Pueblo Dancers

The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico make petition for rain on their crops by dancing the Eagle Dance, accompanied by chant-singing and drums. In that arid climate, this is one of the more important dances.

Lifted from the Smithsonian Museum's website, funded in part by our tax dollars, and therefore already bought:

"The eagle dance is a remnant of a much more extensive ceremony to solicit rain to help the crops grow. Because it can fly so high that it disappears from view, the eagle is seen as messenger between the earth and the clouds and sky by many Indian groups.

"Young men or boys imitate eagles by wearing white caps with yellow beaks and bands of feathers running along each arm. Dancers imitate the movements of eagles, creating stylized pivoting and flapping motions for soaring, diving, perching, resting, and mating."

At the Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, the interior courtyard is lined with wonderful murals depicting the Eagle Dance. There are some differences in costumes among the clans, but the dance's symbolism and aim is the same.

Below: Another Pueblo's Version of the Eagle Dance