KuRATH] IROQUOIS MUSIC AND DANCE 11 



wooden staves, otherwise ordinary male and female clothes. Agrar- 

 ian associations — legendaiy origin in a place of many stumps and 

 transference of agriculture from this place; headman's title "long 

 ears of corn." Fertility associations — transvestitism, that is, exchange 

 of clothes between male and female participants, references to crying 

 babies at home, and prophecies of multiplication.^ 



Medicine Company or Society of Shamans (hadii'^dos or yei^dos): 



Function. — Cure, particularly to release medicine administered to 

 a patient in the Little Water Medicine ritual. 



Occasions. — Usually in secret at night in the patient's home, infre- 

 quently during medicine rite renewals of Midwinter Festivals; at 

 special meetings three times a year — June, September, and at Mid- 

 winter. 



Songs. — (a) Marching songs of hadi'hadiya's or gahadiya'go 

 "going through the forest," 5 songs, by entire company of 12 to 15 

 men all shaking gourd rattles (I). Slow, free delivery of ingeniously 

 combined "Scotch snap" and triplet figures, in a scale of five to eight 

 notes range, with rattle tremolo. 



(b) Messenger's songs, 15 songs in groups of twos and threes (II). 

 Free combinations of even notes, syncopations, and triplets, in 

 narrow range scales of five tones, with rattle in triple time against 

 duple time of melodies. 



(c) Throwing songs or individual songs, any number, eight recorded 

 (III). Solos by individual singers, in a great variety of tonahties 

 and patterns, containing from 3 to 6 notes of the scale, with a range of 

 4 notes to 12, with repetition of the same short phrase triplets in a 

 descending scale (1) or free phrasing (3). 



(d) Middle songs (gainowe'taho) or Curing songs, 10 songs by 

 the Messenger and helper (IV). Groups of two or three songs, all 

 constructed on a similar theme, stated in the first song, similar in 

 tonahty and rhythm to the Marching songs, but with a preference 

 for an octave's range. Each song rendered twice, with alternation 

 of rattle tremolo and even duple beat. 



(e) Round Dance, gandnyahgwe', 64 songs by the entire company 

 (V), many of them in pairs. Triplets and syncopation in play on 

 confined melodies, mostly of three tones encompassing four to five 

 notes, in thirds and seconds, the last song with fourths. Usually 

 five repeats, with tremolo during first and fourth repeat. 



Dance and ritual action.— (a) (part I) Marching from an adjoining 

 house to ritual site. 



(b) (part II) and (c) (part III) in place. 



3 See Fenton, 1941 a, pp. 416-417, for legend and symbolism. 



