Native Dancers

Dateca. 1961

Medium35 mm slide

Dimensions15/16 × 1 5/16 in. (2.3 × 3.3 cm)

ClassificationsPhotography

Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, gift of Caroline Bowdish

Object numberPA2021.049.021

DescriptionAt an Inter-Tribal ceremony in Gallup, New Mexico, nine Native dancers are lined up at the edge of a rock formation to perform the turkey dance. Five men and four women are dressed in ceremonial attire and stand on top of a rock formation. The dancers are waering feathered headdresses and looking toward the camera. Three men are wearing white outfits with concha belts and turquoise necklaces. One man carries a drum to the right of the frame.

The ceremonial dress of each dancer is described below.

From left to right: a man dressed in long white pants, a long-sleeved shirt with a small pattern and a silver concho belt around his waist. He also displays a turquoise necklace and colorful headband; a man wearing tall, brown moccasins, a white cloth with a sash containing a red and black design, and has his midriff painted with white at the bottom half, and a rusty red at the top. The bicep area of his arms are painted in a similar red tone with solid black outlines. On his wrists area red bracelet and black cuff (L) and a purple cuff or sash (R). He wears a traditional headdress-a crown of feathers with rope-like adornement framing his face. This individual wears tall, white moccasins, a patterened kilt with long, white fringe, and a wide, white belt or sash at their waist. The blouse is a deep shade of purple with long sleeves that stop short of their wrists. Their wrists are decorated with silver cuffs. At their neck is a long turquiose necklace that covers the length of their chest. A large headdress of feathers covers their head with red, yellow, and white rope-type accents framing their face. 4. Similar to person 3, they are dressed in the tall, white moccasins, the kilt with the black and red pattern and long fringe, and a forest green long-sleeve blouse. They wear a large turquiose necklace and the large traditional feather headdress. 5. This man wears tall, brown moccasins, a white kilt with a decorative red and black patterned sash, and has an exposed and painted chest. His chest is painted with white at the bottom, and at the top a red, black, and white design. His right shoulder and upper chest is painted with a thin, blue layer while the left is left bare. HIs biceps are each painted in a matching design to the chest painting. He wears a cuffs at each of his wrists: one black and the other a red sash. 6 & 7. These individuals wear matching costumes of white mocassins, and a dark patterned dress that covers them from their shoulders to their knees. The dresses have a long white fringe at the bottom, a wide white sash across the middle of their torso, and a long-sleeved shirt underneath. Their ornate, feathered headdresses include silver medallions above their foreheads, and at their necks they have long, turquoise necklaces. 8 & 9. These men are dressed in long, white pants, a white shirt, and belts around thier midesction. They each have turquoise necklaces and scarves on their heads. The ninth individual to the right is carrying a ceremonial drum.

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