ELMO — Tribes around the country typically do more than ring in the year with a glass of champagne. Ceremon-ial and social dances often mark recognition of the new year ahead.
I sat in the Kootenai Commun-ity Center on the Flathead Reservation on Monday night with my granddaughter, Alexandrea, in my arms. Like others, my family and I were participating in the Kootenai tribe’s new year dances.
Alexandrea sat still for a while. But soon she was trying to scramble out of my arms. A Kootenai woman touched my knee and told me we were listening to a Racehorse song that’s why little Alexandrea was trying to take off, she said.
So I carried my granddaughter to the wood-planked area that covered a fair section of the floor. And Alexandrea and I danced. Everyone around us moved quickly and with spirit. Joy and sweat fell to the floor from smiling, jumping dancers. The air inside the center looked as if it had escaped from a steam room whenever the door opened from the outside.
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The Kootenai wrapped up a three-day celebration of “jump dances” Wednesday morning. The ceremonial and social dances are said to be part of a millennia-old tradition among the tribe’s bands.
It’s said the Kootenai used to gather on snow- covered grounds in what is now Glacier National Park for their jump dances. By the time they finished their gathering, pounding feet stamped away the snow, revealing the earth below.
During the three nights of dancing beginning New Year’s Day, the Kootenai sing and offer prayers, asking for specific needs such as health, food and material well-being.
On the second night, special recognition is given to children and babies who have received their Native names. Before any dancing or singing, parents bring their little ones to the dance area, where they form a circle.
Eventually, each family files past a dance leader who makes a record of every baby’s name in English and Kootenai.
Alexandrea and her parents were invited into the circle. After the record is made, the child’s Native name most of the children are 1 year old or younger is announced to everyone in the center.
Bright Shining Star, the Mandan name Alexandrea received when she was 8 months old, was introduced to the Kootenai people.
The name announcements mark the acknowledgement of a new spirit, a little human being on earth. By the time all of the children’s names have been spoken, the families once again are left standing in a circle, representing the road the child will travel in life.
Finally, the dancing and singing begin. The community members who have been watching up to this point are invited to join the families in dance. Much of the dancing resembles jumping: jumps of joy for the little ones and for the year ahead.
We all danced as the children received songs of blessing from the people.
Alexandrea and all the children, indeed, were blessed.
It was an honor to be a part of that circle. Dances and songs for the community continued through the rest of the evening. That night, it was impossible not to see a little person without acknowledging his or her place in the world.
It was their night.
Throughout Indian Country, it’s common for tribes to state with pride that children come first and foremost. Leaders typically proclaim children are the future. Tribes such as the Lakota view children as holy — spirits who come into this world by choosing their parents, leaving the parents to feel grateful a child has chosen them.
Despite these beliefs, Native children don’t always fare so well.
Statistics show child abuse has seeped into tribal communities. It is estimated that one in every four girls and one in every seven boys will be victims of sexual abuse in Indian Country, according to the Indian Health Service.
That reality should inspire each of us to do more to take care of the children in our lives. Even though children constantly surround us, too often they’re invisible because we refuse to see them.
My granddaughter began the year by dancing in her parents’ arms, and in mine. She danced among the Kootenai people who graciously acknowledged her by name. They sang and danced for her. They prayed for blessings on her.
The Kootenai ended their second night of dancing early Tuesday morning with a feast. They didn’t toast each other with champagne. Instead, they drank coffee and ended the festivities by sitting down to enjoy soup and fry bread together.
It was a happy start for a new year.
— Jodi Rave covers Native issues for Lee Enterprises.
Editor’s note: Tracy Thornton’s column “Morgue Dust” will return next week.
