It was a warm day in early October. The trees in the valley were starting to turn gold and brown. A light breeze was in motion, and I was watching a centuries-old tradition of making the world a better place through performing the right songs, in the right place, with the proper regalia, the right movements, and the proper spiritual intent.

I was watching a performance of the Hupa Jump Dance, which is performed in a ten-day sequence every two years. I was merely an observer, but the rhythms, the music, the atmosphere and the sense of drama created an unforgettable experience, and a sense of honor at being able to witness such important work in progress. I came away feeling glad that a people cares enough about the earth and the natural world to dedicate its most sacred cultural traditions toward making the earth a better place for future generations. At that moment, this truly seemed the center of the world.

This article is an “outsider’s” impression of traditional music and dance in the life of Humboldt County’s Native American population—the Hupa, Yurok, and Karuk tribes. An “insider” would certainly offer different perspectives and I would encourage readers to make contact with some of our native people themselves to develop as complete an understanding as possible and perhaps even adopt some of the useful beliefs that are so integral to America’s indigenous peoples.

For centuries, the Hupas, Yuroks (meaning down river from Weitchpec), and Karuks (up river), have shared many of the same cultural traditions. Among these are rituals that include the Brush Dance, the Jump Dance, and the world renewal ceremony, the White Deerskin Dance. Each dance is performed for a different purpose and uses different ceremonies, but all dances are performed to heal, maintain or increase contact with the spiritual world.

The Brush Dance

Brush Dances might occur a number of times during the summer and fall months and are usually sponsored by a family. The dances always take place in a specially constructed pit symbolizing a house in which the roof planks have been laid out to the side as seating for observers. The dance was originally intended as a healing ceremony for a sick child, but in modern times it has an added social function, bringing together many families from the three tribes. The dance is really a series of dances beginning on a Thursday, starting at dark and continuing to around midnight. Friday is a rest day followed by the all- night dance starting on Saturday at dark through sunrise on Sunday. The ending of the Brush Dance, coinciding with the sun rising over the mountain, is sometimes described as songs, and best singers are all part of the culmination. All the local tribal communities have Brush Dance pits that are used during the season. They can be seen at Sumeg Village in Patricks Point State Park, and the ancient village site of Takimildin in Hostler fields, a short distance north of the shopping center in the Hoopa Valley.

At one Brush Dance, I watched as representatives from all three tribal groups participated in the dance. Each group had established a small camp some distance from the pit, where they assembled the proper Brush Dance regalia and prepared for their turn to dance. The men, boys and unmarried girls, perhaps 20 or 25 in number, would then file into the pit area and position themselves around the perimeter. In the center of the pit, there was a small fire attended by a young girl and the medicine woman with the sick child facing east. The songs were started by a lead singer with the rest of the men joining in, singing backup, such as: oba, oba, oba. The songs are quite short, usually only a minute or two, but each is repeated three times, with embellishments each time. During the singing, all the an almost magical experience because the best regalia, best members dance by bouncing on their heels, accentuating the offbeat. Often, as the songs progress, one or two of the men (or boys) might add to the drama and excitement when they “jump center,” using more active steps and letting out some rhythmic yelps. The set of songs may last only about twenty minutes, after which the dancers retire back to their campsite. Following an interlude of approximately twenty minutes, one of the other tribal groups will then file into the pit for a set of its own songs.

Songs are not “composed” as such through individual creativity, but are conceived as being given by the spirit world. They might even be thought of as having always existed since the beginning of the world. Songs are believed to contain spiritual power, meaning that the spirit world can be influenced if it is a good song well performed. When “outsiders” hear a song performance, they might detect a “sobbing” or crying quality. This usually indicates the singer’s strong spiritual intent.

Brush Dance songs are divided into “heavy” songs, the most deeply spiritual ones, and “light” songs, which may also contain humor. The text of the songs are usually a combination of vocables and actual words from the language. An important fact regarding the music of the Hupa, Karuk and Yurok is that virtually all of the songs are considered the property of an individual ora family. There is no such thing as a common repertoire of songs in the public domain. For one person to sing another person’s song without permission can be a serious offense. However, songs can be traded like any type of personal property.

