After the exclusion of such public observances as the shaman
initiation, menstrual dance, and victory celebration, which, while
generally participated in, are performed primarily for the benefit of
individuals, the ceremonies of the California Indians which are of a
really public or communal purpose and character fall into three
classes: (1) mourning ceremonies; (2) initiation ceremonies connected
with a secret society; and (3) a more varied group of dances and other
observances which all, however, have in common the benefit either of
the community or of the world at large, in that they cause a good crop
of acorns and natural products, make the avoidance of rattlesnake bites
possible, or prevent the occurrence of disease, earthquake, flood, and
other calamities.
Of these three classes of ceremonies the mourning ceremonies are at
least as important as the others and by far the most distinctive of the
state as an ethnographic province, although neither they nor the secret
society are found in the specialized Northwestern area. The mourning
ceremonies further do not occur among the Athabascan, Yuki, and Pomo
tribes to the south of the Northwestern tribes as far as the bay of San
Francisco; but outside of this strip in the northern coast region they
are universal in the state. Among the Maidu they are usually known as
"burning," among the Miwok as "cry." Among the Yokuts they have been
called "dance of the dead," and among the Mohave and Yuma "annual."
These ceremonies are usually participated in by a number of visiting
communities or villages. They last for one or more nights, during which
crying and wailing, sometimes accompanied by singing and exhortation,
are indulged in, and find their climax in a great destruction of
property. While those who have recently lost relatives naturally take a
prominent part, the ceremony as a whole is not a personal but a tribal
one. Among the Yokuts and probably other groups it is immediately
followed by a dance of a festive nature, and usually there is a
definitely expressed idea that this general ceremony puts an end to all
individual mourning among the participants. A typical form of the
mourning ceremony is found among the Maidu, who call it oestu. Each
village or political unit possesses its burning ground. Participation
in the ceremony is effected by receipt of a membership-string or
necklace, both the receipt and return of which are marked by payments
or presents. The ceremony is held in autumn in a circular brush
enclosure. Property to be destroyed is tied to poles which are erected
on the ground. After an opening exhortation by the chief or shaman in
charge of the ceremony, the wailing begins, to continue throughout the
night, many exclamations to the dead being uttered. Toward morning the
numerous articles displayed on the poles are taken down and burned.
When everything has been destroyed the assembly breaks up for gambling
and feasting. The purpose of the ceremony is to supply the ghosts of
the dead with clothing, property, and food. Although its general tenor
is communal, each family offers only to its own relatives. In some
cases elaborate images of stuffed skins ornamented with dancing apparel
are made to represent important people who have died. These are burned
with the property offered to the dead.
Initiation ceremonies which result in something analogous to a secret
society are found in the whole state except in the Northwestern region
and among the agricultural tribes at the extreme southeast in the
Colorado valley. They are apparently as well developed among the Yuki
and Pomo, who do not practice tribal mourning ceremonies, as among
their neighbors who do. In a strict sense there is no secret society,
even though the precepts taught boys at initiation are not made public.
There are usually no paraphernalia or insignia of a society, no degrees
or ranks, no membership or other organization, nor is there a definite
purpose for the society. The great majority of the males of the tribes
are made to undergo the initiation, and in many cases there is a
distinct desire to force it upon every man, whether he be willing or
unwilling. In so far as a society may therefore be said to exist at
all, its principal purpose and public function are the initiation of
new members. There is however often a special name for those who have
been initiated, such as yeponi among the Maidu and pumal among the
Luiseno, and to a certain extent the initiates are regarded as a class
or council having a more or less indefinite decision over religious
matters affecting the community. The precepts imparted to the
initiates, other than the ritualistic knowledge relating to the
initiation ceremony itself, seems to be of the most general kind and
pertains principally to daily life and the most obvious maxims of
native morality. In some ways this initiation is a puberty ceremony for
boys corresponding to the first-menstruation-ceremony of girls. The
initiates are however not limited as to age, men being sometimes
included. Among at least the Yokuts in Central California and the
Mission Indians of Southern California the initiation was accompanied
by the drinking of toloache or jimson-weed, datura meteloides, the
stupor and visions produced by which were regarded as supernatural. In
Southern California the idea of an ordeal and instruction was specially
developed. Boys were made to undergo severe tests of pain and endurance
and were given numerous injunctions regarding their adult life. Among
the Maidu of the Sacramento valley instruction both in the myths of the
tribe and in the more important ceremonies was imparted. Among certain
of the Maidu the secret society, in so far as it comprises the more
adult men, is difficult to distinguish from an association of shamans.
