. These novices were forbidden to eat fresh\nmanzanita berries and the flesh of the fawn, the gray squirrel, and the\nred-headed woodpecker. After the shooting ceremony the novices were\ntaken out into the area directly in front of the dance-house, and here\na ceremony of healing was performed over them by the one who shot them.\nHe told them that they would have long life and health, and that a\nfeast would be held for them in the course of a few days.\n\n\nCOMPLETION OF THE GUKSU CEREMONY\n\nThe G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b-dancers appeared only once each day in this\nG\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b ceremony, though various other dances might be held during\nthe day, and it was only upon the first morning that the ceremony about\nthe pole and the scarification above described were held. The ceremony\nlasted, all told, six days. The ceremonies of the first day have just\nbeen described. Those of the following three days consisted of one\nappearance of the G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016bs each day, accompanied by a simple dance.\n\nOn the morning of the fifth day, however, the children who underwent\nthe scarification on the first day were again assembled and driven by\nthe dancers as rapidly as possible about the village and out into the\nvalley. The children held one another's hands as they were driven,\nmaking a continuous line. When they had become quite fatigued, they\nwere made to lie down and the dancers covered them with branches. They\nremained here throughout the day and were again driven about in the\nsame manner just after sundown, being again covered with branches,\nunder which they stayed until morning. They were then brought in by\nthe dancers and made to perform a short dance in a brush inclosure,\ncalled ma\u00b4le (E), which was built just outside the dance-house for\nthis special purpose. After this, an old man, probably the same who\nperformed the scarification, sang over the children. During this dance\neach child carried a small willow twig, which he threw onto a pile at\nthe end of the dance, after which he was free to go his way, and the\nentire ceremony was ended. The fire-tender bore these twigs away and\ndeposited them at some distance from the village.\n\nA G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b-dancer appeared at other ceremonies, but only for\nthe purpose of removing sickness from the village. He was sometimes\ncalled in, as were other dancers, but often he appeared unannounced.\nHe, however, always notified at least one individual, whose duty\nit was to assist him and direct his movements. Apparently this\nindividual was not a particular official, but might be any friend\nof the G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b-dancer. The ceremony was a very short one. The\nG\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b ran rapidly in and passed in a contra-clockwise direction\nfour times around the fire. He then hurried to a position directly\nin front of the center pole and here ran swiftly back and forth four\ntimes over a short, straight course. He then ran around back of the\ncenter pole and stopped on its west side. Here he turned his head\nslowly to the left; then ran a short distance toward the door, stopping\nand repeating this motion, making in all four such stops. After this\nhe ran swiftly out through the tunnel and back to the woods, where\nhe undressed and returned as an ordinary civilian to the village. As\nhe started to run out of the tunnel, the people said, \"ya ... s ...\np\u016btsa\u00b4l kam\" (E), that is, \"_ya_ ... _s_ ... healthy make us.\" The\nprolonged \"s\" was simply a hissing expulsion of breath, and as it was\nblown out in this fashion any disease which might possibly have found\nlodgment in the body of the individual was supposed to depart with it\nand to be taken by G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b to his home in the south.\n\nBefore dressing, the G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b-dancers always chewed up and rubbed\nupon their bodies the very sweet-scented seed of a certain species\nof conifer, kawa\u00b4cap (E), growing plentifully in the region of Clear\nLake. A G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b-dancer was forbidden to eat meat or drink anything\nbefore the ceremony or before doctoring a patient, as described below.\nThe G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b-dancer might, however, eat vegetable foods and drink\nwater after the ceremonial swim, which always occurred directly after\nhis dance. He could not eat meat or greasy food of any kind for four\ndays after a ceremony.