DANCE OF THE HAIR-PARTERS (GRASS DANCE)
One morning Elk Horn, the herald, galloped through the camp, holding
aloft a standard with eagle feathers along its staff. He called in a
loud voice that the Grass Dancers would hold their ceremony, and
invited every one to come. He wore a deerskin suit, a beaded breast
ornament of many strands, and a blanket draped about his waist. His
horse was painted, and decorated with clusters of feathers and sleigh
bells; and there were coyote tails hanging from his stirrups.
The Grass Dancers, or Hair-Parters, was an association of young men.
They held their meetings through the winter months, and a public
ceremony at the time of the Sun Dance. Any one who had a suitable dance
outfit could take part. They had four unmarried women as members, who
rode around the camp with them at night and helped them in their
singing.
Their drummers opened the ceremony by seating themselves where the
dance would take place. They beat the drums steadily and in perfect
rhythm—the signal for the people to come together.
Soon the dancers began to assemble. Some were naked, except for
loin-cloths and beaded dance moccasins, and had their faces and bodies
variously painted. Others wore fine costumes, with war shirts of
soft-tanned buckskin, which were decorated with colored beads and
trimmed over the shoulders and legs with black-tipped ermine tails.
They had breast ornaments and necklaces of beads, of elk teeth and
grizzly bear claws. They carried tomahawks, bows and arrows, and
rattles made of bunches of deer and elk hoofs; and wore war bonnets of
eagle feathers and headdresses made of colored horsehair and
porcupine-skins, caps of otter and mink skins, which were wound about
their heads and had the tails hanging down behind. They had skin
ankle-bands with small bells attached, and strings of sleigh bells
strapped about their legs and hanging from their waists.
The dancers sat in a circle, with the drummers in the center, having
large cowhide drums of different colors. They used single drumsticks
with which they beat with spirit; they sang rhythmically and in perfect
unison. In the dance the drumming was a continued booming that did not
break, growing faster and faster, until it ended suddenly with a crash
and in a chorus of shrill war-whoops. Such was the music the
Hair-Parters had for their ceremony.
Some of the dancers had distinguishing marks; and their movements had
meanings, which an outsider would not understand. One warrior wore
leggings with eight parallel black lines, to show the number of men he
had killed in battle. Another had a war shirt covered with marks,
representing picket stakes with short ropes attached, to show the
number of horses he had captured from enemies, cutting them loose at
the risk of his life. Another, who was a noted taker of horses, carried
a painted horse carved from wood. Others had long whips, feathered
wands and fringed bags decorated with colored beads and porcupine
quills.
They had one dance figure, in which only warriors took part; those who
had escaped after being surrounded in battle. Another dance was for men
who had never turned away from a fight; and another in which only
generous men took part—those who were known to give freely of their
possessions.
When an eagle feather fell in the dance from the war bonnet of Night
Gun, he did not try to recover it himself; this might bring him bad
luck. He chose Bear Chief, a famous warrior, to pick it up. Then, led
by Bear Chief, the dancers circled three times round the feather; the
fourth time, Bear Chief took the feather; and, after recounting four of
his brave deeds in battle, he gave it back to the owner.
There was a special dance for those who had been wounded in battle.
Wolf Eagle, a warrior with only one arm, danced with spirit and
abandon, carrying in his single hand the decorated bone of his missing
arm. Another dancer, “Behind-the-Ears” by name, held his rifle ready to
shoot. In battle he had once made a good shot and hit an enemy behind
the ear; in this dance, he went through similar motions to recall that
deed.
The leader of the Hair-Parters was Black Weasel. His seat in the dance
circle was marked by a wand decorated with eagle feathers and driven
into the ground. He wore a war bonnet of selected eagle feathers and a
soft-tanned suit of deerskin trimmed with ermine tails. Across his
shoulders and along arms and legs were broad strips of quill work.
Black Weasel opened the dance by moving about the circle, striking the
seated warriors with his feathered wand to make them join in and
whipping any who lagged behind. It was also his duty to look out for
strangers, and to see that women and children had seats.
