For more than a century, waila has played an important role as a social and cultural staple for the Tohono O'odham.
Now, the music-and-dance style, little known beyond the American Southwest, is the focus of a half-hour documentary that debuts Monday on PBS affiliates across the country, including KUAT-TV, Channel 6, in Tucson.
Dubbed "Waila! Making the People Happy," the program takes a look at the evolution of waila, a style rooted in the polkas, mazurkas and schottisches brought to the New World by European immigrants in the mid-19th century.
"I wanted to expose people, general audiences not familiar with this aspect of Native America," said filmmaker, Yuma resident and Quechan Indian Daniel Golding. "It seems like we are always stuck on the same stories. This film shows how this group took something that was introduced to them, adapted it and made it something new."
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Had this project aired during more prosperous times, it would have perfectly complemented the Waila Festival, an O'odham dance party held every May by the Arizona Historical Society.
The free celebration began in 1989 and attracted 6,000 people annually.
But, like many other cultural events in Tucson these days, the Waila Festival has been forced to take a year off due to budget cuts handed down by the state.
In past years, the Historical Society fronted the Waila committee the extra money — beyond the festival's reserve funds — needed to pay for bands, insurance and other services, said coordinator Angelo Joaquin Jr. The committee then made the money back for the society through things like CD and T-shirt sales.
This year, the society said it wouldn't be able to do that.
And the $2,800 in the festival's account didn't come close to paying the $10,000-$12,000 needed to put on the concert.
"It is disappointing for everyone," Joaquin said. "It has become a great meeting place for O'odham and non-O'odham."
It will happen next year, he added, but will most likely come with a small admission fee to offset costs. They also hope to hold an indoor, winter waila dance party to make up for this month's cancellation.
In the meantime, some of those familiar faces involved with waila in Tucson will be featured in "Making People Happy." Joaquin and local folklorist "Big Jim" Griffith provide the historical context, while the brunt of the series focuses on the Joaquin Brothers, founded by Joaquin's father, the late Angelo Joaquin Sr.
The Joaquin Brothers served as unofficial ambassadors of waila for decades, making appearances at venues like Carnegie Hall and the National Folklife Festival in Washington D.C.
"I still talk to them," Golding said of the family band. "Not only did we make a nice film, but we formed a few friendships out of it, too."
Half-an-hour allows for only a snapshot on any subject, but Golding said the project is solid and a long time coming.
He remembers the joy the topic brought his family and friends just talking about it, during his youth in Yuma.
"I think the whole idea of snagging a partner and dragging them out on the dance floor made people smile," he said.
Joaquin Jr. hopes the documentary sparks support for what he considers an important cultural event in Southern Arizona.
"When people see what a vital role this music plays in the O'odham community," he said, "there will be a renewed interest in helping it continue."
on TV
"Waila! Making the People Happy" debuts at 10:30 p.m. Monday on KUAT-TV, Channel 6.
