how you become a Jingle Dancer

[millsdrumming]

Osiyo!! I was talking to someone today and we where talking about my daughter being a Jingle dancer and she asked me who gifted her with the jingle.
We went up last year to Manitou Rapids, Ontario so an Elder could teach her how to jingle and about the dress. Wev plan on going up this year on Fathers day week end so she can enter the circle for tbhe first time in her dress. Not sure how this will work out but thats the plan. So please someone help me out if you can.
How and why did you become a jingle dancer? So let me hear from a few of you.

Black Crow,( Wally) :Angel2

[LiLT206]

I dont remember, I started at about 2 doing fancy (you know, spinning around, i was little) occasionally, then started dancing jingle at age 4 or 5. I just grew up with it. But then I stopped and started again at eight, I knew some steps, and our friend Heather came up to our house and made me another first jingle dress. She took us to the Edmonds Powwow in Edmonds washington, and I enjoyed my first night dancing and wanted to come back the next day. Now, I'm 11 and still dancing at every powwow im at.

[Dawniss]

I did fancy for 10 years before taking time off from the pow wow trail to explore other areas in my life..after taking a small detour I thought I was ready to hop back on but something just didn't seem right. After being through the experiences I had gone through and done the things i had done I didn't see it right to bring my bad influences into the culture.. I was in need for some serious healing time and didn't know where to start.. A few months after considering to begin dancing again i had a dream that I was dancing around a drum with all of my family watching and I finally felt happy again.. after this dream i went to my grandmother and she helped me draw the dress I had seen in my dream and we went to the fabric store to pick out a few things I would need... I am still working on my dress and still healing

[kiiyaaniiasdzaa]

why i dance jingle?

It took me quite sometime to decide what I wanted to dance but after spending time at powwows I came to love the Jinge Dress. The sound is so amazing and the graceful movements of the feet is also cool. Jingle dress dancers have to dance with honor, you can see that with all the good dancers out there. They all dance with there heads up high...it's my favorite dance!!

[ojibwaywmn]

For myself...

I am proud of my tribe affiliation and wanted to display it as much as I can. I have also loved this style of dance. It's unique. So dancing Jingle is the most natural and right feeling for me.