Native American dance

Introduction
General characteristics
- Extent of dance forms
- Patterns of participation
- Socially determined roles in dance
- Religious expression in dance
- Patterns and body movement
- Foreign influences
Regional dance styles
- Eskimo (Inuit)
- Northeast and Southeast Indians
- The Great Plains
- The Northwest Coast
- The Great Basin, the Plateau, and California
- The Southwest
- Mexico and Mesoamerica
- South America
  - Northern South America
  - The Andean region
  - The southern plains
Study and evaluation

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Aztec manuscript illustration showing figures in elaborate costumes dancing in a circle, with two larger deities, Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl, at the center, from Codex Borbonicus.

A dancer in a bright pink shawl with fringe, wearing traditional regalia adorned with blue and black accents, performs at an outdoor cultural event.

Karl Bodmer: Dancer of the Hidatsa Dog Society

Related Questions

How are Native American songs and dances passed from one generation to the next?
How are modern powwows more inclusive than many earlier Native dance events?
How are snakes used in the Hopi snake-antelope dance?
How can a Native American dance ceremony require months or years of preparation?
How did Creek, Yuchi, and Seminole dancers use spirals in stomp dances?
How did Northeast and Southeast Native dance patterns use circling and stomp steps?
How did Plains warrior societies influence contemporary powwow dancing?
How did Spanish and other European dance traditions influence some Native American dances?
How did Sun Dance participants express devotion to the sun?
How did U.S. and Canadian government suppression affect traditional Native dances?
How did Wild West shows influence modern powwow dances?
How did World War I veterans help revive Native homecoming dances?
How did dancers “fancy up” performances for Wild West show audiences?
How did federal removal policies in Oklahoma encourage intertribal dance gatherings?
How did the Ghost Dance spread from the Great Basin to the Great Plains?
How did the Grand Entry become part of modern powwows?
How did the Green Corn ceremony shape dance traditions among Southeastern Native peoples?
How did the relocation of Plains Indians after World War II spread powwow culture to cities?
How did the word “powwow” become associated with dancing events?
How did urbanization contribute to the development of the powwow circuit?
How did war dances reflect the role of warrior societies on the Great Plains?
How did women’s jingle dress dances spread beyond their original tribal communities?
How do competition powwows differ from traditional powwows?
How do drumbeat accents differ between northern and southern powwow songs?
How do northern and southern powwow singing styles differ in vocal range?
How do women participate in northern and southern powwow drumming traditions?
How does call-and-response singing work in Eastern Woodlands dance songs?
How does the Apache gahan dance mark a girl’s coming of age?
How does the Iroquois bear dance connect hunting traditions with healing rituals?
How does “day money” work at traditional powwows?
How have anthropologists and dance scholars studied Native American dance traditions?
How long do modern powwows usually last?
How were buffalo rites connected to sun, war, and fertility ceremonies on the Great Plains?
Which Native peoples influenced southern-style powwow music and dance?
Which dance forms are especially associated with southern-style powwows?
Which occasions inspired dance gatherings in Native communities before European settlement?
Which regions are associated with northern-style powwows?
Which regions are associated with southern-style powwows?
Who may attend a modern powwow?
Why are Pueblo corn dances sometimes called tablita dances?
Why do dancers need to arrive on time for a powwow Grand Entry?
Why do some Native communities limit who may perform particular songs and dances?

Entertainment & Pop Culture Dance

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Fact Monster - Entertainment - Native American Dance

Native American dance

Also known as: American Indian dance, Indian dance

Written by

Gertrude Prokosch Kurath

Coordinator, Dance Research Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Author of Iroquois Music and Dance and others.

Gertrude Prokosch Kurath

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

Native American dance, the dance of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Americas, often called American Indians. The treatment of Native American dance in this article is meant to focus first on certain general features of dance and their manifestation in a number of areas. The diversities existing within this larger framework then become apparent through consideration of the dances of the several culture areas or tribal groupings. Among the essential factors in an overall picture...

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