Ceremonies of the Pomo Indians

by S. A. Barrett

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.

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.