Chapter III: Part 3

_ma´ta ke._--One man acted as master of ceremonies and another sang to the accompaniment of a cocoon rattle. The dancers painted the cheeks and lower part of the face black and then scratched vertical lines in the paint. The only headdress worn was the yellowhammer-feather forehead-band. In each hand was held a small green branch. The arms hung down, but with a flexure at the elbow which brought these green sprigs directly in front of the dancer. The dancers formed a line and danced back and forth sidewise over a short, straight course. This is one of the very few dances which may yet be seen, though in a modernized form, at Fourth of July celebrations.

_lo´le ke._--As before, a man acted as master of ceremonies and another man sang, accompanying himself with the cocoon rattle. The informant was not certain just what kind of costume was worn, but knew that no paint was employed.

ADDITIONAL DANCES

The names of several other dances are remembered, but nothing in regard to detail. These are mo´mīmomī, _toto_, ta´ūgū, badjū´ca, and sīta´iya. The last of these was said by one informant to make up, along with the gī´lak and hō´hō and dūtū´ka dances, a special ceremony, about which nothing further is known.

FOOTNOTES:

[24] Any dance formula such as this was called _bakū´mhwakil_ (E).

[25] The general term xe´ dakōik (E), signifying anything held in the hand while dancing, is applied to this staff.

[26] See the article on "Pomo Buildings," in the _Holmes Anniversary Volume_, mentioned above.

THE MESSIAH CULT

During the latter years of the nineteenth century a "Messiah" cult has been introduced among the Pomo by the Wintun of the Sacramento Valley. In comparatively recent times the "prophets" of this cult acquired great importance and, while the cult flourished, to a certain extent superseded the leaders of the old ceremonies. This cult first appeared among the Pomo at Upper Lake, then at Sulphur Bank, then at Long Valley, and finally in the Ukiah Valley. The function of the prophet, or dreamer, as he is commonly styled by the Indians, was to have dreams or waking visions concerning dances and other matters in which the people were interested. The prophets were supposed to receive through these visions direct revelations from presiding spirits, and the people formerly gave much credit to their teachings. They virtually formed a priesthood which replaced the old "captains" in the direction of all ceremonial matters.

One of the characteristic features of this cult was the painted designs upon the interior of the dance-house. The last truly primitive dance-house of this type in the Pomo region was photographed by the author in 1901, 1902, and is described and illustrated elsewhere.[27]

Another important feature was the erection before the dance-house of a pole bearing banners and streamers decorated with the particular designs which the priest had seen in his vision.

CONCLUSION

Pomo ceremonies were in general quite simple and the ceremonial life was characterized by an absence (1) of any fixed ceremonial season or sequence of ceremonies, and (2) of any extensive priesthood or secret order controlling ceremonial matters. Some of the ceremonial performances possessed certain esoteric features, such as initiation rites and special restrictions on the part of the uninitiated.

We note the presence of a few fairly elaborate ceremonies and a considerable number of dances, some of which were employed as integral parts of certain ceremonies, others as merely incidental to them. These dances usually followed one another without any definite order or relation, though in certain cases definite dances were prescribed as parts of given ceremonies.

One ceremony has a definite mythological background, but this has been lost elsewhere. No myths are told today to account for the other performances.

In most of the dances an indefinite number of both men and women might participate. In two dances the number of performers of each sex was definitely prescribed. In five, only men might participate, and two were strictly women's dances. In other words, there is patent in Pomo ceremonies a rather thorough going democracy regarding the positions of the sexes.

_Transmitted September 21, 1916._

Vol. 7. 1. The Emeryville Shellmound, by Max Uhle. Pp. 1-106,
plates 1-12, with 38 text figures. June, 1907 1.25
2. Recent Investigations bearing upon the Question of
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Gravels of California, by William J. Sinclair.
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3. Pomo Indian Basketry, by S.A. Barrett. Pp. 133-306,
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4. Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region, by N.C.
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4. The Culture of the Luiseño Indians, by Philip Stedman
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5. Notes on Shoshonean Dialects of Southern California,
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6. The Religious Practices of the Diegueño Indians, by
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Vol. 9. 1. Yana Texts, by Edward Sapir, together with Yana Myths
collected by Roland B. Dixon. Pp. 1-235. February,
1910 2.50
2. The Chumash and Costanoan Languages, by A.L. Kroeber.
Pp. 237-271. November, 1910 .35
3. The Languages of the Coast of California North of San
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Vol. 10. 1. Phonetic Constituents of the Native Languages of
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2. The Phonetic Elements of the Northern Paiute
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3. Phonetic Elements of the Mohave Language, by A.L.
Kroeber. Pp. 45-96, plates 6-20. November, 1911 .65
4. The Ethnology of the Salinan Indians, by J. Alden
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5. Papago Verb Stems, by Juan Dolores. Pp. 241-263.
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6. Notes on the Chilula Indians of Northwestern
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7. Chilula Texts, by Pliny Earle Goddard. Pp. 289-379.
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2. Phonetic Elements of the Diegueño Language, by A.L.
Kroeber and J.P. Harrington. Pp. 177-188. April,
1914 .10
3. Sarsi Texts, by Pliny Earle Goddard. Pp. 189-277.
February, 1915 1.00
4. Serian, Tequistlatecan, and Hokan, by A.L. Kroeber.
Pp. 279-290. February, 1915 .10
5. Dichotomous Social Organization in South Central
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February, 1916 .05
6. The Delineation of the Day-Signs in the Aztec
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1916 1.00
7. The Mutsun Dialect of Costanoan Based on the
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Pp. 399-472. March, 1916 .70
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4. Miwok Moieties, by Edward Winslow Gifford.
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5. On Plotting the Inflections of the Voice, by Cornelius
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