Among the spectators was Nokoa, a small boy with his mother. He wore a
fringed buckskin suit and a beaded necklace of many strands. During one
of the figures his father, Wolverine, took him into the dance. At first
he was abashed before so many people, but soon forgot himself and
danced fearlessly, his moccasined feet keeping time with the rhythmic
beating of drums, swaying his small body like the warriors and aiming a
stick for a gun.
The Grass Dance lasted throughout the day and ended after sunset with a
feast. During intermissions, they had speeches and stories of brave
deeds in war. Mountain Chief stood up and told how he used to dance in
former days. He urged the Hair-Parters to be generous and to give many
horses to visitors, especially those who came from a distance. In his
hand he held a stick which represented a horse. He crossed the circle
and handed the stick to a visiting Sioux Indian. Then from the
spectators came shouts of approval; and an aged chief sang: “Good man,
to give away your horse so generously.”
During the feast, the venerable chief, Running Crane, stood up and
spoke, saying:
“My children, I am glad in my heart to see you gathered here, the young
men all dressed in fine clothes. Only at the Sun Dance, which comes
once a year, can we have a good time together. Our Great Grandfather
(President of the United States) should not put an end to our Sun
Dance; it makes our people happy and we do no harm to white men. Let
the old people restrain our young men, that we may return to our homes
without trouble. That is all. My name is Running Crane.”
On this same day, and in a different part of the camp, were sham
battles of former fights with hostile Indian tribes—dances by warriors
on foot and mounted on horses. Their functions were to excite the
people, both old and young, and to stir up enthusiasm for war and make
young men eager to fight.
One of these sham battles on foot enacted a fight between Crows and
Blackfoot. The warriors, representing the Crow Indians, were led by
Flat Tail; and the Blackfoot by Little Dog, their war chief. They
advanced in line with rifles, beating drums and singing war songs. When
the waiting warriors fired their guns, some of the enemy fell and the
rest retreated. Then the visitors scalped the dead amid cheers and
war-whoops from the spectators.
The horseback dances were spectacular sham battles by mounted men. In
former days, warriors took part before starting on the warpath, to
stimulate their courage. The mounted men were dressed in war clothes
and had their horses painted with war signs—pictures of weapons, guns,
bows and arrows; a red hand stood for blood lust and red marks for men
wounded or killed in battle. They wore headdresses of eagle feathers
and horned bonnets, and carried war bundles—the sacred War Bridle, the
Lance, and the Shield. They used decorated saddles and bridles and tied
up the tails of their horses; and had strings of bells strapped to
their legs and around the necks of their horses.
I saw a group of men and women gathered in a circle, drumming and
singing, waiting for the horsemen to come. Soon the riders appeared on
the summit of a hill, where they stood for a while in sight of the
people; then rode down at a gallop in single file, with Little Plume
their war chief in the lead. First they rode round the inner circle
with shrill war-whoops, and came to the place where the people were
gathered. They circled round and round, shouting and firing their
rifles. Then they gave horseback dances, reënacting scenes of former
battles. One band rode at full speed against another, maneuvering with
war cries and shooting. Then they formed in line, and with Little Plume
in the lead, marched slowly through the camp, with rifles in position,
singing a song of victory and holding aloft their sacred Lance.
Just outside the circle camp was the race track, a level stretch along
a low range of hills. The head of the course lay towards the
snow-capped Rockies and extended eastward toward the open plains. On
one side were grass-covered prairies, decked with lovely wild flowers;
and on the other the outskirts of the big camp with its smoke-colored
tepees.
For the most exciting race of that day, a large crowd of Indians
gathered at the finish; they wagered horses, robes, and blankets. The
young riders were naked, wearing only loin-cloths and moccasins. They
rode wild broncos without saddles, using rawhide ropes for bridles. At
the start I heard shouts, and saw a cloud of dust moving swiftly. The
riders came, lying low along the backs of their broncos and beating
them with rawhide whips. A famous race horse named “Bull Shoe” won,
amid shouts from the throng of spectators.
Then Elk Horn, the herald, rode through the camp and announced that
White Grass, the medicine man, would take out his Dancing Pipe; he
invited every one to come to the ceremony.
Now the Dancing Pipe was the oldest and most powerful of the medicine
pipes. Many came to follow it, both men and women, dressed in their
best, each carrying some sacred object to which they prayed. A throng
soon filled the lodge of White Grass and crowded about the outside.
