Tooker] 



ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE HURON 77 



through all the streets of the village to notify and invite the young 

 people. They were told the day and time of the feast, the reason for 

 having the dance, and that they should come painted and wearing the 

 finest things they had or else dressed as specifically directed.^^ xhe 

 people in the surrounding villages received the same notice and were 

 also invited to be present ; they came, if they so wished. Meanwhile, 

 one of the largest houses in the village was made ready (S 115). 



'Wlien the spectators, the old men and old women and children, 

 arrived, they sat down along the entire length of the house on the mats 

 laid against the benches or sat on top of the benches. Then, two 

 chiefs rose, each holding a tortoise shell in his hand (as was used 

 in curing the sick). Wliile standing in the midst of the dancers, 

 they sang a song accompanied with the sound of the tortoise-shell 

 rattle.^^ Wlien they finished, all shouted loudly heeee. Then they 

 began another song or repeated the same one as many times as they 

 had been ordered. Only the two chiefs sang; the others said only 

 he, he, he, like a man drawing in his breath violently, and at the end 

 of each song giving a loud, long shout, he e e 6. All the dances were 

 romid dances, or at least danced in an oval, according to the length 

 and width of the house. The dancers did not hold hands, but kept 

 their fists closed; the girls held their fists, one on the other, straight 

 out from the body, and the men held their closed fists up in the air or 

 in another way, like a man threatening a blow. "While dancing they 

 moved the body and legs, lifting one leg and then the other, stamping 

 their feet on the ground in time with the song and raising them as if 

 half leaping. The girls shook their whole body and their feet, turning 

 around at the end of four or five short steps toward the man or woman 

 next to them and making a bow by inclining the head. Those dancers, 

 men or women, who danced most vigorously and made all the most ap- 

 propriate facial gestures were considered to be the best dancers ( S 115- 

 116). 3* 



The dances usually lasted for 1, 2, or 3 afternoons. They wore 

 nothing more than breechcloths, if it was so authorized, as it usually 

 was. But, for some special reason they might be ordered to take 

 these off. The girls always wore their collars, earrings, and brace- 

 lets and sometimes painted themselves. The men wore their neck- 

 laces, feathers, painting, and such. Sometimes, they wore a bearskin 

 covering the whole body, the ears erect on top of their head, and the 



32 See note 25, p. 73. 



^ The turtle rattle still is used by the Iroquois in certain dances (Fenton 1942 b : 9 ; 

 Speck 1949: 42-44). 



*' There is greater variety in mode of dancing than Sagard indicates (for recent descrip- 

 tions, see especially Kurath 1951; Morgan 1901(1) : 249-279; Speck 1949: 149-158 and 

 passim). The dance described by Sagard may be the Feather Dance. 



671-292 — 64 6 



