24 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 187 



rest with rattles, manipulating as follows: 



A — Halftime percussion beat, sometimes quarter notes or syn- 

 copated quarters, or eighth notes with strong alternate 

 accents. Rendered by soloist. 

 A — Accelerating even beat by all singers. 

 B — Rapid even beat continued. 

 A — Halftime beat with drum, tremolo with rattles. 

 B — Rapid even beat with all instruments. 

 In melody, B sometimes a second theme, or more frequently same 

 as A in variants by transposition or inversion. Characteristic 

 rhythmic shift from even eighth or quarter notes to triplets. Char- 

 acteristic contour of up and down wavering, close to ground tone. 

 Dance. — Coupling. First song men in pairs, after that women in 

 pairs inserted between pairs of men, so that opposite sexes coupled.** 

 Formula: 



A — All saunter, facing ahead in counterclockwise circling. 



A — All pat-step: right foot placed lightly ahead and raised, then 



set down. Same with left foot. 

 B — Couples face to face in fish step: right foot forward, twist 

 both feet out and in; right foot behind left, same twist. 

 Or forward, back, closed.'^ Reverse. Women sometimes 

 eskanye step. 

 A — Partners cross-over, men usually on outside but not nec- 

 essarily. An elastic walking step to drum quarter beats. 

 B- — Fish step 

 Between songs, sauntering during initial tremolo by singer. Next 

 dance the same, partners crossing back to original positions. (See 

 p. 95.) 



Remarks . — This pattern interpreted as imitative of fish crossing in 

 water. Same musical and dance pattern prevalent in other Fish-type 

 series. 



Raccoon Dance (djoega'^deno'): 



Songs and Dance. — Specific sequence: 



(a) Introductory chant to tremolo. 



(6) Slow dance by men, stomp type: forward step, knee flection or 

 forward step right, forward kick left during knee flection on right. 

 Circling. 



(c) Pairing of men during song 3, then of men and inserted pairs of 

 women during song 4. Stomp step during B and crossover as in 

 Fish Dance. 



'* Custom differs somewhat from Shaking-the-bush, where the ritual conductor selects couples for insertion. 

 In Fish Dance, one woman asks another to join in the dance and must not be refused. 



15 The step is often compared to the Charleston, even by the Seneca themselves. The resemblance is 

 certainly a coincidence, for Morgan (1901, p. 273) witnessed the Fish Dance in its present form in 1851, 

 while the Charleston originated in South Carolina about 1926. 



