Cultural Information

BATTLE OF THE NACHES

   Saturday, July 16th, 2004, was the 165th anniversary of the "Battle Of The Naches" where Cherokee Chief John Bowles (Diwali), and eight other chiefs including "Big Mush," and over 500 Indians were killed by the well-armed Texas militia under the direction of the Republic of Texas President Mirabeau Bonaparte Lamar. Chief Bowles' unburied mutilated body lay on the spot where he fell for many years.

  The massacre has been commemorated by the Texas Cherokees for many years. A monument was placed at the site in 1936. This year, the anniversary event was attended by the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma Chad Smith, the Cherokee Children's Choir, and several representatives of the Cherokee Red Star Gourd Dance Society of Blue Spring, Arkansas. The Gourd Dance Clans and Societies are modern warrior Societies. Indian veterans dance the old, traditional War Society Dance or Gourd Dance, for our warriors and ancestors.

The Origin of the Gourd Dance

The Legend of the Red Wolf

The origin of the Gourd Dance is somewhat clouded, but most people will agree that the Dance can be credited to the Cheyenne Dog Soldier, the Kiowa and the Comanche. The resurgence of the Gourd Dance, post Korean War, can be contributed directly to the Kiowa.

The dance was originally a warriors, or a man's, dance.  The legend of the dance is that of Red Wolf.  That is why today, at the end of the dance, the dancers and singers give out the cry of the Red Wolf.

The story is of a warrior, tired and separated from a war party, was trying to find his way back to his village.  The warrior heard a strange and melodic sound from just over the rise. He slowly climbed to the top, looked down, and saw a Red Wolf bouncing up and down on his haunches. The Red Wolf held a fan in his left hand and a gourd rattle in his right. The Red Wolf was singing songs and melodies that stirred the spirit of the warrior. The warrior listened throughout the day and night. At the end of each song the Red Wolf would raise his rattle to the sky, vigorously shake it, and let out his cry. At daybreak the Red Wolf stopped and looked up at the warrior. The Red Wolf called to the warrior and told him, the songs and dance were a gift to his people, for their bravery in battle. He was to take the songs and dance back to his people. If the people were true to their culture and did things in a good way, they would have the songs to sing and dance to use to honor their warriors, for their bravery and deeds in battle.

As told by Bill Two Horses

The Brush Dance

1. The Singers begin the Mustang Song. Two Brush Boys, dragging Willow branches behind them, lead the procession. Using a simple walking step in time with the drum beat. They move abreast slowly out onto the arena. Traditionally, the brush dancers enter from the east and move west, reflecting the custom of entering camp from the east.

2. Following behind the Brush Boys, at a distance far enough to clear the branches is a row of four men dancing abreast of one another. They are also dancing using a simple walking step in time with the drumbeat. These four men represent the four Headsmen who are the traditional officers of the Gourd Society. All of the men hold a rattle in one hand and shake them in rhythm with the drumbeat. In the other hand each man holds a fan.

3. After the Headsmen, the Singers follow. They are “Dancing in the Drum” using the same walking dance style of the other dancers.

4. Next is another row or rows of men, four abreast, dancing in the same manner as the preceding row.

5. The ladies dance in the same walking manner and are in rows four abreast and follow the men into the arena. Their Shawls are open and draped over their shoulders. They may have Fans and/or bags, but no rattles.

6. As the group proceeds across the dance floor the Brush Boys gradually diverge to pass on either side of the center of the arena, where the drum will eventually be placed. Each succeeding row of dancers, male and female alike, divides with two from each row following the Brush Boys leading them. Each row holds its line until it reaches the approximate point at which the Brush Boys split before dividing.

7. The Singers continue to proceed forward towards the center of the dance arena.

8. As the dancers pass the mid-point of the dance floor, they begin to draw back together—as if to close the circle. At this point the Brush boys leave the ring at the West End of the arena.

9. During the singing of the Mustang Song, the dancers routine is as follows:

a. For at least the first time through the song the dancers move forward using the simple walking step in time with the drum.

b. After the first song has been sung at least once through (or more time as the singers choose), between the first and second verse, the Singers give one to three accent beats. On this cue, all of the male dancers dip slightly to the left and them to the right while still maintaining their forward movement. This maneuver is called “the hunt”. The ladies do not dip but may bow their heads and turn their shoulders slightly to the left and then the right in the same pattern.

c. After completing the hunt, the dancers continue their forward movement.

d. Between the next first and second verse, the Singers again produce a distinct accent beat, which is responded to by the dancers with another hunt.

e. Very quickly after the second hunt (in approximate middle of the second verse of the song) the Singers will begin an extended, very hard series of accent beats (1-2, 1-2, 1-2, etc. that will continue through the end of the second verse and as well as into the repetition of the first verse (Gourd Dance songs are constructed similarly to Southern Plains war dance songs with a lead line sung by a Head Singer, first verse, and second verse. Often the first and second verses are the same. The seconds singers come in late during the lead line as Gourd Dance songs usually do not repeat the lead line.) During this period of dramatic hard beats, the dancers hold their positions. The men’s dance style is a vigorous bouncing up and down, accomplished either by raising up on the balls of the feet on one beat and dropping down quickly on the next or y flexing the Knees to achieve the same bobbing motion. All the while the men shake their rattles in time with the drumbeat and generally hold their fans close to their sides in front near their belt line. The ladies also make the same bobbing motion but only by flexing their knees.

f. As the first verse ends again the drum increases in intensity, then suddenly, at the exact end of the first verse, drops to a soft beat. (The tempo of beating is maintained throughout the song: only the volume and intensity of the beat varies) When the soft beat occurs, the dancers hunt as described in 9. b. The remainder of the song and any subsequent Mustang Songs continue to repeat steps 9.c, d, e, and f. until the drum reaches the center of the dance floor.

10. When the drum reaches the center of the dance floor, the Singers end the Mustang Song(s) with a rapid and random series of drumbeats at the end of the second verse. No trailers are sung to Gourd Dance Songs. The men stop their bobbing and shake their rattles vigorously in the air, and give the call of the Red Wolf (aooooooooo). The Ladies also stop bobbing and may lulu. (Luluing is a plains woman’s call, which serves as a gesture of honor or emotion). The call receives its name from the unique, high-pitched sound produced when a woman pronounces the syllable “Lu” over and over again while using her tongue to quicken the delivery. It is customary to give two strings of lulus at once.

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                                 This site was last updated 09/10/14