dance-house, and here the following ceremony was performed: To the
upper end of the pole a streamer was attached. The fastest runner
among the participants took the end of this streamer, and the other
men, arranged usually in the order of their ability as runners,
grasped the pole at different points down to its butt. Behind this
line certain women who participated formed a second line. The pole was
then carried, at the top speed of the runners, four times around in a
contra-clockwise direction, the pivotal point being the hole in which
the pole was to rest, and over which its base was held. As they ran the
runners swayed the pole up and down, and the women threw upon the men
handfuls of a small, parched, black seed called gēhe´ (E).
Upon the completion of the fourth round some one of the runners shouted
loudly "ha ... ū ..." and at this signal all lifted the pole
vertically into place in the hole. The call was repeated as the pole
was about half way up. When in place, the pole was fixed by tramping
earth and stones about it.
Within a few minutes after the erection of the pole the
Gū´ksū-dancers appeared and stopped about two or three hundred
yards away from the dance-house. Some of the men had been attempting to
climb the pole, both men and women meanwhile throwing at them balls,
gala´l (E), of uncooked meal made of a certain grass seed.
As the Gū´ksū-dancers appeared in the distance the climbing
ceased, and the children who were to be initiated were collected about
the base of the pole. Boys who were to be thus initiated were called
yō´mta (E), while girls were called masa´nta (E). They ranged in
age from perhaps five to ten years. The dancers proceeded to the foot
of the pole, took the children in hand, and performed the following
ceremony, the object of which was to secure for the children good
health and to make them grow rapidly. The children were first made to
lie down upon the ground and were covered with blankets. Then, under
the supervision of the dancers, each child had two cuts made with a
broken shell across the small of its back and about an inch apart.
The cutting was done by the gaxa´ xale (E), an old man selected for
the purpose by the people of the village on account of his long life,
good health, and particularly his good heartedness. This was one of
the most important phases of the initiation, and upon it depended the
effect upon the life of the child. The children were in each case
covered completely with the blanket and were not permitted, under any
consideration, to look up during this part of the ceremony. They might
make any outcry they pleased, but if they attempted to look up from
the ground they were threatened and even beaten with the staffs of the
dancers. The cutting was done quite deeply, so that blood was always
drawn. The children were also prohibited from looking up into a tree
from under its branches until after these scarifications had completely
healed, else the tree would bear no fruit.
The entire assemblage next entered the dance-house, the dancers going
directly to their positions in the rear without the preliminary
ceremony of entry which was required in most other ceremonies. The
children were made to lie on the floor and were again covered with
their blankets. The dancers then performed for their benefit, making
a great deal of fun both of the children and of the scarification
ceremony. They danced thus for a short time, then went on the west
side of the fire, where they turned their heads slowly to the left
four times, after which the people cried "ya...." The dancers then ran
out and into the brush, where they took off and left their dancing
paraphernalia. This ceremonial leaving of the dance-house was supposed
to remove all illness from the village, the dancers taking it with
them as they went out. The spirits which they represented supposedly
returned at that time to their supernatural home at the south end of
the world.
Another feature of the initiation in the Gū´ksū ceremony is
described by a Central Pomo informant, who says that young men were
initiated by being ceremonially shot with the bow and arrow.
STEPHEN POWERS ON THE GUKSU CEREMONY
Powers describes what he terms a "spear dance" among the Gallinomero
(which evidently refers to this same ceremony), as follows:[22]
First they all unite, men and squaws together, in a pleasant dance,
accompanied by a chant, while a chorister keeps time by beating on his
hand with a split stick. In addition to their finest deerskin chemises
and strings of beads, the squaws wear large puffs of yellowhammers'
down over their eyes. The men have mantles of buzzards', hawks', or
eagles' tail-feathers, reaching from the armpits down to the thighs,
and circular headdresses of the same material, besides their usual
breech-clouts of rawhide, and are painted in front with terrific
splendor. They dance in two circles, the squaws in the outside one;
the men leaping up and down as usual, and the squaws simply swaying
their bodies and waving their handkerchiefs in a lackadaisical manner.
Occasionally an Indian will shoot away through the interior of the
circle and caper like a harlequin for a considerable space of time,
but he always returns to his place in front of his partner.
