Cherokee dance

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The Cherokee People performed numerous social and religious dances which have evolved over time to include and incorporate new social concepts as a result of contact with other cultures, the arrival of the horse, gunpowder-based weapons, and forced integration with other cultures due to relocation and removal from the Cherokee homeland.

Many of the traditional dances performed in ancient times have been preserved and are still practiced. However, many of these dances are, in modern times, obscure, or no longer serve the same functions as before and are performed only for religious ceremonies or as reenactments of the ancient culture. Some of the dances are now illegal to perform as they traditionally incorporate the taking of human scalps.

Modern Cherokee societies also have divergent customs as the result of geographical isolation and varying degrees of contact with other tribes and local cultural influences that have shaped the modern dance customs of the Cherokee groups occupying North America.

Cherokee Dances fall into two basic categories: Social Dances and Religious Dances. Religious Dances always involved pre-selected dancers and complex choreography and steps, and also included at least one social dance at the end of the ceremonies which was open to all of the participants in a ceremonial dance.

Social Dances are more prevalent in modern Cherokee societies and some of these dances were adopted as the result of contact with other Native American tribes.

Contents

[edit] Oklahoma Cherokee Dance Forms

The Cherokee Stomp Dance performed by the Western Cherokee People in Oklahoma is unique within Cherokee culture. The Stomp Dance had its origins with the Creek Indians and was incorporated into the Cherokee culture after their arrival in Oklahoma following their forced removal and arduous trek on the Trail of Tears. The Stomp Dance was not one of the original dances performed by the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni or a traditional element of the Cherokee Moons Ceremonies. In modern times, the Stomp Dance has come to replace the Green Corn Ceremony (old woman corn mother/Ah-ga-we-la se-lu ut-si) as the principal gathering of the Cherokee people during the first moon of harvest for the Western Cherokees in Oklahoma. These gatherings normally occur during the last part of August and first week of September.

After arriving in Oklahoma, numerous other Native Americans were being relocated into the Indian Territory. This forced integration of cultures allowed a mixing of customs between various Native American Tribes. Not surprisingly, the Cherokee people began to incorporate the customs of other tribes. As a result, the Western Cherokees lost or abandoned much of their original culture and ceremonies, but preserved their language, and many of their traditional stories. Other Cherokee groups in Missouri, Texas, and various areas of the South attempted to preserve and practice their ancient ceremonies at night or in secret due to activities of the Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups. This was particularly true in areas of Missouri, where many a tale of dread is still told of Cherokees being forced to flee their homes in the night due to midnight raids by the Ku Klux Klan and other groups who feared Indians and attempted to drive their settlements out of various areas of Missouri.

The Stomp Dance is performed by the Western Cherokees at the Stokes Stomp Dance Ground which is located in an isolated area of the Cherokee Nation Tribal Lands. The Dance Grounds contain an elevated platform upon which a very large bonfire is kindled after sunset. Women wear traditional Cherokee Tear Dresses, men wear Western blue jeans and cowboy hats with a single Eagle feather in the hat band. The dance leader is a male Cherokee Elder who calls the people to the dance for each round in the Cherokee language. The women wear turtle-shell shakers on both legs, typically three on either side of their legs, or six per leg which are punched with holes and filled with rocks or shot.

In the Dance, the women keep the beat for the dancers, and the men repeat the songs sung by the leader. The dancers circle the fire in counter-clockwise direction with slow, stomping steps set to the rhythm created by the women as the stomp with their shell skakers. The order of the dancers is male-female-male-female in a continuous spiral or circle. As the dance begins several hundred people may join the circle as the dance progresses. The dance continues until four rounds of four songs are completed by the Dance Leader, and the dance concludes until the next round. There is normally a 5 minute break between rounds. The dance continues throughout the entire night until dawn of the next day. The Stomp Dance is a grueling and physically challenging event and almost every Cherokee on the grounds will dance until they drop out from exhaustion. Following and during the dance at dawn an enormous feast of fried pork is consumed throughout the night, along with potatoes, bean bread, and numerous Cherokee traditional dishes. At dawn, a special medicine made from 7 secret roots gathered by the 7 clans is given to all the Cherokees who completed the dance. This medicine is very invigorating and imbibing execessive amounts typically results in emetic and purgative affects.

