DANCING is a favourite exercise among the Indians; they never meet on any public occasion, but this makes a part of the entertainment. And when they are not engaged in war or hunting, the youth of both sexes amuse themselves in this manner every evening.
They always dance, as I have just observed, at their feast. In these as well as all their other dances, every man rises in his turn, and moves about with great freedom and boldness; singing as he does so, the exploits of his ancestors. During this the company, who are seated on the ground in a circle, around the dancer, join with him in marking the cadence, by an odd tone, which they utter all together, and which sounds, “Heh, heh, heh.” These notes, if they might be so termed, are articulated with a harsh accent, and strained out with the utmost force of their lungs; so that one would imagine their strength must be soon exhausted by it; instead of which, they repeat it with the same violence during the whole of their entertainment.
The women, particularly those of the western nations, dance very gracefully. They carry themselves erect, and with their arms hanging down close to their sides, move first a few yards to the right, and then back again to the left. This movement they perform without taking any steps as an European would do, but with their feet conjoined, moving by turns their toes and heels. In this manner they glide with great agility to a certain distance, and then return; and let those who join in the dance be ever so numerous, they keep time so exactly with each other that no interruption ensues. During this, at stated periods they mingle their shrill voices with the hoarser ones of the men who sit around (for it is to be observed that the sexes never intermix in the same dance) which, with the music of the drums and chichicoues, make an agreeable harmony.
The Indians have several kinds of dances which they use on different occasions, as the Pipe or Calumate Dance, the War Dance, the Marriage Dance, and the Dance of the Sacrifice. The movements in every one of these are dissimilar; but it is almost impossible to convey any idea of the points in which they are unlike.
Different nations likewise vary in their manner of dancing. The Chipéways throw themselves into a greater variety of attitudes than any other people; sometimes they hold their heads erect, at others they bend them almost to the ground; then recline on one side, and immediately after on the other. The Naudowessies carry themselves more upright, step firmer, and move more gracefully. But they all accompany their dances with the disagreeable noise just mentioned.
The Pipe Dance is the principal, and the most pleasing to a spectator of any of them, being the least frantic, and the movement of it the most graceful. It is but on particular occasions that it is used; as when ambassadors from an enemy arrive to treat of peace, or when strangers of eminence pass through their territories.
The War Dance, which they use both before they set out on their war parties, and on their return from them, strikes terror into strangers. It is performed, as the others, amidst a circle of the warriors; a chief generally begins it, who moves from the right to the left, singing at the same time both his own exploits, and those of his ancestors. When he has concluded his account of any memorable action, he gives a violent blow with his war-club against a post that is fixed in the ground, near the center of the assembly, for this purpose.
Every one dances in his turn, and recapitulates the wondrous deeds of his family, till they all at last join in the dance. Then it becomes truly alarming to any stranger that happens to be among them, as they throw themselves into every horrible and terrifying posture that can be imagined, rehearsing at the same time the parts they expect to act against their enemies in the field. During this they hold their sharp knives in their hands, with which, as they whirl about, they are every moment in danger of cutting each others throats; and did they not shun the threatened mischief with inconceivable dexterity, it could not be avoided. By these motions they intend to represent the manner in which they kill, scalp, and take their prisoners. To heighten the scene, they set up the same hideous yells, cries, and war-hoops they use in time of action: so that it is impossible to consider them in any other light than as an assembly of demons.
I have frequently joined in this dance with them, but it soon ceased to be an amusement to me, as I could not lay aside my apprehensions of receiving some dreadful wound, that from the violence of their gestures must have proved mortal.
I found that the nations to the westward of the Mississippi, and on the borders of Lake Superior, still continue to make use of the Pawwaw or Black Dance. The people of the colonies tell a thousand ridiculous stories of the devil being raised in this dance by the Indians. But they allow that this was in former times, and is now nearly extinct among those who live adjacent to the European settlements. However I discovered that it was still used in the interior parts; and though I did not actually see the devil raised by it, I was witness to some scenes that could only be performed by such as dealt with him, or were very expert and dextrous jugglers.