As Star Society, an indigenous drum circle, began singing, women dressed in long dresses with metal cones on their skirts, dance moccasins and headdresses, started dancing in a circle, with each dancer’s foot pattern slightly different.
The sound of the cones jingling rose along with the drums as the women competed in the healing dance known as jingle dance.
Jingle dance was just one of a few dances featured Saturday, May 4 at the second annual powwow held on Western Washington University’s campus and hosted by the Native American Student Union. There were also fancy, traditional and grass dances. Men, women and children competed throughout the day and into the evening while 11 drum groups provided music.
Each dance has its own footwork, regalia and songs. Some were loud, as bells and cones hit each other, such as in men’s grass dance and women’s jingle dance, while others feature heavily beaded shawls, like in women’s fancy dance. While men and women both compete in fancy and traditional dance, only men compete in grass and only women compete in jingle.
Jingle dance originated as a tradition of the Ojibwe tribe in Minnesota and Ontario, Canada, Brenda Child, a historian at the University of Minnesota, told ABC News in 2021. Contemporary jingle dance started around 1918 as a healing movement after the influenza pandemic.
Natalie LaFontaine’s jingle dance style is contemporary with the use of a fan and back feathers.
“The old style is no feathers, I think, and then their footwork is a little simpler,” the 22-year-old Lynnwood resident said. LaFontaine is also a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, headquartered in South Dakota.
Her light pink dress, made by her mom, featured golden cones and a colorful beaded vest that she made during the COVID-19 pandemic to honor loved ones.
“I lost a lot of loved ones and I just thought about the stories and things they taught me,” she said, adding she was also inspired by the beauty of flowers. “I was putting it into my beadwork.”
Lauren Nabahe, 31, became known among her friends and her dance group as the white jingle dress dancer while she was in college.
“When I made one for myself I was like, ‘I think I want a white one to continue the legacy,” the Lone Pine, California resident said, adding it took a few months for her to create the regalia.
Her regalia also featured beaded red roses, a symbol of the Shoshone tribe. Nabahe is Paiute-Shoshone, Navajo and Mono.
Jingle dance also offers an opportunity for Nabahe to reflect on the power and honor of the healing dance.
“It’s just extra special,” she said. “It feels like my body was meant to dance jingle.”
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