\n\n\nTREATMENT OF DISEASE\n\nIn addition to their part in the scarifying ceremony just described,\nthe G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b-dancers formed a class of medicine-men, and were often\ncalled in to minister to the sick. These \"doctors,\" when curing the\nsick, dressed themselves in the costume of the regular G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b\nceremony. As in the ceremony also, the G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b doctor had to be\nceremonially summoned, and he came in from the woods impersonating the\nsupernatural G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b. The latter was pictured, to all intents\nand purposes, as coming from his home in the south to perform the\n\"medicine\" rite and carry away with him the disease from the sick\nperson. A special call was used in this case as follows: \"hy\u014d ...\nhy\u014d\u00b4 ...\" repeated four times.\n\nThe G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b doctor never spoke and never sang over his patients,\nbut constantly blew a double bone whistle in a characteristic way,\na very short blast followed by a very long one. Upon reaching the\npatient, who might be either in or out of doors, he ran around him\nseveral times. He then inserted the point of his staff under the neck\nof the patient and made motions four times as if prying upwards. He\nnext inserted the staff under the shoulder and repeated this prying\nmotion four times. He did the same at the hips, and finally at the\nknees.\n\nHe next tapped and pressed down with his staff; first upon the\nforehead, then upon the chest, then upon the belly, and finally upon\nthe knees of the patient. After this he ran rapidly out of the village\nand into the hills, where he stopped and turned his head toward the\nleft four times. He then disappeared and was supposed to have returned\nto his supernatural abode in the south, carrying with him the ailment\nof the patient.\n\nWhile the above was the typical procedure of one of these doctors in\ncuring a patient, he had great latitude, and might, at his own option,\nomit altogether certain of the above mentioned movements or use others\nin their places. For instance, he might pry as above, or he might press\nand pat the body of the patient. On the other hand, he might simply\npass his staff down over the body of the patient a number of times,\nusually four or some multiple of four, or he might omit the use of the\nstaff entirely and \"doctor\" with his whistle only, in which case he\nbent over or knelt beside the patient and blew his whistle over the\nvarious parts of his body, particularly those recognized by the patient\nas the seats of pain.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[22] U.S. Dept. of Interior, Contr. N.A. Ethn., III, 179-180, 1877.\n\n[23] _Op. cit._, p. 194.\n\n\n\n\nDANCES\n\n\nThe dances either formed integral parts of the above ceremonies or, as\nstated, might be incidental and entirely unrelated to them. The word\nfor dance is xe in the Eastern Pomo dialect, and ke in that of the\nCentral and Northern Pomo. The following is a list of the Pomo dances:\n\n      g\u012blak ke\n      h\u014dh\u014d ke or h\u014d\u00b4h\u014dwa ke\n      c\u014dkin ke\n      d\u016bt\u016bka ke\n      ya\u00b4ya ke\n      y\u014d ke\n      matc\u014d ke\n      l\u0113h\u016b\u00b4ye ke\n      kal\u012b\u00b4mat\u014dt\u014d ke or kal\u012b\u00b4matautau ke\n      \u012bw\u012b ke\n      g\u016bn\u016b\u00b4la xe\n      he\u00b4lehela ke\n      da\u00b4ma ke\n      dja\u00b4ne ke\n      kara\u00b4iya ke\n      sawe\u00b4t ke\n      h\u012b\u00b4w\u0113 ke\n      \u012b\u00b4dam ke\n      xo\u00b4ke\n      xahl\u016b\u00b4\u012bgak ke\n      g\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b ke\n      ma\u00b4ta ke\n      lo\u00b4le ke\n      mo\u00b4m\u012bmom\u012b ke\n      to\u00b4to ke\n      ta\u016bg\u016b ke\n      badj\u016b\u00b4ca ke\n      s\u012bta\u00b4iya ke\n\nIn a large measure the various dances were very similar to one another\nso far as the steps were concerned. The characteristic step of the\nmen was a rhythmic stamping of the feet, with the body held in a\nhalf-crouching posture. Sometimes this dancing was done \"in place,\"\nthat is, without moving from one situation. As a rule, however, the\ndancer moved over a definite course in each dance. The movement was\nvaried slightly in accordance with the songs. Some songs were very\nlively and the steps correspondingly rapid, while others were much\nslower. All were usually sung to the accompaniment of the large\nfoot-drum, and split-stick, or cocoon rattle. Sometimes the dancers\nused single or double bone whistles.\n\nThe women usually danced in place, twisting the body about and swaying\nslightly from side to side with little or no motion of the feet. In\nsome instances, however, they moved over a definite course as did the\nmen.