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Chicken scratch (also known as waila music) is a kind of dance music developed by the Tohono O'odham people. The genre evolved out of acoustic fiddle bands in southern Arizona, in the Sonoran desert. These bands began playing European and Mexican tunes, in styles that include the polka, schottisch and mazurka ^[1].

Chicken scratch, however, is at its root, an interpretation of norteño 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 ^[2]. Chicken scratch dance is based on the "walking two step or the walking polka and the emphasis is on (a) very smooth gliding movement" ^[3]; dancers may also perform the mazurka or the chote, though no matter the style, it is always performed counterclockwise ^[4].

Chicken scratch is usually played with a band including alto saxophone, bass, guitar, drums and accordion ^[5], though the original style used only percussion, guitar and violin, with the accordion and saxophone added in the 1950s ^[6]. Its home is the Tohono O'odham Reservation, Pima Salt River Reservation and Gila River Reservation.

The term waila comes from Spanish bailar, meaning to dance ^[7]. 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 resemble to a chicken scratching ^[8].

The most famous performers are likely the Joaquín Brothers and Los Papagos Molinas with Virgil Molina [9]. The Annual Waila Festival in Tucson, Arizona is well-known [10], as is the Rock-A-Bye Music Fest in Casa Grande, Arizona.

References

• The Annual Waila Festival. Library of Congress: America's Story. URL accessed on June 21, 2005.
• Means, Andrew. "Hey-Ya, Weya Ha-Ya-Ya!". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), The Rough Guide to World Music, Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1858286360
• Le chant des Indiens d'Amérique du Nord. La Médiathèque. URL accessed on June 21, 2005. (in French)
• Waila: Chicken Scratch. Pulse of the Planet. URL accessed on June 21, 2005.
• Accordion Music. Music of the Southwest. URL accessed on June 21, 2005.

Notes

1. ↑  Pulse of the Planet Pulse of the Planet also mentions cumbia as a more recent influence
2. ↑  Accordion Music
3. ↑  Pulse of the Planet
4. ↑  America's Story
5. ↑  America's Story
6. ↑  La Mediatheque
7. ↑  Means, pg. 594
8. ↑  Pulse of the Planet
9. ↑  Means, pg. 594
10. ↑  America's Story

Further reading

• Wright-McLeod, Brian (2000). The Encyclopedia of Native Music: More Than a Century of Recordings from Wax Cylinder to the Internet. University of Arizona Press. ISBN ISBN 0-8165-2448-3.