White Deerskin Dance

The White Deerskin Dance is a ten-day ceremony requiring many days of spiritual and material preparation, including the resolution of any bad feelings among tribal members. Each day, a portion of the dance is performed at a different location on the Trinity River, starting upriver at the south end of the reservation. A mid-week evening is chosen for the Boat Dance segment with men standing in floating, carved-log canoes, singing the appropriate songs. The boats approach the shore ten times before finally landing. After coming ashore, the singers do the Mock Dance, indulgitig in some humorous antics, balancing the seriousness of the other portions. This event usually attracts a large audience. The final dance is held on Bald Mountain, at a traditional site under a canopy of oak trees. The analogy of being in church is an apt one with this mode of honoring the natural world. Food is part of the ceremony, with tribal members inviting guests to join them at the camp table.

The specific White Deerskin Dance segment is performed by about a dozen men, some of whom hold poles covered with decorated white deer skins. At various times during the songs, two of the other men, carrying large flint pieces and blowing soft whistles, will cross in front of the men who hold the poles. A set of songs takes about thirty minutes, after which the men retire to their camp and another team comes in to dance. This dance is one of the most sacred of the world renewal ceremonies. The purpose of the dance is to make sure there will be plenty of salmon, acorns, and other resources that sustain life, and to prevent sickness and natural disasters. Contemporary tribal members are well aware of the precarious state of the natural world as it becomes more and more populated by peoples with different value systems. In modern times, the White Deer Skin Dance is organized and presented every two years.

Gambling Songs

The spirits are also believed to provide luck in native gambling activities. If a man has good songs and sings them with sincerity, he can become wealthy and fortunate in his life. Gambling songs are the only songs accompanied by a drum and sometimes a rattle. These are the only instruments used by the Hupa, Yurok and Karuk peoples. In earlier times the Yurok people used an elderberry flute for courting and recreational purposes, but this has since been discontinued. The gambling card games consist of two teams, each of which has a principal player with a back-up singer and drum player. The cards are a collection of 40-50 small thin sticks, one of which has a black mark. These sticks are divided randomly into two bundles, one for each hand. The gamblers try to guess which hand contains the stick with the black mark after the songs, drumming, and hand gestures are completed. The stakes can be quite high.

These songs and dances have been an integral part of Hupa, Yurok and Karuk lives since before recorded history. In the earlier part of this century, the cultural practices were discouraged and even prohibited by the new governing entities that established the reservation policies. Many of the elders with vital knowledge became reluctant to continue the traditions until the 1950s when controls were relaxed. Then a period of renewed interest in the dances began and the important function the dances serve in the lives of the people was recognized. In 1994, the Karuks performed the first Kaurk Jump Dance in 100 years.

There is currently a strong belief among the elders that participating in the dances, and gaining a good understanding of the traditional value systems might serve to counteract the negative influences of modern times. The elders note that their younger members need identity, stability and a sense of belonging to a community. The number of elders who know the formulas and the proper way of doing the ceremonies is shrinking. The elders hope the young people will see the need to learn from the elders and participate in the ceremonies, so that the traditions and beliefs will survive into the future. Some of these traditions and beliefs, such as living in a proper balance with the natural world, having a sense of family and community, recognizing the need for character and spiritual development, becoming aware of the unity of life, and understanding the value of sharing material possessions, could be useful to any of us. Maintaining the tradition of songs and dances that “fix the earth” by reinforcing these values seems very important indeed.

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Author’s Note: Those who are interested in reading more about the music traditions of Humboldt County’s Native American population may find the following references useful:

• Arnold, Mary Ellicott and Mabel Reed, In The Land of the Grasshopper Song, University of Nebraska Press, 1980, Lincoln.
• Bennett, Ruth, “Ya:na: ‘a ‘awh — Four Hupa Songs from Alice Pratt in the Hupa Language of California,” Center for Indian Community Development, Humboldt State University, 1995, Arcata, CA 95521.
• Keeling, Richard, Cry for Luck — Sacred Song and Speech among the Yurok, Hupa and Karuk Indians of Northwestern California, University of California Press, 1994, Berkeley.
• Keeling, Richard, Women in North American Indian Music; Six Essays, Society for Ethnomusicology, Inc., 1989, Indiana University, Bloomington.
• Kroeber, A.L., Handbook of the Indian of California, Dover Publications, Inc. 1976, New York.
• Nelson, Byron, Jr., Our Home Forever — The Hupa Indians of Northern California, Howe Brothers, 1988, Salt Lake City.
• Thompson, Lucy, To the American Indian — Reminiscences of a Yurok Woman, Heyday Books, 1991, Berkeley.
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The story above was originally printed in the Spring 1996 issue of the Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.