| Taos Indian Dances, 1930s | ||
|---|---|---|
| This clip is not available for streaming at this time. Please contact WPA. | Tape Master: | |
| Catalog #: | 373486 | |
| Clip Number: | 373486-1 | |
| Orginal Film: | WPA 139 | |
| Timecode: | ||
| Location: | Taos, NM | |
| Year Shot: | ||
| Audio: | No | |
| Color: | No | |
| Headings: | ENTERTAINMENT/MOTION PICTURES: Amateur ENTERTAINMENT/MOTION PICTURES: Home Movies RECREATION: Travel, Tourism, Sightseeing | |
| Description: | How home movies become important documents of bygone ways of life. Titles refer to a trip to the ôTaos Indian Pueblo - One of the most famous. Many Indians are camera shy so that some of these scenes had to be taken surreptitiously.ö Pan of adobe buildings in Native American reservation of the early 1930s: like a step back in time, we see wooden wagons, clay ovens, frames for houses made of logs (house under construction), other relics of the ôprimitiveö past. People (including children) are seen walking around, apparently unaware of the camera. MS dignified looking men looking at camera, CU woman. Very good coverage of the Indian village, the adobe huts nestled up against the foot of a dry mountain. title: ôAt Taos we were fortunate enough to have some Indians dance for us, Title: ôAt Taos we were fortunate enough to have some Indians dance for us,ö and the traditional dances with men and boys in feather headdresses are carefully identified in titles: the Pea Dance (including shots of drummers under canopy), the Shake Dance, the War Dance (atthe two dancers in full feather headdress pose with the drummer, then the entire [white] family poses with the dancers -- good CU of the Native American men here). ôThe old fashioned ox cart and plow were made many years ago by this old Indian.ö Var angles of crude wooden wheeled cart, tilt up to old man in turban working on roof of house. More shots of the village, and a quick view of a white man in suit with movie camera, taking pictures. CU sign on side of adobe house: ôAlbert Lujan - Paints, Beadworks, and Little Boy Dance,ö and we see a 6-7 year old kid in full feather headdress dancing with a hoop, a drummer sitting behind him. Shot of ôInterested but camera shy spectators,ö Native American children who run from the camera. dancers and singer identified: Iano Deer Lujan, August Melbo. Good shot of the dancers preparing for performance: looking in mirror, fixing hair, applying war paint. One-Legged Dance. Captive Dance, a stylized fight between two men with sticks and shields. Hoop Dance, with two white women sitting looking on behind. Dancers pose for the camera. Little tourist girl comes down from roof of adobe house. Drummer allows two little girls to beat his drum. Good wide shot of group of pueblo dwellings. | |
WPA FILM LIBRARY
