NOMADS OF THE LONG BOW — HOLMBERG 



45 



hand of the second person on one's left. When 

 the circle is completed one's back is thus encircled 

 by the left arm of the person on one's right and 

 by the right arm of the person on one's left. 



Following the formation of the circle the dancing 

 and singing begin. The participants throw back 

 their heads and stamp their feet alternately up 

 and down firmly to the rhythm of the music. The 

 circle itself remains stationary during the first 

 phase of the dance. When the dance begins, the 

 beats of the feet are coordinated with the accented 

 syllables of the following song, which is sung in 

 unison : 



hito hito hito hito 

 ti su & ca 

 yi sa di mo&i 

 d ti ba ti i cd 

 ai i ca 

 viimbd mimbd 



This song is always sung at the opening of 

 a dance, whether it be men or women that are 

 dancing, but I was unable to get a translation of 

 it. All of my informants told me that the song 

 was meaningless, but it does contain some 

 meaningful words, such as yisddi mose ("when 

 dancing") and the expression hito which probably 

 here means "happy." This suggests that part of 

 the song, at least, means something like "I am 

 happy when I dance." 



During the first phase of the dance, the song 

 quoted above is sung over and over again in unison 

 about 25 times, by which time a considerable emo- 

 tional enthusiasm has taken hold of the group. 

 After a brief rest, the second phase of the dance 

 begins, also by everyone singing a song in unison. 

 Some verses of this song are quoted below: 



dh dh dh ah, dh 



sdn de ra Id 



td du bd 



miindu 



c-u. du jd hd 



nde ra ja nendd 



ta miNge 



miindu 



cii, du ]d hd 



ai sat ibi atd 



ai sat ibi atd 



ibi kwa 



ku ru kiod ta 



ki a td 



ai sai ibi a ju du 



miin du bd 



a turu bd 



mundu 



cu du jd hd 



Although the above song contains certain 

 meaningful words, a translation is impossible 

 because it seems to follow no grammatical pattern. 

 After a number of verses have been sung over 

 and over again to the accompaniment of stamping 

 feet, a leader takes charge of a circle and the 

 singing becomes impromptu. During this phase 

 of the dance, in addition to the stamping of feet, 

 the entire circle of dancers moves round and round 

 counterclockwise, the participants bending their 

 heads downward so as to hear the words of the 

 leader. As he chants a phrase the participants 

 repeat it after him. His phrases often bear on 

 some exploit in hunting or on some event in his 

 life of which he is particularly proud. One moon- 

 light night, for example, Yikinandu (Father of 

 Owl-monkey) chanted for 2 hoius about how he 

 had killed tapirs and jaguars; on another, Eresa- 

 eanta (Strong-eyes) sang for as long a time about 

 how he and his brother killed a white man years 

 ago during the last rubber boom. Since these 

 songs are impromptu and are sung only during a 

 dance, it is impossible to record more than snatches 

 of them without technical equipment, which I 

 did not possess. Nor did my knowledge of the 

 language ever reach a point where I could under- 

 stand them fully. 



The women perform a ring dance similar to 

 that of the men, except that they do not link 

 their arms in the same fashion and do not stamp 

 the ground with such force with their feet. In 

 forming the dance circle women place their arms 

 around the necks of the participants next to them, 

 and their body movements consist of waddling 

 around in a circle counterclockwise, with hips 

 swaying, to the accompaniment of the songs. The 

 women's dance begins with the same song as that 

 of the men. It is sung over and over in unison, 

 after which a leader breaks in with an impromptu 

 chant, the phrases of which are repeated after her 

 by the other dancers. On the whole, the women 

 dance less often then the men. 



Everyone knows how to dance and to sing some 

 songs. Since the rhythm of the dance consists 

 merely in the stamping of feet, there is no problem 

 in learning to dance. Young people are often 

 observed forming a dance circle in imitation of 

 their parents. Although all adults know how to 

 sing some songs, certain individuals are known 



