DANCES OF THE HUPA INDIANS

The dances of the Hupa Indians of California are peculiar to this people, though they probably resemble those of other tribes. There is a remarkable similarity in their dances and in the accompanying sollgs, if their noises can be called songs. The most interesting dance which I had the pleasure of witnessing "as the celebrated woodpecker dance or HiyYf-dcria. I t resembles {he other dances in that there is a competitive element, the dancers from one part of the valley dancing together, and followed in turn by squads from other parts, each party trying to excel the others. The head-dress is quite beautiful, and consists of buckskin, on which are sewn the red breast or neck feathers of the male woodpeckr in certain designs, no two being alike. The white markings are small bits of deer-skin taken from the under side of the neck, where the hair is white. The buckskin is stiffened by small upright sticks of wood sewn on the back at such angles as to give the proper shape to the dress when tied on the forehead. The dance dresses worn by some are made of the skins of civet cats (mountain cats), having tails somewhat like the raccoon. A few men wear tanned deer-skins tied around the waist. Variously shaped long baskets are held in the right hand. At first the right hands are raised slowly and majestically, the body bent slightly forward, and on the return to the original position the bodies are thrown slightly back, the right legs lifted and brought to the ground with aresounding thud. In the mean time a tenor voice or two sing in a discordant minor key, with no tune, no words, no time-merely sounds inore or less prolonged. This is repeated over and over again, the three above motions being accompanied by three prolonged sounds, which can best be represented as follows : About twer.ty men in line dance at one time.