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The Arrow-Maker: A Drama in Three Acts, a play by Mary Hunter Austin |
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Glossary - The Dances - Costumes |
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_ GLOSSARY OF INDIAN WORDS AND PHRASES The names and phrases used in _The Arrow-Maker_ were chosen from the culture area comprising the central valleys of California, from tribes belonging to or affiliated with the Paiute group. Exact definitions could not always be ascertained and frequently the meaning given by different villages differed widely. Whenever possible the nomenclature of the locality in which the incident occurred is preferred. _Choco._“Fatty”; a nickname of doubtful origin, possibly from the Spanish _Chopo_. _Pamaquash._“Very tall”; the Paiute equivalent of Longfellow. _Castac._“Place of Springs”; a small valley in the southerly Sierra, from which the inhabitants take their name. _Yavi._ A common given name, meaning unknown. _Tavwots._“Mighty Hunter”; a name given to the rabbit in Paiute lore. _Seegooche._“Woman who gives good things to eat.” Lady Bountiful. _Tiawa._ A familiar title frequently given to old women, like“Grannie.” _Wacoba._“Flower of the Oak”; oak tassel, also the plume of the quail. _Chisera._ Medicine Woman; witch. (See last chapter of _The Flock_ for account of the original Medicine Woman from whom the character was drawn.) _Tuiyo._“Shining”; very bright. _Pioke._“Dew drop.” _Simwa._ Applied in humorous sense, meaning a“swell.” _Padahoon._ The Sparrow Hawk. _Tecuya._ Oak thicket, _encinal_. _Pahrump._ Corn water. A place where there is water enough to grow a crop of corn. _Sagharawite._“Place of the mush that was afraid.” An Indian village named from the quaking, gelatinous mush of acorn meal. _Paiute._ More properly“Pah Ute”: the Utes who live by running water as distinguished from the Utes of the Great Basin; one of the interior tribes of the Pacific Coast. “Friend of the Soul of Man.” The Great Spirit; the Holy Ghost. _Toorape._“Captain”; chief; a name given to one of the peaks of the Sierras. “The Sacred Sticks.” A number of small sticks with peculiar markings. Divination was practiced by throwing them on the ground and interpreting the pattern in which they fell. _Haiwai._“The dove.” _Winnedumah._“Standing Rock”; a legendary hero. _Tinnemaha._ Probably“Medicine Water.” Mineral spring. Brother of the hero in the legend of Winnedumah. “Eaten meadowlarks' tongues.” Said of one nimble of wit. With the idea that like cures like, Indians were accustomed to feed backward or defective children with associated parts of animals. _Whenonabe._ Bitter brush; a decoction of the bark producing colic and griping; a symbol of disaster. “Rattle-weed.” _Astragalus_; produces madness when eaten. “Toyon.” California Christmas Berry. “Snake-in-the-grass ... tattle to the gods.” Snakes are believed to be the messengers and familiars of the gods; therefore the Paiutes tell no important matter in the summer when they are about. “To dig roots before her wedding year is out.” A curse equivalent to barrenness. The work of digging roots was not performed by expectant mothers. “Wickiup.” A wattled hut of brush, made by planting willow poles about a pit four or five feet deep and six to eight feet in diameter. The poles were then drawn over in a dome and thatched with reeds or brush. “Campody.” An Indian village; from the Spanish _campo_. _Barranca._ A bank, the abrupt face of a _mesa_. From the Spanish. THE DANCES All tribal or emotional occasions among Indians are invariably accompanied by singing and dancing. These are frequently derived from the movements of animals and are both pantomimic and symbolic. The object of the medicine dance is to work up the dancer to a state of trance, in which he receives a revelation in regard to the matter under consideration. Some of these medicine dances are ritualistic in character and must be performed with great strictness, but in the case of the Chisera the dance is assumed to be made up of various dance elements expressing the emotion of the moment, combined by individual taste and skill. Power is supposed to descend upon the dancer as he proceeds. Sometimes the dance lasts for hours, and even for days before the proper trance condition is attained. Even then the revelation may not come until a second or third climax has been reached. The blanket dance is common throughout the Southwest, and possibly elsewhere. It is accompanied by a song which says, in effect,“How lovely it will be when you and I have but one blanket.” By the young people it is not taken any more seriously than“drop the handkerchief” and other courtship games. COSTUMES While the scene of this play is laid among the Paiute peoples, there is nothing which makes it absolutely unlikely among any of the hunting tribes. Considerable latitude is therefore permissible in costume and accessories. The only indispensable thing is that all these should be kept within a given culture area. Every article of Indian use or apparel is determined by some condition of living, and it is a mistake to mix costumes from various tribes. Concessions must be made to the objections of the modern audience to the state of nudity which would be natural to the time in which the story is laid. But even making allowance for this, the tendency is always to overdo, to have too many beads and fringes and war-bonnets. No more than his white brother did the Indian wear all his best clothes every day. The blanket is the most considerable item of Indian equipment. At once by its quality, its color, and its pattern it announces something of the wearer's rank and condition. The way in which it is worn betrays the state of his mind as does no other garment. It is drawn up, shrugged off, swung from one shoulder, or completely shrouds the figure according as his mood runs, or it is folded neatly about the body to get it out of the way of his arms when he has need of them. Blankets would be worn to Council, but not going to battle. They would be worn by young and modest women on public occasions, but by old women only for warmth and protection. They are also worn as an advertisement of the desire for privacy. When an Indian is seen completely shrouded in his blanket, standing or sitting a little apart from the camp, he either has a grouch or he is praying. In either case it is not good manners to interrupt him. As far as possible the use of the blanket is indicated in the text. Always it may be safely taken as an indication of the wearer's attitude toward whatever is going on about him. [THE END] _ |
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