Traditional Pima Dance Songs
©1978 Canyon Records, Phoenix, AZ
The Pimas live in two communities – Salt River and Gila River – near Phoenix, Arizona. According to their own traditions they were created here and have always lived along the central Gila River. Anthropologists believe they are the descendants of an ancient people who were practicing irrigation farming in the Gila and Salt River valleys more than two thousand years ago. Many of the present day canals in the Phoenix area follow the courses of the canals built by the Pima and their ancestors.
The Pimas are the northernmost tribe of the Piman linguistic family which extends south into Durango, Mexico. They are very closely related to the Papagos who live along the Arizona-Mexico border and the lower Pima of the Sierra Madre of southeastern Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico.
With the arrival of large numbers of white travelers beginning with the military and California immigrants in 1848-49 and the subsequent establishment of white settlements in and adjacent to the Pima homeland, the Pima economy began to change. From growing food for their own needs only they now supplied the California wagon trains with blankets and food for man and livestock. The mail and stage lines and the army purchased food and other items from them.
Up river from the Gila Pima villages farmers began diverting water into new irrigation canals. The flow of water in the Gila River was reduced to a trickle. The Pima fields dried up and many were forced to become dependent on the government for their survival. A struggle was begun to regain their water rights and make the land fertile again. They won some water back and began farming again. Their livelihood is now based on the agricultural, industrial and commercial resources of the reservations and neighboring communities.
Much has changed in the last hundred years. Many of the old ways are gone, replaced by the ways of their neighbors. Although, to the casual observer, they seem no different than other Americans there is a deep pride among the Pima in their heritage and the knowledge that they are someone very special. Values and traditions from the past form a core upon which modern Pima society is rooted.
On behalf of all of us who enjoy the beauty of traditional Pima songs, our sincere appreciation to the singers for sharing some of their songs with us.
The Pimas are the northernmost tribe of the Piman linguistic family which extends south into Durango, Mexico. They are very closely related to the Papagos who live along the Arizona-Mexico border and the lower Pima of the Sierra Madre of southeastern Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico.
With the arrival of large numbers of white travelers beginning with the military and California immigrants in 1848-49 and the subsequent establishment of white settlements in and adjacent to the Pima homeland, the Pima economy began to change. From growing food for their own needs only they now supplied the California wagon trains with blankets and food for man and livestock. The mail and stage lines and the army purchased food and other items from them.
Up river from the Gila Pima villages farmers began diverting water into new irrigation canals. The flow of water in the Gila River was reduced to a trickle. The Pima fields dried up and many were forced to become dependent on the government for their survival. A struggle was begun to regain their water rights and make the land fertile again. They won some water back and began farming again. Their livelihood is now based on the agricultural, industrial and commercial resources of the reservations and neighboring communities.
Much has changed in the last hundred years. Many of the old ways are gone, replaced by the ways of their neighbors. Although, to the casual observer, they seem no different than other Americans there is a deep pride among the Pima in their heritage and the knowledge that they are someone very special. Values and traditions from the past form a core upon which modern Pima society is rooted.
On behalf of all of us who enjoy the beauty of traditional Pima songs, our sincere appreciation to the singers for sharing some of their songs with us.
Play song |
Name |
Performed by |
Description |
Native Words |
Translation |
Notes |
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Basket Dance | Leonard Carlos, Dorothy Lewis, Michael Lewis, Russell Morgan | Leonard Carlos has been singing all his life and for about the last six years with the group joining him on this recording. He has been teaching songs to several boys. The songs have been given to the boys by Leonard and, when he dies, the responsibility of preserving and passing on this group of traditional Pima songs will belong to the boys. The Salt River Basket Dancers have performed at fairs and other events, both Indian and non-Indian, throughout the southwest. _______ In the winter time the young maidens of the tribe go out into the desert and gather cat tails and devils claw to that they can begin a basket. They then spend their time preparing this basket for household use and in the springtime there is a dance where the young maidens can display the fine baskets they have made. |
Pima | ||
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Coming Out Dance | This dance is considered a puberty dance for young girls, or a blessing dance. The intricacies pertaining to the explanation of the dance are very long so only a brief explanation will follow. The young girl in front of the group carrying a willow hoop with spokes like a wagon wheel and flowers around the edge of it symbolizes the one who is receiving the blessing of the dance. The two rows of women dancers following behind represent the older women of the tribe bestowing the blessing upon her. This dance is just a portion of a four day ceremony performed by the Pima. | Pima | |||
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Crippled Dance | This dance itself with another of the Pima legends, which is about a witch who roamed the earth. The witch was very powerful and did much harm to the Pima tribe, but with the help of Elder Brother the witch was destroyed. The dance is done as a victory dance for the end of the witch. | Pima | |||
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Swing Dance | The swing dance is a social dance centering around another of the Pima legends concerning the coyote. This time the people had come together for a social gathering. During the reunion the people began to dance, the coyote seeing what fun the people were having decided he would join in. Unfortunately, the coyote lacked rhythm, or maybe he was having so much fun he didn't care if his steps were not the correct ones. Soon he was making up his own steps, and before long the people were so confused that they were following the steps of the coyote. The dance starts out with two rows of dancers coming together in a circular pattern. Then at a certain point in the music the dancers will take three quick steps in a swinging movement. The dance has changed little over the years except for the coyote's absence. |
