The Hako: Song, Pipe, and Unity in a Pawnee Calumet Ceremony

Fletcher, Alice C. ; James R. Murie

ISBN 10: 0803268890 / ISBN 13: 9780803268890

Published by University of Nebraska Press/Bison Books, 1996

About this Item

First PB Edition, First Printing. Soft cover 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" Tall in illustrated wraps. As New. 372pp inc. Index; illustrated in b/w photos and reproductions, musical notation. Reproduction of a book by Alice C. Fletcher, orig. pub. 1904 in the Twenty-second Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, with the songs and words necessary for the Calumet ceremony.

Seller Inventory # 021606

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Hako: Song, Pipe, and Unity in a Pawnee Calumet Ceremony
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press/Bison Books
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0803268890
• ISBN 13: 9780803268890
• Binding: Trade Paperback
• Edition: First PB Edition, First Printing.
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: Wraps
• Book Type: Book
• Seller catalogs:
  • Non-Fiction

About this title

Synopsis

One of the more complex and widespread rituals practiced by Native American groups focused on the calumet, a sacred pipe with a feathered shaft. The Calumet Ceremony was a powerful ritual through which members of another tribe were adopted. It also promoted social unity within tribes and facilitated contact and trade between them.

Perhaps the most detailed description of a Calumet Ceremony was recorded near the turn of the century by ethnographer Alice C. Fletcher. Fletcher witnessed the Hako, a version of the Calumet Ceremony practiced by the Chaui clan of the Pawnee. With the invaluable assistance of Tahirussawichi, a Pawnee Ku’rahus or ceremonial leader, and renowned Indian scholar James R. Murie, himself a Pawnee, the author describes in marvelous detail the intricate rhythm and structure of the ceremony. Each song of the Hako is transcribed, translated, interpreted by the Pawnee Ku’rahus, and later analyzed by the author. Fletcher concludes that the Hako promised longevity, fertility, and prosperity to individuals and worked to insure “friendship and peace” between clans and tribes.

The Hako, was originally published in 1904.

About the Author

Helen Myers, an associate professor of music at Trinity College and the ethnomusicology editor of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.