Jingle dance dress

Unknown artist

Female garment of commercial textile, set with cones of conical twisted strip of silver tin. While dancing, these produce a rnkling sound. Such garments are worn by women during the jingle dress dance, which is part of the powwow dance repertoire. According to one story, the jingle dress originated in the Mille Lacs in the state of Minnesota. Four women in jingle dresses appeared to a shaman in a dream. They showed him how to make the dress, which ones were appropriate, and how to perform the dance. The shaman told the dream to his wives and together they made four dresses, carefully following the instructions. He then dressed the four women who had appeared to him in his dream in the clothes, took them to a dance and told those present that women should be dressed in this way and so perform the dance. Then the jingle dance spread to other peoples. Since the 1920s, the jingle dress dance has been performed at most intertribal powwows and is a dance for younger women The dancer wears at least two hundred metal pendants on her dress of colorful fabrics and dances in such a way that the pendants all move up and down at the same time to the rhythm of the drum. \The term powwow comes from the Algonquin language Narragansett and originally referred to healing ceremonies. The word was quickly incorporated into English where it took on the meaning of "Indian gathering. For Native Americans themselves, the word today means a secular event with singing groups and social dances performed by men, women and children. While many parts of the powwow are traditional they change over time and are an expression of Native American identity and pride, both for individuals and entire communities. Most powwows are generally intertribal in nature although they are organized or sponsored by one specific group. Each powwow also carries an element of honor where prestige depends on generosity where sponsors may give gifts in the form of goods or money. The largest powwows are large scale multi-tribal events where the focus is on the wide variety of Indian dances for a paying, non-Indian audience.