Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 24, 1913.djvu/63

 The Indians of the Issd- Japurd District. 5 i

but pineapples are at their best in October, which deter- mines the date of the special Pineapple Dance. Manioc is planted mostly just before the heaviest rainfall is expected. At these, which might be called Harvest Dances, the danc- ing staves are decorated with part of the plant to be honoured, a tuft of pine or a bundle of manioc leaves. The leader starts outside the uiatoka, probably with some fancy stepping. The dancers, in single file, each with a hand on the shoulder of the next in front, circle outside the maloka with a step described by Spruce as ' a succession of dactyls,' — Right, — left, — stamp. Right, — left, — stamp, — repeated backwards at lesser intervals. Maintaining step and time the long line enters the house, to dance round the Chief till all are assembled. Then, after a signal for silence, the Chief sings a line that gives the keynote of the occasion. The men in some cases dance in a ring, faced by a ring of women dancers ; in others women dance between the men ; and, again, the men and younger girls may dance round the older women.

The Boro Manioc-gathering Dance may be taken as a typical example. The men form up into an outer circle, the women in the centre or behind the men of their choice, dancing with steps complementary to, and not identical with, the men's. The Chief starts with a question, some- thing after this sort : —

" I am old and weak and my belly craves food, Who has sown the pika (manioc slips) in the emiye (plantation) ? "

His wife answers : —

" I have sown the pika, long, long ago ; The maika is sown with young shoots."

The chorus of women join in and repeat the answer, changing the verb and pronoun to the plural.

The Chief then questions, after the same introductory line, " Who has cut \h^ pika in the eniiye 1 " and is answered in like manner. The song continues till the whole process