\n\nThe dance paraphernalia of the men consisted of the following articles:\n\n  1. The feather skirt.\n  2. The head-net, b\u014dlmak\u012b (E).\n  3. The down-filled head-net, \u012b\u00b4b\u014dlmak\u012b (E).\n  4. The skewer, called kan\u014d (N, C, E), with which the feather\n  headdresses, tufts, etc., were pinned to the head-net.\n  5. The feather tuft, bi_t_erk (E), kaa\u00b4itcil (C).\n  6. The big-head headdress.\n  7. The yellow-hammer feather forehead-band, ts\u014d\u00b4l\u014dpa (N, C, E).\n  8. The trembler plume, ka_t_a\u00b4s (N, C, E).\n  9. Loose down, te (E), which was sometimes scattered about over the\n  freshly painted skin.\n  10. A fillet of pepperwood leaves, b\u0113he\u00b4p mar\u012bt (E).\n  11. A small green twig or a bunch of shredded tule, used in certain\n  dances. Any object of this kind carried in the hand while dancing was\n  called kato\u00b4hle (E).\n\nCertain of these objects were prescribed for certain dances. In\naddition, various items of ordinary personal adornment were worn which\ndo not specifically belong to dance paraphernalia--ear plugs, pendants,\nnecklaces of beads, etc.\n\nThe dance paraphernalia of the women was the same as that of the men,\nthough, as a rule, the men dressed much more elaborately than the\nwomen. The latter had, however, one special type of forehead-band which\nthey alone used. This was a fur band or roll provided with a number of\nbeaded, yellow-hammer quill bangles.\n\nAn important part of the attire for any dance was the painting, which\nvaried greatly and was usually carefully prescribed for each dance. The\nbody, or a large part of it, might be covered with one solid color, and\nlongitudinal or horizontal stripes of various widths and also dots of\nvarious sizes might be used.\n\nBlack paint, masi\u00b4k (E) (literally, coals or charcoal), was most easily\nobtainable and most freely used. It consisted of ordinary charcoal\nfrom the fire. If a large surface was to be painted, the charcoal was\npulverized in the palms of the hands and rubbed on. If lines were\ndesired, this powder might be applied with the finger, or a piece\nof charcoal might be used as a pencil. Also stripes were sometimes\nproduced by scraping off part of the paint with the fingernails,\nleaving the skin exposed along these lines. In case a sticky surface\nwas required, as, for instance, when down was to be later applied, the\npaint was mixed with saliva.\n\nWhite paint, wala\u00b4lac (E), made from a whitish or very light blue\nearth, was also considerably used. It was applied as was the black\npaint.\n\nRed paint, \u014dhma\u00b4_r_ (E), was made by pulverizing cinnabar, which was\na rather rare mineral in the Pomo region and was much prized and used\nvery sparingly.\n\nFor purposes of presentation it is simplest to divide the dances into\nthree classes: (1) those danced by men and women together; (2) those\ndanced by men; (3) those danced by women. Fairly full information\nwas obtained about some of these dances, while in other cases barely\nthe names were remembered. The following dances come under the first\nheading:\n\n      g\u012b\u00b4lak\n      ho\u00b4ho\n      c\u014d\u00b4kin\n      d\u016bt\u016b\u00b4ka\n      ya\u00b4ya\n      y\u014d\n      matc\u014d\u00b4\n      l\u0113h\u016bye\n      kal\u012b\u00b4mat\u014dt\u014d\n      \u012bw\u012b\u00b4\n      he\u00b4lehela\n      g\u016bn\u016b\u00b4la\n      da\u00b4ma\n      dja\u00b4ne\n      kara\u00b4iya\n      sawe\u00b4t\n\n\nDANCES IN WHICH MEN AND WOMEN PARTICIPATED\n\n_G\u012b\u00b4lak._--The G\u012b\u00b4lak dance differed from most other Pomo dances\nin that it consisted of two performances: one used for opening and\nclosing proceedings; the other, or main dance, coming in between.\n\nThe men painted with a single color (black, white, or red) all of the\nface below the eyebrows, after which they scattered eagle-down upon\nit. This gave the face a white, fluffy appearance. They painted the\nchest and shoulders black. The legs were painted either all black or\nall white. Then longitudinal stripes were scratched through the paint\nwith the fingernails. The arms were painted with three bands, each four\nfingers in width; one about the middle of the upper arm, one about the\nelbow, and one about the middle of the forearm.\n\nUpon the top of the head each wore a feather tuft. This was parted\nfrom front to rear, and the yellowhammer-feather forehead-band, which\nwas attached to the hair so as to hang down to the eyebrows, passed\nthrough the part in this and hung down the back to about the hips. A\nfeather skirt tied just under the arms, and entirely covering the back,\ncompleted the costume, except for a few green twigs which were held in\nboth hands directly in front of the face while the dance was actually\nin progress. No whistle was used by these dancers.