The Stomp Dance has a decidedly Western flair and is a no holds barred event, and although performed by Indians, does not resemble the reserved, quiet, and highly focused religious ceremonies performed by the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni with their many intricate and distinct dances. The Western Cherokee Stomp Dance is a unique evolution of the Cherokee culture in Oklahoma, and is enormously fun, engaging, and spirited event that encourages community bonding and interaction. Many Cherokee's have commented that the Western Cherokee Stomp Dance is immensely more fun and socially uplifting than the more traditional dances performed during Green Corn, which may explain its immense popularity among the Western Cherokee.

During the Stomp Dance, at various rounds in the dance, one of the ancient Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni dances called the running dance does emerge. In this variation, the dancers do not form a spiral into the fire, but form a snaking, sinuous line of people that haphazardly circles the fire. This is a variation of a more traditional social dance performed during the Green Corn Ceremony and is the only element of the Stomp Dance that resembles the ancient running dance, which was the final social dance performed during a traditional Green Corn ceremony.

The Keetoowah Nighthawk Society preserved many of the original Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni dance forms and continue to practice these ceremonies and dances in modern times.

[edit] Eastern Band of Cherokees

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians still perform most of the original Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni dances which slowly evolved over time into unique forms. The Eastern Band still performs the Green Corn Ceremony each year and the sacred eagle dance and the booger dances. The Eastern Band has also begun to perform many dances for the general public in support of tourism which formerly were considered sacred dances. Many of the ancient sacred dances are still performed by the Eastern Band and which are only open to Cherokees and their families, and not the general public.

[edit] Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya (Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni) Missouri and Central New Mexico Dance Forms

The Western Cherokee Community in Albuquerque, New Mexico is a community comprised predominantly of members of the Cherokee Nation, and some United Keetoowah Band Cherokees and their families. The community has existed in New Mexico since the 1940s and 1950s, when large numbers of Cherokee relocated to New Mexico from Oklahoma due to economic issues and hardships during this period in history. This group has unique dance forms influenced by contact with Southwestern Culture and Southwestern Spanish Influences, and also perform the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni traditional dances and ceremonies. The community has been expanding in recent times.

A large number of Western Cherokees are members of the Gourd Society and participate in the Gourd Dance in the New Mexico and Four Corners area. Due to the strong influence of the Native American Church in the Southwestern United States, a large number of Western Cherokee also participate with the Native American Church and have adopted many of its dance forms and customs, and Gourd Dancing is considered an important social event. Each dance typically hosts a large number of dancers and family members at community Gourd Dances.

The Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni travel to the New Mexico community yearly from Missouri, and perform the traditional ceremonies and dances which are not open to the public and can only be attended by Cherokees and their families. The Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni practice the ancient dance forms and traditional ceremonies for the Green Corn Ceremony and the Cherokee Moons Ceremonies, and are currently based in Grassy, Missouri as a religious organization called the Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya.

[edit] Cherokee Dance Forms and Steps

[edit] Listing of Cherokee Dances by Period

[edit] Cherokee Musical Instruments Used in Dances

[edit] References

  • Cherokee Dance Ceremonial Dances and Regalia, ISBN 0-935741-21-6
  • Cherokee Nation Cultural Resource Center, Tahlequah, Okalhoma.
  • Cherokee, ISBN 1-55868-603-7, Graphic Arts Center Publishing
  • Writings and History of the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni, central archives, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Ah-ni-ya-wi-ya Religious Organization. HCR 64 Box 816, Grassy MO 63751
  • Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya Nesletters, Ah-ni-ya-wi-ya Religious Organization. HCR 64 Box 816, Grassy MO 63751