Witness Post: Corn Dance of the Zia Pueblo

Witness Post: Corn Dance of the Zia Pueblo

Please Note: This Post is from memory. The Zia tribes did not want either contemporanious note taking or photographs of the Corn Dance. I wrote down as much as I could recall the evening after the dance; however, I did not have others with whom I discussed these “pueblo private” rituals. Therefore, these are my own personal recollections. If I have made some mistakes in identifying the pueblo rituals, please forgive me. This is not meant to misappropriate or to critique the traditions of the Zia tribe. It is simply intended to serve as a recollection from 1975, which is now over 50 years ago. The images are from the public domain on the internet.

Indian Ceremonials, Gallup, NM

Arch McCallum prepared his incomparable whole wheat pancakes, to the gastronomic glee of us all. The cakes were complemented by yogurt, cereal, and vaious fruit juices. After a few additional cups of coffee, John Mayer and I rolled out of BaseCamp bound for Gallup and the American Indian Ceremonials. Martin Berman had to pick up his VW van in Gallup, as the summer had taken its toll on the vehicle, which needed a rebuilt engine. We stopped first at Herman’s Garage in Thoreau for John to repair a nail puncture in his car tire. Jimmy was there with his usual pleasant sense of humor and his multitude of grease monkey comments about our poor driving skills. He made quick work of the hole and bid us all luck driving Trek commissary trucks and vans in the future. Jimmy reiterated final laments for the #4 truck, which was always in need of repair, then bid us farewell and goodbye.

A brief stop at the music store then M&M’s and we were off to Red Rock State Park in Gallup. We waited in line for a quick meal in the rear of the pavillion and endured a lackluster spaghetti meal, spiced with good conversation and watered down tomatoes. Over charged and under nourished, we wandered from there to the exhibition halls, where what awaited were all of the best the Southwest had to offer in native American arts and crafts.

We were agog at the sheer masses of silver, rungs, turquoise, brass, gold, leather, baskets, pottery and people. Traders and artisans from across the Southwest were prolific in their displays of fine Hopi overlay silver, Two Gray Hills rugs, outstanding smithing, and fine lapidary work. One craftsman, George Henry, won the outstanding silversmithing award for a geometric gold chain, accented with spider web turquoise. His pieces included rings, necklaces, bracelets, and ear rings. Prize pieces for sure and a price tag to match. One of Don Woodard’s pieces included a prized weaver’s rug (12′ x 18′) and priced at $9,000 – just out of reach for our $2,000 group leader summer salary.

Next we wandered into the exhibition hall full of posters, paintings and drawings. Again we saw beautiful pieces of original art from all walks of life, real and mythological. We saw a labrynth of magnificent murals, as the walls were real eye-dazzlers.

A quick stop for the blue corn meal break and/or Navajo tacos, then it was off to the stadium for the rain-delayed parade of the Indian tribes. The most depressing part of the demonstration was the highly prized Zuni Marching Band, complete with majorettes, drum majors, and a band leader. The baton twirling, high stepping band members were the white Anglo stamp of stupidity on the otherwise authentic Native American production. After the incantation of the Zuni male leader, we rose again and sang the National Anthem. Really? We sit for Indian songs and stand for the National Anthem? Francis Scott Key leaves the Fort McHenry stigma on baseball games and now Indian Ceremonials. So it goes these days.

In the parade of tribes, the dancers and soloists from as far away as Texas, Oklahoma, New York and Central America, were more than praiseworthy. John and I loved the display, particularly the daring Aztec pole climbers/dancers from Mexico. They descended the tall poles with the death-defying ease and grace. It was amazing.

After the performances, John and I wandered off for a donut and coffee with Dunkin Donuts, followed by phone calls. I called my friend Forrest Berkley to see if I could work out summer details on a planned hike we had to the Sierras. (To no avail, he was probably off to Seattle, Hawaii or Nepal, where he would normally be hiking. I may have to alter plans.)

The next morning was busy as we moved the solar water heater for the showers, packed up to move all of the food, and equipment, and generally assited Monty Billings with his post-camp cleaning for the season. That afternoon, my sister, Nancy, and I drove to Sue Trevathan’s house in San Rafael to meet up with Arch and Wenda. Glenn Kennedy, a good friend of Sue’s, had just flown in from Anchorage, Alaska, and she was our welcome receptionists at Sue’s. Sue owned a beautiful old Spanish home, which is a former building of old Fort Wingate, west of Thoreau. Wenda invited herself to Sue’s garden for some fresh greens, then she and Nancy drone to Albuquerque for more substantial supplies.

A whole mass of trek staff willingly accepted Wenda’s offer to stay for post camp partying at her families’ home in Platoro, Colorado. The Frank and Trevathan families own the house jointly, I think, and we were cordially invited to visit there.

Arch met me at Sue’s about an hour after Wenda and Nancy left for Albuquerque, and we planned to rendezvous at or near Zia Pueblo, where a ceremonial Corn Dance was to take place.

Arch and I drove to Albuquerque and the Univ. of New Mexico Museum for odds and ends before reaching Zia Pueblo. While Arch packed the car, I took a walk up a steep hill toward the pueblo’s central plaza. The sound drew me closer…

The Zia Corn Dance

The sound of a rhythmic drum beat and the tone of the shells rattling were just ahead. As I rounded the corner of an adobe walled dwelling, the image of a Frank Waters scene rose up before my eyes.

