114 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 



the tribe. At powwows the members of such a group, attired in identi- 

 cal blankets, often lead off in the Soldier or Round dance. 



In addition to the dances described above, which were either 

 sacred ceremonies or dances that were the property of organized 

 groups, the Ponca had several dances which were open to aU. One 

 of these, which PLC saw in the 1890's, was called the Giani. PLC 

 (in a letter to me dated October 12, 1955) described the dance as 

 follows: "Gee ah nee this they go around the drum in pairs and 4 

 of them facing each other and change, they just turn around and 

 face others. This has died out in a very short years. I saw these 

 in the 90s." Walter Hamilton, an Omaha Indian, stated that his 

 tribe was also familiar with the dance. According to Hamilton, two 

 men, dancing backward in Heduska style, led the dance. They were 

 followed by two women, facing forward, after which came two more 

 men dancing backward, two women facing forward, etc. The women 

 carried large eagle-wing fans, and fanned the men as they danced. 

 At a certain point in the song the men would turn forward and the 

 women backward, and the group would proceed in this manner for 

 a while, then reverse, and so on. The double line proceeded clock- 

 wise around the drum throughout the dance. The name Giani is 

 said to refer to the fanning of the men by the women, the character- 

 istic feature of the dance. Neither PLC nor Hamilton could explain 

 the symbolism of the dance. It resembles, in its choreography, the 

 Turkey dances of the Quapaw and Caddo. 



Another dance open to all is the Wanqse-waUigaxe or 'Soldier 

 dance.' It is a social dance at present, but has definite ceremonial 

 overtones. It was witnessed at the Southern Ponca powwows in 

 1952, 1954, 1959, and 1961. On each of these occasions it was used 

 to open the dancing program each night, and was identified by PLC 

 as a "very old and honored Ponca dance." Men and women, inter- 

 spersed, formed long lines, facing inward toward the drum, and 

 circled the dance ground with a sidestep, moving in a clockwise 

 direction. The best male dancers lifted their left knee with a slight 

 snap as they stepped off with the left foot. 



The Round dance, witnessed on the same occasions, was very 

 similar, although the characteristic jerking of the left leg seen in the 

 Soldier dance was not as evident in this one. I was told that the 

 songs were slightly different as weU. Both the Soldier dance and 

 Round dances are accompanied by a pronounced loud-soft drumbeat. 

 The Round dance is immensely popular among the Southern Prairie 

 and Plains tribes at the present time, and the enthusiasm for it has 

 spread to the Omaha in Nebraska and the Fox in Iowa. In 1952 a 

 group of Omaha singers traveled to Oklahoma expressly to learn 

 new Round dance songs. The origin of the Round dance is obscure. 

 Some younger Ponca contend that it originated in Taos Pueblo, and 



