A Young Boy Who Fell in Love With Fancy Dancing

There was this young boy who felt very sad, lonely, and lost.

When he was just 4 years old, his dad vanished. Not like some unsolved mystery episode, although it probably could fit in that category. He never heard or seen from him again.

Shortly after, his mother moved away and now this young boy was away from his biological family. He was okay though because aunties and uncles decided to keep this young man.

The family that he ended up in was a traditional family.

A family that spoke the Indigenous language in the household, went to ceremony, and in the summertime, this family went on the Powwow Trail.

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His First Powwow Changed His Life

During his first trip to his very first Powwow, this boy would experience something that would change his life.

When they were pulling up to the Powwow, he noticed it resembled other things he knew. Things like a fairground or rodeo. There were vehicles everywhere, trailers, people, concessions, horses, and more.

He got super excited.

It didn’t take long for this young boy to make friends and start playing games like tag with the other kids.

Then this young boy heard something loud. It was a loud cheer coming from the dancing arena. Being curious, this young boy ran to the Pow Wow arbour to check out what these people were cheering for.

He Saw These Dancers and He Was Mesmerized

He ran right up to the front of the dancing area and saw these men’s fancy dancers dancing like colourful tornados.

He was so blown away with what he saw and told himself that one day he would dance this same dance.

When he got home he immediately took his bike and went to the lake to gather as much seagull feathers that he can find.

He went home and grabbed some sticks from the ground and scrap string that he found around the house.

Just from the memory of the dance he saw, he made himself a pair of dancing sticks.

He Started to Practice Dancing Everyday Just Like The Dancers He Saw

After he was done his sticks, he wondered how to get all those beautiful colours on his dance sticks.

A great idea came to this young man.

He climbed on top the fridge using a chair and grabbed all his uncles bingo dabbers. He got all the colours he needed and coloured all the feathers with the dabbers.

Now he had a sweet pair of dancing sticks.

Luckily his uncle had a great collection of Powwow dance cassettes with fancy dance songs. He would put these cassettes into a boombox and practice every single day with his cousin teaching him the steps.

Every single time he went to a powwow, he would go watch the fancy dancers and dance with them on the sidelines.

On His 13th Birthday, Uncle Gifted Him With His Own Fancy Dance Outfit

At this time it was 5 years since he first seen the fancy dance. He practiced every single day and on his 13th birthday he was gifted with his own Fancy Dance Outfit.

He was so happy and ecstatic to have his very own Powwow outfit. He would go out and dance with joy and also with frustration.

Dancing with an outfit was so different then dancing with just clothes on. He had to get use to dancing with an outfit on and so many strings tied onto him.

Everything went wrong that could go wrong.

His moccasins flew off one time. His roach came loose. He dropped his sticks. He kept getting bucked off.

But he learned from his mistakes and became better and better.

Eventually he would start to win some Powwows.

Fancy Dancing Saved His Life and Gave Him Purpose

As this young man grew up, he found that he loved the Powwow way of life.

He loved to travel and meet with new relatives in different reservations. There was so many teachings he was learning from Elder’s everywhere. The stories he gathered helped him live a good life.

He would follow the good ways and teach them now to his own family.

Now all of his boys are Powwow dancers as well. They all love to dance and learn new songs. All the family regularly gives back to the circle and they live a drug and alcohol free lifestyle.

It all started with being introduced to Powwow and falling madly in love with the dance and the drum.