The Rabbit Dance Songs performed on Part One (CR-1691-C, Porcupine Singers, Vol 5) and Part Two (CR6192-C, Porcupine Singers, Vol. 6) are sung for those who enjoy traditional Lakota music. In addition, they were selected carefully to portray how the changing lifestyle of Lakota people can be seen in the songs performed over the decades since the turn of the century. These two albums document the changing conditions of Lakota life of the last seventy-five years.
Rabbit Songs grew popular in the second decade of this century in response to governmental suppression of traditional Indian cultural practices. Rabbit Songs, where men and women dance as partners to songs in which a woman speaks about matters of the heart, didn't required special dance costumes and could be performed in out of the way dance halls.
The original song texts, using women's language in Lakota, generally began with the speaker addressing her "Cepansi," her older female cousin or sister in Lakota terms. Thus the traditional value of not directly and improperly addressing strange men is reflected in talking about the man she is attracted to.
Rabbit Songs are today not as important in the current pow-wow contest scene. Still, understanding their significant role in the past and their documentation of developments in Lakota history can add to our appreciation of these songs which reflect the romantic, sad and lonely, and aggressively sassy tendencies in our lives.
Song descriptions and translations are by Severt Young Bear, Ronnie Theisz and Calvin Jumping Bull. Several of the songs are recalled here thanks to the memory of the Porcupine Singers, Irving Tail, who was ill at the time of the recording. This album is dedicated to Uncle Henry Young Bear.