Words from the Trail - Hoop Dancer

See the spirit, the beauty of the song, the beat; it does something to you. . . in powwow the drum has always brought our people together. It brings unity to our people. . . where people are sitting together at the same drum, singing the same songs, being able to feel the same beat.
That drum is so vital, so very important to our people.

We try to look at balance in everything that we do in our teaching, even in dance. We balance our footwork. We balance the smoothness, the beauty. . . Anything they do on the left, you must do on the right. We look at life that way. We look at life in a sense that one can't work without the other. We look at balance. They call it the red road, the Indian road.

When you look at regalia today, an outfit, you see a lot of florescence. You see a lot of bright colors. You see metal spots. You see on a traditional man, a knife at their side. Even the women, they carry a knife. . . it is to ward off bad spirits, bad medicine . . . we use mirrors. It reflects. If somebody shoots bad medicine at you, it hits the mirrors and bounces off. So that's why we have incorporated all these metal things in our regalia, it is to ward off all the negatives. Ward off all the bad things.

Powwow is patriotism. Respect. Warriors . . . When the warriors came home they celebrated. They would get off their horses at the edge of the village, they would get off, do their hair, walk in proud of their achievements, whether there was blood or wounds, whatever, they would come in proud. And the clans would stand behind their men; songs would be sung, brave, inspiring songs . . .
bravery, a lot of beautiful, beautiful songs.