108 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 



Beginning in 1958 there was an attempt to revive the old Heduska 

 organization among the Ponca, and several performances of the dance 

 in the old form have been held. Active in this revival were Sylvester 

 Warrior and Clyde Warrior. 



The annual Southern Ponca powwow, which features the Heduska 

 in its secular form, is held each year dm-ing the last week of August. 

 It is one of the principal "Indian" events in Oklahoma, and draws 

 large crowds. As many as three or four hundred dancers, representing 

 a score of tribes, take part. Among the Northern Ponca the Heduska 

 has not been performed since about 1935. PLC, however, still owns 

 a dancing costume and participates in the dances of other tribes on 

 occasion.^*'' 



Skinner (1915 c, p. 785) mentions a variant of the Heduska called the 

 Sd Heduska or "Sioux Heduska." It differed from the ordinary 

 dance in that the performers shaved then* foreheads and the sides 

 of their heads and let their hair hang loose. This seems to represent 

 a Ponca borrowing of the Dakota version of their own dance, for the 

 Dakota admit that they learned the dance from the Omaha and 

 Ponca (whom the Dakota regard as a single tribe, and call Omaha). 

 The Dakota of Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations still term the 

 more formal version of their dance Omaha watsipi or 'Omaha dance.' 

 The Sd Heduska is no longer performed by the Ponca as such, but 

 one suspects that a great deal of the present "fancy dancing" style 

 stems from this source. 



OK and PLC both mentioned a dance called Ohqddze or 'Reach-in- 

 the-boiling-kettle.' This dance is known to the Dakota and certain 

 other Prairie-Plains tribes as the "kettle dance." Dancers circle 

 a pot of cooked dog meat four times, then, on a certain musical cue, 

 the leader dips into the pot with his bare hand and arm and seizes a 

 piece of meat. Usually this is a dog's head. PLC said that this 

 dance was originally a part of the full Heduska performance, but later 

 evolved into a separate dance. The dance is still performed by the 

 Teton Dakota and the Winnebago. 



Another dance which was once a part of the Heduska was described 

 by PLC. It was called Nudqde-waUigaxe or "Going-to-war-dance." 



First the dancers are all seated facing east. When the music begins they get up 

 and dance forward with low, sneaky steps. After the first part of the song they 

 go back to where they were. When the second part of the song begins they go 

 forward again, then they go back once more. This is repeated a third time. 

 Each time they go a little further ahead and straighten up a little more. The 

 fourth time they break into a wild War dance, which is like the Heduska. This 

 last time the dancers move any which way, just as they please. This dance is a 

 lot of fun. The Sioux still dance it now and then. 



38a Since the above was written, PLO and the author, with the help of Omaha, Winnebago, and Dakota 

 singers and dancers, staged two Heduska dances at the Northern Ponca Community Building (1963 and 

 1964). It seems unlikely that the dance will continue, however, as the Northern Ponca plan to sell the 

 Community Building once they have been "terminated." 



