386 



THE WINNEBAGO TRIBE 



[ETH. ANN. 37 



The Soldier's Dance 



Informant, member of the Bear or Soldier clan: " The object of 

 performing the soldier dance (fig. 37) is to strengthen the members of 

 w. the Bear clan. They dance with 



the emblem of the Bear clan, the 

 whittled stick {namayxi'nixini), 

 in their hands. The dance is 

 also given whenever a council in 

 which tribal affairs are discussed 

 is held. On such an occasion 

 the men take their drums to the 

 council lodge and dance there, 

 followed by the women. 



The principal leader — i. e., the 

 cliief of the Bear clan {ma'nanire 

 InVygera) — appoints a person 

 who is in charge of the ceremony 

 (ma'nanp'e haTc'o'hiduk'Cmo'na). 

 The ceremony begins with the 

 chief of the clan marcliing around 

 the village with some followers 

 and stopping here and there to 

 dance and give the soldier whoop. 

 The members of the Bear clan 

 are supposed to be strengthened 

 by the blessings of all the animals 

 who have claws. Should any- 

 one be sick in the village, tliis 

 strength of theirs would be suffi- 

 cient to cure them. Then they 

 return to their lodge and are put 

 in control of the entire village. 

 As soon as the time for the dance is at hand the soldiers give their 

 whoops and an old warrior is selected to tell of his war exploits. 

 He always makes it a point to tell of some exploit that seemed at 

 first foolhardy — how he tried to do sometliing that generally meant 

 death, but how he succeeded by reason of his fearlessness. It is with 

 such a heart, he tells them, that they must dance the soldier's dance. 

 Then they all dance and sing. When they are finished, they let the 

 women dance. 



-Plan of Soldiers' dance, a, Leader. 

 b, Assistant. 



>' Throughout this work soldier is used to connote something quite diflerent from the word warrior. 

 The Soldier clan is the Bear clan, and the Warrior clan is the Hawk or the War-people clan. 



