Seneca Social Dance Music

Mary Frances Riemer was a folklorist who specialized in the music of Native American tribes in upstate New York. In 1980 she produced a recording entitled Seneca Social Dance Music (Folkways 4072); the annotations she wrote to accompany that recording provide the basis for this essay.

The Seneca ("people of the big hill") were the largest of the original five tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy founded during the sixteenth century. The Confederacy, which occupied most of pre-sent-day upper New York State, also included the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga tribes. After 1715, the Tuscaroras were admitted as the sixth nation and given a portion of the Oneida territory. As the most western of the Iroquois, the Senecas were designated as the Keepers of the Western Door. Today the Senecas of New York State live on three reservations: Tonawanda, Cattaraugus, and Allegany, each named for the streams along which they are located. The Allegany Reservation stretches for forty-two miles along the Allegheny River (literally "beautiful river"). Located in Cattaraugus County in the southwestern corner of New York State, the reservation lies in a beautiful region of thickly forested hills and valleys.

This land, which included 30,469 acres, was granted to the Senecas under the Pickering Treaty of 1794. Signed by George Washington, it was the first treaty made by the United States as a nation and guaranteed that "the U.S. will never claim the same, nor disturb the Seneka Nation…in the free use and enjoyment thereof." During the nineteenth century, with help from the Society of Friends, the Senecas became farmers, laborers, and businessmen and established their own republican government in 1848, complete with elected president, legislative council, and judiciary. (Only the Allegany and Cattaraugus Senecas are included in the Seneca Nation; the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians remains a separate political entity.) The Senecas of Allegany also leased land of their reservation for railways, highways, and towns occupied mostly by whites. Salamanca, with a population of approximately 7,500, is the largest of these.

In 1941, despite the assurances of the Pickering Treaty, the Senecas found their reservation lands threatened by plans—which had already been authorized by Congress—to build a dam at Kinzua, fifteen miles south of the Allegany Reservation in Pennsylvania. The stated purpose of the Kinzua Dam project was flood control on the Allegheny River, but other writers have also pointed to the use of reservoir water for the Pittsburgh steel mills (Fenton 1967, p.7; Wilson 1959, p. 195). Although the Senecas carried the issue to the Supreme Court, the power of Congress to condemn the land required for the project was upheld in 1959. Construction by the Army Corps of Engineers began almost immediately, and by 1965 the dam was complete. The project flooded over 9,000 acres of the best bottom lands (almost one-third of the reservation); caused the dispossession of 130 Seneca families from their homes at Red House, Coldspring, Quaker Bridge, and Onoville; and forced the removal of the Longhouse from Coldspring to Steamburg. The Seneca Nation, again with assistance from Quakers, fought for compensation for their lands and homes lost to the reservoir. A total of $15,000,573 was appropriated by Congress "to provide for the relocation, rehabilitation, social, and economic development of the members of the Seneca Nation." Part of this money was used to create the two new suburban-like developments of Jimersontown and Steamburg, ten miles apart, and the displaced Seneca families were relocated to ranch-type homes on three-acre plots at these settlements. Improvements such as community buildings, the newly opened Iroquois museum, and library have also come from the relocation fund. However, the general sentiment among the Senecas is that no amount of compensation can replace their flooded lands.

THE MUSIC

OCCASIONS

The Senecas possess an extraordinary amount of music associated with their Longhouse religion. The followers of Handsome Lake perform a calendrical cycle of Thanksgiving ceremonies in which they sing and dance rituals addressed to the Creator and to the Food Spirits. The numerous medicine societies also have their own ritual songs. However, all of this ceremonial music is held sacred by the Longhouse faithful and, in complying with the wishes of Avery and Fidelia Jimerson (one of the Seneca families relocated to Jimersontown in 1965) that this music not be "let out," it has not been recorded. Social dance music, while still associated with the Longhouse, is much more in the public and secular sphere and is for everyone's enjoyment. Thus, these songs have been recorded.

