64 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 



handkerchiefs. Usually these handkerchiefs, the neckerchief, and 

 the headband, are all of the same material and of a color that con- 

 trasts with the shirt, though sometimes the headband is an ordinary- 

 white handkerchief. 



Tied at the dancer's neck, so as to fall down his back and stream 

 out behind him when he dances, is a long otterskin dance tail, orna- 

 mented with beaded disks and eagle feathers. The thongs used to tie 

 this ornament about the neck are concealed by the dancer's necker- 

 chief. The Ponca claim to have introduced this otterskin tail into 

 the Oklahoma area, and OYB said that formerly the otterskin was 

 twisted and sewn round, like a rope. Those tails used at present, 

 however, are flat. 



On the lower part of his body the straight dancer wears leggings, a 

 breechcloth, and a narrow "breechcloth tail." All of these are of dark- 

 blue broadcloth, ornamented with matching ribbonwork designs at 

 the outer edges. A straight dancer customarily wears his leggings 

 backward because he wears knee bands and sleighbeUs at the knee, 

 and if his leggings were worn in the usual manner the ribbonwork 

 edging would be folded at the back of his leg and thus not show to the 

 best advantage. At his waist the straight dancer wears a finger- 

 woven yarn sash, the long ends hanging down on the left side. This 

 is usually worn under the shirt and belt. Matching yarn knee bands 

 are worn under the sleighbells at the knee, their long fringes hanging 

 loose on the outside of the leg. Moccasins complete this part of the 

 costume. Ponca straight dancers traditionally wear their shirt tucked 

 inside the breechcloth, while the dancers of other tribes usually wear 

 theirs hanging loose outside. Occasionally a few Ponca straight 

 dancers omit the shirt and wear instead a blue broadcloth vest deco- 

 rated with styhzed floral beaded designs. As "props" straight 

 dancers usually carry an eagle tail fan in the left hand and an orna- 

 mented baton in the right. Sometimes, however, a dance mirror in 

 a wooden frame is substituted for this baton. 



Another style of costume, the "feathers" outfit, is now preferred by 

 all but a very few male Ponca dancers. This costume features a 

 spectacular roach headdress, sometimes made of downy feathers, a 

 " U-shaped" shoulder bustle, and a back bustle to match (fig. 2). This 

 last ornament is derived from the "crow belt" of an earlier era. The 

 breechcloth worn with the feathers costume is usuaUy ornamented 

 with beadwork in stylized floral and zoomorphic (generally horse) 

 designs. The remainder of the beadwork worn with this costume, 

 however, is generally in loom-beaded geometric designs. This con- 

 sists of a beaded headband, choker necklace, armbands, gauntlets, 

 "suspenders," and belt. Large knee bells, angora ankle bands, and 

 moccasins complete this costume. As "props" the "feathers" dancer 

 usually carries a set of peyote feathers and a straight wooden whistle. 



