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The "Matachina" Dance. 



Albert B. Reagan. 



Tlie "matacliiiia" is a peculiar religious cereuiouial dance of the Pueblo 

 Indians of New Mexico. It is a religious rite performed in celebration of 

 the birth of Christ. This dance was acted out at the annual feast of the 

 patron saint, Guadalupe, at Canyon de los Jemez, New Mexico, November 

 12, 1901. 



After mass was given at the holy church of Saint Guadalupe, the 

 dancers, some thirty in number, lined up in two rows with the chief of 

 ceremonies at the front and between the rows. All were masked. The 

 chief of ceremonies wore a mask that resembled the head of a donkey 

 very much: and each of the dancers wore a cloth mask. Each of them 

 also wore a circular cap from which there floated to the breeze variously 

 colored ribbons. 



When all the performers were in their proper places, the chief of 

 ceremonies liegan to writhe and to wriggie his body in a laborious man- 

 ner. This performance was to indicate tl.iat with the birth of Christ a 

 furious battle was waged againt sin. As soon as the chief began to per- 

 form, the gaudily-attired dancers commenced to move their limbs in a 

 lively manner to the strains of an accordian. They pranced about much 

 in the same way that a baboon trips about in a cage. This spectacular 

 and, at times, grotesque acting was kept up till the sun set. Then the 

 simple-hearted Indians set out for their homes feeling that they had done 

 their duty, that they had been forgiven for their transgressions and that 

 thev would liegin a new year with unsullied records. 



