"War dance" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... and waved handkerchiefs and for a few minutes it looked as though an impromptu Fourth of July celebration had begun. It is difficult to describe an American's emotions when he sees the Stars and Stripes for the first time in five weeks. The most phlegmatic man on the ship danced a war dance, women wept, and when the reception committee boarded the ship and met the passengers in the dining saloon there was great enthusiasm. Plans were arranged for crowding into the two days' stay all the sightseeing and entertainment ...
— The Critic in the Orient • George Hamlin Fitch
... is not insensible to Rhythm. It fires his spirit in the war dance and battle chant, soothes him in the monotonous hum of the pow-wow, and softens him in naive love songs. It is the heart of music, and it can be proved that low and vulgar rhythms have a debasing effect upon the ...
— The Continental Monthly, Volume V. Issue I • Various
... an Indian war dance in hip boots. "You're the darndest go-getter ever I did see. Tell it to me, you ...
— Gunsight Pass - How Oil Came to the Cattle Country and Brought a New West • William MacLeod Raine
... myself only landed at first, and went to the side of the river, the natives being got together on the opposite side. We called to them in the George's Island Language, but they answer'd us by flourishing their weapons over their heads and dancing, as we suppos'd, the War Dance; upon this we retir'd until the Marines were landed, which I order'd to be drawn up about 200 yards behind us. We went again to the river side, having Tupia, Mr. Green, and Dr. Monkhouse along with us. Tupia spoke to them in ...
— Captain Cook's Journal During the First Voyage Round the World • James Cook
... demonstration in the convention hall, immediately following Greeley's nomination, Mr. Gouverneur's friend, John Cochrane of New York, of whom I have spoken elsewhere, in the excitement of the moment gave expression to his delight in an Indian war dance, and other usual scenes ...
— As I Remember - Recollections of American Society during the Nineteenth Century • Marian Gouverneur
... that it was some time before they could get an opportunity to tell what had taken place. Cheers again broke out, when the stories were finished. The men insisted on shaking their hands, and then started a war dance to show their satisfaction. ...
— Through Three Campaigns - A Story of Chitral, Tirah and Ashanti • G. A. Henty
... the Fight Bokke-Wife of Moy, Chief of Latooka Drake's Head Crimson-headed Spur-winged Goose The Latooka Funeral Dance Latooka Blacksmiths The last Charge Head-dress of Obbo (1) and Shoggo (2) Women of Obbo Katchiba's eldest Son Katchiba and his Hebe on a Journey Overhauling the Giraffes The Obbo War Dance Mehedehet Antelope Natives of Lira (1) and Madi (2) in the Camp at Shooa My Examination by the Chiefs on entering Unyoro-Resolved, that I am Speke's Brother The Start from the M'rooli for the Lake with Kamrasi's Satanic Escort The Storm on the Albert Lake The Baggera Lepidosiren Annecteus ...
— The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile • Sir Samuel White Baker
... I am glad just the same that half of our—apprenticeship—is over. If this week will pass as smoothly as last week did, it's all I'll— What in the world is the matter with the children? Sounds as if they were having an Indian war dance. I wonder if those Swanberg ...
— Tabitha's Vacation • Ruth Alberta Brown
... few tom-tom players we'd be ready with a fine imitation of an Indian war dance," muttered one of the candidates, gazing about him at his blanketed companions. There was a laugh, of course. These highly nervous youngsters were ready to laugh ...
— Dick Prescott's First Year at West Point • H. Irving Hancock
... there a war dance you're tryin' to perform? Looks like the cannibals' goin's on. I believe that brat feeds on ...
— The Dramatic Works of Gerhart Hauptmann - Volume I • Gerhart Hauptmann
... formal and politely brief. He brought with him the amusing interpreter to inquire if the Spirit had found comfort in the hospitality of his people, and more particularly if the war dance of the preceding night had ...
