Waila | O’odham Nation
Carl & Buddies will bring Waila music to Montana this summer for the enjoyment and dancing pleasure of audiences at the Montana Folk Festival.
Waila (derived from the Spanish Bailar — to Dance) is the energetic social dance music of the Native American peoples of the southern Arizona desert. Its home is the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and Gila River Indian Community.
Also referred to as chicken scratch, the vibrant melodies of saxophone, accordion, and electric guitar glide across the solid backbeat of bass and drums performing polkas, schottisches, and mazurkas. The term chicken scratch comes from a description of traditional Tohono O’odham dance, which involves kicking the heels high in the air, which supposedly bears a resemblance to a chicken scratching.
Chicken scratch, however, is at its root, an interpretation of norteno music, which is itself a Mexican adaptation of polka. Many chicken scratch bands still play polka songs with a distinctive flourish, and may also play the waltz or conjunto. Chicken scratch dance is based on the “walking two step or the walking polka and the emphasis is on a very smooth gliding movement”; dancers may also perform the mazurka or the chote, though no matter the style, it is always performed counterclockwise. Chicken scratch is usually played with a band including alto saxophone, bass, guitar, drums and accordion, though the original style used only percussion, guitar and violin, with the accordion and saxophone added in the 1950s. In 2011, a “Best Waila” category was added to the Native American Music Awards.
Carl & Buddies will bring along their repertoire of this musical hybrid that is deeply rooted in the contacts between European immigrants and the Tohono O’odham people.