A Jingle Dress dancer performs at Story Book Island.
Celebration of cultures smash hit at Storybook Island
First time event draws hundreds
By Karin Eagle
Native Sun News Correspondent RAPID CITY – Creating bridges between two cultures that exist side by side within the Rapid City community was the goal of a recent event that was co-sponsored by Storybook Island and Rural America Initiative's (RAI) Ateyapi mentoring program. Ateyapi is the Lakota term for “fatherhood”. On a hot summer day, crowds of Native and non-Native visitors to the landmark park on Rapid City's west side, gathered to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Lakota tribes represented in South Dakota. In a clearing behind a cabin that features the characters of the fable “Snow White,” a drum group sang songs for local area dancers. The Ateyapi drum is comprised of a mix of veteran and novice singers. Ateyapi Coordinator, Scott Means, who heads up the program in the area's target middle schools, has been teaching young men from the community to sing for a number of years with the Ateyapi program. Whitney Rencountre, Ateyapi Coordinator for the high school students, provided commentary as the Eyapaha, or announcer. Calling on a life time of knowledge of the powwow world, Rencountre was able to describe the history and evolution of each dance style as well the different types of dances each style performs. Dancers included Rencountre's wife Jessie, a jingle dress dancer, who is also a school counselor in the Rapid City Area District. One of the featured dances was the Hoop Dance, which was performed by Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe member, Delaena Uses Knife, of Rapid City. Uses Knife is a student at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, studying physics. During her performance, Rencountre described the history of the dance and pointed out different symbols Uses Knife was able to create with her hoops. Following the full line up of dance categories, the entire crowd of spectators was invited to become participants during the round dance song, or friendship. The dance, which is just a basic side step in a large circle, evolved into what is called the Snake Dance. One of the younger dancers took the initiative and began guiding the dancers into various configurations, such as a concentric circle, weaving in and out of the dancers holding hands, while keeping the beat of the drum. There were a lot of laughs and jokes shared between the dancers due to missteps and a lot of jostling into each other. Capping off the event was a special presentation of several of the RAI Dakota Transitional Head Start students. The students, under the tutelage of Oglala Sioux Tribe member, Pansy Hawk Wing, have been learning the Lakota language, and presented a couple of the songs and stories. One of the songs was “The Jealous Rabbit” and the other was an old stand-by, learned by generations of Lakota and Dakota children from their parents and grandparents, called Inkpata. The youngest of the Native community wrapped up their presentation with a dance for the crowd, drawing the event to a finish. Bruce Long Fox, Director of RAI, described how Hale Baird, of Native Sun News, met with him about coordinating the event. Long Fox said that the Storybook Island organization had been asking for a number of years for something similar to this event. Means and Rencountre had taken the initiative and brought the event into reality with the help of Jackie Giago, General Manager of Native Sun News and Baird. “It was initially proposed to be a powwow, but we eventually decided that it would be more educational and informative to do these educational exhibitions to talk about the different dances. Scott (Means) and Whitney (Rencountre) were the ones who got all of this going.” said Long Fox, describing the sponsorship and planning of the event. “It is basically a culture education exposition, really.” When asked if there would be a repeat of the expo, Long Fox described how the sequestration was casting some shadow on the future of the Ateyapi mentoring group. Funding for each of the programs was granted for five years, with two of those years remaining. The program offers in school support staff to the target schools as well as after school mentoring programs for students in those schools. The Dakota Transitional Head Start program as well as the Early Head Start, also part of the RAI family, are not in jeopardy. In addition to community outreach events such as the one held at Storybook Island, the Ateyapi program also offers the community the opportunity to “name” their children in a Lakota ceremony often called the Hunka, or making of relatives, ceremony. “Families are asked to provide their own feathers or plumes for the children, and bring the person they want to tie them onto their children,” explains Long Fox, “We provide the meal and the drum group and the person able to provide the ceremony.” The invitation is open to all families in the Rapid City community, with a tentative January date anticipated. The Veterans Day powwow, held every fall, is a commitment that Long Fox made three years ago, when the current Ateyapi program received its funding. “I made the commitment to have that powwow every year for five years, and we still have two to go.” says Long Fox. “There are several families that always show up and participate. It's a good group of people.” The Veteran's Day powwow will be held at General Beadle Elementary in North Rapid City, this year. (Karin Eagle; NSN Correspondent; lakotawi@aol.com) Copyright permission by Native Sun News
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