— The Perils of Pauline • Charles Goddard
... with Tamborens highly Decorated with Der & Cabra Hoofs to make them rattle, assembled and began to Sing & Beat- The women Came forward highly decerated with the Scalps & Trofies of war of their fathes Husbands & relations, and Danced the war Dance, which they done with great chearfulness untill 12 oClock, when we informed the Chief we intended return on bord, (they offered us women, which we did not except) 4 Chiefs accompanied us to the boat and Staid all night- Those people have a Description ...
— The Journals of Lewis and Clark • Meriwether Lewis et al
... cut short as the first notes of a rousing march came ringing into the earphones. Every note was true and distinct as before, with practically no interference, and when the last note had died away the boys rose and as though actuated by one impulse, executed an impromptu war dance. ...
— The Radio Boys' First Wireless - Or Winning the Ferberton Prize • Allen Chapman
... come out of that war dance, Joel," said old Mr. King, leaning back in his big chair to laugh at him, "perhaps you'll have the goodness to tell me whom you are ...
— Five Little Peppers and their Friends • Margaret Sidney
... themselves in the most frightful colors, and performed a war dance, with the usual accompaniments. A stake, painted in alternate stripes of black and vermilion, was fixed in the ground, and the dancers moved in rapid but measured evolutions around it. They recounted, with great energy, the wrongs they had received from the whites.—Their lands had been taken from ...
— Heroes and Hunters of the West • Anonymous
... approached so quietly, and the Indians were so intent on the war dance that their coming had not been discovered. And well might the lads pause in uncertainty as to the manner of the reception they would receive; for now they came into full view of the assembled savages—half-naked warriors in paint and fighting costume, forming a circle and dancing and yelling ...
— Far Past the Frontier • James A. Braden
... childish glee, he took the girl round the waist, and they performed 'a triumphant war dance,' as he called it. She laughed very heartily, fond of romping as she was, and no longer feeling aught of her scruples ...
— His Masterpiece • Emile Zola
... appear that it is not only after a battle or a hunt that he dances in order to commemorate it, but before. Once the commemorative dance has got abstracted or generalized it becomes material for the magical dance, the dance pre-done. A tribe about to go to war will work itself up by a war dance; about to start out hunting they will catch their game in pantomime. Here clearly the main emphasis is on the practical, the active, doing-element in the cycle. The dance is, as it were, a sort of precipitated desire, a discharge of pent-up ...
— Ancient Art and Ritual • Jane Ellen Harrison
... war dance," said Captain Wentworth. "How I should like to be able to discharge a twenty-four pound battery, loaded with grape, into the very heart of the ...
— Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac Conspiracy (Complete) • John Richardson
... the table. At last he extended a fore-finger and thumb and rubbed a five pound note between them, as though to convince himself of its reality, after which he began to gyrate round the table in a sort of war dance, never taking his eyes from the heap of influence in front of him. "Mein Gott!" he exclaimed, "Gnadiger Vater! Ach Himmel! Was fur eine Schatze! Donnerwetter!" und a thousand other cacophonous expressions ...
— The Firm of Girdlestone • Arthur Conan Doyle
... doctor's and bandaged. Next day, he could not work, glory of battle swelled too high in his threadpaper breast; he had made a one-stringed harp for Austin, borrowed it, came to Fanny's room, and sang war-songs and danced a war dance in honour of his victory. And it appears, by subsequent advices, that it was a serious victory enough; four of his assailants went to hospital, and one is thought in danger. All Vailima rejoiced ...
— Vailima Letters • Robert Louis Stevenson
... their night's encampment, they never seemed at all fatigued. There was an ample supply of game for food. Having reared their frail shelters, if it rained, kindled their fires and cooked their suppers, they invariably had a war dance, each smoking in turn the war calumet. This was distinguished from the peace calumet by different colored feathers. Their whoops and yells were hideous. And there was something indescribably mournful in the wailings of those who had lost ...
— The Adventures of the Chevalier De La Salle and His Companions, in Their Explorations of the Prairies, Forests, Lakes, and Rivers, of the New World, and Their Interviews with the Savage Tribes, Two Hu • John S. C. Abbott
... said. "It's more probable that the light comes from great fires, around which the savages are dancing the war dance." ...
