68 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 187 



Duck: 



Seneca dancers do not specify which of the many duck species they 

 imitate. The Black Duck, Wood Duck, and the Mallard breed around 

 the Great Lakes, and in October they fly south. The American 

 Golden-eye even winters around the Great Lakes. However, the 

 dance patterns seem to fit best the habits of the two river and pond 

 species (Anatidae family): the beautifully feathered Mallard and the 

 irridescent Wood Duck (Kortright, 1942, pp. 165, 149-157, 221-229, 

 266-267; Audubon and Grimson, 1950, p. 80). 



Ducks are humorous birds, in their wobble on flat, webbed feet 

 when on land; in the nervous jerks and bows of the courting, preening 

 male; in the raucous ''quack" of the female and the low, reedy ''kwek- 

 kwek" of the male. They are extremely agile and can rise vertically 

 from the water with fully extended wings, pointing the wings down- 

 ward when alighting on a pond. They are expert divers. The female 

 Wood Ducks are adept at getting out of a tight spot. These females 

 like to take the lead. In courtship they lead the male a merry cliase; 

 in approaching the nest in its tree cavity, they fly ahead of the males. 

 Speed, quick wit, and hardiness in icy waters have kept up the num- 

 bers, despite traps, arrows, guns, and now the dwindling marshy 

 habitat. 



The dance mimes the humorous walk and call. It emphasizes the 

 male-female relationship. Some of the patterns suggest a double 

 meaning. The women, as they back away ahead of their male vis-a-vis, 

 recall both the courtship chase and the typical flight pattern. When 

 they squeeze under a series of arches formed by the men's upraised 

 arms, they seem to dive under water and again emerge, or they suc- 

 cessfully negotiate a trap. When at the end of the dance they are 

 caught by the men's lowered arms, they may have arrived at the 

 hidden nest, or they may be entangled in a trap after all. The ter- 

 minal quacking mimics the plaintive call. 



To make up for its lack of imposing qualities, the duck is dis- 

 tinguished for its culinary potentials. While all eagles are tough and 

 adult swans are not palatable, all ducks provide succulent meals. In 

 view of their usefulness and their abundance, they must have inspired a 

 dance in many areas. Today the Great Lakes Algonquians perform 

 dances for swans and geese, in double file, but they do not mime ducks. 

 However, southern instances persevered until recently. Densmore 

 (1947, p. 77) mentions Duck Dance in the Alabama repertoire, ex- 

 tinct by 1898; Speck (1911, p. 164) places it among the Creek and 

 Yuchi dances of 1911. In melodic character the Seneca song bears 

 most resemblance to a Choctaw tune which survived until about 1940 

 (Densmore, 1943, pp. 150-151). In fact, the Iroquois Duck Dance 