Occasions for social dance music are numerous. During ceremonials such as the Green Corn and the Midwinter, which last several days, social dances may be held at the Longhouse in the evening. Prior to the moving of the Coldspring Longhouse in 1965, "socials," with music and dancing, were held there every Sunday evening. A dinner was given beforehand and the evening's proceeds used for Longhouse needs. Today socials are occasionally given at the new gymnasium (part of the community building) at Steamburg, but it is not considered a good space for singing and, consequently, there is no social dancing. Parties, formerly held in the cookhouse next to the old Coldspring Longhouse to honor a person on a particular occasion, provide further opportunities for social dancing. "Sings" at private homes feature social dance music but no dancing, and are usually associated with meetings of the Singing Society. Finally, replacing the old Sunday evening socials of the Long-house are "singouts," usually held on the weekends of major Christian holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, or national holidays such as the Fourth of July. Not associated with the Long-house, they are now held in the community building at Steamburg and are sponsored by the Singing Society, which tries to have new songs for the event.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

The Senecas share a musical style that is common to all the Indian tribes of the Eastern Woodlands. Their songs are relatively short: some are as brief as fifteen seconds, but

usually they will last about one to one and a half minutes. Songs (usually about seven) of a similar genre are often sung consecutively, with little pause between each, thus forming a "set" or "cycle." For some of the newer imported songs, singers do not generally possess a large enough repertoire to enable them to sing as many as seven but, since these non-Seneca songs tend to be longer, the end result is a set of appropriate length.

The melodies of these songs generally have an undulating contour but with slightly more descent than ascent overall. Iroquois scales are mainly pentatonic (i.e., five tones); major seconds and minor thirds are the most important intervals. Octave leaps are fairly frequent, especially in the new Ladies' Dance songs, where they begin the songs.

Songs usually have a range of one octave, with the tonic (or base tone) often being the lowest, or next to lowest, tone of the scale. Other notes that receive special emphasis are the fifth, third, and octave above the base tone.

Rhythmic organization is relatively symmetrical and simple, with two or three note values per song being most commonly used. Other rhythmic figures are occasionally introduced for interest and variety. Rhythmic accompaniment, provided by the water drum and various types of rattles (see below), is most often a simple duple beat that coincides with the basic pulse of the melody. Tremolo effects are also produced on the drum and rattle. In the dance songs, alterations in rhythmic accompaniment signal choreographic changes in the dance.

The structure of individual songs can be fairly complex. Each song is composed of several short sections, which can be ordered and repeated in various combinations. A formula commonly used is AABAB. As mentioned earlier, songs are grouped together to form a set or cycle.

Song structure becomes further involved through the use of an antiphonal (or call-and-response) technique, which is a

distinctive feature of Eastern musical style. This type of singing requires either two individuals or, more commonly, a leader plus group. The leader begins by singing a single phrase, which is then repeated (possibly with minor variation) by the group. The call-and-response pattern occurs at beginnings and endings of many songs and is the sole structural device of the Stomp Dance.

Iroquois vocal technique has several of the features generally associated with Indian singing style: a moderate amount of tension in the throat, pulsation on sustained notes, downward glides, and race notes.

The majority of social dance songs have meaningless syllable (vocable) texts; however, the vocables used in any given song are fixed and are repeated the same way each time the song is performed. (This is not the case with the religious songs, which often contain meaningful texts in the form of prayers and thanksgivings.) The vocables are usually set syllabically; i.e., one vocable is sung to one note. Meaningful texts, when they occur in social dance music, are found most often in the newly composed Ladies' Dance songs and, within the song set, in the initial and the final songs.

INSTRUMENTS

The only instruments used to accompany the social dances are the water drum (whose Indian name literally means "covered keg") and cow horn rattle, although there are several others with specific functions in Long-house rituals. (For a comprehensive discussion of Seneca "singing tools," see Conklin/Sturtevant 1953).

