Tanoan Gestures of Invocation

Abstract

All Pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona use ceremonial gestures on certain occasions. We will demonstrate examples from the Tewa-speaking Pueblo of San Juan, but they are similar to gestures in other Pueblos. In some secret kiva ceremonies, sacred clowns carry on a codified dialogue to call the raingods, by gesture and speech. The function is very esoteric. In certain ceremonies in the plazas the public may see dances with gestures by clowns, singers, and dancers. Some of the gestures are mimetic; some are symbolic, with a hidden meaning; some appear to be abstract. All are ritualistic and rhythmic. During the Men's Spring Dance of the Tewa, sacred clowns perform as side dancers with gestures invoking rain and calling up crops. In the Corn Dances or Tablita Dances of Keresan Pueblos, clowns mime as they move among the dance lines with graceful body movements. In Tewa, Tiwa, and Keresan Corn Dances the men of the singing chorus use similar gestures to call the raingods from the four cardinal directions. They represent clouds, falling rain, and the growth of crops. Their realistic gestures often illustrate the words of the accompanying songs. Usually the dancers in the Corn Dance use abstract gestures, both in the slow entrance circuit and in the faster interweaving of two lines. The men pump their rattles with their right hands and they swing out the right arm with a rattle tremolo during changes of direction. The women jiggle both arms down and up alternately, as they hold evergreen sprigs. During one part of this festive dance, termed kwenshare, with special, slow music, male and female dancers represent the descent of rain with strong movements to the right and to the left, in time with a hopping step. There are many dances with abstract gestures, as the Butterfly Dance and the Matachina Dance. In the Spanish-derived Matachina the men in a double file swing tridents in beautiful swaying designs. A Harvest Dance, tembishare, is a specialty of San Juan and San Ildefonso. Members of ritual societies and social groups take specific places in a dance circle. Everyone sways both hands from side to side with the palms