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Joy, Healing And Hope
The dance itself began just over a century ago when the granddaughter of an Ojibwe medicine man fell sick. As the man slept he dreamt, over and over, of four women as his spirit guides wearing Jingle Dresses and dancing. The women taught the man how to make the dress, what songs to play, and how to perform the dance. The spirits told him that making the dress and performing the dance would make his granddaughter well.
When the man awoke he set out and made the dress, and once completed the tribe gathered to watch the ill girl dance. At first, she was too weak and had to be supported and carried by the tribe. Slowly she gained her strength and performed the dance on her own, cured of her sickness…
Today the Jingle Dress Dance is performed at powwows across the country, with the women and girls often dancing with feather fans, eagle feather plumes, or eagle feathers in their hair. As the dress and dance have spread to tribes from coast to coast its grown to represent both healing and pride, a spiritual form of wellness and celebration that links us to our past and helps us move forward with strength and hope.
— Harper Estey
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A few days after burying his aunt, Tapahe said that he was feeling increasingly despondent when he had a dream…
