# Is there a name for that Indian War Cry thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 12, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-that-indian-war-cry-thing/364205 "2006-07-12T17:49:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-that-indian-war-cry-thing/364205/1 "2006-07-12T17:49:48Z")
You know, the stereotypical noise where you hoot and cover then uncover your mouth? Sounds like “woo-woo-woo-woo”? I just David Lee Roth do it on a YouTube video & am trying to describe it accurately. [Just in case you’re curious](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX9qcggRo18&search=jump%20bluegrass), click that. Around 2:00, 2:15. Unforgivably terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-that-indian-war-cry-thing/364205/2 "2006-07-12T17:55:40Z")
> [@Birdmonster](#): > > You know, the stereotypical noise where you hoot and cover then uncover your mouth? Sounds like “woo-woo-woo-woo”? I just David Lee Roth do it on a YouTube video & am trying to describe it accurately. [Just in case you’re curious](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX9qcggRo18&search=jump%20bluegrass), click that. Around 2:00, 2:15. Unforgivably terrible. Yes. It’s called stereotypical bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-that-indian-war-cry-thing/364205/3 "2006-07-12T17:58:31Z")
As noted in the OP. I knew someone would get bent out of shape. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-that-indian-war-cry-thing/364205/4 "2006-07-12T18:33:00Z")
Ululation? The dictionary definition for that is “a howl or wail, as if with grief”, which oddly enough is actually what that sound is in Native American terms, if you believe [this](http://www.bluecorncomics.com/stbasics.htm). (See “We did not whoop”). “War whoop” would probably be as good an informal term as any, though. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-that-indian-war-cry-thing/364205/5 "2006-07-12T20:35:47Z")
War whoop is what I’ve always heard. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-that-indian-war-cry-thing/364205/6 "2006-07-12T22:09:39Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Ululation? > > The dictionary definition for that is “a howl or wail, as if with grief”, which oddly enough is actually what that sound is in Native American terms, if you believe [this](http://www.bluecorncomics.com/stbasics.htm) I’d call that strident wailing “keening”; a more throaty howl that varies in pitch is ululating. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-that-indian-war-cry-thing/364205/7 "2006-07-12T22:46:35Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Yes. It’s called stereotypical bullshit. Except that Indians (Southern tribes, at least) really did use “war whoops” to terrify enemies (a technique later appropriated by Confederates as the Rebel Yell). > [@](#): > > The Cherokee and mountaineers, however, quickly and quietly moved into positions on the peaks overlooking the city. When word came that the men had reached their destinations, Col. Thomas gave the order to build hundreds of fires around the town and made it look like thousands of Confederates were mustering in the hills above the city. To add to the scene, the Cherokee started the war dances and filled the night air with drumbeats, war whoops, and rebel yells. [Cite](http://www.vic.com/tnchron/class/Thunder.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-that-indian-war-cry-thing/364205/8 "2006-07-12T23:02:15Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Except that Indians (Southern tribes, at least) really did use “war whoops” to terrify enemies (a technique later appropriated by Confederates as the Rebel Yell). > > [Cite](http://www.vic.com/tnchron/class/Thunder.htm) However, the link I gave above says that yes, the Indians did use war whoops, but they were not the same as the stereotypical sound that we know, which in fact was the sound that women used. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-that-indian-war-cry-thing/364205/9 "2006-07-12T23:10:36Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > However, the link I gave above says that yes, the Indians did use war whoops, but they were not the same as the stereotypical sound that we know, which in fact was the sound that women used. Perhaps not the same “ululating” quality as the hand-over-the-mouth sound, but still a high-pitched shriek. There are plenty of contemporary sources describing the sound, and from those descriptions, the war whoop sounds like what we know as the Rebel yell. ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-that-indian-war-cry-thing/364205/10 "2006-07-13T03:50:17Z")
> [@](#): > > However, the link I gave above says that yes, the Indians did use war whoops, but they were not the same as the stereotypical sound that we know, which in fact was the sound that women used. Plus, I have a strong suspicion that there was no Pan-American consensus spanning from the Skokomish to the Seminole on the proper noise to make when attacking a foe. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-that-indian-war-cry-thing/364205/11 "2006-07-13T09:06:30Z")
> [@Lama Pacos](#): > > Plus, I have a strong suspicion that there was no Pan-American consensus spanning from the Skokomish to the Seminole on the proper noise to make when attacking a foe. “Screw the Lakota - we’re gonna _stridulate_!”