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The floor was formed Post Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 14:36:46 +0000 The structure contained little sawed lumber. Its uprights and walls were of split cedar. The floor was formed of pounded clay, and, no matter how active the dancers were, little dust was raise The great chamber, fifty feet in diameter, was illuminated by large, old-fashioned lanterns. Autor of the post: Undefined No one noticed or intruded Post Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 14:21:56 +0000 A bench was nailed around the wall for spectators and partici- pants. But it seems that white spectators, who were entirely free to enter and look on, and even to dance, if they chose, were expected to sit on the west side, near the entrance. No one noticed or intruded upon the spectators. Autor of the post: Undefined In front of this bench Post Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 14:05:50 +0000 It was their privilege to see and be silent. The first familiarity, if any was indulged in, had to come from the whites. In front of this bench, which extended around the hall, was the circular track, eight or ten feet in width, of beaten clay and very smooth, on which the dancers travele In the very center of the room was a great drum, the tom-tom, whose boom- boom-boom could be heard a mile. Autor of the post: Undefined Behind the singers, all around Post Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 13:51:57 +0000 This sweet-sounding drum was of Indian manufacture, and during the dance it was beaten by four or five drummers striking the great diapason in unison with sticks padded on the striking en The drummers sat on benches around the drum ; and back of and around them sat a score of vocalists who, during the dance, sang in a high, clear, smooth treble, harmonizing with the drum. The booming drum and chorus of Indian voices made stirring dance music. Behind the singers, all around, most of the women, girls, and children sat, gossiping, laughing, listening, and watching. Autor of the post: Undefined They were neither curt nor Post Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 13:40:12 +0000 About nine oclock the people came straggling in, stately warriors, lissome girls, fat dames, raw-boned youths, and groups of lads and lassies. All glanced at me, a white man, where I sat with the reservation doctor, but that was all. They were neither curt nor courteous; they ignored my companion and myself with Indian taciturnity. Autor of the post: Undefined But the dance did not Post Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 13:22:44 +0000 The drummers took their places around the drum, the chor- isters behind them. Then some singer broke out in a wailing, monotonous treble, the drum joining in. But the dance did not then begin very actively. Autor of the post: Undefined They wore, in truth, their Post Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 13:08:15 +0000 A few boys circled around, a group of the elders tried their paces a little and subside Most of the women who came in carried bundles containing bead headdresses and sashes for their husbands, lunches, and gifts. In general, the women donned no ornaments. They wore, in truth, their best gowns, but it remained for the warriors to gleam and glisten in bead and feather, in bright sashes, head- dresses, leggings, and moccasins. Autor of the post: Undefined Chief Moses Day ( Day-bway-wain-dung Post Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 12:54:52 +0000 Some wore the footwear of the white man, as being better to dance in. Let us now acquaint ourselves with some of the participants. Chief Moses Day ( Day-bway-wain-dung, which, freely ren- dered, is One-who-can-be-heard-from-afar) was there. Autor of the post: Undefined What white man of seven Post Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 12:42:37 +0000 He is over seventy summers old, but is erect and active. I saw him at sunrise that day; he had been for sixteen hours par- ticipating in the Medawe religious dances, had made many speeches, had eaten a mans share, and yet here he was ready to dance and frolic until another sunrise. What white man of seven decades could do as much ? During the day ceremonies he was attired in solemn black; his coat was of that cut worn years ago by professional men ; his hat, a high-crowned derby ; on either cheek he had daubed a small, modest splash of ver- milion. Autor of the post: Undefined No wonder he was admired Post Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 12:28:34 +0000 At the tribal dance at night he wore the same garb, supplemented, however, by a headdress of feathers, very mod- erate and becoming, a beaded sash, and a few other bright- colored trappings. He was a very Chesterfield in courtesy, a Washington in urbane dignity. No wonder he was admired by the women and honored by the men. 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