Swallow Dizziness, the Laughter of Carnival, and Kateri

Abstract

The eyes of Tohono O'odham Swallow bird effigies are always painted red because Swallows are always drunk and dizzy. O'odham singers of Swallow songs, and the dancers to this music, embrace the of these birds. The dancers move along stomping, making small plumes of dust rise in their wake. The steady rhythm of the singers' voices propel the dancers along. The constantly changing directions and designs collapse the boundary between song and dance, as the dance patterns replicate the music of the Swallows' erratic and dizzying flight. The songs and dance are undifferentiated as they meld into the dizzying world of the Swallows themselves. Tohono O'odham (Papago) Swallow songs (gidwal u'uhig nene'i), and the dizzy state (nodag) that they promote among singers and social dancers, will be compared with the of comedy in preLenten European Carnival celebrations (i.e., New Orleans Mardi Gras or Rio de Janeiro Carnival). I suggest that Swallow dizziness and pre-Lenten laughter present two forms of the same transformative phenomena, the emotional and spiritual transcendence of social and political dominance through the act of singing and laughing. This is the willing embrace of personal indeterminacy, and a critique of all instrumentalist (normative) behavior. Dizziness is to O'odham social dancing what is to European Carnival. This suggestion will be explored in the context of a recent Tekakwitha Conference movement gathering and is framed by the text and meaning of ten O'odham Swallow songs performed at an annual [1990] Tekakwitha Conference held at the San Xavier mission church near Tucson, Arizona. While I do not imply that the Conference is itself Carnival, I do believe that the insertion of Swallow songs and their performs a function similar to that of in Carnival. Both and are the inner feelings and outward expressions of the momentary displacement and marginalization of the self and culture. Dizziness and turn the prescribed order of existence in society on its head, by allowing non-codified discourse and action to take center stage, at least momentarily. The Swallow song and social dance performance inserted marginalized, non-official voices and actions into the Catholic Church's prescriptive meta-narrative, the liturgy. I suggest that this insertion was a transformative and counter-hegemonic act. The annual Tekakwitha Conference is a contemporary movement among American Indian Catholics and their missionaries who are working toward Kateri's canonization. Kateri, who lived in the late 17th century, was a Mohawk woman who dedicated her brief life to an ascetic Christianity. Numerous hagiographic and sensationalized accounts of her life have been published (Buehrle 1954; Walworth 1893; Weiser 1972), as well as more scholarly research and discussions (Kozak n.d.1, in press 1 and 2; Preston 1989, in press; Thwaites 1959). A complete ethnographic and historical analysis of this important contemporary movement has yet to be written. It is clear that the present Conference was a creation of White Catholic clergy who have, especially since the Vatican II Council, desired a revitalized American Indian Catholicism (Kozak in press 1). Indian participation has grown at a fast pace over the preceding twelve years. O'odham participation, though not universal, is strong and popular. Kateri was Beatified, the penultimate step in the canonization process, in 1980 (marking the 300-year anniversary of her death). The Columbus quincentennial of 1992 presents the Catholic Church with a revisionistic opportunity. Canonizing Kateri during this tumultuous year of reckoning would send a powerful message of apology and empowerment to American Indians within the Roman Catholic Church.1