— The Shadow of the North - A Story of Old New York and a Lost Campaign • Joseph A. Altsheler
... difficulties between these two birds was no chance happening; it was, to all appearance, a regularly planned campaign, and, like a savage, the aggressor put on his war paint and danced his war dance. It was extremely interesting to watch, although painful to realize that a bird could be animated by emotions so—must I call them human? He selected, for the declaration of his intentions, a moment when the thrush was ...
— In Nesting Time • Olive Thorne Miller
... at all, understood by the natives, and very often not at all well supported by the foreigner himself. An American gentleman once made his appearance as an Indian warrior with his war-hatchet and calumet; he danced the war dance, which excited great astonishment. He then presented his calumet to a mask, who not knowing what the ceremony meant, declined it, when the Mohawk flourished his hatchet and gave such a dreadful shriek as to set the whole company in alarm.[112] On the whole this character ...
— After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819 • Major W. E Frye
... build a fire in my garden, and one raised his gun to shoot one of my oxen which the boys were driving up. The majority of the Indians formed a half circle, holding their bows fully strung, and commenced a war dance. We had been told not to shoot Indians, but to take sticks and whale them when they commenced any depredations. As the Indian took the leather casing from his gun so that he could shoot, I rushed them with a heavy club, with the intention of knocking down as many as I could. I could speak their ...
— The Mormon Menace - The Confessions of John Doyle Lee, Danite • John Doyle Lee
... the lower Mohawk valley, took the belt from him, Red Head, a chief of the Onondagas, made reply, telling him that from every castle warriors would follow him to the north. A war dance followed, and a large body of the Six Nations were ...
— The War Chief of the Six Nations - A Chronicle of Joseph Brant - Volume 16 (of 32) in the series Chronicles of Canada • Louis Aubrey Wood
... war dance as he slapped at his invisible persecutors, and wondered if he were going into a fever, his face and neck and arms burned so. Luckily, a night breeze coming up, drove the horde of tiny insects away, but for several days the boys ...
— The Outdoor Chums on the Gulf • Captain Quincy Allen
... pole, pointed with iron, through Wilford's jugular. Now, I consider mine much the most philosophical way of doing the trick; in fact, conducting a dodge of this kind always affords me intense satisfaction, and puts me into the highest possible spirits. Have you ever seen the war dance, in which the Hotto-potto-cum-from-the-wash-ki Indians usually indulge before they set out on an expedition?—A quarter to three," he continued, pulling out his watch, "the coach to London passes in five minutes, I shan't have ...
— Frank Fairlegh - Scenes From The Life Of A Private Pupil • Frank E. Smedley
... war dance they had Round a tree at the Bend Was a sight that was sad; And it seemed that the end Would not justify the proceedings, As I quiet remarked ...
— Complete Poetical Works of Bret Harte • Bret Harte
... him say to my mamma's brother him like to bring his friend, White Chief, to Indian war dance. Him say White Chief he no tell what he see. My mamma's brother he say no: White Chief, with much ribbon on clothes, have crooked tongue. My mamma's brother friend he say White Chief he no tell; give word before Great Spirit. My mamma's brother then ...
— Injun and Whitey to the Rescue • William S. Hart
... Sam watched him quietly thinking of the exhibition as something detached and apart from the business of the meeting. He remembered a question that had come into his head when he was a schoolboy and had got his first peep into a school history. There had been a picture of Indians at the war dance and he had wondered why they danced before rather than after battle. Now ...
— Windy McPherson's Son • Sherwood Anderson
... my dear," answered the major, reassuringly. "It is only a token of some jollification among our Indian friends: a war dance, or a scalp dance, or the advent among them of a new lot of wretched captives, or something of that kind. I remember Truman mentioning, more than a week ago, that another war party had gone out. I do wish though that the ...
— At War with Pontiac - The Totem of the Bear • Kirk Munroe and J. Finnemore
... attraction for dwellers amid tamer scenes. It is therefore from a belief in the magnetism of contrast that the highly-civilised reader is invited to come to where he can still meet the barbarian face to face and witness that wild ceremony, half jest, half grim earnest—a Zulu war dance. ...
