Many Ways to Tell a Story

Today South Dakota celebrates Native American Day, as it has since 1990. Communities across the state commemorate this day in different ways, including with storytelling.

I was privileged recently to hear and see Lakota Kevin Locke , who told stories orally, with his flute,

and with his hoop dancing. In each case, he talked about all people being one and challenged each of us to be a bridge of understanding from one person to another. With 28 hoops, he created an eagle, a globe, a flower, a ladder, and a whirl of color!

He demonstrated his message of the importance of each individual by removing a hoop from one of his formations. The formation collapsed. 

This kind of storytelling--hoop dancing--takes a lot of energy! Kevin does it with such joy and grace, it is a pleasure to watch.  See him in this performance from last year:

What other kinds of storytelling have you experienced? Which ones are most meaningful to you?

(photos copyright 2014, Jane Heitman Healy)

Jasmine Pickner, Hoop Dancer: Happy Native American Day!

Jasmine Pickner, world champion hoop dancer.

While many in the US celebrate Columbus Day on Oct. 10, South Dakotans celebrate Native American Day. South Dakota is home to more than 62,000 American Indians, many of whom live on nine reservations within the state. Most belong to the Great Sioux Nation and are also identified by their tribal band and dialect.

I was fortunate to see world champion hoop dancer Jasmine Pickner perform recently at the SD Indian Education Summit. She started at age 7, taught by her grandparents. In this male-dominated field, Pickner uses her hoops to portray the balance of male and female. With her hoops, she creates figures such as dragonflies and eagles.

Before her dance, she talked about her background. At one point in school, she had to choose between basketball hoops and dancing hoops. By then, the dancing hoops were part of her, and she continued to dance. Hoop dancing keeps her true to her culture and herself. When she has to make choices, she thinks about the hoops' representation of balance and life cycles. She says that her hoops keep her on the right path.

In addition to dancing, she now teaches others to hoop dance and gives presentations across the country about native culture where she answers school children's questions such as "Do you eat pilgrims?" and "Do you live in teepees?" Jasmine beautifully sets the record straight.

Enjoy her work in this video from the St. Joseph Indian School Pow Wow video from 2009:


What keeps you on the right path?