The public ceremonies other than mourning and initiation observances,
in other words the tribal dances of California, differ thoroughly in
the three culture regions, which must therefore be considered
separately.
In Central California these dances, like the initiation ceremonies,
have disappeared to a much greater extent than the mourning ceremonies,
and where they survive have often been more or less influenced by
modern ideas. As a rule they were held in the large assembly or
ceremonial chamber, more often at night than during the day, and either
lasted for a number of nights or consisted of a series of successive
dances extending over a considerable period. Some of the dances, though
a minority, were named after animals, and in such there was usually
some imitation of the actions of animals. Sometimes rude paraphernalia
were used to represent the animal itself, but this was not very common
and masks were never employed. At least in the Sacramento valley and
northern Coast Range region there was some impersonation of mythical
characters, as of Taikomol, creator among the Yuki, and of the mythical
being Kuksu among the Pomo and Maidu. Such impersonators usually wore
either the "big head," an enormous head-dress of feathers attached to
radiating sticks, or a large cape of feathers fastened to a network,
which concealed both body and face, or both pieces of apparel. There
seems to have been nothing corresponding to an altar. The dancers were
painted but crudely, and such symbolism as was denoted by the painting
was of the simplest. One or more of the posts that supported the roof
of the assembly chamber were usually of ceremonial importance. The
dancers frequently entered and left the house by a hole above instead
of the door at the ground. A rude drum consisting of a hollow slab
placed on the ground and stamped with the feet was often used. An
important character in most ceremonies was the clown or buffoon, part
of whose duties was to caricature the more serious performance. In some
cases shamanistic exhibitions of magic were included in the ceremony.
At times an exchange or compulsory giving of property formed part of
the ceremony. The participants were rarely if ever called upon to
undergo severe trials of endurance, pain, or courage, as among so many
other Indians. The whole ritual was comparatively simple.
The exact nature and relation of the various dances are very little
known among most of the tribes of the Central region. Probably a
typical example of these dances is furnished by the Maidu of the
Sacramento valley, who declare that their ceremonies were obtained from
their neighbors, the Wintun. This statement is borne out by indirect
evidence. Among the Maidu the ceremonies were performed in winter and
constituted a series of fifteen or more distinct dances, coming for the
most part in a definite order. So far as known they were the following:
Hesi, Luyi, Loli, Salalu-ngkasi, Duck, Bear, Coyote, Creeper, Turtle,
Aloli-ngkasi, Yokola-ngkasi, Moloko-ngkasi, Deer, Aki, Hesi. The
majority of these dances were performed by men, but some by women only.
There is no evidence that participation in these dances was dependent
upon anything like membership in an association. Each had its
characteristic paraphernalia or combinations of paraphernalia. In
several there are participants with special apparel and with a
distinctive name. At least some of these seem to represent mythical
characters. In several instances these performers enact ceremonial
operations, largely in the nature of complex approaches and departures
which take place outside the assembly chamber. The names of several of
these ceremonies occur also among neighboring Indians speaking entirely
different languages, and thus give proof of the transmission of the
ceremonies from one locality to another. The Hesi, the most important
of the Maidu series, is danced also by the Wintun. The Loli is an
important ceremony among the Maidu, Miwok, and Pomo. The performer
called Kuksu, who refers to important myths, is found among the Maidu,
Wintun, Pomo, and either the Miwok or Costanoan Indians formerly at
Mission San Jose. There is every reason to believe that a fuller
acquaintance with the tribes whose ceremonies are as yet least known
will reveal other instances of ceremonies held in common and known
under the same name. Farther to the south, among the Yokuts of the
Tulare basin, these ceremonies do not seem to have penetrated. Here the
majority of the public ceremonies, like the rattlesnake ceremony that
has been mentioned, were of the nature of shamanistic performances.
