334 ^ ZUNI DANCE. 



yarn with beads. Just below the knees were garters of the same color as 

 the sash, and to the one on the left leg there was fastened a turtle's shell 

 containing pebbles. Garlands of hemlock and fir, interwoven with berries 

 and flowers, encircled waist and ankles. Each held in his right hand a 

 gourd partly filled with pebbles, which were used as rattles. In the left 

 hand some of the dancers held a bunch of hemlock and flowers. 



The costume of the dancers representing women is shown by the figure 

 on the right in the illustration. This consisted of blue worsted-leggings, a 

 dark-blue blanket-gown, and a white tilma or serape, cut in the shape of a 

 cape, with a wide colored border. On the head was a wig, very ingeni- 

 ously constructed and made of long, fine glossy hair.* Their faces were 

 also concealed by masks ; and they had anklets of hemlock. 



The dance itself is accompanied by a low rythmical chant and the 

 beating of drums, which are constructed of large ollas, with a goat- skin 

 stretched over the opening. The noise of the gourd carried by the dancers, 

 and constantly shaken by them in time, resembles the sound of the castanet. 

 The male dancers stood in a row, the "female" dancers facing them, the two 

 rows being about four feet apart. The leader placed himself at one end 

 between the lines, so that all who took part in the dance could see his move- 

 ments and regulate theirs accordingly. He started the chant, which the 

 others took up' simultaneously, at the same instant lifting their right foot in 

 a kind of stamping movement to the time of the chant. During the inter- 

 vals between the verses of the song, the leader took a pinch of flour from 

 his vase and scattered it in the direction of the four principal points of the 

 compass, commencing at the east. This they believe will induce their tutelar 

 deity to send them rain. The words of the song could not be obtained, 

 and the information that it was in one of the Moqui dialects was only 

 reluctantly given. Information from Mexicans and Indians show that there 

 are various dances in use among the Zuni, and some are said to be of a 

 very obscene character. 



During the field season of 1874, members of the survey had an oppor- 

 tunity of witnessing another interesting dance at the pueblo of Jemez, 



* Similar wigs are worn by the " female " dancers among the Moqui, and are mentioned in a descrip- 

 tion of a Moqui dance by Dr. T. G. S. Ten Broeck, surgeon U. S. A. Schoolcraft, vol. II, pp. 73-77. 