The water drum is a small, round, wooden vessel about five to six inches in diameter, covered with a soft-tanned hide stretched and held in place by a cloth-wrapped wooden hoop. Water is introduced into the drum through a hole in its side, and, before playing, the head is thoroughly soaked and tightened until the characteristic high "pinging" sound is obtained. The player holds the drum in his left hand and strikes the drum skin with a small wooden beater.

The cowhorn rattle is made from a conical piece of cowhorn mounted on a wooden handle. The horn contains steel pellets and is closed at the top with a wooden plug. Its overall length is usually about nine to twelve inches. Only one water drum is used at a social dance and is played by the lead singer. His assistants each shake a cowhorn rattle.

An enumeration of the various types of social dance currently performed on the Allegany Reservation presents one with a complicated list of names and associations. In the past, writers on Iroquois music (see Kurath 1951, 1964, 1968) have organized the traditional Seneca dances according to the two basic dance steps used: the stomp-type and fish-type. This grouping remains useful and workable if, added to it, are the shuffle step of the new Ladies' Dance and the numerous imported dances that have reached Allegany since the early 1960s.

The stomp-type of social dance involves a simple forward trotting step in which the right foot shuffles forward and the left is brought up to meet it. This is the most recurrent step in Iroquois social dancing and is performed by both men and women. The social dances using this step include:

Trotting Dance—also called Standing Quiver or Stomp Dance—is the paradigm of stomp-type dances;
Corn Dance;
Bean Dance, also called Hand-in-Hand or Linking-Arms Dance;
Squash Dance, also called Shaking-the-Pumpkin or Shaking-the-Jug.

The Corn, Bean, and Squash are essentially Food Spirit dances performed at the food-spirit festivals and, therefore, belong more in the religious sphere. Only the Corn Dance appears on social dance programs at Allegany.

5. Pigeon Dance;
6. Duck Dance;
7. Robin Dance.

The Pigeon, Duck, and Robin dances possibly were part of a former spring ritual giving thanks for the return of wild birds. All are performed as social dances at Allegany.

8. Alligator Dance;
9. Fishing Dance, stomp dance, not to be confused with the Fish Dance, which uses the fish-type step;
10. Garters Dance;
11. Shaking-the-Bush, also called Naked Dance. This is danced with a variation of the stomp-type step.

The fish-type of social dance is often compared to the Charleston, but the Seneca version, being centuries old, obviously predates it. The sequence of the fairly complicated fish step is: start with both feet turned out, right foot slightly in front. With a sharp movement, turn both feet in, the right foot brushing to the side. Both feet are now turned in, with the right foot slightly behind. With another sharp movement, turn both feet out, the left foot brushing to the side but remaining in front of right. From this position the sequence is repeated with the left foot stepping backwards.

Although not as ubiquitous as the stomp, the fish step (also danced by both men and women) is used in several dances:

Old Moccasin Dance, also called the Fish Dance, is the paradigm of fish-type dances;
Raccoon Dance;
Sharpening-the-Stick;
Choose-a-Partner;
Chicken Dance. This dance includes both the fish-type and the women's shuffle step that is used, in social dancing, only here and in the Women's Shuffle (or Ladies') Dance. As the name implies, it is only danced by women. The step is essentially a shuffling twist of the feet. With feet together, put weight on the balls of feet, raise heels slightly, and twist them to the right. Heels should hit the floor on the beat. With feet still together and weight on the heels, raise toes and twist them to the right. Front of feet should hit the floor on the beat. Repeat whole sequence and continue moving to the right. On each beat, the knees flex to give the body a slight bouncing movement.

The typical Seneca social dance is performed in a counterclockwise circle, single or double file, around a centrally located singers' bench. (If there are several singers, two benches are used and the singers sit facing each other). Men usually start the dance and, after two or three songs, the women join, placing themselves at the end of the line or alternating with the men, depending upon the dance. In double-file dances (e.g., the Duck Dance), the pairs are composed of two women or two men. The pairing of dancers of opposite sex, linking arms or holding hands, are features of the imported dances and, at Allegany, were resisted on moral grounds and were slow to gain acceptance.

