On the eastern continent the peoples from whom we are descended had songs
and dances peculiar to their different vocations, so on this western
continent the song and dance were the accompaniment of the Native
industries.

A study of the Indian dramatic dances shows that by means of them the
vocations of men and women were lifted out of drudgery, made types of
activity and allied to the forces recognized in the religious beliefs of
the people. The dances here given, those relative to the Corn and also the
Héde-wache, not only illustrate what has been said above but they reflect
back a light upon the religious dances that obtained among the eastern
nations of antiquity.

When the Indian dances, he dances with freedom; his whole body becomes
expressive of the actuating emotion of the scene he intends to portray.
Because of his freedom, his remarkable sense of rhythm and the strong
mental picture he aims to present, whether it be the flight of the eagle,
the sportive pleasure of birds, the movements of animals, the alertness of
the warrior in attack, or in eluding a blow, his motions are always sharply
vivid and natural.

It is a pleasure to be able to offer in the following pages a number of
Indian songs with their original accompaniment of action, as the two
complement each other for the expression of certain native thoughts and
aspirations.

Whoever takes part in the dances here presented should never attempt to
imitate what is supposed to be the Indian's manner of singing or his
dancing steps and postures; in either case the result would probably be an