TRIBAL DANCING

excerpt from CHEROKEE DIARY(see Aug 31, 2010)

Tribal dancing is passed on from one generation to another.  I was glad to have been able to see many such dances both in powwows and community life, in Chicago, Illinois, Florida and Cherokee, North Carolina.  One such time was a presentation by the American Indian Dance Theatre.  This group has been entertaining and educating audiences all over the world since May 1987.  It has achieved a unique position in both the international dance world and in the American Indian world.  It includes dancers and musicians from many tirbes thoughout the US and Canada.  The program not only announced the dances and dancers but gave a short description of the story behind each dance.  I will attempt in a small way to convey some of the meaning in some of the most common of the dances seen.  Many of the traditional dances recreate the old myths, tell stories of the hunt and battles and often incorporate animal movements.

The grass dance movements convey the story of the young men preparing a field for the community to have a community dance.  The motion is a sweeping gesture to smooth and mash the prairie grass flat.  The dancer's movements and their outfits simulate the grass rippling in the wind.

Many animals are honored by being represented in dance motions. For example:

The buffalo is honored for the sacrifice of their lives to provide the tribe with food for nutrition, skins for warm in clothing, blankets, and hide for the teepees.  The bones were used to make tools.

The eagle is sacred to all tribes and is a symbol of wisdom, strength and power.  It is believed that eagles are messengers between Man and the Creator.

Old style War Dance and Fancy Dance - The steps of the modern Fancy Dance are based on the older Warrior Society dances.  Modern warriors challenge one another using their most intricate footwork, spins, leaps and brilliant plumage.

Traditinal and Modern Hoop Dances -Throughout the eastern woodlands socials are held in the Long Houses.  The Smoke Dancer helps fan the smoke from the center fire out through the roof smoke hole. 

Fancy Shawl Dance - Women rarely entered the dance circle as soloists until recently.  The dance traces it's beginnings to the Butterfly Dance.  After her mate is killed, the female butterfly mourns her loss by retreating into her cocoon, represented by the shawl.  Her emergence celebrates freedom and her new life.

I hope this small attempt to familiarize those of you who don't have an Indian background with what I feel is the poetry in motion of a people maintaining their culture in a beautiful way.   Those of  you blessed to have this be your culture, please be forgiving of my feeble efforts to honor you.