— Cetywayo and his White Neighbours - Remarks on Recent Events in Zululand, Natal, and the Transvaal • H. Rider Haggard
... care! Justice had been done us, and we were unutterably happy. Crabe Bane stood on his head; Gillinger began a war dance; old man Hathaway hobbled out to the side lines and whooped like an Indian; Snead rolled over and over in the grass. All of us broke out into typical expressions of baseball frenzy, and individual ones illustrating ...
— The Redheaded Outfield and Other Baseball Stories • Zane Grey
... was the only man on earth that could land this contract. When Jared says if he don't get this chance he's gonna quit his job right then and there and the boss can look elsewhere for the estimate figures, I almost fell off the couch, and Alex does a war dance. ...
— Alex the Great • H. C. Witwer
... shrieked Janice, jumping up and dancing around the room. "It's for my gasoline run-about! I'm going to have it—I certainly am! Hurray! hurray!" and she kissed her aunt heartily and then danced another war dance ...
— Janice Day at Poketown • Helen Beecher Long
... many of their dances were thank offerings to the Great Spirit, and that the war dance was ...
— Two Indian Children of Long Ago • Frances Taylor
... near the stockade. There the talking and eating lasted two days. At the end of that time I had a footing for our Iroquois in the Wisconsin portion of the Illinois Territory; and the savages who granted it danced a war dance in our honor. Every brave shook over his head the scalps he had taken. I saw one cap ...
— Lazarre • Mary Hartwell Catherwood
... were they. He was not to be baffled, however. If fire could not be had, exercise must serve its purpose. Hastily pouring some powder into his hand he dampened it and blacked his face. "Victory, men, victory!" he shouted, taking off his hat and beginning to leap and dance. "Come on! We'll have a war dance and then a feast, as soon as the meat arrives that I have sent for. Dance! you brave lads, dance! ...
— Alice of Old Vincennes • Maurice Thompson
... warriors were still some little distance away, advancing slowly, making, after the manner of their kind, a frightful din with their savage yells and the pounding of their naked feet upon the ground as they leaped up and down in a fantastic war dance. ...
— The Beasts of Tarzan • Edgar Rice Burroughs
... alarm of fire. We hastily dressed and stepped out upon the platform. A block of buildings just opposite the station was on fire, and was evidently doomed; yet Flagstaff's citizens, whose forms, relieved against the lurid glow, looked like Comanche Indians in a war dance, fought the flames with stubborn fury. The sight of a successful conflagration always thrills me, partly with horror, partly with delight. Three hundred feet away, two buildings formed an ever-increasing pyramid of golden light. We could distinguish the thin streams of water thrown ...
— John L. Stoddard's Lectures, Vol. 10 (of 10) - Southern California; Grand Canon of the Colorado River; Yellowstone National Park • John L. Stoddard
... mind Mara's daughters. They withdraw, and grotesque monsters appear in threatening attitudes, exhibiting a savage war dance, always approaching the tree and turning their weapons against the Sakyamuni, but as soon as they approach the halo they droop, unable to hurt him. Lotus flowers rain down. Sakyamuni raises his right hand. A flash of lightning ...
— The Buddha - A Drama in Five Acts and Four Interludes • Paul Carus
... alone until near midnight. Their own songs and dances becoming tiresome, I asked them to give me some Sioux songs, for I had been thinking all the evening of the village up the Missouri, and of my squaws. The Indians immediately struck up a Sioux war song, accompanying it with the war dance. ...
— The Great Salt Lake Trail • Colonel Henry Inman
... Co., and each tried to shoot the other with empty shells, Jim grabbed the Chief, emptied his revolver of the shells and rammed the pistol in his ear until the Chief yelled for mercy. Merwin gave such a war dance that they had to call out the fire department to cool him down. He secured the city's order for an outfit for the police, and M. H. & Co. stock has ...
— A Man of Samples • Wm. H. Maher
... thought only of the war dance. They forgot to give thanks for the sweet waters of the maple, and for the planting season. Neither did they remember to praise the Great Spirit, in song and dance, for the juicy strawberries, and the waving green corn, ...
— Stories the Iroquois Tell Their Children • Mabel Powers |
