Dances of Resilience and Resistance (Sandra Lamouche)
Indigenous dance is an important aspect of Indigenous culture, traditions and practices, contributing to Indigenous identity, wellness and resilience. It has been targeted by the U.S. and Canadian governments through discriminatory laws, such as outlawing Indigenous dance, massacres of Ghost Dancers, and the imprisoning Indigenous people for practicing their ceremonial and cultural dances. Indigenous dance has also been tied to resistance of assimilation and colonization, and was maintained during movements such as the American Indian Movement and more recently the Idle No More movement, in what was called the Round Dance Revolution. Indigenous dances have adapted and evolved as part of the practice of being a living culture. Indigenous dances are more than about awareness and celebration, they are also about self-determination, mourning and healing. This inability to be seen as dynamic with both the beauty and struggles of Indigenous history and present realities, serves to dehumanize Indigenous people. They serve as an active and embodied resistance of colonial pressures that sought to make them illegal and controlled how they were seen and presented. Only by embracing the beauty and the burdens can you have an authentic and holistic view and understanding. As the hoop dance teaches us, the hoops represent both struggle through the transformation from one shape to the next, although people often only see the beauty, they fail to recognize the struggle and transformation in between. This struggle and challenge allows the beauty to emerge.
Sandra Lamouche |
Sandra Lamouche is a Nehiyaw Iskwew (Cree Woman) from the Bigstone Cree Nation in Northern Alberta and lives in Southern Alberta with her husband and two sons from the Piikani Nation. She is a champion hoop dancer, an award-winning Indigenous education leader and a two time TEDx Speaker, writer, and choreographer. She received her B.A. in Native American Studies from the University of Lethbridge in 2007. Currently she is completing a M.A. Thesis at Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario in Indigenous Studies titled “Nitona Miyo Pimadisiwin (Seeking a Good Life) Through Indigenous Dance” which examines Indigenous Dance as a Social Determinant of Health and Well Being.
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