Pictures of the Salt Song Ceremony and Dance

The gourd rattle is used in the Cry Ceremony to sing the Salt Songs.

A group of elders from the Chemwavi and Southern Paiute sing for a burial site at Old Woman Mountains California

Salt Song Singers at the Stewart Indian Boarding School in Carson City Nevada.

Ribbon Dresses is what you will see women and girls wearing at a sing.

Here the girls are dancing to the Salt Songs.

The Arches Represent Passages for the spirit, as a Southern Paiute we are not to go through them, because they are only for the spirit.

The Southern Paiute Cry Ceremony

Different cultures around the world perform different ways on how to take care of a deceased loved one.  The Southern Paiutes have their traditional way of taking care of the body and its spirit.  In the Paiute way we don’t call it a funeral, it is known as the cry ceremony or simple called a sing.  During the cry ceremony there are singers and dancers.  This is a 142-cycle song singing, the songs are called salt songs.  When a person passes away the ceremony is held where that person is from, for example when a Shivwits member passes there cry ceremony is held on the Shivwits Paiute Indian Reservation.  The Southern Paiutes all participate in the cry ceremony, not just one group, the whole Paiute nation will gather together and sing and all will dance, these songs are about sacred places and animals.  The spirit will follow a trail from one scared place to the next, the trail the spirit follows is called the Salt Song Trail.  Dancers will dance and the singers sing this helps get the spirit to the next life.  Out of all the songs the last four songs are the most important.

The sing is an all-night ceremony, people from all over the Paiute nation come to help the family going through the difficult time.  During the sing men are on one side women on the other, on the men’s side they hold a gourd or a rattle.   During the ceremony people will get up and share stories about the person some are about their life and accomplishments, nothing but good things are said.  When the songs are sung people will walk down the middle holding pictures or belongings of the deceased one.  This is what happens in the cry ceremony, during the ceremony no pictures or audio recordings are allowed. 

The reason why we the southern Paiutes do this ceremony is to help the spirit travel to the next world.  The spirit is going to travel on the Salt Song Trail, the songs make the journey easier for the spirit to get to the finale crossing.  When people go down the middle this to makes it an easy path for the spirit.  Without the song and dance the spirit will have a difficult journey.  The songs are called cry songs because you’re supposed to let out all your emotions during the ceremony. 

After the all night ceremony the last four songs are sung, this is when the spirit makes the jump from this world to the other side.

My family and I participate in this ceremony.  This ceremony is very strict and there are a lot of rules, some people don’t understand why this ceremony is so special.  This is our culture this makes us who we are. This ceremony is the only one that we Paiute people perform.  We have to keep this ceremony alive, and I hope that all the young people of the Paiute nation learn these songs and understand why this is an important custom to who we are.  When I participate I feel good inside knowing that I’m helping someone.  When I sing the songs it gives me a feeling of importance and realizing that I can’t let these songs die.   I pray and hope that the youth will come to their senses and realize that these songs and dances are very important.

I asked my grandmother, who is a Kaibab Paiute and one of the traditional singers about what the songs mean, and why they are important and she said this quote:

These songs are very powerful. They are the songs that are going to unite our people again. It’s going to be a spiritual awakening of the Native American people, especially other Paiute people. It has to happen. It has been prophesized. How do you stop prophecy? You can’t stop prophecy. -- Vivienne Caron Jake

The Coyote

In the Southern Paiute culture one of the most recognized symbols is the Coyote.  To the Southern Paiutes the coyote is known as the trickster.  You can go to any Southern Paiute and ask them about coyote and they will tell you that he is the trickster, sly, cunning but not very clever.  Coyote is also the main character in our creation story and how the Southern Paiutes came to be.

I have always wondered why the coyote was such an important character, everything he did always have him into trouble.  What made this troublemaker such an important character?  As a child my grandmother and other elders would tell tales of the Coyote, using his proper name Sinugwav.  The stories you hear about coyote don’t have any happy endings they all end very tragically.  My question is why such stories be told to kids?

Well to my own conclusions I feel that the stories are told to warn children that in life you can’t be coyote, that all of our decisions are very important.  Hearing the stories about coyote I always think twice about the choices I make and if they are going to benefit me or not.  I remember a story about coyote and how he decided to heard north for a big gathering, he feel in love with a bear but the bear realized that coyote was not for her.  She decided she wanted to go home but coyote ended up killing bear (or known as we say kewyaughnt).  Bear’s family came down from the north and beat up coyote for killing bear.  This story shows kids to never make someone fall in love with you unless you can provide and take care of them.  This story is one that is a popular.

Another reason why coyote is a very important symbol, is that the southern Paiutes believe that coyote is one who brought them to the where they are today.  It all happened when the Creator told coyote to take a sack and travel up the Colorado River and when the time was right opens the sack.  Coyote traveled along the great river for many days, on one day coyote stopped to take a break and from the sack he heard singing, drumming, and laughter.  Coyote got to curious and opened the sack, many people jumped out and scattered all over.  Coyote couldn’t catch them all, the first time coyote opens the sack Paiutes believe this is where the Moapa and Las Vegas Paiutes jumped out.  Later coyote takes two more breaks and the last time he opens the sack there is no one in the sack.  Being Southern Paiute this is how we believe we came to be and that’s why we are in the area where we are today. 

Coyote to the southern Paiutes is just a character in much folklore, but being a Southern Paiute I didn’t realize how important the stories really were till I started thinking about it.  I see why the elders tell the stories of coyote, growing up you hear them all the time but now days kids don’t want to listen we are living in a modern world and its harder to get back our traditional ways when kids have so much electronic influences to where they don’t want to listen.  I hope that one day that we can find a way to get back to the traditional ways.  But until then I’m thankful for the stories and the traditional beliefs.  I just hope that my little cousins coming up know the stories of coyote and the importance he serves to our culture.  One day we will get back to the traditions but until then holding on to the stories I know is going to have to do it for now. 

Southern Paiute

Did you know the Southern Paiutes reside in 4 different states? This is true the Southern Paiute Nation was a big territory.  Today the Southern Paiutes are in small bands across the states.  There is the Chemwavi in California, then Moapa and Las Vegas in Nevada, the Kaibab and San Juan in Arizona then in Utah we have the Cedar, Koosheram, Indian Peaks, Kanosh and the Shivwits band. 
The southern Paiute are known for weaving beautiful basketry's out of the willow. 
Southern Paiutes were Hunter-Gathers, they hunted deer, antelope, mountain sheep, and other small animals.  There diet also consisted of eating small insects.  Paiutes also gathered many plants to eat and to use in a ceremonial healing or blessing.  The Paiutes were nomadic, so in the summer you would find Paiutes up on the high mountains, such as Mount Trumbull, or on Kaibab Mountain, or the Utah Mountains in the south.  In winter time they would head off the mountains to lower ground where it was not so cold. The Paiutes are a very humble people, they are not a waring type.  The first people to come in contact with the Southern Paiutes are the Mormons, and later the Spanish.  Scientists believe the Southern Paiute have been around since 1100-1200 A.D.  Southern Paiutes is known as the "Water Ute" or "True Ute" the name for Southern Paiute is Nuwavi.  Southern Paiutes also play games and very social.