DCHP-1 Online
winter dance Pacific Coast, Hist. 
a ceremonial performance given by one of the Dancing Societies of the Kwakiutl and other coastal tribes during the winter months. Hence, winter dancing.
- 1955 Most potlatches took place in the autumn, after the people had stored away their food and before the secret society began its winter dances.
- 1964 But potlatching and winter dancing did not die easily... .
- 1964 When the missionaries swept out heathenism, they included the social forms that supported it--potlatches, winter dances, and the systems of class and rank.
- 1955 Most potlatches took place in the autumn, after the people had stored away their food and before the secret society began its winter dances.