Dances on the coast
by A. L. Kroeber
Orekw, at the mouth of Redwood Creek, held a Jumping dance associated with a traditional house.
Another Jumping dance was made at Oketo, or more exactly at the main village of Opyuweg, “they dance,” on Big Lagoon, Oketo.
This included dancing indoors and in boats on the lagoon.
It must have been an important ceremony, since it lasted 10 to 12 days.
The formula is reported similar to that spoken at Rekwoi, and different from those of Orekw and Pekwan.
It is rather remarkable that Tsurau at Trinidad, sometimes reckoned the largest Coast Yurok village, possessed no dance.
The Coast Yurok frequented a Jumping dance made by the Wiyot on Mad River, and sometimes went to a ceremony of another type made by the Wiyot of Olog on Humboldt Bay.
They declare that these farther Wiyot rarely visited them at the Oketo dance, except one famous rich man named Munters, “white,” to whom story accredits 10 wives who all drowned at once on Humboldt Bay.
0 comments: (End) Post a Comment