\n\n[Illustration: Fig. 8--Position of dancers in _g\u012b\u00b4lak ke_.]\n\nThe women painted the upper part of the body in the same way as the\nmen and wore a feather tuft and the regular woman's forehead-band with\nbangles. They wore no feather skirt, but otherwise attired themselves\nas did the men.\n\nThe men were divided into two groups at A, A (fig. 8) on both sides of\nthe rear of the dance-house, the women dancers being likewise divided\ninto two groups at F, F on each side of the drum.\n\nWhen all was ready for the dance, the head singer started an air\nand sang alone for several minutes. Then, at a given signal, the\nburden-singers joined in with the chorus, all accompanying their\nsinging with split-stick rattles. This was the signal for the beginning\nof the first or preliminary division of the dance. The men went to a\nposition about midway between the center pole and the drum, where they\nformed a line BC, the women forming a group in the position G, directly\nbehind the line BC. Here was held the preliminary division of the\ndance, called tehe\u00b4sbax (E), in which the participants danced in place\nfor a few minutes.\n\nThe men next moved to the position DE, passing on each side of the\ncenter pole, the women following them to the position HI. They thus\nformed two lines, facing the center pole. Here the principal part of\nthe dance was held. The chief singer again started the air, being\njoined at the proper time by the burden-singers. Simultaneously with\nthe latter, the master of ceremonies gave the signal for the dancers to\nbegin. During the dancing he repeated the proper dance formula[24] four\ntimes, finally saying, \"\u012b, \u012b\u00b4 ...\" and the dance stopped. At the\nbeginning of the dance, upon the signal from the master of ceremonies,\nthe dancers, both men and women, whirled around and faced the fire, and\nas the dance stopped at the above signal they whirled back again so as\nto face the center pole. The dancers moved sidewise back and forth four\ntimes in all, along the lines DE and HI. Standing in their original\npositions, they then performed for the second time the movement first\ndescribed, thus ending the dance.\n\nThis entire dance might be repeated as many times as desired, no\ndefinite number being prescribed; but when each set of three divisions,\nas above stated, was finished, the dancers returned to A, A and F, F,\nretracing as nearly as possible the courses which they had traversed in\ncoming from these two positions. After the last set of this dance, they\nremoved their dance costumes near the drum.\n\n_h\u014d\u00b4h\u014d ke._--The h\u014dh\u00b4\u014d or h\u014d\u00b4h\u014dwa dance, which may\nbe taken as a type of many of those dances which follow, lasted from\none-half to three-quarters of an hour and could be danced at any time\nof year. The men were dressed as follows: The lower part of the face\n(i.e., below a line running from just under the ear to a point just\nunder the nose) was painted black. A black band, about four fingers in\nwidth, ran from each of the acromia to the sternum. Four similar bands\nencircled each arm, two above and two below the elbow, while four such\nbands were placed upon each leg. Upon the head each man wore a feather\ntuft, a yellow-hammer feather forehead-band and a pair of trembler\nplumes, and upon the back a feather skirt. Each dancer carried a bone\nwhistle also.\n\nEach woman wore a feather tuft and the usual woman's forehead-band.\nIn each hand she carried a small bunch of shredded tule. These\nbundles, called kato\u00b4hle (E), were made by tying together at one end\nseveral stems, perhaps six or eight inches long, and then shredding\nthe loose ends with a basketry awl. This dance was a very lively one\nand took its name, as did several others, from some of the words\nof the song accompanying it. Part of the burden of this song is a\nhigh-keyed \"h\u014d, h\u014d, h\u014d, h\u014d ...\" very rapidly spoken by the\nburden-singers in unison.\n\nThe music was provided by a head singer, several burden-singers, and a\ndrummer. Each of the singers used a split-stick rattle.\n\n_c\u014d\u00b4kin ke._--The c\u014d\u00b4kin dance was very similar, in many\nrespects, to the h\u014d\u00b4h\u014d ke. One informant said that the dress and\npainting were exactly the same, except that the upper arm and thigh\nbore one painted band each, instead of two as in the h\u014d\u00b4h\u014d ke.