How to Do a Native American Jingle Dance

Listen for musical jingling at a pow wow and you've found the Jingle Dance. Legend says that this women's dance started as a healing dance. Women wearing jingle dresses took sideways steps around a sick person. Over the years, the Jingle Dance has evolved to include tribal differences and is now a staple at dance competitions. Follow these steps to do a Native American Jingle Dance.

Things You'll Need

• Jingle Dance regalia

Instructions

1. Familiarize yourself with Native American pow wows. Talk to Jingle Dancers about the regalia and the dance steps. Observe before joining in.

2. Wear appropriate regalia. The main distinction of the Jingle Dance is the regalia, which is a dress covered with metal jingles. Although jingles were once carved from wood, they now come from chewing tobacco or snuff lids that are cut and bent into a cone shape. A single cotton or taffeta dress may hold up to 700 jingles in rows or tiers.

3. Start the Jingle Dance in the circle. This important Native American symbol is a staple at pow wows.

4. Keep time with the drum. Move so that the metal cones make a jingling noise. At the end of a dance, both feet should stop with the final beat.

5. Take controlled, zigzag steps with your feet, keeping them low to the ground. The more contemporary styles of the Jingle Dance lift the feet higher off the ground and allow spinning.

6. Alternate doing the same moves on each side of your body.

7. Raise your fan for honor beats on the drum. If you are performing an old style Jingle Dance, raise your hands in healing during the honor beats. Neither fans nor feathers in the hair are allowed in old style dances.

Tips & Warnings

• Contact an area Native American Intertribal Association for a referral to someone knowledgeable about the Jingle Dance style.

• Observe the different dancers' regalia for a general idea of what is acceptable. But never copy someone else's pattern.

• Consider finding a regalia maker for a jingle dress.