After this is over, the coward or clown is provided with a long, sharp
stick, and he and his prompter take their places in the ring ready for
performances. A woman as nearly nude as barbaric modesty will permit
is placed in the center, squatting on the ground. Then some Indian
intones a chant, which he sings alone, and the sport, such as it is,
begins. At the bidding of the prompter, the coward makes a furious
sally in one direction, and with his spear stabs the empty air. Then
he dashes back in the opposite direction and slashes into the air
again. Next he runs some other way and stabs again. Now perhaps he
makes a feint to pierce the woman. Thus the prompter keeps him chasing
backward and forward, spearing the thin air toward every point of the
compass, or making passes at the woman, until nearly tired out, and
the patience of the American spectators is exhausted, and they begin
to think the whole affair will terminate in "mere dumb show." But
finally, at a word from the prompter, the spearman makes a tremendous
run at the woman and stabs her in the umbilicus. She falls over on
the ground, quivering in every limb, and the blood jets forth in a
purple stream. The Indians all rush around her quickly and hustle her
away to another place, where they commence laying her out for the
funeral pyre, but huddle around her so thickly all the while that
the Americans cannot approach to see what is done. Thus they mystify
matters and hold some powwow over her for a considerable space of
time, when she somehow mysteriously revives, recovers her feet, goes
away to her wigwam, encircled by a bevy of her companions, dons her
robe, and appears in the circle as well as ever, despite that terrible
spear-thrust.
Men who have witnessed this performance tell me the first time they
saw it they would have taken their oaths that the woman was stabbed
unto death, so perfect was the illusion. Although this travesty of
gladiatorial combat is intended merely for amusement, yet all the
Indians, these stoics of the woods, gaze upon it with profound and
passionless gravity. If they laugh at all it is only after it is all
over, and at the mystification of the Americans.
Referring to another phase of the same dance, as practiced in another
division of the Pomo, Powers says:
Their fashion of the spear dance is different from the Gallinomero.
The man who is to be slain stands behind a screen of hazel boughs
with his face visible through an aperture; and the spearman, after
the usual protracted dashing about and making of feints, strikes him
in the face through the hole in the screen. He is then carried off,
revives, etc.[23]
The novices who were thus shot were called tcō´ktcōk (C)
[plural tcō´ktcōkau], and the person who did the shooting,
at the direction of the head captain, was called yo´mta (C). The
informant did not state just where the shooting was performed and was
not explicit as to its exact nature, but it appears probable that it
occurred in the dance-house. These novices were forbidden to eat fresh
manzanita berries and the flesh of the fawn, the gray squirrel, and the
red-headed woodpecker. After the shooting ceremony the novices were
taken out into the area directly in front of the dance-house, and here
a ceremony of healing was performed over them by the one who shot them.
He told them that they would have long life and health, and that a
feast would be held for them in the course of a few days.
COMPLETION OF THE GUKSU CEREMONY
The Gū´ksū-dancers appeared only once each day in this
Gū´ksū ceremony, though various other dances might be held during
the day, and it was only upon the first morning that the ceremony about
the pole and the scarification above described were held. The ceremony
lasted, all told, six days. The ceremonies of the first day have just
been described. Those of the following three days consisted of one
appearance of the Gū´ksūs each day, accompanied by a simple dance.
On the morning of the fifth day, however, the children who underwent
the scarification on the first day were again assembled and driven by
the dancers as rapidly as possible about the village and out into the
valley. The children held one another's hands as they were driven,
making a continuous line. When they had become quite fatigued, they
were made to lie down and the dancers covered them with branches. They
remained here throughout the day and were again driven about in the
same manner just after sundown, being again covered with branches,
under which they stayed until morning. They were then brought in by
the dancers and made to perform a short dance in a brush inclosure,
called ma´le (E), which was built just outside the dance-house for
this special purpose. After this, an old man, probably the same who
performed the scarification, sang over the children. During this dance
each child carried a small willow twig, which he threw onto a pile at
the end of the dance, after which he was free to go his way, and the
entire ceremony was ended. The fire-tender bore these twigs away and
deposited them at some distance from the village.
A Gū´ksū-dancer appeared at other ceremonies, but only for
the purpose of removing sickness from the village. He was sometimes
called in, as were other dancers, but often he appeared unannounced.
