4 66 HISTORY OF THE IROQUOIS,
celebrated corn dance,-made tbeir appearance. They were
differently -attired. While some were completely enveloped
in a closely fitting and gaudy colored garb,; ■ others, thou gh
perhaps without intending it,iiad-made wonderfully close approaches
to an imitation of the',cqjstgme said tp have beep, so
fashionable in many parts of the state of ".Georgia during the
last hot-summer, and which is also.said to brave consisted spa-
ply of a shirt collar_and a pair of spur^. But in truth., these
warriors, with shoulders-and limbs, in *a state of nudity, with
faces bestreaked with, paints, with jingling trinkets .dangling
at. their knee®, and with-feathered .waving
above them, presented a truly picturesque -and; fomantjo appearance.
When the centre of" thempunml' .house hadbeeh
cleared, and the musicians with the shell,rattles.had taken
their places, the dance «commenced; and fot an.-hour and a
half, perhaps iwo houTS, it proceeded with surprising, spirit
and energy. Almost every posture of which'the human frame
is- susceptible,, without absolutely making the feet:.tq be uppermost,
and the* head for once to assume the place of the
feet, was exhibited. Some- 'of^t-he attitudes ;of the dancers,
were really imposing, and the dance as-.a whole,’could-begot
up and conducted only by Indians. The women,dm the performance
of the corn dance, arequite bythemseflves; keeping
time to the beat of. the shells, and, gliding along sideways,
without scarcely lifting their feeHrom the floor.
- It would probably be well, if the,Indi& every.where could
be inclined to refrain at least from the morp .grotesque and
boisterous peculiarities of this dance. The influence of these
cannot be productive, of any good;'and it is ^.questionable*
whether it will be possible, so long- as they are retained,,to
assimilate them to any. greater degree of civilization, or „to
more refined methods of living and enjoyment* than they now
possess. The same may bp said of certain characteristics of
the still more Vandalic war dance. This, however, was not
introduced at the council.
ORIGINAL NOTES. 467
A^pdrt of the proceedings of Friday, the last day of the
-council* bore resemblance to ‘those of the preceding day.
Jemmy Johnson resumed-his preaching; at the close of which
the cdfh’dafice was again performed, though with far more spirit
and enthusiasm than at'the firSt Double the numbers that
thim appeared, dll-hardy and sinewy men, attired in original
and fantasti#style, among whom was one of the chiefe of the
'Confederacy, together with forty or fifty women of the different
nations, nbw engaged, and for more than two hours persevered'
in' the performance of the various, complicated and
fatrgUin^bveraehtS of this dance., The' appearatice of the
du'sky th#ng, -with- its increased numbers, and of course prd-
portienably increased resources for the'production of shrill
whddps* and noisy stamping, andfor the exhibition of striking
attitudes ahd ramp'ant motions, ,was altogether strange, won-
T defful; and seenfrngiy superhuman. ' '
After the dance had^eaied; another kind of sport, a well
- ednfesfed^dl raee, clai'meff attention. In !the evening, after
another simper in the council house, the more social dances* ^
the'trotting, the fish, and one in which the women alone par-
(ficipated, wpre resumed. The fish dance spenfod to he the
favorite; randfbelng invite^to join it by one of the chiefs,
we at once Accepted the invitation-, and followed in mirthful
chase of pleasure, with a hundred forest children. Occa-
sionally theidances are characterised with ebidlitions of merriment
and. flashes of real fun; hut generally a singular sobriety
and decorum are observed. Frequently, when gazing
at a throng'bf Sixty or, perhaps an hundred dancers, we have
'been scarcely able to decide which was the most remarkable,
the staid and imperturbable gravity of the ofd men and women,
or the complete absence of levity and frolicsomeness in the
young. * ’' b ‘j -
The social dances of the evening, ;with occasional speeches
from the sachems and, chiefs* were the final and concluding
ceremonies of this singular but interesting affair. Saturday