194 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



betting on the resnlts of the moccasin game. The words of such songs 

 indicate their descent from a distant past. The work among the 

 Winnebago also inckided the recording of green corn dance songs, 

 several legends with their songs, and the songs of social dances. 



From Black River Falls, in August, the writer went to Keshena 

 on the Menominee reservation, a region of picturesque water courses 

 and heavy pine woods (figs. i66 and 167). The first portion of her 

 time was devoted to reading her manuscript on Menominee music 

 to David Amob, a member of the tribe who speaks English and is 

 particularly conversant with the old customs. Many interesting addi- 

 tions to the material were made at this time, and songs were recorded 

 l)y .'\mob. Legends concerning Manabus recorded by Amob are 

 among the secret legends of the Medicine Lodge. 



A Fair is held annually Iw the Menominee, and one of its attrac- 

 tions is the Indian dancing. This Fair continued five days, afifording 

 a valuable opportunity to see dances which are seldom given at the 

 present time. Most interesting among these were the dances in which 

 the actions of birds and animals were imitated. Concerning one dance 

 it was said that a man saw a frog running on top of the water, then 

 diving and coming up farther along. The frog sang, and the man 

 learned his song. Later the man invented the dance in which this 

 song was sung at the drum while the dancers hopped like frogs. 

 Another dance song came from a fish and contained the words (freely 

 translated) " His mouth is open." Other songs were received from 

 the rabliit, partridge, owl, and crawfish, the actions of each creature 

 being imitated by the dancers. Only two or three old men knew the 

 songs for these dances and said that, so far as they remembered, 

 the dances had been used only for entertainment. The dancing 

 at the Fair included war and social dances, and the Tobacco Dance, 

 which is an acrobatic dance of unusual interest. Additional songs 

 and details of this dance were obtained from the singers after the 

 conclusion of the Fair. 



During the latter portion of her stay among the Menominee, the 

 writer witnessed a Dream Dance at Zoar, a native village about 20 

 miles north of Keshena. The Dream Dance is a ceremony in which a 

 large drum is given by one tribe to another, this drum being the 

 symbol of what is called the " drum religion." At this time a drum 

 was given to the Menominee by the Lac du Flambeau Chippewa. The 

 ceremony continued four days and was watched with close attention, 

 on one day the writer remaining beside the dance enclosure for about 

 ten hours. The same ceremony was witnessed in 19 10, at the same 