They watched him remove the wrappings from the pipe, one by one, each
with a different song, until at last he held up the long stem. It was
wrapped with fur and decorated with eagle feathers and bright-colored
plumes.
White Grass lifted the Pipe reverently, holding it to the north, south,
east, and west; and prayed to the Sun for all the people. Two chiefs
arose and recounted their brave deeds in war; and, after that, four men
sounded their drums.
Then White Grass stood up and held the Pipe in front of him. He danced
slowly from the lodge, men and women and even children following in
single file, until there was a long line of dancing Indians moving in
and out among the tepees. White Grass and the four drummers led the
dancers, beating their drums and singing the songs of the Dancing Pipe.
They moved once around the big camp circle and then back to the lodge
of White Grass.
Another crowd gathered at the tepee of Night Gun, to see some women
choose their men in the Kissing Dance. The men stood in line on one
side of the lodge, the women on the other. When the lines came close
together, the man who was chosen put a blanket over his head and the
woman’s, and they kissed each other while dancing between the lines.
For this favor, the man had to make the woman a present, generally a
blanket, though sometimes other gifts were added.
But a tragedy put an end to the Kissing Dance. There was a married
woman who liked the dance so much she neglected home and children. When
her husband found out that she kept choosing a former lover, he came to
the dance lodge and killed her.
I saw a band of visiting Sioux warriors parade on horseback, singing a
Celebration Song. Lone Dog was their leader; also Red Boy, Bear Paw,
and White Eagle. They wore feathered shields fastened to their backs
and carried rifles and feathered wands. Their horses were painted and
had bunches of feathers attached to manes and tails. They also had head
ornaments and beaded flaps of rawhide, which were fastened to their
stirrups. While parading the camp circle, they sang:
“Oh, Blackfoot! In the past we heard you boast,
You would never live like white men.
But we see you now,
With few of your fine Indian clothes left.”
According to an old custom, these visiting Sioux warriors stopped to
sing at the lodges of prominent men who gave them presents and food.
After going once around the camp circle, they stopped at the lodge of
Áhkiona, who gave a Pipe Ceremony for them. A few years before, while
visiting the Sioux in North Dakota, they gave him a Medicine Pipe; and
now they were going to take it home.
In the evening a party of warriors came to the lodge of the head-chief
to sing a Wolf Song, according to an ancient war custom. They stood in
a circle holding a large rawhide between them, upon which they beat
with sticks. They sang no words, but gave the wolf howl at intervals.
Their wives and sweethearts who stood near did not sing, but joined in
the wolf howls. In former days, the Blackfoot sang the Wolf Song before
starting to war or on a hunt, in the belief that the spirit of the
wolf, the craftiest of all wild animals, would lead and inspire them
with his cunning. To express the desire of the singer, the song always
ended with the wolf call, because a wolf always howls when it hunts.
That same night, I was wakened by a dog fight close to our lodge.
Quickly other dogs came and joined in a mass fight, with barking, yelps
and snarls. Then hundreds of dogs in all parts of the circle camp,
roused by the noise of the fight, united in a deep-throated and
mournful howl—a weird sound, like the wailing of a great wolf-pack.
When their dismal chorus died away, I went outside the lodge. It was a
glorious night; the sky was clear and a full moon rising over the
prairie. All about me were white tepees with their picturesque clusters
of tapering poles. In the west a brilliant planet was sinking behind
the dim outlines of the Rocky Mountains. The camp was throbbing with
life. On all sides I heard singing and drumming. The Sioux warriors
were again making their rounds, singing a Traveling Song. Then Red Fox
and his sweetheart passed, singing in unison a Riding Song. The girl
sat in front of her lover, wearing his war bonnet. His robe of
soft-tanned elkskin flowed gracefully back as they rode. Some of the
night-singers were riding, mounted two on a horse, singing and marking
time with clusters of sleigh bells, in perfect time with the slow
jog-trot of their horses.
It was an old custom for young people to ride all night and sing, while
guarding camp and protecting the horse herds. Then it became a social
custom with special songs, sung in unison by different groups riding
two on a horse.