Pima | |||
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Bats Cave | The ant people took a man into the bats cave. Inside the cave he heard people singing and saw them having a good time. The man was led further into the cave bat the ant people. He heard a bamboo flute but then he got closer the man discovered it was a bunch of bees making the sound. The ant people left him and he awoke in the cave. This is a song the man learned while in the bats cave. | Pima | |||
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Owl Feather | The medicine man sang this song when he entered the home of a sick person. | Pima | |||
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Point Dance | The point dance is half religious and half legend. The Pima were sun worshipers and believed that at one time the Sun God provided them with the necessities of life and especially food. Legends say that the people would ask the Sun God for food which he would send down from heaven. It was always important that the people bow their heads and not look up until the process was complete. At this time the coyote could talk, and one day while the people sat with their heads bowed, he looked up and saw the food coming down from heaven. The coyote in his excitement yelled out loud to all the people to look up and observe the food coming down. The people looked up, thus disobeying the Sun God. From that time on, for having disobeyed the Sun God, the Pimas have had to toil in the sun, tilling the ground and raising their own food. The point dance then symbolizes the struggle of the Pima to regain the favor of the Sun God. | Pima | |||
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Whirlwind | "The white whirlwind came and passed me by. The black whirlwind came, took my heart out into the desert and left it there. My heart cried like a child." | Pima | |||
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Ku-Ki-Wa | This dance is a social dance. The words of the song describe only the dance. They dance in a circle; they stop and go back the other way. Ku-ki-wa – "Stop There and Come Back." | Pima | |||
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Quail Dance | This dance is one that is done by the children of the Pima tribe. It describes the motions of little quails running and playing together. | Pima | |||
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Black Cloud | "The black cloud was coming. As it passed by it broke into many pieces looking like buzzards. As it went on farther it was thundering. Then is was thundering all over." | Pima | |||
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Going Home Dance | This dance is done as a closing dance for a social gathering or ceremonial. The words tell how everyone danced and of the good times the people shared together. Everyone participates in this dance to wish each one a safe trip home. Comments on the above songs provided by Dorothy Lewis and Leonard Carlos. |
Pima | |||
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Superstition Mountain | Oriole Singers: Blaine Pablo, Frank Kisto, Eunice Antone | The Oriole Songs were dreamed by Roy B. Hill who used to live at McClellan Wash near Sacaton Flats (Hahshani Kehk). Near his house there was a very deep pool. Once a young girl fell into the pool, and all efforts to rescue her were futile. Roy tied a rope around his waist and instructed the others not to pull him up until he gave the signal (a tug) on the rope. He dove in and found the girl sitting on the bottom. He gave the signal and was pulled up to the surface clasping the dead girl in his arms. He himself was unconscious. While unconscious, Roy had a dream in which a little yellow bird (an oriole) appeared to him. His spirit wandered to the many places listed in the songs, and the Oriole taught him the songs about these places where his spirit wandered. After Roy awoke, he sang these songs and taught them to other Indian singers. There are more songs in the Oriole cycle than those recorded here. The two religious songs, "Mary at the Cross" (number 8) and the "Salvation Song" (number 6) were dreamed by Juan Manuel (Hummingbird) also of Sacaton Flats on the occasion of his baptist and first communion. the songs are unique in that they are indigenous expressions of Christianity, no translations of Protestant or Catholic hymns. Juan's daughter, Mary Pablo, lives at Sacaton Flats. _______ The mountain to the east of the Pima county is one of the places to which the spirit of the dreamer is lead by the Oriole. |
Pima | ||
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Casa Grande Ruin | This is the national monument near Coolidge referred to in the song as "Si'van vah kih" – the house of Si'van, one of the early Pima Chiefs. | Pima | |||
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Bird Song | Pima | ||||
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Man In The Maze Song | A song about Elder Brother's house (Se-eh-ha Kih). Se-eh-ha or I'itoi, as the Papagos call him, is one of the principal divine beings along the Earth Doctor and Coyote. The maze, often seen as a basket design, is a depiction of his legendary home. | Pima | |||
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Flood Song | The Pimas claim to have been created where they now reside, and after passing through a disastrous flood, they grew and multiplied on the south bank of the Gila River. | Pima | |||
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Salvation Song | Jesus talks about his desire to come down to earth to save men from their sings. | Pima | |||
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Ho'ok Pima Witch Song | This song is about "Ho'ok" the legendary Witch, born of a Pima woman, who killed and ate Pima children. The people destroyed her by burning her in a cave for four days. Elder Brother helped the people in this endeavor. | Pima | |||
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Malia – Mary At The Cross | When Christ was crucified on the cross, his mother was weeping under him. Jesus said, "My brother and my sister, what I have said, I am going to leave on this earth for you to remember. I am going back to my heavenly Father, but I will come back again to this earth." | Pima | |||
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Owl Song | In the old Pima religion, some declared that at death the soul passed into the body of an owl. Should an owl happen to be hooting at the time of death, it was believed that it was waiting for the soul. | Pima | |||
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Song About The Stars | In Pima mythology, the stars are considered to be living beings. | Pima | |||
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Oriole Song | Pima | ||||
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Going Home Song | The last song sung in the Oriole cycle. Sometimes, the singers sing all night, so that when the sun is coming up and it is time to go, they sing this song. It is a song about the sun coming up. Notes on the Oriole Singers and songs are based on information supplied by Francis Vavages of Sacaton. |
Pima |