He, however, always notified at least one individual, whose duty
it was to assist him and direct his movements. Apparently this
individual was not a particular official, but might be any friend
of the Gū´ksū-dancer. The ceremony was a very short one. The
Gū´ksū ran rapidly in and passed in a contra-clockwise direction
four times around the fire. He then hurried to a position directly
in front of the center pole and here ran swiftly back and forth four
times over a short, straight course. He then ran around back of the
center pole and stopped on its west side. Here he turned his head
slowly to the left; then ran a short distance toward the door, stopping
and repeating this motion, making in all four such stops. After this
he ran swiftly out through the tunnel and back to the woods, where
he undressed and returned as an ordinary civilian to the village. As
he started to run out of the tunnel, the people said, "ya ... s ...
pūtsa´l kam" (E), that is, "_ya_ ... _s_ ... healthy make us." The
prolonged "s" was simply a hissing expulsion of breath, and as it was
blown out in this fashion any disease which might possibly have found
lodgment in the body of the individual was supposed to depart with it
and to be taken by Gū´ksū to his home in the south.
Before dressing, the Gū´ksū-dancers always chewed up and rubbed
upon their bodies the very sweet-scented seed of a certain species
of conifer, kawa´cap (E), growing plentifully in the region of Clear
Lake. A Gū´ksū-dancer was forbidden to eat meat or drink anything
before the ceremony or before doctoring a patient, as described below.
The Gū´ksū-dancer might, however, eat vegetable foods and drink
water after the ceremonial swim, which always occurred directly after
his dance. He could not eat meat or greasy food of any kind for four
days after a ceremony.
TREATMENT OF DISEASE
In addition to their part in the scarifying ceremony just described,
the Gū´ksū-dancers formed a class of medicine-men, and were often
called in to minister to the sick. These "doctors," when curing the
sick, dressed themselves in the costume of the regular Gū´ksū
ceremony. As in the ceremony also, the Gū´ksū doctor had to be
ceremonially summoned, and he came in from the woods impersonating the
supernatural Gū´ksū. The latter was pictured, to all intents
and purposes, as coming from his home in the south to perform the
"medicine" rite and carry away with him the disease from the sick
person. A special call was used in this case as follows: "hyō ...
hyō´ ..." repeated four times.
The Gū´ksū doctor never spoke and never sang over his patients,
but constantly blew a double bone whistle in a characteristic way,
a very short blast followed by a very long one. Upon reaching the
patient, who might be either in or out of doors, he ran around him
several times. He then inserted the point of his staff under the neck
of the patient and made motions four times as if prying upwards. He
next inserted the staff under the shoulder and repeated this prying
motion four times. He did the same at the hips, and finally at the
knees.
He next tapped and pressed down with his staff; first upon the
forehead, then upon the chest, then upon the belly, and finally upon
the knees of the patient. After this he ran rapidly out of the village
and into the hills, where he stopped and turned his head toward the
left four times. He then disappeared and was supposed to have returned
to his supernatural abode in the south, carrying with him the ailment
of the patient.
While the above was the typical procedure of one of these doctors in
curing a patient, he had great latitude, and might, at his own option,
omit altogether certain of the above mentioned movements or use others
in their places. For instance, he might pry as above, or he might press
and pat the body of the patient. On the other hand, he might simply
pass his staff down over the body of the patient a number of times,
usually four or some multiple of four, or he might omit the use of the
staff entirely and "doctor" with his whistle only, in which case he
bent over or knelt beside the patient and blew his whistle over the
various parts of his body, particularly those recognized by the patient
as the seats of pain.
FOOTNOTES:
[22] U.S. Dept. of Interior, Contr. N.A. Ethn., III, 179-180, 1877.
[23] _Op. cit._, p. 194.
