The Ceremonial Cherokee Stomp Dance Endures
The shuffle and stomp movements of traditional Cherokee dance are how the Stomp Dance got its name. The dance has roots in religion and social custom and is a carefully orchestrated ritual involving fire, music and a carefully constructed square platform, which creates the sacred elevated ground required for the proceedings. The dance’s origin is associated with the Green Corn Ceremony, which normally occurs in late summer when corn has become ripe for picking. The ceremony continues to the present day and has a decided order of events, culminating in the Stomp dance.
Starting at dawn, the fire keeper and fire keeper’s assistant begin gathering special items to start the sacred fire. The list includes slivers of wood, flint, and the center part of the oak referred to as the sponge. As day breaks, men gather and converse about politics. Also at dawn, the women busy themselves with the preparation of meals for the entire day. After the elders give sermons, traditional stick ball games are played. As the sun sets, the ceremonial pipe is passed. Then, in a meeting attended by the elders, the medicine men and the Chief, the first dance is summoned. Only these individuals participate in the first dance around the fire. Later after the feast, more dancing is called for involving other participants. Though it can have the appearance of disorder, the space in which these dances, feasts and fires occur is considered holy ground. There are specific rules that are displayed openly, and which are enforced.
The later dance includes one leader, a number of attendants or assistants and “shell-shakers”, women who provide the rhythm for the dances with their leg rattles. Traditional leg rattles were made from box turtle shells. More modern ceremonies may see shell-shakers actually wearing cans filled with pebbles. At ceremonies where box turtle shell rattles are still used, those wearing cans must yield to those in the traditional gear. An elder of the clan will sing in a type of dirge while beating a drum. The shell-shakers are the counterpart of the elder singer and provide the backdrop for the Stomp Dance around the sacred fires. The dance is meant to continue through the night as long as the elder singer continues to sing. Although he will take breaks of a half-hour from time to time, he will start up again, alerting the shell-shakers to begin their rhythmic stomping. This is the cue for the dancers to begin again. Sometimes a different elder will take over the singing.
Though the most common or widely recognized, the Stomp Dance is not the only Cherokee dance. The Booger Dance is the dance of late fall. They involve masks meant to ridicule any enemies of the Cherokee. Also employing traditional Cherokee masks are the Forest Buffalo Dance, the Beaver Dance and the Bear Dance. Many dances have been preserved and continue today like the Stomp Dance. Some are seen today only in exhibition, while others are kept sacred to actual Cherokee ceremonies.
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Tags: Cherokee Ceremonial Dance, Cherokee Stomp Dance
History | Medicine Man | 26 August 2009 |
