Program 206 – Tribal Rhythms

The Nightwawk Singers

with Nico Wind

[audio:https://www.wisdomoftheelders.org/s2_progs/206_tr.mp3]

Arlie Neskahi:
One of the oldest and most established gatherings of native singers and dancers is the Crow Fair at Crow Agency, Montana, near the Little Big Horn National Battlefield. Since 1904, the Crow Fair has grown from an agricultural festival to become the largest teepee village in the world, with over a thousand teepees surrounding a 200-foot dance arbor. This four-day event includes daily parades and an all-Indian rodeo.

Today, on Tribal Rhythms, Nico Wind brings us songs of the Crow Fair, sung by the Nighthawk Singers.

HOT DANCE SONG
WISDOM Recording

Nico Wind:
Go North of Lodge Grass, Montana. Cross the tracks. Wind around the trees, and there you’ll find the home of Cedric Walks Over Ice. Since the 1960’s, this is where family and friends have gathered to sit around their large drum and sing. They are the Nighthawk Singers:

Myron Crooked Arm, Sid Fitzpatrick, Lewis Walks over Ice, and his father Cedric, who started the group. Lead singer, Lewis explains how the group got its name.

Lewis Walks Over Ice:
I had a dream one time. And in my dream, a bird, just like this bird that’s on here, came to me. And he talked to me in my dream. And he said. I must have been about, I was in high school then and he said, “You’re, you’re having trouble deciding on a name for your group. And what I want you to do is, I want you to name your group after me. And from then on – that’s been about good twenty- five years ago – so we settled on that. So we’re known as the Nighthawk Singers.

Wind:
When America was still open land, unhindered by fences and highways, nearly all the people had songs for honoring the courage and bravery of their warriors. Today’s War Dance, in the Crow tradition, is called the Hot Dance.

Ya hada hada hawe haweyo
Ya hada hada hawe haweyo hey heweda
Wey haya ha yada hawe hawe hawedo heda heda
We haya haya he da hawe hada hawedo hede doy
We haya ha heda hawe hawe hawedo heda heda
We haya haya heda hawe hada hawedo he

Walks Over Ice:
.But amongst the Crow, we say Hot Dance. Badewedisan to us. So, that’s what the Absaroka, the Crow call it, is the Hot Dance. And it’s more or less a dance of just enjoyment – hitting the drum, being glad that you’re alive.

Wind:
Dozens of dancers, twirling with stylized steps, join the Powwow circle as a second circle of people provide encouragement from the shade arbor. Many of the dancers wear colorful regalia. The bustle is a beaded circle of eagle or hawk feathers that rides on the lower back. The roach is worn on the head with long porcupine hair standing straight up.

SONG NO. 1
WISDOM Recording

Some of the most popular celebration songs are called 49’s. Walks Over Ice says the 49 songs are a cousin to the round dance, and came from the Kiowa people of Oklahoma. During the 49 songs, the dancers hold hands and dance around the arena – two steps forward, one step back.

FORTY-NINE SONG NO. 1
Hede weya hede
Hey weya hede
Haya weya heya heyo haya
Weya haya haya

When the dance is over sweetheart I will take you home in my one-eyed Ford Heya heya heyo haya Weya haya hayo

Push Dance song
WISDOM Recording

The Push Dance is native to the Crow. This dance is performed during the winter months. The singers leave the big drum and pick up hand drums.

Walks Over Ice:
It was over about a hundred years ago. The story goes that they were going to have an Owl Dance or Round Dance around that somewhere, I believe it was over in St. Xavier, to the west over here, the next district. And they were using a band, like a bluegrass band, guitars, dobo, fiddles. And they didn’t show up. So they got the idea of using hand drums, and they composed these love songs.

Wind:
In the Push Dance, like many native social dances, the women select their partners.

Walks Over Ice:
And the women will make their choice and they’ll dance, like the Fox Trot. You know, one-two-three, one-two-three. And to, and they dance in rhythm to the song.

Some of the ones we do is of course the Hot Dance or the War Dance, the Grass Dance. Most, contemporary people call it Powwow. And also we have Sun Dance. That’s mostly done in the summertime. It’s a dance of sacrifice. They don’t drink or eat for three days, and they fast, so that’s more of a religious dance.

And then there’s, of course, Peyote. Sometimes somebody will sponsor one, what they call a “tea” at their house. They’ll sing all night. They’ll start like oh, maybe nine, ten o’clock. They’ll go until morning. And then they’ll take turns singing peyote songs. And then again, that’s just like some of the tribes down around Oklahoma, the Comanche, Cheyennes, the Navajo, you know, Kiowa, Apache. So we more or less sing some of the same songs that they do. Of course the Crow, we have our own songs too.

Wind:
One set of songs is not related to a dance, but a game played by many tribe across the states. Some tribes call it Stick Game or Bone Game. In Crow Country, it is called the Hand Game.

To play the game, two teams face each other. One team sings while they hide small bones or elk teeth in their hands. The singing is intended to distract the other team and to give power to the team hiding the bones. The other team then guesses which hands the objects are hidden in.

Music:
Parade Dance Song
WISDOM recording

On the final days of the Crow Fair, the MC announces that there will be a Parade Dance the following day. To perform the dance, four leaders are chosen, men who have accomplished some outstanding deed that year. During the dance, they make four stops and at each stop, they sing four songs, and then they have a giveaway. Four is regarded as a sacred number, representing the Four Seasons, the Four Directions, and the Four Winds. The dance is meant to wish all who attend Crow Fair health and good fortune for the next year.

Walks Over Ice:
They hit the drum and everybody will acknowledge the mountains. And then they will acknowledge the eagle. And we’re thanking the Creator for giving us the mountains, the water that preserves life, and to the eagle, that he watches over us, the Great Spirit. We are told that when you hit the drum people that are sick become well.

 

And they tell us to stomp on Mother Earth, so that when you hit that drum, you’re glad to be alive. Tell Mother Earth that you’re glad to be alive. So that’s what we are told, you know. We have several mothers. You know. We have our birth mother. She’s only. we want to keep her forever, but she’s only with us for awhile. And we have the lodge.

But Mother Earth will never leave you. We are told that Mother Earth will always be there. So you stomp on Mother Earth and ah, you’re joyous. You make a joyful noise, happy that you’re alive. So that’s, that’s the reason, you know. And then when we hit the drum, we’re just glad to be alive. So we’re celebrating.

Wind:
For Wisdom of the Elders, this is Nico Wind.

Neskahi:
Tribal Rhythms is written by Milt and Jamie Lee, produced by Clark Salisbury and Larry Johnson, and hosted by Nico Wind.