DANCES
The dances either formed integral parts of the above ceremonies or, as
stated, might be incidental and entirely unrelated to them. The word
for dance is xe in the Eastern Pomo dialect, and ke in that of the
Central and Northern Pomo. The following is a list of the Pomo dances:
gīlak ke
hōhō ke or hō´hōwa ke
cōkin ke
dūtūka ke
ya´ya ke
yō ke
matcō ke
lēhū´ye ke
kalī´matōtō ke or kalī´matautau ke
īwī ke
gūnū´la xe
he´lehela ke
da´ma ke
dja´ne ke
kara´iya ke
sawe´t ke
hī´wē ke
ī´dam ke
xo´ke
xahlū´īgak ke
gū´ksū ke
ma´ta ke
lo´le ke
mo´mīmomī ke
to´to ke
taūgū ke
badjū´ca ke
sīta´iya ke
In a large measure the various dances were very similar to one another
so far as the steps were concerned. The characteristic step of the
men was a rhythmic stamping of the feet, with the body held in a
half-crouching posture. Sometimes this dancing was done "in place,"
that is, without moving from one situation. As a rule, however, the
dancer moved over a definite course in each dance. The movement was
varied slightly in accordance with the songs. Some songs were very
lively and the steps correspondingly rapid, while others were much
slower. All were usually sung to the accompaniment of the large
foot-drum, and split-stick, or cocoon rattle. Sometimes the dancers
used single or double bone whistles.
The women usually danced in place, twisting the body about and swaying
slightly from side to side with little or no motion of the feet. In
some instances, however, they moved over a definite course as did the
men.
The dance paraphernalia of the men consisted of the following articles:
1. The feather skirt.
2. The head-net, bōlmakī (E).
3. The down-filled head-net, ī´bōlmakī (E).
4. The skewer, called kanō (N, C, E), with which the feather
headdresses, tufts, etc., were pinned to the head-net.
5. The feather tuft, bi_t_erk (E), kaa´itcil (C).
6. The big-head headdress.
7. The yellow-hammer feather forehead-band, tsō´lōpa (N, C, E).
8. The trembler plume, ka_t_a´s (N, C, E).
9. Loose down, te (E), which was sometimes scattered about over the
freshly painted skin.
10. A fillet of pepperwood leaves, bēhe´p marīt (E).
11. A small green twig or a bunch of shredded tule, used in certain
dances. Any object of this kind carried in the hand while dancing was
called kato´hle (E).
Certain of these objects were prescribed for certain dances. In
addition, various items of ordinary personal adornment were worn which
do not specifically belong to dance paraphernalia--ear plugs, pendants,
necklaces of beads, etc.
The dance paraphernalia of the women was the same as that of the men,
though, as a rule, the men dressed much more elaborately than the
women. The latter had, however, one special type of forehead-band which
they alone used. This was a fur band or roll provided with a number of
beaded, yellow-hammer quill bangles.
An important part of the attire for any dance was the painting, which
varied greatly and was usually carefully prescribed for each dance. The
body, or a large part of it, might be covered with one solid color, and
longitudinal or horizontal stripes of various widths and also dots of
various sizes might be used.
Black paint, masi´k (E) (literally, coals or charcoal), was most easily
obtainable and most freely used. It consisted of ordinary charcoal
from the fire. If a large surface was to be painted, the charcoal was
pulverized in the palms of the hands and rubbed on. If lines were
desired, this powder might be applied with the finger, or a piece
of charcoal might be used as a pencil. Also stripes were sometimes
produced by scraping off part of the paint with the fingernails,
leaving the skin exposed along these lines. In case a sticky surface
was required, as, for instance, when down was to be later applied, the
paint was mixed with saliva.
White paint, wala´lac (E), made from a whitish or very light blue
earth, was also considerably used. It was applied as was the black
paint.
Red paint, ōhma´_r_ (E), was made by pulverizing cinnabar, which was
a rather rare mineral in the Pomo region and was much prized and used
very sparingly.
For purposes of presentation it is simplest to divide the dances into
three classes: (1) those danced by men and women together; (2) those
danced by men; (3) those danced by women. Fairly full information
was obtained about some of these dances, while in other cases barely
the names were remembered. The following dances come under the first
heading:
gī´lak
ho´ho
cō´kin
dūtū´ka
ya´ya
yō
matcō´
lēhūye
kalī´matōtō
īwī´
he´lehela
gūnū´la
da´ma
dja´ne
kara´iya
sawe´t
DANCES IN WHICH MEN AND WOMEN PARTICIPATED
_Gī´lak._--The Gī´lak dance differed from most other Pomo dances
in that it consisted of two performances: one used for opening and
closing proceedings; the other, or main dance, coming in between.
