Dancers share traditional skills
Linda Sappington
Ronan student Precious David demonstrates and teaches Native American dances Wednesday at K. William Harvey Elementary School.
Linda Sappington
Stanley Pablo dances as he waits to have his school photo taken.
Linda Sappington
Girls learn to fancy dance.
Linda Sappington
Ardon McDonald takes a break from teaching chicken dance and prepares students for a round dance.
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
Linda Sappington
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Sit-ups and push ups aren’t the only way to get in shape, kindergarten and fourth-grade students learned last week at K. William Harvey Elementary as their physical education class became a lesson in Native dance. Third-grade student Stanley Pablo entered the gym just to have his school picture taken, but kept dancing to the back of the line in an effort to delay his exit as the drumbeat accompanied the other kids’ lessons. “I’ve never seen this here before,” he said, explaining that his grandfather taught him to do traditional-style native dance. “I’ve got a lot of first, second and third graders mad at me,” P.E. teacher Dusti Smith said with a chuckle, adding that the other grades will probably get to do Native American dancing in the spring. “This was the trial run.” In honor of Native American Heritage Month, Smith and Indian Education Coordinator Sunny Real Bird teamed up to bring the native dancers from Ronan Middle and High School to teach girls to do fancy shawl dance while the boys learned chicken dance. Ardon McDonald, a Ronan junior, is a sought-after powwow dancer who demonstrated his skill alongside Cortez Osborne. As a third-grader at KWH, he stood up in front of his class “and really gave them the business about being in shape and eating right,” teacher Carrie Swanberg remembered. “I have a lot more muscle now,” McDonald explained on Thursday. “It’s a lot easier to do if you keep yourself in pretty good eating habits, and keep in shape.” Tashyna Matt’s delicate feet pranced as she twirled to the beat, swirling her colorful ribbon-fringed shawl while balancing her beaded Pend d’Orelle Princess crown atop her brunette locks. “My arms are a little tired,” the Ronan freshman said. “The shawls get heavy after a while.” Many of the students they were teaching already participate in powwows. But for some students, this was their first introduction to a culture of dance. “It’s good for those kids who haven’t been to a powwow,” Smith said. “It’s all around us but sometimes there’s not an opportunity to see it.”
