Seneca music and dance featuring Bill Crouse

An excerpt from "American Indian Dance Theatre: Dances For the New Generations," a documentary film produced in 1993 for the PBS "Great Performances: Dance in America" series. The film was nominated for a 1993 Primetime Emmy award.
Produced by Barbara Schwei and Hanay Geiogamah, in association with Phil Lucas Productions. Directed by Phil Lucas and Hanay Geiogamah. Written by Hanay Geiogamah. A production of WNET for the Great Performances Alliance.
This segment features performers Bill Crouse and G. Peter Jemison teaching traditional Seneca music, dance, and culture to members of the American Indian Dance Theatre who are traveling the U.S. and Canada to learn the dances of many indigenous nations.
Bill Crouse is an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians. He is a member of the Hawk Clan, and a Faith Keeper of the Coldspring Longhouse on the Allegany Territory in Cattaraugus County, western New York. Mr. Crouse was formerly employed as Coordinator for the Seneca Language Department on the Allegany Territory. He is also a freelance artist and curriculum developer, and leader of a Seneca dance group called the Allegany River Dancers. The Allegany River Dancers have traveled and performed extensively throughout North America and Europe. Mr. Crouse has also served as a consultant for the American Indian Dance Theater, and was featured in the documentary "American Indian Dance Theatre: Dances For the New Generations," which aired on PBS' "Great Performances" in 1993. Although he is better known as a powwow MC and head singer of the Allegany River Indian Dancers, Crouse’s acrylic paintings, watercolors, and sketches show another side of his expression.
With a proud and rich history, the Seneca (who call themselves Onöndowága, meaning "Great Hill Place") were the largest of six Native American nations that comprised the Iroquois Confederacy, a democratic government predating the United States Constitution. At the time of the formation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, they were the one of the league's original five nations living furthest west, and were thus referred to as the Keepers of the Western Door. Other nations called them Seneca after their principal village of Osininka. The Seneca Nation of Indians currently has a total enrolled population of nearly 8,000 citizens.
More about Bill Crouse:
senecanation.co...

[@rezcar3]

My friend Brendan Fairbanks invited Bill Crouse out to teach the smoke dance when we were at BYU.
Bill was cool and hung out with us the whole weekend and even went with us to do some local exhibitions we would do as a native student group for the community(scouts, elementary schools, etc). I remember Dusty Jansen, me, Kelly Rainer, and Brendan ate with Bill at Denny’s after one of the exhibitions.
Those elementary school kids never understood how genuine an experience they were about to have.

[@dbadagna]

Thank you for sharing this reminiscence. Wow, you flew him all the way out to Utah? Do you remember when that was? I also invited him to perform for a world music series in Kent, Ohio (in 2017), and was most impressed by his oration (in fluent Seneca) of an extensive multi-part creation epic. He also involved his young daughter in the performance. I hope he is doing well.

[@dbadagna]

I just found a cool article about Brendan Fairbanks's Ojibwe language immersion class at the University of Minnesota:
ictnews.org/archive/heart-ojibwe-language

[@williambradfordbaldwin4386]

I miss seeing you at the pow wows Bill, we had a few talks and I really felt comfortable participating in the dances. I'm glad I was able to expose my daughter to this beautiful culture! I hope you and your family are doing well...

[@paulreeder7599]

My grandma was Seneca I’m only 25% I want to learn about my grandmas traditions but I’m outcasted from that side of my family I wish to be about of that family

[@skibumster]

Bill was a teacher of mine in school

[@williambradfordbaldwin4386]

Thanks for posting this..

[@paladinandaleafriendsdogna3696]

I love the 1980s feel “you know eh”

[@citruz13]

i am seneca :)

[@joshuaccombs7130]

I was gave the name little foot when i was born

[@TacoCrisma]

Kills me when natives refer to them selves as Iroquois or “Indians” when both terms were given to them by ignorant colonists. Don’t understand why it sticks - much respect to the Haudenosaunee people.