The spectators were dressed in a collage of colors, sitting in lawn chairs, and shaded by umbrellas. Some sipped snow cones in the not too hot weather. Many of the spectators stood on the fringes of the dance pathway, careful to be single file against the houses on the dance route. The roof tops of the homes were jammed two and three deep with spectators, who strained to see all of the pueblo dancers, and being careful to have a hand-hold.

The town elders, about 20 men in all, were the chanters for the dance. They wore typical American street clothes, which they dressed up with red sashes on their foreheads. They all wore traditional Kiabab moccasins. One elder carried a large deer skin covered drum, which he used to maintained the rhythm and beat of the dancers, both male and female.

The dancers came from two kivas for this corn dance, one was turquoise in color the other earth-toned. The groups, who emerged from the kivas seemed to have about 70 men and 70 women from each site. It seemed to have about 300 dancers in all, and they alternated male and female.

As the turquoise colored male dancers emerged, they kept their beat and dance steps in time with the drum. Next came the earth-toned dancers and their prideful and spectacular costumes. Men were covered with red-brown mud and wore white kilts with brilliant colored black, green and red belts and sashes. They each had a fox pelt hanging from the back of their belts. The also had spruce branches strapped to both bicepts with “clan colored” ribbons. They also had tufts of bird feathers in multi-colors that were secured to their heads with a crown that was strapped to their hair. They all had shells in strings that they wore around the chests from right shoulder to left waist-side. Many had ornamental shells, turquoise, leather, and string around their necks.

Each male dancer had a pink colored gourd that was filled with pebbles and they shook it in their left hands. They also had colored and ornamented garder strips tied to their legs at mid-calf. On their feet they had white moccasins trimmed with dark animal skins, which looked like deer skin. On their faces they had paint that matched with their chest paint. As the dancing progressed the skin and face paint was chaffed off and changed to darker tones as their bodies perspired in the heat and exercise of the dance.

The female dancers had a rougher go of it. They wore heavy black dresses that draped over their right shoulders, while their left shoulders were bare. The dresses were made from cotton, but with the hot sun, it still seemed quite hot to wear. Each dancer had a waist adorned with either a red sash, a belt or a concho belt. Each dancers dress was also adorned with fancy ribbons and buttons which were sown along the sides. Visible underneath their dresses were full slips with beautiful pastel colors and elaborate lace fringes on the bottom.

On their heads, the female dancers wore tablitas. They were brightly colored with turquoise on one side and yellow on the other. They had white tufts of feathers that matched their clans. The tablitas were secured with a string chin strap that was tied underneath with a bow. Their necks were surrounded with beautiful silver and turquoise which appeared to be from the Zuni and Navajo jewelry makers, though they may have been unique to Zia and other Rio Grande tribes. Some of their faces were covered with red dots of rouge on both cheeks. They held spruce branches in both hands. They did not have moccasins, rather their feet were bare.

On their arms, many of the female dancers wore fancy silver bracelets on both wrists and some, not all, had them above the elbow.

It seemed that the degree of ornamentation varied by the age of the female dancer: the older women had exquisite jewelry, while the younger women had less jewelry and more colorful ribbons.

The dance patterns seemed to vary with the group: some in circles, followed by lines, followed by square shaped dances. When the circles turned, the men would all shake their rattles (pink gourds) as they spirelled around.

There was one man from each clan who held a huge flag (or more like long banners) on white poles that they waved and borne aloft during the ceremony. The banners had images of the Zia Sun Symbol (also on the license plates of New Mexico), the American flag, the New Mexican State flag, and a flag honoring stalks of Corn and its fruit.

The central Zia Pueblo plaza is oriented north to south. There are two large stones at the mid-point lying east and west. It was very crowded and control of the people was relatively restrained. The wind, on the other hand, was another matter. With every puff of wind, the plaza dust would swirl up from the sides and ascend to the roof-tops. Spectators would cover up from the flying red particles and remove them from their eyes and mouths.

In the central plaza on the south side there was an altar with spruce and aspen log sides and roof. The table-sized altar was adorned with a statue of the Virgin Mary under a baldacchino, a Christian tapestry and a Crucifix. Some of the dancers come up to the altar and made the sign of the cross.

Distracting from the solemnity of the altar and adding some fun, there were several clowns among the dancers. Some of the clowns had loin cloths around their waists. Others were painted white with black stripes across their torsos. Others had black ribbons around themselves. They had kestral feathers and horns sticking up from their heads and attached via a headband to their hair. They also had a lot of boughs of spruce tied to their arms and calfs. The clowns were not just ornamental; they helped keep the spectators in line and the children in order. They also helped the dancers, by picking up any dropped branches or clothes. As the dance continued they helped the dancers replace any missing items that was blown away, or fell to the floor of the plaza. There seemed to be one or two clowns per kiva.

During the finale of the Corn Dance, the elders ceremonially picked up the items at the altar: the Crucifix, followed by the statue of the Blessed Virgin. Next the flags and banners. There was a startling Two-Gun Salute from the rifle of one of the elders, that caused a stir in the crowd. In the audience there was a Franciscan brother, who presided over the Dance and stood among the spectators. At the end of the Dance, the Franciscan brother walked with one of the dance groups back to the Catholic church in the pueblo. All of the other dancers, clowns and chanters walked back to their respective kivas to finish their private practices.

It was a memorable afternoon and early evening at Zia Pueblo.