General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRosie:
Link to tweet
Note: This is traditionally a men's dance style,
but she was inspired by her grandpas and brothers who dance prairie chicken. She was given the right to dance this style by her mosoms Brian and Irvin Waskewitch. She doesn't understand gender norms, just the love for dancing.
The Meskwaki people (sometimes spelled Mesquakie) are of Algonquian origin from the Eastern Woodland Culture areas. The Meskwaki spoken language is of a similar dialect to the Sauk and Kickapoo, and our people are working hard to maintain it.
The tribe has been historically located in the St. Lawrence River Valley along the Canadian border, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa. The Meskwaki were called Renards (the Fox) by the French but have always identified themselves as Meskwaki. The Meskwaki fought against the French in what is now called the Fox Wars (1701-1742) and in 1735, the Sauk and Meskwaki allied together to fend off Europeans and other Indian Tribes. Both tribes moved southward from Wisconsin into Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. Even though the Meskwaki and Sauk are two distinct tribal groups, with linguistic and cultural similarities, the two tribes have often been associated throughout history.
Uniting Two Tribes
After the Black Hawk War of 1832, the United States officially combined the two tribes into a single group known as the Sac & Fox Confederacy for treaty-making purposes. Through a series of land concessions in 1845 under the name of Sac & Fox, the Sauk and Meskwaki formally lost all lands and were removed to a reservation in east-central Kansas (although some persevered and chose to stay). After their banishment to Kansas, Meskwaki ancestors longed to reclaim their Iowa woodland homeland. Choosing to remain, some stayed hidden in Iowa, while others left for the Kansas reservation only to journey back to Iowa over the next few years. Throughout, there was an unbroken presence in Iowa and by 1856, the State of Iowa enacted a law allowing the continued residence of the tribe.
Reclaiming Our Iowa Homeland
On July 13, 1857, the Meskwaki formally purchased their first 80 acres in Tama County, which gave formal federal identity to the Meskwaki people as the Sac & Fox in Iowa. Then 10 years later, in 1867, the United States government allowed the Meskwaki living in Iowa to receive federal annuity payments for the first time. This unique identity (that of unclear jurisdictional status since the tribe had formal federal recognition but also continuing relations with the State of Iowa due to the tribes private ownership of land) allowed the Meskwaki people to be virtually ignored by federal as well as state policies. Always persevering, this gave them time to return, thrive, and grow. Read more about our Tribal land reclamation in this article from the Washington Post.
https://www.meskwaki.org/history/
uponit7771
(90,378 posts)BComplex
(8,102 posts)What a beautiful, darling dancer!
Joinfortmill
(14,563 posts)judesedit
(4,449 posts)halfulglas
(1,654 posts)Just watching the dancers dancing with such joy was so beautiful. I learned that the steps were carefully learned and practiced not random. More people should attend these to correct impressions learned from old movies. Different tribes, different dances. But the joy was always there.
slightlv
(2,903 posts)of the dances and they were encouraging her. I hope it continues. There have been some tribes, I've read, that have been slower to acknowledge the two spirits, but are so doing now. They can show us the way in so much, if only we will listen.
cilla4progress
(24,837 posts)on Instagram and Twitter. Always in my feeds.. Didn't know there were fans here, too!
Stunning isn't it!
Fla Dem
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