Throughout the Central region the dances, while they might be held only
in structures of certain kinds, were never rigorously attached to a
specific locality.
In Northwestern California the more important ceremonies can always be
held only at certain spots, and the performance of ceremonies of the
same name always varies somewhat at different places. The performers do
not represent mythological or other characters and do not imitate
animals. The more important dances last at least a number of days, not
infrequently as many as ten. The dances are held either out-doors or in
certain sacred houses, which are however not different from the
ordinary living-house of the region except through their traditionary
and ceremonial associations. The essential religious portion of the
ceremony consists of the actions gone through by a priest, with
sometimes one or two assistants. The more important part of his
procedure is the recital of one of the sacred formulae so
characteristic of the region. This formula relates specifically to the
exact locality at which the dance is held, and therefore often varies
considerably from spot to spot. The formula is regarded as it were as
private property, and its knowledge is sufficient to institute the
priest in his capacity. The public portions of the ceremony, such as
the dancing, are practically dissociated from this purely religious
element. The dancers are mostly young men without any knowledge of the
ceremony other than of the simple dance-step and songs. The
paraphernalia which they wear belong neither to them nor to the
priests, but to wealthy men of the tribe, for whom the occasion is an
all-important opportunity for the display of their wealth, which
consists in large part of the dancing regalia, and the possession of
which is the chief factor toward their social prominence. The dancers
appear in from two to five parties, representing neighboring villages,
each of which is aided by the wealthy men of other villages; and these
parties vie with each other primarily in the display of their regalia.
The most important ceremonies are the Deerskin dance and the Jumping
dance, which are held either annually or biennially, the former always
out-doors, the latter at some places out-doors, sometimes in boats, at
others in-doors. The purpose of both dances, which where both are
practiced are usually given in close succession, is the good of the
world. Earthquake and disease are prevented and a food supply insured.
Very little of the sacred formulae and accompanying ritual, and nothing
in the remainder of the dance, has however any specific reference to
this purpose. A third, minor ceremony, the Brush dance, completes the
series of public ceremonies in this region, the remaining dances being
held only on occasion of war, a girl's puberty, or the initiation of a
shaman. Even the Brush dance is not fully of a tribal character,
inasmuch as it is performed for the benefit of a single individual, a
sick child, although it is participated in by an entire village with
the assistance of visitors from others, and though there seems to be a
desire to perform the ceremony at least once a year in each of the
larger villages.
In Southern California mourning ceremonies are everywhere the most
prominent. In the coast region, among the various groups of Mission
Indians, initiation ceremonies make up most of the public rituals that
are not connected with mourning. In the interior the Mohave possess no
initiation ceremonies. In both regions such ceremonies as partake
neither of the nature of mourning nor initiation are conspicuous by the
prominence of the myth element. They consist essentially of long series
of songs, occupying one or more nights in the recital, which recount,
in part directly but more often by allusion, an important myth. At
times the myth is actually related in the intervals between the songs.
In some cases dancing by men or women accompanies the singing, but this
is never spectacular and in many cases is entirely lacking. Being only
ceremonial recitations of myths, these ceremonies are not attached in
their performance to specific localities, and when dancing regalia are
used they are of the simplest character; nor is there opportunity for
either altar or ritual. The predominance of the mourning element in the
ceremonies of this region is further shown by the fact that among some
tribes, as the Mohave, these same singing ceremonies, besides being
performed independently, are also sung for many hours at every death.
The series of songs selected for each individual on this occasion is
that with which he is acquainted. In accord with what has been said of
the dream as the basis of Mohave religious life, these singing
ceremonies are almost always believed by each person to have been
dreamed by himself.