\n\n_d\u016bt\u016b\u00b4ka ke._--The same might be said of the d\u016bt\u016b\u00b4ka ke\n(C), or d\u016bt\u016b\u00b4ga xe (E). The dress of the men was identical with\nthat of the h\u014d\u00b4h\u014d-dancers. The men used no whistles. The women\nwore the regular woman's forehead-band. From one to perhaps eight or\nten persons danced at once, and the dance had no stated duration. As\none informant expressed it, they simply danced until they were tired.\n\n_ya\u00b4ya ke._--Little could be learned concerning the ya\u00b4ya dance, except\nthat it was danced by both men and women, and that the painting and\nattire were the same as for the h\u014d\u00b4h\u014d. The feather skirt was\nworn, but no whistle was used.\n\n_y\u014d\u00b4 ke._--The men decorated themselves for this dance as for the\nh\u014d\u00b4h\u014d dance, except that there were three stripes around the arm\ninstead of four, and with the addition of some down scattered over\ntheir heads and faces. Each woman had a narrow, black line running down\nthe chin and a similar line running out from each corner of the mouth\ntoward the ear. Otherwise her decorations consisted of a feather tuft\nand a yellow-hammer feather forehead-band. A considerable number of men\nand women sang, each keeping time with a split-stick rattle.\n\n_matc\u014d\u00b4 ke._--In the matc\u014d\u00b4 dance the music was provided by one\nman, who accompanied his song with a split-stick rattle. The dancers\npainted themselves as in the y\u014d\u00b4 dance. Each wore a feather skirt.\n\n_l\u0113h\u016b\u00b4ye ke._--The l\u0113h\u016b\u00b4ye dance was sometimes called the\nka\u00b4tcaha. The term l\u0113h\u016b\u00b4ye is the correct one for this dance.\nIn fact, the term ka\u00b4tcaha has been applied to it only recently and\nwas derived from the fact that whenever certain of the Pomo men became\nintoxicated they almost always sang the songs of this dance; hence the\nname \"whiskey dance,\" or ka\u00b4tcaha ke. If paint was employed it usually\nconsisted of a coat of black on the lower part of the face and three\nbands about each arm and each leg. Other designs were used, however.\nUpon the head the dancer wore a feather tuft, a yellow-hammer feather\nforehead-band, and a very large trembler plume, worn erect at the back\nof the head. Each man wore a feather skirt. The women painted the lower\npart of the face and wore a feather tuft and a yellow-hammer feather\nforehead-band.\n\n_kal\u012b\u00b4mat\u014dt\u014d ke._--The kal\u012b\u00b4mat\u014dt\u014d or\nkal\u012b\u00b4mata\u016bta\u016b, the thunder dance, was danced each morning\nand each evening during four successive days. It could be danced at\nother times of the day in addition if desired, and other dances might\nmeanwhile be performed at any time of the day except morning and\nevening. The men painted their naked bodies with vertical stripes.\nUpon the face but one stripe appeared, running from ear to ear and\njust below the nose. Upon the head each man wore a down head-net, a\nfeather tuft, and a pair of trembler plumes. No yellow-hammer feather\nforehead-band, down, or feather skirt was used. The women dressed very\nsimply. They wore the same stripe on the face as did the men, and upon\nthe head a head-net of down and a feather tuft. Both men and women had\nbone whistles, and each man had a light staff[25] four or five feet\nlong, with one or more cocoons attached as a rattle at its upper end.\n\n_\u012bw\u012b\u00b4 ke._--In the \u012bw\u012b\u00b4 (C) or Coyote dance the men were\nnude except for a coat of white paint over the entire body. Upon the\nhead there was a feather tuft, parted from front to rear to permit\nthe passage of a large yellow-hammer feather forehead-band from the\nroot of the nose over the head and down the back. The women were\nsimilarly painted and attired, except that each wore an ordinary skirt\nof shredded tule or other material. Each dancer carried a small bunch\nof green twigs in the hand, so held as to obscure the face as much as\npossible. This perhaps typified the crafty and slinking nature of the\ncoyote. The music was provided by one singer, who used a cocoon rattle.\n\n_g\u016bn\u016b\u00b4la xe._--In the g\u016bn\u016b\u00b4la xe (E) or Coyote dance the\nwomen dressed as in the h\u014d\u00b4h\u014d dance. The men painted themselves\nas did the performers in the ghost dance, and wore the parted feather\ntuft with the yellow-hammer feather forehead-band passing through\nthe part and down the back. They also wore feather skirts, and used\nwhistles.\n\n_he\u00b4lehela ke._--The painting for this dance was the same as for the\nh\u014d\u00b4h\u014d. Each man wore upon his head a down head-net, a pair of\ntrembler plumes, and a yellowhammer-feather forehead-band. Each had a\nbone whistle and a ke\u00b4c\u012bge. Neither whistles nor feather skirts were\nused. Each woman wore a feather tuft and a down head-net.