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Pueblo Indian Watercolors:
Pueblo Dances
There are many dances that are performed by different pueblos throughout the year. Not all Pueblo groups perform the same dances and ceremonies. There is also great variation in regalia and performance details among the different communities. The following descriptions highlight four different Pueblo dances. Thomas Vigil has done paintings based on Pueblo Indian dances as well.
Velino Shije Herrera, Comanche Dance
The Comanche dance is a complex re-creation of the stereotypes of one tribe by another. As primarily migratory cultures, the Comanche, Navajo, Apache, and Ute peoples traded with and occasionally raided the sedentary Pueblos.
To parody the feathers and fancy dress clothing of the Comanche and other Plains peoples, male Pueblo dancers dress in gaudy, brightly colored regalia, wear large feathered headdresses, and carry brightly colored standards. Occasionally the dancers, in imitation of Comanche warriors, let out loud yells and "war cries." The songs sung to accompany this dance include some words in Comanche—included more for effect than for accuracy. The dancers, musicians, and Pueblo spectators are more interested in the symbolic concept of the relationship between tribes than historical accuracy.
Awa Tsireh, Eagle Dance
The eagle dance is a remnant of a much more extensive ceremony to solicit rain to help the crops grow. Because it can fly so high that it disappears from view, the eagle is seen as messenger between the earth and the clouds and sky by many Indian groups.
Young men or boys imitate eagles by wearing white caps with yellow beaks and bands of feathers running along each arm. Dancers imitate the movements of eagles, creating stylized pivoting and flapping motions for soaring, diving, perching, resting, and mating.
Awa Tsireh, Zuni Shalako Figure
The Shalako ceremony is performed in December and is one of the most important events in the Zuni religious calendar. Six men impersonate the Shalakos, deities or divine beings, by wearing wooden frames ten feet tall covered with dance kilts and topped with a mask of Shalako. The Shalako impersonators dance throughout the night and visit specific houses in the Zuni pueblo. The next day they perform a ritual race during which they plant prayer sticks in the ground to bring health and fertility to the village and its crops and livestock.
Oqwa Pi, Hopi Snake Dancer
The Hopis who live in what is now northeastern Arizona are the only Pueblo group to perform a snake dance. Through sensationalized stories in popular magazines, the snake dance became one of the most widely known ceremonies of the Pueblo Indians.
During one part of the dance, each dancer carries a live snake in his mouth. The snake is seen as a messenger to the underworld who can help assure abundant spring water and rainfall for summer crops. The dancers wear red kilts painted with a black zigzag pattern that represents the snake. Other patterns represent the footprints of ducks and frogs, both of which are associated with water.
Pictured above:
Top: Velino Shije Herrera, Comanche Dance, about 1925–1935, gouache on paperboard sheet,
Second: Awa Tsireh, Eagle Dancers, about 1917–1925, watercolor, ink, and pencil on paperboard,
Third: Awa Tsireh, Zuni Shalako Figure, about 1925–1930, watercolor, ink, and pencil on paperboard,
Bottom: Oqwa Pi, Hopi Snake Dancer, about 1920–25, watercolor, ink, and pencil on paperboard,