Hopi Social Dance Songs

Volume One

Canyon Records
Singers: Benard Dawahoya; Riley Polequaptewa; Alaric Polequaptewa; Loren Sakeva; Alde Qumyintewa; Seymour Lomakema; Milland Lomakema, Sr.; Milland Lomakema, Jr.; Patrick Lomawaima
Recorded at Shungopavi, Second Mesa, Arizona
The songs on this album are all social dance songs and are danced from January to mid-May during the time between the killing of the old moon (the full moon) and the beginning of the new moon. The primary function of the dances is social – to listen to the singers from the various kivas, watch the dancing or take part in the festivities and to show off the children. As with many Indian activities, it is not possible to separate the secular or social from the sacred. And, thus it is with these social dances. There is always the prayer asking for good crops, rain, health, etc. For the coming year.

Each dance song has three parts. First there is the entrance song which is sung while the singers and dancers enter the village plaza from the kiva. A quickening of the tempo announces their beginning of the second part or the main dance itself. A third song is sung while the singers and dancers leave the plaza and return to the kiva. As the first group of dancers leaves the plaza and return to the kiva. As the first group of dancers leaves the plaza another group enters. There are always two groups alternating to provide continuous dancing. They can be doing the same dance or different dances such as two buffalo dance groups from different kivas or villages or one buffalo dance and another dance such as the Paiute dance, elk dance or other appropriate dance.

The name of the dance usually indicated the origin of the dance or song. Thus the Jemez and Zuni buffalo dances are named for the origin of the songs. The dance steps and costume are the same as the Hopi buffalo dance. The songs are composed by the Hopi to sound like a Jemez or Zuni buffalo dance by using a melody from the pueblo being copied. The "words" to the Zuni buffalo dance are vocables that sound similar to the Zuni language. There are very few and often no actual Zuni words used in the song text.

The Hopi buffalo dance song on side two of the record has a very unusual origin. It is based on a Chinese melody heard by a Hopi soldier while stationed in Korea. Upon returning home after the Korean War, he composed a Hopi buffalo dance song based on his favorite Chinese melody. In turn other groups have picked up this beautiful Hopi buffalo dance. The text of buffalo songs usually tell of the coming of spring, butterflies and everything turning green.

The origin of the Paiute dance is found in the history of the tribes rather than in a song. Long ago there were wars between the Hopi and Paiute. Later the two tribes became good friends and joined in a friendship dance. Ever since then the Hopi have held the Paiute dance to commemorate their friendship, although today all the dancers are Hopi. The songs are composed specially for the dance with new songs added to the repertoire every year.

The Paiute song on side one tells of a young man who comes to the village where the dance is being held and says"I am Paiute from the Paiute reservation and have come here to Shugopavi to court a pretty Hopi girl to take home for myself." The dancers dress in the Paiute style. Girls wear a buckskin dress over their Hopi dress, eagle feather headdress and carry arrows in their hand. Boys, wearing fringed buckskin carry a shield and bow and arrow or an axe. The dancers recreate an old-time fight staging mock battles with the alternating dancers when they pass upon entering and leaving the plaza.

A buffalo dance begins with a sponsor, usually the parents of one of the girls participating. Teams of two girls begin practicing with the sponsor. After a week's practice the girls choose a partner from among the sons of their paternal uncles and continue practicing together. The day before the dance the male dancers leave the village, going into the desert where they shoot their rifles and call the buffalo. At a shrine they dress in the buffalo costumes and wait for the singers to escort them back to the village. The buffalo dancers come into the village at sunset, entering the kiva to rest for the night.

The next day the dances start with the youngest buffalo dance team of two girls and two boys followed by the alternating dance and continuing through the day as all the other dance teams come out one at a time according to age. After the dance the singers chase the buffalos back to their homes in the desert.

...Notes by Robert Nuss

Play song

Name

Performed by

Description

Native Words

Translation

Notes

Paiute Dance Song a. Entrance
b. Main Dance
c. Going Home
Hopi
Jemez Buffalo Dance Song a. Entrance
b. Main Dance
c. Going Home
Hopi
Zuni Buffalo Dance Song a. Entrance
b. Main Dance
c. Going Home
Hopi
Hopi Buffalo Dance Song a. Entrance
b. Main Dance
c. Going Home
Hopi