\n\nA fairly high pole similar to the one employed in the initiation rite\nof the G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b ceremony was erected in the area directly in front\nof the dance-house. The participants gathered about its base and each\nman attempted to climb it, while the women danced in a circle about its\nbase. The wife of the climber, and sometimes other women, threw balls\nof \"pinole\" (grass-seed meal) at him as he ascended.\n\n_da\u00b4ma ke._--Concerning the da\u00b4ma dance, little could be learned save\nthat it was connected with some sort of esoteric organization and was\nvery rarely danced. There was but one woman who was said to know all\nthe details of this dance, but the opportunity did not present itself\nto interview her. She is now deceased.\n\n_dja\u00b4ne ke._--The dja\u00b4ne dance was always danced by two men and four\nwomen, the men forming the middle of the line, two of the women being\nat each end. They wore similar costumes, which were very simple. All\nthat could be learned concerning the details, however, was that the\nmouth was painted black with a short line running out from each corner,\nand that each dancer wore a feather skirt upon his back and used a\nwhistle.\n\n_kara\u00b4iya ke._--The kara\u00b4iya dance was danced by two men and two\nwomen, and only once during any given ceremony. Men and women dressed\nalike, except that the women wore the ordinary woman's skirt. No paint\nwas used. Upon the head was a feather tuft, a yellowhammer-feather\nforehead-band, two trembler plumes and some down. Each dancer carried a\nbone whistle.\n\n_sawe\u00b4t ke._--No details were learned concerning this dance.\n\n\nDANCES IN WHICH ONLY MEN PERFORMED\n\nThere are known among the Pomo at least five dances in which the\nperformers were always men. They are the h\u012b\u00b4we, the \u012b\u00b4dam, and\nthe x\u014d or fire dance and the ghost and the G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b dances\nmentioned above.\n\n_h\u012b\u00b4we ke._--While this was danced by men only, women were\nprivileged to witness it. The dancers first painted the entire body\nblack and then added many white spots irregularly placed all over the\nbody. Each dancer carried a staff six or seven feet long and similarly\npainted. The face of the dancer was painted black, and each wore a\nlarge feather tuft on his head. This was, however, not so large as that\nworn by the G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b-dancer. The music for this dance was quite\nunusual in that the drum was not used. The head singer also acted as\nmaster of ceremonies. The dancers formed a straight line and danced\nin place without any forward or lateral motion, and all joined in the\nsinging.\n\n_\u012b\u00b4dam ke._--Little could be learned of the \u012b\u00b4dam dance, except\nthat it was danced by men, with women participating in the singing.\nOne unique feature was that while it was in progress no one in the\nvillage might keep water in his house. Also if any one ate meat during\na ceremony in which this dance was used he would become insane and\ncould be cured only through the ministrations of the chief dancer of\nthe \u012b\u00b4dam. While no further evidence was obtained in substantiation,\nthese facts point to the existence of an esoteric society connected\nwith this dance. One informant maintained that the last man who knew\nthe details of this dance died some years ago.\n\n_xo ke._--The xo ke, or fire dance, was held at any desired time during\na ceremony. It usually followed the feast of welcome, as it may be\ncalled, which was tendered the guests immediately after their arrival.\nIt required no special paraphernalia. In fact, it amounted to little\nmore than a regular sweat-bath, such as was taken in the sudatory,[26]\nexcept that it was on a larger and more elaborate scale.\n\n_xahl\u016b\u00b4\u012bgak ke._--See under Ghost Ceremony, above.\n\n_g\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b ke._--See under G\u016b\u00b4ks\u016b Ceremony, above.\n\n\nDANCES IN WHICH ONLY WOMEN PERFORMED\n\nTwo dances are still remembered which come under this heading. They are\nthe ma\u00b4_t_a and the lo\u00b4le.\n\n_ma\u00b4ta ke._--One man acted as master of ceremonies and another sang to\nthe accompaniment of a cocoon rattle. The dancers painted the cheeks\nand lower part of the face black and then scratched vertical lines\nin the paint. The only headdress worn was the yellowhammer-feather\nforehead-band. In each hand was held a small green branch. The arms\nhung down, but with a flexure at the elbow which brought these green\nsprigs directly in front of the dancer. The dancers formed a line\nand danced back and forth sidewise over a short, straight course.\nThis is one of the very few dances which may yet be seen, though in a\nmodernized form, at Fourth of July celebrations.