This video was created by the students from the Mississippi Band of the Choctaw Indians at Choctaw Central High School, Choctaw, Mississippi. This video was completed as part of a joint project with the Natchez Trace Parkway.
[Chanting in Choctaw language, throughout, with stick percussion, throughout.]
The Snake Dance imitates the movement of the reptile as it
slides through the fields feeding on insects and rodents that constantly threaten the
Choctaw's harvests and crops. This dance concludes with the dancers coiling and
uncoiling like that of a snake.
This dance is a favorite among several
animal dancers of the Choctaw people. The Snake Dance.
[Chanting in Choctaw language, throughout]
[Chanter begins stick percussion]
[Dancers giggle a little, off and on.]
This next dance is the social dance that enables each dancer to choose as many
partners as he or she would like.
Since all the dancers are equally able to choose, this dance can involve many changes in partners.
The significance and popularity of this dance is that it permits
the young warriors of the tribe to look over the field
eligible young girls, and vice versa. This dance concludes with a joyful jump dance.
The Stealing Partners Dance
[Chanting in Choctaw language, throughout]
[Dancer shouts, "Woo!"]
[Occasional giggle and murmuring by dancers]
[Dancer shouts, "Woo!"]
[Chanter begins stick percussion]
[Dancers giggle occasionally]
The next dance has brought sorrow to many brave mothers.
She, like mothers of today, saw her son go to the battlefield.
She suffered then, as mothers of today suffer when her loved ones
go to war, because it was part of life just as it is today.
The Choctaws would dance for eight days prior to battle for purification,
and prepare the young braves and warriors for war.
The Fast War Dance.
[Chanting in Choctaw language and dancers respond]
[Chanting in Choctaw language with stick percussion, throughout.]
[Dancer shouts, "Woo!"]
[Several dancers shout, "Woo!"]
[Dancer shouts, "Woo!]
As was the age of our fore-bearers, centuries ago,
a series of dances were carried on throughout the evening,
in the same order each occasion. The Walk Dance marked the end of the night of dancing
which must be finished before sunrise so that all would be quiet as the sun rose.
The Walk Dance.
[Chanting in Choctaw language, throughout, with occasional percussion.]