"War Dance of Old": July 18, 1895

[Henry Zenk]

David,

Now that was a very interesting find.  I remember the CJ-fluent elder I
worked with, Wilson Bobb, talking about the "war dances" at Grand Ronde.
In fact, he one day demonstrated a "war dance" step for me--it seemed to
consist of a rapid forward "trot" or "gallop" accompanied by a
"monotonous chant" (borrowing the terminology of the reporter).  He had
actually participated in these as a youngster:  they were put on as public
performances for Whites to pay $ to see.  He also told me that he quit
participating after he got older, as he resented the whole idea of
it--Whites paying to see Indians make a spectacle of themselves.  The
language of the article (Indian women are "squaws," Indian men
"bucks"--and I talked to one elderly White guy who actually still used
those terms, just as in the article) makes his feelings
especially understandable.

This sort of sensitivity was not confined to Wilson.  I remember also
hearing about the old lamprey fishing falls on the lower Salmon River,
where Grand Ronde people used to gather every year when the lampreys were
running.  Some White entrepreneur got the bright idea of building a
restaurant where customers could "watch the Indians fish."  That's when
Grand Ronde Indians stopped going there to fish!

Anyway, notwithstanding the racist language (which Whites in that time,
and the old guy I just mentioned, too, could use quite unconsciously, I
mean, whithout THINKING that they were being prejudiced), there's some
really interesting ethnographic detail in that article.  Found any more
along that line?  --Henry