One of the four sacred ceremonies of the Seneca

NE GANEOWO ¹

One of the four sacred ceremonies of the Seneca

The Ga:ne:'oⁿwoⁿ is a ceremonial thanksgiving in which two preachers," standing on either side of a long bench around which a company of religious dancers have arranged themselves, alternately intone sections of the Ga:ne:'oⁿwoⁿ ritual. At the end of

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each section the speaker starts a chant which is taken up by the singers who sit on the benches. A drummer keeps time by beating a water drum and the dancers gracefully circle around the benches. The direction of this dance, as all Iroquois dances, is counterclockwise. When the chant and dance have continued a period deemed sufficient by the opposite speaker, he halts the singing and dancing by the exclamation "Gwi?'yâ?!" and then commences his intonation.

The writer had recorded the entire Ga:ne:'oⁿwoⁿ ritual, speeches and songs, on a set of phonograph records, especially for preservation by the New York State Education Department. Unfortunately these perished in the Capitol fire of March 29, 1911. About 100 other ceremonial records on wax cylinders were also destroyed at that time.

[PRELIMINARY] TRANSLATION OF THE GANEOWO RITUAL OF THE SENECA

I Gwi?'yâ?!
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
This day [there] is occurring what the Creator has made pleasing for his own self.
We are thankful that what he has made for himself is accomplished.
[Singing and dancing].

II Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
The Creator thought that there should be men-beings,
And he thought that there should be chiefs to regulate the actions of these men-beings.
So now we thank him that what he thought has come to pass!
[Singing and dancing are resumed].

III Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
Now he thought that there should be two sexes,
That one should be the female
That children might grow from her.
We thank the women that they are doing their duty in fulfilling the design of their creation.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

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IV Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that there should be a difference in the length of lives,
And that children should run about and some creep.
So this is what he has done.
We are thankful that this is fulfilled.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

V Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that certain ones should be the leaders of the people,
The same for both male and female, to preserve the four ceremonies.
So we thank these head ones that they are dutiful to the calling of their Creator.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

VI Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that there should be a world and that people should be upon the world,
That they should draw their sustenance from the world.
So we thank the Creator that what he thought has come to pass.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

VII Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that there should be things in the world for sustenance
And that people should labor for their sustenance.
Now we petition the Creator that we may again see the season of things growing from which our living is.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

VIII Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that there should be herbs of different kinds
And that these should grow when the earth is warm
And that these herbs should be a help to the people when medicine was needed.

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So we thank the Creator that what he thought is now occurring.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

IX Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that there should be two different varieties of trees and that one should yield fruit.
Now the first fruit of the year is the strawberry
And he thought that when the strawberries are ripe his creatures should thank him,
Thank him in a great feast and dance ceremony.
Now I ask that the time of strawberries may return again.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

X Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage offers thanks!
He thought that there should be trees for a help to the people of earth.
So now we thank the Creator because what he thought is fulfilled and is a help to the people.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

XI Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage offers thanks!
He thought that there should be a certain tree to bear fruit.
So we are thankful that all things are that he has ordained
And shall be as long as the world endures.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

XII Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that there should be forests upon the earth
That these should be a help to the people of earth.
So we thank the Creator that what he thought has come to pass.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

XIII Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that there should be a certain tree

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From which sweet waters should flow when the earth warmed.
That this tree should be the maple and that men-beings should tap it,
And that this should be a help to the people.
So we thank the Creator that what he thought is occurring.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

XIV Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the entire assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that there should be a certain tree to yield nuts,
So we are thankful that what he thought is so.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

XV Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that he would create wild beasts
And that men-beings should derive benefits from them.
So we thank the Creator that they are [yet] for our help.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

XVI Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that there should be certain ones who should be his servants,
And that they should come from the west and care for the world,
That they should cause the earth to become wet
Thereby feeding the springs and waters that flow
Moreover that they should be called Hadiwênnoda'die:`s, the Thunderers.
So we thank the Creator that they have always fulfilled the purpose of their creation.
Now we put everything together and say
We are thankful that all things are doing that for which they were created.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

XVII Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that there should be a sky over head;
He thought that there should be stars in that sky

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That the men-beings that he put upon the earth might be guided thereby;
That certain stars should guide the people,
So we thank the Creator that what he thought is so.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

XVIII Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
Now he thought that there should be a certain one in the sky.
And that he should give light a certain period of time
And that they should call him "our brother, ênde:'ka gä'äkwa',"
Now, as we are all gathered together, we thank the sun that he is eternally dutiful.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

XIX Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that there should be another in the heavens
Who should reveal itself when the sun went under
And that people should call it âkso:'o:t, our grandmother, Soi'ka:gä'äkwa.
Now, as we are all gathered together, we thank the moon that she is eternally dutiful.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

XX Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that there must be a certain one who should reveal what he thought.
He thought that he should lay the Gai'wiio` before the people,
So he revealed the Gai'wiio` to Ganio`dai'io`
And he did his duty as the Creator had ordained,
He preached and taught until he died.
So we all render our thanks for he has done his duty
For we now follow in the way he taught
And we will remember forever.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

XXI Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!

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He thought that he should have four beings for his messengers
Who should watch over the people of earth and that on their strength their living should be.
Now we thank the four messengers that they are faithful to the design of their creation.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

XXII Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].
Now the whole assemblage is offering thanks!
He thought that the people should commence with the lower earth to thank him
For all that he had created and should offer thanks for things from below up to himself in the high world.
We therefore, gathered together in this assemblage, thank our Creator,
Yea all of his creatures who are living in this world.
[Singing and dancing resumed].

XXIII Gwi?'yâ?! [Singing and dancing stop].

Now all the people offer thanks!
He thought that there should be certain persons to sing for the dances he had made.
Now you who have sung and are singing, we thank you.
[Singing and dancing resumed].
[Speaker exhorts all the people to join in the dance].

Footnotes

94:1 Ne?' Ga:ne:'oⁿwoⁿ, recorded and translated at Newtown, Cattaraugus reservation, January 1906.