Imported dances, introduced to Allegany over the past twenty years, include:

Cherokee Stomp Dance, also called Snake Dance. The step is essentially like the Seneca Stomp Dance but ends with the single file of dancers following a serpentine line and closing into a spiral;
Delaware Feather Dance, also called the Delaware Stick, or Skin Beating Dance. For the slow introductory songs, the stomp step is used. With the increase of tempo, experimental and improvised steps are performed, as the dance is still new and the form not yet fixed;
Friendship Dance;
Two-Step Dance.

Seneca Longhouse Songs

Ceremonial and Public Traditions of the Seneca Indians

Nick Spitzer is a folklorist widely known for his work on Creole cultures and cultural policy and as a public radio broadcaster. Artistic director and host of the "Folk Masters" concert series from 1990-1997 at Carnegie Hall and Wolf Trap, he also served as senior folklife specialist for the Smithsonian Institution and as the first Louisiana State Folklorist. In addition, Spitzer hosts American Routes, the nationally broadcast weekly public radio music series. He is professor of cultural conservation and urban studies at the University of New Orleans. This essay originally appeared in the program guide for the 1993 Folk Masters concert series, held March 5-April 10 at the Barns of Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia.

The Seneca are prehistorically linked to the Iroquois Confederacy, referred to as Six Nations, each with territories and settlements in what is now New York and Canada. The Seneca Reservation in Tonawanda, New York, has nearly 600 people, descendants of those who resettled there after 1812 from the Buffalo Creeks area. The Haudenosaunee or "people of the Longhouse" traditions of the Seneca are linked to the other Six Nations tribes: Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Mohawk, and Tuscarora. Each group has a role in a shared ceremonial Longhouse tradition. The Seneca are considered the "Keepers of the Western Door" and the "Older Brother" in relation to the other tribes.

There are two types of Longhouse songs: private ceremonial songs that are for curing and thanking the Creator and other life forces for providing what is needed to live; and social dance songs that are for fun but that also show concern for how to live well and honor what the Creator provides. The ceremonial songs are not shared outside the Longhouse. The social songs and dances may be presented to the public. Indeed, some of the ceremonial and curing songs are not fully shared outside the Longhouse, even within the tribe, and younger men in the Longhouse must come to the knowledge.

The Longhouse today is usually a long, narrow rectangular frame building painted white. It is at the heart of traditional social events in the community, such as group dinners and "tea meetings," as well as weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries. Men and women enter through their own doors and sit on opposite sides. One elder will announce the dances while another will stand and give a "Thanksgiving Address" recounting tribal history and philosophy—showing respect for all the natural and spiritual forces "from the earth to beyond the sky" that help humanity survive. An initial song in some traditions is the "Standing Quiver," also known as a "stomp dance." It is done by men moving from their fireplace area in a counterclockwise direction, singing without instruments.

Most dances are done with wood and cowhorn rattles and the timekeeping of a larger, handheld water drum. The instruments are played by men seated on benches in the center of the Longhouse as the dancers move around them. In an evening, sets of as many as twenty songs are performed in antiphonal style with a lead singer beginning each song, and with a short phrase of vocables (sounds without referential meaning) followed by an answering phrase. Dances include the Moccasin Dance, Rabbit Dance, Fish Dance, and Robin Dance. There are at least thirty differentsocial dance sets, some with thirty or more songs in each. Some are danced with couples, others single file, each with characteristic melody, rhythm, and steps, as well as accompanying knowledge about the origins of the dance.

The Young Nation Singers participate privately in Longhouse ceremonials and social dances at home and with other Six Nations tribes. However, they also participate nationally on the pan-Indian powwow circuit. Group leader Gary Parker explains:

Longhouse is not for competition or show. It is for the people to dance and for the Creator. That's who we are trying to please. Powwow was adapted from Western peoples like the Sioux. We use the big drum. It is usually a competition for money using more contemporary songs.

