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Why did the Indians dance and celebrate?
Animation by Brent The Indians liked to dance. They danced in celebration and as part of their religion. The drum was their main instrument. They made drums and rattles out of animal skins and dried vegetable hulls like gourds. Some of their drums were very big. A lot of men would sit around the drum and beat it. A lot of the dances were done during powwows. Powwows are when several tribes would get together to celebrate. The Indians would dress in their best clothes and wear lots of beads and feathers and paint as decorations. The Indians believed that all of nature had a spirit. They had spirits for the plants, animals, birds, rivers, sky, and the earth. They danced to please these spirits so that the spirits would be good to them. During a lot of these dances and celebrations, the Indians would smoke peace pipes. They made long, beautiful pipes out of wood. They would smoke these pipes to ask for the spirits' help with hunting, rain, war, or special occasions. If you want to learn more about dances and powwows, visit this site: http://library.thinkquest.org/3081/ You can also hear some of the drum beats and songs at this site.
Picture by Bailey |
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