Eagle Dance, Pueblo Indians

Synopsis

Filmed in 1898 by Edison cameramen, this actuality records Pueblo dancers performing the traditional Eagle Dance. The performers, clad in feathered regalia and accompanied by drumming and chanting, move in rhythm to mimic the movements of the eagle. Intended to showcase Native American ceremonial life for early motion picture audiences, it is among the earliest surviving films of Indigenous rituals, though staged for the camera in keeping with late-19th-century ethnographic spectacle.