116 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 



Snake with having introduced the dance among the Osage, Oto, Chey- 

 enne, Kansa, and Iowa. There are several "Stomp leaders" among the 

 Southern Ponca at present, though these men are reluctant to lead 

 the dance when more experienced Creek, Seminole, or Seneca-Cayuga 

 leaders are present. Since the Stomp dance requires no particular 

 costume, it is usually performed after the main part of the program 

 at Ponca powwows (that is, after such dances as the Soldier, Heduska, 

 Buffalo, Snake, and Round dances) . It is a great favorite of teenagers, 

 who often "Stomp" all night each night of a powwow. 



Another dance popular with the younger set is the "49." This 

 dance, which seems to have originated among the Kiowa, is similar 

 to the Round dance in its choreography, but has a much faster 

 rhythm. Several circles of young people sidestep around the 

 singers, who stand in the center of the circle holding a large drum. 

 At times the singers pause and let the female dancers carry the 

 refrain as they dance. The songs, I am told, are old Kiowa "war 

 journey" songs. Like the Stomp dance, the "49" requires no special 

 costume and is performed after the main progxam at powwows. 

 A good "49" dance often lasts from 9 or 10 p.m. until dawn the 

 following day. 



Another dance recently imported from the Kiowa is the Brush 

 dance. According to William KimbaU this dance was once performed 

 by the Kiowa as a part of their Sun dance rites. It was performed 

 as an incidental daytime dance at the Southern Ponca powv/ow in 

 1952. 



The group performing the dance was led by a middle-aged Ponca 

 man wearing a mescal-bean bandolier and a "peyote blanket" of red 

 and blue broadcloth. He carried a peyote gourd, which he shook in 

 time with the drum, in his right hand, and peyote "feathers" in his 

 left. A woman, probably his wife, wearing a buckskin dress and 

 also carrying peyote feathers, danced beside him. These two were 

 followed by a group of eight singers carrying a large Heduska drum, 

 beating it and singing as they proceeded. They were not in Indian 

 costume. The singers were followed by a group of women, all 

 wearing shawls or blankets and carrying green branches in the 

 right hand. As they moved forward in the dance these women took 

 care to maintain a crescent formation, the ends of the crescent 

 pointing forward. The step was a simple advancing of one foot 

 ahead of the other in time with the drum. 



The party advanced, dancing and singing, for about half a mile 

 thi'ough the powwow encampment, untU they reached an open 

 space, at which point the dance was ended and a Ghost dance Hand 

 game was begun. PLC stated that he had never seen nor heard of 

 the dance prior to this time. The date of the dance's introduction 

 among the Southern Ponca is therefore post-1932, for PLC was then 



