Dance Your Cares Away (Worry's For Another Day!)

Grab your two-step partner, Native Sounds-Native Voices is playing waila (also called “Chicken Scratch”), the distinctive dance music of the Tohono O’odham people!

The waila tradition comes from a mesh of Indigenous and European roots. The word “waila” is a Tohono O’odham adaptation of the Spanish word “baila” (meaning “he/she dances”) and is used to describe a polka-esque dance reminiscent of Scottish and Polish styles. “Chicken scratch” refers to the tendency of the dancers to kick up their feet, similar to the motions of a chicken scratching at the ground.

Confused yet?

Like all polka, it’s probably best if you don’t think too hard about it. The point is that the music is upbeat, the dance is lively, and waila is just plain fun!

Waila Playlist

• Pima Express – “Crazy Spinning Chicken” [Voice Upon the Wind]
• El Conjunto Murrietta – “Lucia” [Waila!]
  
• Elvin Kelly y Los Reyes – “El Gallo” [Waila!]
• The American Indians – “El Capitan” [Play Waila]
• Pima Express – “You’re Mine” [Time Waits For No One]
• The American Indians – “Oh My Darling Clementine” [Play Waila]
• Los Papagos Molinas – “Buttermilk” [Waila!]
  
• Elvin Kelly y Los Reyes – “Ester” [Waila!]
  
• Mike Enis & Company – “Cholla Polka” [Waila!]
• The American Indians – “Topawa Two-Step” [Play Waila]
• Pima Express – “Rock Bottom Tears” [Time Waits For No One]
• Mike Enis & Company – “To-Hono Polka” [Waila!]
  
• Los Papagos Molinas – “Lizard Dance” [Waila!]

Listen to the program on the AIROS livestream at the following times (All Times ET):
5/5: 8am, 2pm, 8pm
5/9: 11am, 5pm, 11pm
5/13: 10am, 4pm, 10pm

To find out more about waila, check out the documentary Waila! Making the People Happy. You can hear waila, along with other great Native music, by clicking “Listen to Audio” on our list of links. Coming soon is the Thunder Show! (Be prepared to get AC/DC stuck in your head all day without knowing quite why.)

Stay tuned!

SIna Bear Eagle NS-NV co-host