\n\n_lo\u00b4le ke._--As before, a man acted as master of ceremonies and another\nman sang, accompanying himself with the cocoon rattle. The informant\nwas not certain just what kind of costume was worn, but knew that no\npaint was employed.\n\n\nADDITIONAL DANCES\n\nThe names of several other dances are remembered, but nothing in regard\nto detail. These are mo\u00b4m\u012bmom\u012b, _toto_, ta\u00b4\u016bg\u016b, badj\u016b\u00b4ca, and s\u012bta\u00b4iya.\nThe last of these was said by one informant to make up, along with the\ng\u012b\u00b4lak and h\u014d\u00b4h\u014d and d\u016bt\u016b\u00b4ka dances, a special ceremony, about which\nnothing further is known.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[24] Any dance formula such as this was called _bak\u016b\u00b4mhwakil_ (E).\n\n[25] The general term xe\u00b4 dak\u014dik (E), signifying anything held in\nthe hand while dancing, is applied to this staff.\n\n[26] See the article on \"Pomo Buildings,\" in the _Holmes Anniversary\nVolume_, mentioned above.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MESSIAH CULT\n\n\nDuring the latter years of the nineteenth century a \"Messiah\" cult has\nbeen introduced among the Pomo by the Wintun of the Sacramento Valley.\nIn comparatively recent times the \"prophets\" of this cult acquired\ngreat importance and, while the cult flourished, to a certain extent\nsuperseded the leaders of the old ceremonies. This cult first appeared\namong the Pomo at Upper Lake, then at Sulphur Bank, then at Long\nValley, and finally in the Ukiah Valley. The function of the prophet,\nor dreamer, as he is commonly styled by the Indians, was to have dreams\nor waking visions concerning dances and other matters in which the\npeople were interested. The prophets were supposed to receive through\nthese visions direct revelations from presiding spirits, and the people\nformerly gave much credit to their teachings. They virtually formed a\npriesthood which replaced the old \"captains\" in the direction of all\nceremonial matters.\n\nOne of the characteristic features of this cult was the painted\ndesigns upon the interior of the dance-house. The last truly primitive\ndance-house of this type in the Pomo region was photographed by the\nauthor in 1901, 1902, and is described and illustrated elsewhere.[27]\n\nAnother important feature was the erection before the dance-house of\na pole bearing banners and streamers decorated with the particular\ndesigns which the priest had seen in his vision.\n\n\n\n\nCONCLUSION\n\n\nPomo ceremonies were in general quite simple and the ceremonial life\nwas characterized by an absence (1) of any fixed ceremonial season\nor sequence of ceremonies, and (2) of any extensive priesthood or\nsecret order controlling ceremonial matters. Some of the ceremonial\nperformances possessed certain esoteric features, such as initiation\nrites and special restrictions on the part of the uninitiated.\n\nWe note the presence of a few fairly elaborate ceremonies and a\nconsiderable number of dances, some of which were employed as integral\nparts of certain ceremonies, others as merely incidental to them. These\ndances usually followed one another without any definite order or\nrelation, though in certain cases definite dances were prescribed as\nparts of given ceremonies.\n\nOne ceremony has a definite mythological background, but this has\nbeen lost elsewhere. No myths are told today to account for the other\nperformances.\n\nIn most of the dances an indefinite number of both men and women might\nparticipate. In two dances the number of performers of each sex was\ndefinitely prescribed. In five, only men might participate, and two\nwere strictly women's dances. In other words, there is patent in Pomo\nceremonies a rather thorough going democracy regarding the positions of\nthe sexes.\n\n\n_Transmitted September 21, 1916._\n\n\n\n\n  Vol. 7.  1. The Emeryville Shellmound, by Max Uhle. Pp. 1-106,\n              plates 1-12, with 38 text figures. June, 1907         1.25\n           2. Recent Investigations bearing upon the Question of\n              the Occurrence of  Neocene Man in the Auriferous\n              Gravels of California, by William J. Sinclair.\n              Pp. 107-130, plates 13-14. February, 1908              .35\n           3. Pomo Indian Basketry, by S.A. Barrett. Pp. 133-306,\n              plates 15-30, 231 text figures. December, 1908        1.75\n           4. Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region, by N.C.\n              Nelson. Pp. 309-356, plates 32-34. December, 1909      .50\n           5. The Ellis Landing Shellmound, by N.C. Nelson.\n              Pp. 357-426, plates 36-50. April, 1910                 .75\n                Index, pp. 427-443.\n  Vol. 8.  