The powwow dances and songs are called "intertribals" and may include competition songs, Grass Dance, Jingle Dress Dance, and special men's and women's dances.

The Young Nation Singers were formed in the mid-1980s and have since become known as one of the best "drums" in the East. They bring their own style, songs, and Seneca language to the powwow. Parker is concerned that the Seneca are losing their dances, languages, and singers. The Young Nation Singers reflect this interest in the future of Seneca culture.

Nick Spitzer

The Friendship and Two-Step are examples of pan-Indian dances that are beginning to arrive at Allegany.

5. Round Dance;
6. Rabbit Dance;

7. Eskimo Dance, also called Cold Dance, Dance of the North, Mohawk Dance;

8. Smoke Dance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bartlett, Charles E. (1955). "Some Seneca Songs from Tonawanda Reservation." Bulletin of the New York State Archaeological Association 5:8-16.

Chafe, William L. (1963). "Handbook of the Seneca Language." New York State Museum and Science Service Bulletin 388. Albany, NY: University of the State of New York.

Conklin, Harold C, and Sturtevant, William C. (1953). "Seneca Indian Singing Tools at Coldspring Long-house: Musical Instruments of the Modern Iroquois." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 97 (3).

Fenton, William H. (1942). "Songs from the Iroquois Long-house: Program Notes for an Album of American Indian Music from the Eastern Woodlands." Archive of American Folk Song, Library of CongTess, Album 6. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

——. (1948). "Seneca Songs from Coldspring Long-house." Chauncey Johnny John and Albert Jones. Archive of American Folk Song, Library of Congress, Album 17. Washington DC : U.S. Government Printing Office.

——. (1967). "From Longhouse to Ranch-type House: The Second Housing Revolution of the Seneca Nation." In Iroquois Culture, History and Prehistory: Proceedings of the 1965 Conference on Iroquois Research, ed. Elisabeth Tooker. Albany, NY: New York State Museum and Science Service.

Gaus, Dorothy Shipley. (1967). "Change in Social Dance Song Style at Allegany Reservation, 1962-73: The Rabbit Dance." 2 vols. Diss. Catholic University of America.

Hogan, Thomas E. (1974). "City in a Quandary: Salamanca and the Allegany Leases," Salamanca Republican Press, 6.

Iroquois Social Dances. 1969. William Guy Spittal. Iroqrafts Records QC 727-729.

Kurath, Gertrude P. (1951). "Local Diversity in Iroquois Music and Davis." In Symposium on Local Diversity in Iroquois Culture, ed. William N. Fenton. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 149. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

——. (1956a). "Antiphonal Songs of Eastern Woodland Indians." Musical Quarterly 42:520-26.

——. (1956b). Songs and Dances of Great Lakes Indians. NY: Ethnic Folkways Library P 1003. Record album.

——. (1964). "Iroquois Music and Dance: Ceremonial Arts of Two Seneca Longhouses." Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 187. Washington, DC : U.S. Government Printing Office.

——. (1968). "Dance and Song Rituals of Six Nations Reserve, Ontario." National Museum of Canada Bulletin 220, Folklore Series No. 4. Ottawa, Canada: Roger Duhamel.

Morgan, Arthur E. (1971). Dams and Other Disasters: A Century of the Army Corps of Engineers in Civil Works. Boston: Peter Sargent.

Morgan, Lewis Henry. (1962). League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee or Iroquois. 1851. Reprint, Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press.

Nettl, Bruno. (1954). North American Indian Musical Styles. Vol. 45 of Memoirs of the American Folklore Society. Philadelphia: American Folklore Society.

Sturtevant, William C. (1961). "Comment on Gertrude P. Kurath's 'Effects of Environment on Cherokee-Iro-quois Ceremonialism, Music, and Dance.'" In Symposium on Cherokee and Iroquois Culture, ed. William N. Fenton and John Gullick. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 180. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

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Wilson, Edmund. (1959). Apologies to the Iroquois. Bound with a study of The Mohawks in High Steel by Joseph Mitchell. NY: Vintage.