46 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 187 



rattle. These responses merge with the characteristic introductory 

 responses of Trotting Dance. Trotting and Garter Dance songs 

 develop into elaborate melodic antiphony, usually in tertial scales, 

 always with a rise in the middle. Such antiphony unites the Iroquois 

 with other Woodland tribes, especially with the Southeast. ^° 

 In scores and tabulations R. stands for Responses. 



INTERLONGHOUSE VARIATION AND PERSONAL CREATIVITY 



Each song type adheres to special characteristics, no matter in 

 which longhouse. Yet, in subtle ways, the Coldspring and Tonawanda 

 cycles exhibit differences. GeneraUy, the Tonawanda songs within 

 each type are somewhat slower. One might attribute this difference 

 to mechanical variations in recorders, except that there are exceptions. 

 Cornplanter's singing is consistently faster than other versions, in 

 False Face, Corn, Robin, Fish-type Dances. Shanks' Eagle Dance 

 chant and Black's yeidos chant are faster than the Johnny John 

 chants. Among the rare deviations in compass, Cornplanter's 

 Buffalo songs have a smaller range, and Shanks' Bear songs a some- 

 what larger range than in other longhouses. Cornplanter's phrase- 

 lengths are sometimes longer than average, as in Buffalo, Quavering, 

 and Hand-in-hand; so are Shanks' in War Dance and Black's in yeidos. 

 But in Changing-a-rib Cornplanter's phrases are a bit shorter. Tonal- 

 ity and rhythmic types adhere to tradition in essentials. 



It would appear that deviations in songs are individual, though the 

 differences in ceremonial composition are traditional with each long- 

 house. Possibly Cornplanter's Cattaraugus origin sets him apart 

 from other singers of Tonawanda. However, the differences appear to 

 be the result of personal creativity, an important aspect of Iroquois 

 arts, as explained in detail with regard to Eagle Dance (Fenton and 

 Kurath, 1953, pp. 238-266). 



The amount of permissible deviation evidently varies from cycle to 

 cycle. Some Corn and Hand-in-hand songs recur identically or nearly 

 so. Certain melodies are clearly recognizable in animal and women's 

 medicine rites. Old eskanye, Robin, Duck. In War and Trotting 

 Dance, as well as in Fish Dance, the repertoires are more distinct. In 

 very old and sacred and very new compositions, the variations are 

 considerable. 



In order to discover the devices for variation, a number of songs have 

 been placed side by side with corresponding songs by other singers and 



the most prominent variations have been labeled . — ■ — ., — |-, etc. 



In Buffalo Dance the contours have also been marked. These devices 

 can be summarized as follows: 



21" For the diffusion of this trait to the Midwest, see Kurath, 1956 b and 1961. 



