Our Jingle Dress Dancer

 

    Katelyn shared her native American roots with us when she put on her jingle dress and danced to music sung by her relatives.  She demonstrated what she would do at a Pow Wow.  Her sister had a dress and moccasins too, but she was shy. 

    The jingle dress is made of buckskin.  Small silver cones are sewn on in many horizontal rows.  Some dresses have 2,000 silver cones on them so the dresses are very heavy!  Dancers wear moccasins with their dresses.

    Tradition states that the jingle dress dance began in the Northern Chippewa Indian nation and then spread throughout the Northern Plains.  Dancers keep time with the beat and the jingling sound from the cones on their dress must match the beat of the drum.  The dance is rigorous and strenuous.  Dancers need to be in good shape.

    North American Indians have held Pow Wows for centuries. They are a time for joy and celebration.