Alaskan Eskimo Dance in Cultural Context

Abstract

This is a preliminary study of Alaskan Eskimo dance, the first findings of a three-year comprehensive survey of Alaskan Eskimo and Indian musical systems, funded by the National Science Foundation. The study is primarily synchronic; limited diachronic comparison may be made by consulting a recent study of nineteenth century Alaskan Eskimo dance (Johnston 1974a: 17–26). The populations investigated are the Inupiaq-speakers of Northwest Alaska, numbering about. 11,000, the Central Yupik-speakers of Southwest Alaska, numbering about 17,000, and the Siberian Yupik-speakers of St. Lawrence Island (Alaska), numbering about 1,000. A prime finding is that stylistic differences in Alaskan Eskimo dance coincide approximately with Alaskan Eskimo language (not dialect) areas, with the exception of St. Lawrence Island Eskimo dance, which follows Northwest Alaskan tendencies. The study presents both emic and etic information concerning dance elements, symbolism, functions, and accoutrements.Alaska Eskimo music has a relatively homogeneous style centering around use of the shallow frame-drum, unison singing, glottal pulsation, pentatonism (but with the additional use of microtones), asymmetrical rhythm, and sectionalized repetition. Intentionally rhythmic, patterned sequences of nonverbal body movement and gesture form an integral part of this musical system, for each complete dance routine (particularly of the sayuun category) is permanently associated with a specific melody, drum rhythm, and set of meaningful songwords. More significantly (from the anthropological point of view), each song-dance pairing is associated with and re-enacts either some recent, significant, true event in cultural history (such as a heroic or comic whaling incident), or a story involving a legendary figure or culture hero. Each song-dance pairing is associated with a specific Eskimo dancer, the latter usually being the creator. If the original creator of the dance is deceased, then the dance is associated with the present-day owner, usually the namesake, partner, or offspring of the creator.