The men painted with a single color (black, white, or red) all of the
face below the eyebrows, after which they scattered eagle-down upon
it. This gave the face a white, fluffy appearance. They painted the
chest and shoulders black. The legs were painted either all black or
all white. Then longitudinal stripes were scratched through the paint
with the fingernails. The arms were painted with three bands, each four
fingers in width; one about the middle of the upper arm, one about the
elbow, and one about the middle of the forearm.
Upon the top of the head each wore a feather tuft. This was parted
from front to rear, and the yellowhammer-feather forehead-band, which
was attached to the hair so as to hang down to the eyebrows, passed
through the part in this and hung down the back to about the hips. A
feather skirt tied just under the arms, and entirely covering the back,
completed the costume, except for a few green twigs which were held in
both hands directly in front of the face while the dance was actually
in progress. No whistle was used by these dancers.
[Illustration: Fig. 8--Position of dancers in _gī´lak ke_.]
The women painted the upper part of the body in the same way as the
men and wore a feather tuft and the regular woman's forehead-band with
bangles. They wore no feather skirt, but otherwise attired themselves
as did the men.
The men were divided into two groups at A, A (fig. 8) on both sides of
the rear of the dance-house, the women dancers being likewise divided
into two groups at F, F on each side of the drum.
When all was ready for the dance, the head singer started an air
and sang alone for several minutes. Then, at a given signal, the
burden-singers joined in with the chorus, all accompanying their
singing with split-stick rattles. This was the signal for the beginning
of the first or preliminary division of the dance. The men went to a
position about midway between the center pole and the drum, where they
formed a line BC, the women forming a group in the position G, directly
behind the line BC. Here was held the preliminary division of the
dance, called tehe´sbax (E), in which the participants danced in place
for a few minutes.
The men next moved to the position DE, passing on each side of the
center pole, the women following them to the position HI. They thus
formed two lines, facing the center pole. Here the principal part of
the dance was held. The chief singer again started the air, being
joined at the proper time by the burden-singers. Simultaneously with
the latter, the master of ceremonies gave the signal for the dancers to
begin. During the dancing he repeated the proper dance formula[24] four
times, finally saying, "ī, ī´ ..." and the dance stopped. At the
beginning of the dance, upon the signal from the master of ceremonies,
the dancers, both men and women, whirled around and faced the fire, and
as the dance stopped at the above signal they whirled back again so as
to face the center pole. The dancers moved sidewise back and forth four
times in all, along the lines DE and HI. Standing in their original
positions, they then performed for the second time the movement first
described, thus ending the dance.
This entire dance might be repeated as many times as desired, no
definite number being prescribed; but when each set of three divisions,
as above stated, was finished, the dancers returned to A, A and F, F,
retracing as nearly as possible the courses which they had traversed in
coming from these two positions. After the last set of this dance, they
removed their dance costumes near the drum.
_hō´hō ke._--The hōh´ō or hō´hōwa dance, which may
be taken as a type of many of those dances which follow, lasted from
one-half to three-quarters of an hour and could be danced at any time
of year. The men were dressed as follows: The lower part of the face
(i.e., below a line running from just under the ear to a point just
under the nose) was painted black. A black band, about four fingers in
width, ran from each of the acromia to the sternum. Four similar bands
encircled each arm, two above and two below the elbow, while four such
bands were placed upon each leg. Upon the head each man wore a feather
tuft, a yellow-hammer feather forehead-band and a pair of trembler
plumes, and upon the back a feather skirt. Each dancer carried a bone
whistle also.
Each woman wore a feather tuft and the usual woman's forehead-band.
In each hand she carried a small bunch of shredded tule. These
bundles, called kato´hle (E), were made by tying together at one end
several stems, perhaps six or eight inches long, and then shredding
the loose ends with a basketry awl. This dance was a very lively one
and took its name, as did several others, from some of the words
of the song accompanying it. Part of the burden of this song is a
high-keyed "hō, hō, hō, hō ..." very rapidly spoken by the
burden-singers in unison.
The music was provided by a head singer, several burden-singers, and a
drummer. Each of the singers used a split-stick rattle.
_cō´kin ke._--The cō´kin dance was very similar, in many
respects, to the hō´hō ke. One informant said that the dress and
painting were exactly the same, except that the upper arm and thigh
bore one painted band each, instead of two as in the hō´hō ke.