The Brush Dance: A Source of the Sacred

By Royal E. Alsup, Ph.D.

The excitement of the Brush Dance reverberates among the communities of local Indian People. Almost without fail, when I meet Indian friends during the first part of the summer, they ask me, "Are you coming to the Brush Dance?" This has always excited me because I remember ... I am thankful, and I am touched by the deeply moving emotions and memories of my experiences in the Native American community as a mental health professional, listening to so many heartfelt stories from Indian people, from participants in the dances, and as a dancer myself, in the Brush Dance. My impressions of the Brush Dance, and the intuitions, feelings, sensations, images, and perceptions that I hold dear to my heart, form the basis of this article.

The Brush Dance is a beautiful community mystical drama in which the People dance, sing, and pray, appealing to the Holy People to heal a particular sick child or infant. The dance takes place in the Brush Dance pit, and it involves men, boys, and virginal young girls. The herbal healing ceremony includes singing, chanting, rhythmic movement, and jumping center. The spectators, seated in gently curving benches that rise up around the pit, pray and give witness to the great mystery that is unfolding before their eyes and entering their ears and hearts. All present become willing participants in this majestic ceremony of love that gives everyone a true sense of significance.

During the evening before the first round of dancing begins, the People are friendly and positive. They constantly check their words and inner self-talk so that they do not insult a person or say, think, or feel bad things about an enemy. This practice of self-awareness on the part of the spectators and dance participants is crucial to the healing effectiveness of the dance.

Darkness sets in and the fire burning below in the pit is strongly engaging, beautiful, and mysterious. There is a lot of talk about which dancers and singers are going to start the dances, and much guessing about what songs are going to be sung. The excitement builds by hearing that a new dancer or singer is going to sing or dance for the first time. Then there is a rumor that a veteran singer who has been at the dances for years has had the blessing of receiving a new Brush Dance song. There is also speculation that an elder has given his grandson the gift of a beautiful Brush Dance song that the older man has not sung for years. Wonder sets in, and there is speculation that the grandson might not be able to make the song sound as beautiful as did his grandfather. Then someone will say, "You will be surprised. I heard the boy practicing, and he is a great singer like his grandfather." The young man is carrying on the great tradition of singers that has been in his family for centuries.

Parents beam with joy as their beautiful daughter prepares and gets dressed to dance, because the girl will be giving a precious, heirloom dress a chance to dance once again. Someone cries with tears of joy as they tell of seeing the sparkle of a necklace made of abalone shells and beads that was smiling because it was finally dancing. This is the excitement, fervor, passion, and anticipation of the starting of the Brush Dance.

The Dancers

Brush dancers have a tradition that has been in their families for centuries. Most of the dancers started dancing as young children. It is wonderful to experience a child's first dance and to watch his proud father as he dances with him. The father is patient and loving as he deals with his son's anxiety about his first dance. It is heart-rending and moving to see the mother watching, worrying, and feeling proud as she observes her son perform his first Brush Dance. It is a milestone in the child's life to be able to dance and participate in healing another child. It is the way of beauty and love in action as the child creatively learns to feel empathy for the sick child and the child's family for whom he is dancing.

When I watch a grandfather or elder jump center with his grandson, it brings tears of joy and excitement in my heart. It is a sure sign that the Brush Dance tradition is being carried forward to a new generation. To jump center, the child has to come out of the line of dancers and singers, and be vulnerable and exposed. He will show how well he is learning the rituals that his family and tribe are so proud to perform for a sick child. The grandfather or elder is gentle but firm with the child, teaching the child to be proud to be an Indian, to be proud of the singing and dancing of his tribe. The beauty in seeing a boy with his father or grandfather is breathtaking. The mother is delighted that she has a son who can stand and be seen in his tribe as being one of the People.

After the child's first dance or his first time to jump center, he is proud but not inflated or self-centered. An important part of the Brush Dance tradition is a deeply involving awareness of balance. It is good for him to be proud of his first Brush Dance or the first time jumping center, but it is not good for him to be exaggerated in his good feelings. The child knows the dance is not for him but for the sick child he danced to heal. He also is aware of sharing the responsibility to carry on his tribe's Brush Dance tradition.

Balance in the Brush Dance is also provided by the presence of the girls. The beautiful sound of the abalone shells on the dresses ringing and singing with joy as the girls walk into the dance pit makes my heart feel delighted and excited about the wonder and beauty of the ceremony. When you hear the sound, it feels ineffable, incredible, and indescribable, and it comes like a blessing or a gift. I am so happy to be there. The girl dancers, and the sacred sound of their regalia as they dance, demonstrate the native People's idea of walking in beauty. The fathers and mothers are proud and happy to see their daughters carry on the female traditions of the Brush Dance. For all the dancers and their families, being a part of the ceremony helps them overcome feelings of powerlessness and raises their self-esteem.

The Singers

Singers are an integral part of the Brush Dance tradition. To be a singer and to have a Brush Dance song gives the person a strong sense of being. Most of the songs come from the Spirituals -- the Holy People who lived before time. They lived in dreamtime and brought the Brush Dance to the People. Even if the song is passed down from within the family of singers, the song originated in the dreamtime. Brush Dance singers realize they have a great responsibility to the timeless Holy People that brought the singers their songs. Being a singer requires a person at times to go on a spirit quest for new songs to help the Brush Dance tradition. The Brush Dance singer will even go to the high country, and cry and pray for a new song. Finally getting a powerful song brings about feelings of self-actualization and is a peak experience. Brush Dance songs have medicine power that heal. They are songs of love and earnest devotion, begging the Creator to help heal the sick child.

I had the rewarding experience of talking with two Brush Dance singers about their songs and how they received them as a gift from an older singer, or from the intuitive faculty of the heart. They told of listening for hours to the songs on tape so that they would be able to sing the songs in the noble and beautiful way of the person who had made them a gift of the songs, or in the creative way the songs came to them from the Spirituals. During our conversation, I realized there are two types of Brush Dance singers. One type I call Indian classical singers, and the other I call Indian love singers. The love singer makes a person hear the heart feeling and love of his song by using his imagination, emotions, and creativity. The classical singer makes a person feel the history of singing and the proud tradition of the Brush Dance song by using certain traditional styles that have been repeated over the ages. The classical singer endeavors to get as close as possible to what he knows from his heart to be the style of the original Brush Dance singer.

The Brush Dance Pit

The heat and energy of the fire in the center of the dance pit make everyone feel the warmth, comfort, and power of the transformation taking place. As the fire burns brilliantly, the medicine woman speaks the formulas over the herbs, making the healing medicine. Her actions release a feeling of love and respect during the ritual that pervades the community drama and that creates an altered state of consciousness all through the dance site. One has a distinct awareness or feeling that unseen powers are present and that a great mystery is unfolding as a true communion takes place within the entire community. There is a sense of unity and wholeness, a feeling that we are all connected in some mysterious way. The awesome scene, with the flame, the singing and the rhythmic, gentle up and down movement of the dancers, looks like a heart beating as it connects the dance, dancer, singer and spectator with ultimate meaning. The Brush Dance and its setting within a deep pit, the fire, the darkness of night and the great stars in the heavens make up a concrete reality that points to the Grand Mystery.

The Brush Dance is a gift from the Creator to the People and to our Earth. The medicine women, with their special knowledge, guard and preserve a traditional way of teaching that makes tribal legends, morals, and ethics a concrete, everyday reality. Their healing service is set in selfless action and is a demonstration of God's love on earth.