1. A Mission Record of the California Indians, from a\n              Manuscript in the Bancroft Library, by A.L. Kroeber.\n              Pp. 1-27. May, 1908                                    .25\n           2. The Ethnography of the Cahuilla Indians, by A.L.\n              Kroeber. Pp. 29-68, plates 1-15. July, 1908            .75\n           3. The Religion of the Luise\u00f1o and Diegue\u00f1o Indians of\n              Southern California, by Constance Goddard Dubois.\n              Pp. 69-186, plates 16-19. June, 1908                  1.25\n           4. The Culture of the Luise\u00f1o Indians, by Philip Stedman\n              Sparkman. Pp. 187-234, plate 20. August, 1908          .50\n           5. Notes on Shoshonean Dialects of Southern California,\n              by. A.L. Kroeber. Pp. 235-269. September, 1909         .35\n           6. The Religious Practices of the Diegue\u00f1o Indians, by\n              T.T. Waterman. Pp. 271-358, plates 21-28. March, 1910  .80\n                Index, pp. 359-369.\n  Vol. 9.  1. Yana Texts, by Edward Sapir, together with Yana Myths\n              collected by Roland B. Dixon. Pp. 1-235. February,\n              1910                                                  2.50\n           2. The Chumash and Costanoan Languages, by A.L. Kroeber.\n              Pp. 237-271. November, 1910                            .35\n           3. The Languages of the Coast of California North of San\n              Francisco, by A.L. Kroeber. Pp. 273-435, and map.\n              April, 1911                                           1.50\n                Index, pp. 437-439.\n  Vol. 10. 1. Phonetic Constituents of the Native Languages of\n              California, by A.L. Kroeber. Pp. 1-12. May, 1911       .10\n           2. The Phonetic Elements of the Northern Paiute\n              Language, by T.T. Waterman. Pp. 13-44, plates 1-5.\n              November, 1911                                         .45\n           3. Phonetic Elements of the Mohave Language, by A.L.\n              Kroeber. Pp. 45-96, plates 6-20. November, 1911        .65\n           4. The Ethnology of the Salinan Indians, by J. Alden\n              Mason. Pp. 97-240, plates 21-37. December, 1912       1.75\n           5. Papago Verb Stems, by Juan Dolores. Pp. 241-263.\n              August, 1913                                           .25\n           6. Notes on the Chilula Indians of Northwestern\n              California, by Pliny Earl Goddard. Pp. 265-288,\n              plates 38-41. April, 1914                              .30\n           7. Chilula Texts, by Pliny Earle Goddard. Pp. 289-379.\n              November, 1914                                        1.00\n                Index, pp. 381-385.\n  Vol. 11. 1. Elements of the Kato Language, by Pliny Earle\n              Goddard. Pp. 1-176, plates 1-45. October, 1912        2.00\n           2. Phonetic Elements of the Diegue\u00f1o Language, by A.L.\n              Kroeber and J.P. Harrington. Pp. 177-188. April,\n              1914                                                   .10\n           3. Sarsi Texts, by Pliny Earle Goddard. Pp. 189-277.\n              February, 1915                                        1.00\n           4. Serian, Tequistlatecan, and Hokan, by A.L. Kroeber.\n              Pp. 279-290. February, 1915                            .10\n           5. Dichotomous Social Organization in South Central\n              California, by Edward Winslow Gifford. Pp. 291-296.\n              February, 1916                                         .05\n           6. The Delineation of the Day-Signs in the Aztec\n              Manuscripts, by T.T. Waterman. Pp. 297-398. March,\n              1916                                                  1.00\n           7. The Mutsun Dialect of Costanoan Based on the\n              Vocabulary of De la Cuesta, by J. Alden Mason.\n              Pp. 399-472. March, 1916                               .70\n                Index, pp. 473-479.\n  Vol. 12. 1. Composition of California Shellmounds, by Edward\n              Winslow Gifford. Pp. 1-29. February, 1916              .30\n           2. California Place Names of Indian Origin, by A.L.\n              Kroeber. Pp. 31-69. June, 1916                         .40\n           3. Arapaho Dialects, by A.L. Kroeber. Pp. 71-138. June,\n              1916                                                   .70\n           4. Miwok Moieties, by Edward Winslow Gifford.\n              Pp. 139-194. June, 1916                                .55\n           5. On Plotting the Inflections of the Voice, by Cornelius\n              B. Bradley. Pp. 195-218, plates 1-5. October, 1916     .25","title":"Ceremonies of the Pomo Indians","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":19255}