DKv.sMOKK] TETON SIOUX MUSIC 469 



name "grass dance," or the "Omaha dance," the latter name in recognition of the 

 tribe from which the dance had been obtained. Among the Omaha the leader 

 had to be of sufficient rank to be able to wear "the crow, " a decoration of the highest 

 order. 



The grass dance was noted among the Yankton Sioux by De Smet, 

 who described it in a letter to Father Terwecoren, dated November, 

 1867, as follows: * 



The principal one [society] among the Yanktons is called the Grass band or Peji- 

 mabinnanka. All the braves, or men of heart, as the Indians express it, belong to 

 this fraternity. ... At the ceremonial dances each member carries a long bunch 

 of grass, which is among them the emblem of abundance and charity. . . . The 

 badge or distinctive mark of the society is the bunch of grass braided and attached 

 to the waist of each member in the form and appearance of a long tail. 



In this description we note the use of the grass, but a different 

 symbolism is assigned to it. 



Mr. La Flesche, who saw the Omaha and Yankton Sioux dance the 

 grass dance together on the Yankton Reservation in the seventies is 

 quoted as follows : 



The rhythm of the Ile-thu^-shka songs simg by the Yanktons was the same as that 

 of the songs of the Omaha and the steps and bodily actions that were in accord with 

 tlie rhythm of the music were the same as those of the Omaha. In fact the Yankton 

 Ile-thu'-shka was and is now the same as the Omaha, except for certain preliminary 

 ceremonies wMch the Omaha, also, have now omitted. Until within very recent 

 times men only danced the He-thu^-shka, as it was strictly a warrior's dance. 



The grass dance among the Sioux is briefly mentioned by George 

 Bushotter, a Teton Sioux, in his "Texts," written in 1887-88. He 

 includes it among the "intrusive dances" which took place in the 

 camp while a Sun dance was in progress, and mentions the wearing 

 of grass at the dancer's belt.' 



In 1903-1912 Wissler found a society called the Omaha among 

 the Oglala Sioux,^ which he identiJSes with the grass dance.^ "Crow 

 belts" were worn in the ceremony of this society, but no mention is 

 made of grass, either carried or hung from the belt. Tlie grass 

 dance among the Sisseton Sioux is described by Lowie, who says it 

 was also called by them the Winnebago dance.^ This widely dis- 

 tributed dance is noted by Wissler as existing at the present time 

 among the Blackfoot, Piegan, Crow, Gros Ventre, and Assiniboin 

 Indians.^ A "feather-tail belt" seems to have been generally con- 

 sidered part of the dance regalia by these tribes. 



1 Life, Lettors, and Travels of Father Pierre-Jean De Smet. S. J. 1801-1873 (edited by Hiram M. 

 Chittenden and Alfred T. Richardson), ra, pp. 1059, 1000, New York, 1905. 



2 The Bushotter Texts, translated by J. Owen Dorsey, A Study of Siouan Cults, Eleventh Rep. Bur. 

 Ethn.,-p.'ira. 



3 Wissler, Clark, Societies and Ceremonial Associations of the Teton Dakota, op. cit., pp. 4?-52. 



4 Ibid. (p. 49, footnote) " According to Mr. Nines pezi mignaka is another name for Omaha kaiyoiag, which 

 reached the Oglala through the Yankton." 



6 Lowie, Robt. H., Dance Associations of the Eastern Dakota, op. cit., p. 130. 

 " Wissler, Clark, Societies of the Blackfoot Indians, op. cit., pp. 451-456. 



4840°— Bull. 61—18 32 



